Could you tell me about a Grant that funds Education Research Projects?

Yes, The Spencer Foundation has launched the Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program to support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships.

This grant program is open to partnerships between researchers and a broad array of practitioners. They define practitioners as school districts, county offices of education, state educational organizations, universities, community-based organizations, out-of-school-time providers, informal educators, and other social sectors that significantly impact learners’ lives. As such, they are open to applications from design-based research teams, networked improvement communities, placed-based research alliances, and other partnership arrangements.

While this grant program is open to all partnership configurations across a range of learning contexts, in addition to pre k-12 school systems, they especially encourage applications from partnerships that include scholars and institutions of higher education, rural geographic locations, and partnerships that deeply engage community-based organizations and families.

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals to the Research-Practice Partnership program must be for research and other activities aimed to support collaborative partnerships between the academic researcher(s) and a broad array of a practitioner(s) of education.
• Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Research-Practice Partnership Grant are expected to have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field or demonstrated professional experience appropriate for this program. Note: If the PI or Co-PI from the practice side of the partnership does not have an earned doctorate, they are expected to have the appropriate professional experience to serve in this role in the partnership. While graduate students may be part of the team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.
• The PI must be affiliated with a non-profit organization that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded. The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals. Examples include non-profit colleges, universities, school districts, and research facilities, as well as other non-profit organizations with a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS.
• The PI associated with the administering organization for this grant could be either the practitioner or researcher of the partnership. At least one Co-PI should be from the other member organization(s).
• Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally, however, all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars. Read More