Featured Work
The William T. Grant Foundation encourages research on reducing inequality that is grounded in well-theorized, rich conceptualizations of race, ethnicity, and Indigeneity (as well as other dimensions of inequality like immigrant origin and economic standing). In keeping with this interest, we awarded Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang an Officers’ research grant to develop an […]
New research finds that bringing counseling and advising services to the classroom can provide a critical connection to campus for immigrant and refugee newcomer students in ESOL programs.
The role of research evidence in improving policy and practice outcomes has been a topic of public debate and focus of research for some time. To date, scholarship has focused largely on two evidence challenges: 1) the role of evidence in policy formulation, for example how to get various types of evidence into the hands […]
Research is core to the William T. Grant Foundation, as is the use of the knowledge that results from high-quality, community-based empirical investigations. We are committed to funding the study of 1) programs, policies, and practices to reduce inequalities in the lives of young people and 2) ways to improve how research evidence is produced […]
Researchers and reformers in education and likely other arenas would do well to recognize how they are implicitly or explicitly defining “systemic” in their equity approaches and to understand some predictable limitations when their approaches do not focus on institutional change.
Research has a critical role to play in challenging damaging narratives and establishing different perspectives. In supporting the project “Public Learning in a Multiracial Democracy,” we hope to help change the environment for antiracist education in ways that foster greater understanding of the importance of teaching about race and racism.
In 2018, when we launched our study, Putting Immigration and Education in Conversation Everyday (PIECE), it was a time of crisis for immigrant communities. Anti-immigrant policies, aggressive enforcement, and xenophobic discourse were causing upheaval for students, families, and the educators serving them. As scholars committed to improving the educational experiences of immigrant-origin students, we designed […]
Local policymakers often lack rigorous data and analysis about which programs are most effective. But too often academics do not apply their knowledge to the most pressing policy issues in these local contexts. This creates a “valley of death” between knowledge and practice that leaves many local policy problems unadressed. As local institutions, universities have […]
Some of the most impactful contributions universities make to society stem from faculty members’ external engagement—i.e., researcher engagement with policymakers and practitioners. A faculty member’s meeting with a CDC official can lead to new public health guidelines. A faculty member’s op-ed on student debt forgiveness can catalyze executive action. A faculty member’s congressional testimony on […]
In recent years, research interest in knowledge brokerage has expanded across disciplines as scholars and practitioners alike seek to better understand the mechanisms that impact use of research evidence in policymaking processes. With funding from the William T. Grant Foundation, we endeavored upon a multi-year process to bring together scholars from health, education, psychology and […]
A new agenda for research on child welfare systems calls for bold new studies that meet the needs of the 21st Century child welfare system and improve the lives of our most vulnerable children, youth, and families. While there have been several research agendas for child welfare developed over the last decade, to our knowledge […]
By R. Chris Sheldrick, Tom Mackie, Lauren Supplee, Gracelyn Cruden, Liz Farley-Ripple, Bill Firestone, Brittany Gay, Jonathan Purtle, Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom, on behalf of the William T. Grant Foundation Special Interest Group on the Quality of the Use of Research Evidence. For many years, the William T. Grant Foundation has funded research on ways to improve […]
The question of how to improve the use of research (URE) in policy and practice can be approached from diverse disciplinary and methodological angles. For many who study research use, attention to the challenge of URE grows naturally from an already established line of research. Other times, first-hand experience with the obstacles that prevent greater […]
True equity-oriented research must upend traditional power dynamics where university researchers are viewed as apex knowledge producers. Democratizing the knowledge production process to recognize the valued and essential contributions of both the researcher and community partners is essential for creating equitable research collaborations.
Newcomer unaccompanied youth in the U.S. The United States defines an unaccompanied minor as an immigrant who is under the age of 18 and not in the care of a parent or legal guardian at the time of entry, who is left unaccompanied after entry, and who does not have a family member or legal […]