New Capacity-building and Communication Grants to Support Connections Between Research and Practice

Two new grants have been awarded to organizations working to enhance the use and usefulness of research and call attention to issues that affect young people in the United States:

Investigating Researcher-Practitioner Collaboration in Real-life Problems of Practice with English Learners
StandardsWork, Inc.

This grant will support the development of research-practice partnerships to infuse evidence-based instructional practices in classrooms in order to improve literacy outcomes for elementary English language learners. The proposed project will enable practitioners from five medium-sized urban school districts to partner with education intermediaries and researchers who study English language learners (ELs) to incorporate evidence-based EL instructional practices into their existing delivery models. StandardsWork will convene five working groups, each of which will develop an understanding of the relevant evidence-based instructional practices, design a field test action plan for capturing changes in districts and schools, and participate in facilitated sessions to plan ways to implement the recommended evidence-based practices into a school’s EL service delivery model. The initial convening will be followed by a four-to-six month implementation period, after which teams will come together to discuss their experiences and share refined action plans for expanding and sustaining implementation of these evidence-based practices across their districts.

NPR’s Coverage of Children, Youth, and Families
National Public Radio

The grant will support National Public Radio’s continuing coverage of trends and developments that affect youth in the U.S. Through reporting and features on a range of topics in education, the economy, health, crime, and housing, National Public Radio (NPR) has long brought attention to trends and developments that affect young people and families in the United States. The Foundation’s 2017 grant represents a continuation of our ongoing support of these valuable efforts.