I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the 2026 Meeting of the American Education Research Association. Over the course of the week, staff and grantees of the Foundation will participate in several sessions that I hope you’ll …
In the face of organized efforts to silence research, the Foundation will continue to leverage our funding to strengthen the field and advance institutional reforms that value community-engaged scholarship.
Next week, education researchers will convene at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Denver. We come together at a critical moment. The research infrastructure that for decades has supported advances in knowledge about ways to …
Despite the turbulence around us, the William T. Grant Foundation will remain steadfast in our mission to support research to improve the lives of young people. We will continue to pursue our two focus areas, which are especially critical in …
Originally published on September 10, 2024, this post was updated on January 2, 2025 to reflect recent developments. On September 9, President Biden announced his intention to nominate Adam Gamoran, president of the William T. Grant Foundation, as director of the Institute of Education Sciences (…
This year’s meeting of the American Sociological Association centers on the theme “Intersectional Solidarities: Building Communities of Hope, Justice, and Joy.” Noting the motivations of many sociologists to “use sociology to make more just communities and societies,” ASA President …
Commissioned by the Transforming Evidence Funders Network and facilitated by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a new report describes the growing momentum behind university reforms that encourage faculty to conduct collaborative research with community partners and decision-makers outside the university…
In October, the Dual Enrollment Research Collaborative, an initiative spearheaded by the Joyce Foundation and the Collaborative for Higher Education Research and Policy at the University of Utah, released a …
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 …
Since 2015, the William T. Grant Foundation has funded research on programs, policies, and practices that reduce inequality in youth outcomes. We have supported a diverse pool of highly accomplished researchers, …
Many of us may have hoped that the change in administration in Washington, DC, would have lessened the pervasive climate of hostility and xenophobia that we have experienced in the …
In early September, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget issued a directive that barred federal agencies from providing staff training on concepts including critical race theory and White privilege. This directive, which characterized such training as “un-American propaganda” …
By institutionalizing collaborative research and building sustained knowledge-building partnerships with local service providers, universities can lead the way towards a more prosperous and equitable future.
As we make our way through this terrible time, with the health and economic devastation of the pandemic disproportionately manifested in communities of color compounded by searing examples of racial injustice, we reflect on what more we, as a funder …
While the world grapples with the crisis of COVID-19, each of us faces challenges in our own lives. As a funder, we want to alleviate one sense of pressure you may feel: We intend to be as flexible and understanding …
ICYMI: All of this @nytimes article about science denial is true — but it’s not the whole story. The whole story is worse in some ways, better than others. What accounts for when science is accepted and when it’s …
How can researchers find the motivation to continue to produce knowledge worth considering? And how can we, as supporters of research, best sustain our mission to support them?
Throughout our 82-year history, the William T. Grant Foundation has had many able leaders, starting, of course, with William T. Grant himself. Last month, we lost one of our most prominent leaders, with the passing of former Foundation president Robert …
I recently spoke to the American Educational Research Association about the Foundation’s focus on building, testing, and improving understanding of programs, policies, and practices to reduce inequality in youth …
This year, the American Educational Research Association (AREA) will celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary at its annual meeting in Washington, DC on April 8-12, 2016. Throughout its history, AERA has provided a forum for researchers to share substantive findings and methodological advances …
Whether compared to other countries or to our own history, it is clear that inequality in the United States today is excessive and harmful to our economy and society. Yet the evidence is also clear that social policy can reduce …
Education is a gateway for opportunity—a pathway to progress through which young people acquire the skills, knowledge, and experiences to obtain good jobs and prosperous futures. Yet in the U.S., education is highly unequal. On average, students from …
Inequality is a fundamental challenge facing our nation. At the William T. Grant Foundation, we believe that responses to inequality can mitigate its effects, and, moreover, that there is a pressing need for new research to identify effective responses. To …
From the mayor of New York to President Obama and Pope Francis, hardly a day goes by without a prominent leader decrying the degree of inequality in the United States and worldwide. Our view at the Foundation is that inequality …
When William T. Grant established this Foundation in 1936, he wanted, in his words, to support research that would yield new insights about why some people led happy and successful lives and others did not. Armed with this evidence, he reasoned, …
The William T. Grant Foundation invests in high-quality research focused on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and improving the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people in the United States.
