The William T. Grant Foundation’s Education Portfolio and Priorities

1. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org The William T. Grant Foundation’s Education Portfolio and Priorities Robert C. Granger, Ed.D. Materials prepared for a meeting of the Board of the National Education Knowledge Industry Association (NEKIA) Washington, DC November 19, 2004

2. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org Overview of Presentation • Introduction to the William T. Grant Foundation • Overview of WTG current portfolio of education-related grants • Our collective challenge and some “realities” • Possible next steps for NEKIA and members 2

3. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org Snapshot of the William T. Grant Foundation • Established in 1936. • Consistent purpose: some variety in tactics and focus. • $12 million in Grants/year: $ 8 million in investigator-initiated awards; $1.5 million for William T. Grant Scholars; $1.0 million for youth service and other small awards under $25,000; $1.5 million for advocacy, fellowships, special initiatives, program development. • Senior Program Team: Ed Seidman, Rebecca Maynard, Tom Weisner, Brian Wilcox, and Bob Granger. 3

4. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org Mission Statement The mission of the William T. Grant Foundation is to help create a society that values youth and enables them to reach their full potential. 4

5. Logic Model:How WTG’s grantmaking can create a society that values young people and helps them reach their full potential. OUR GRANTMAKING IMPROVES KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNICATION Research Communication Capacity Building KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNICATION HELP IMPROVE SCHOLARSHIP, POLICY, AND PRACTICE Researchers Policymakers Practitioners Funders Advocates SOCIAL SETTINGS1 BETTER SUPPORT2 YOUTH DEVELOPMENT 1. Families Peer Groups Neighborhoods Organizations (Schools, Libraries, Youth Organizations) 2. Supportive relationships with adults and peers Opportunities for Skill building Opportunities to belong Physical and Psychological safety • YOUNG PEOPLE THRIVE • Young people develop the personal and social assets that facilitate positive development. • Physical • Intellectual • Psychological/Emotional • Social 5

6. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org Current Priorities • Youth. Domestic U.S.; ages 8-25; special interest in vulnerable young people. • Youth Development. Understanding how social settings such as families, organizations, and neighborhoods affect young people. • Improving Systems, Organizations, and Programs. Understanding how to durably improve social settings. • Adults’ Use of Evidence. Understanding how scientific evidence affects the knowledge and behavior of influential policymakers and practitioners. 6

7. Characteristics of Successful Research Proposals William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org • A successful proposal: • Matches our current priorities; • Poses important questions for theory and policy practice; • Tackles a few questions well; • Is beyond the pilot phase; • Moves beyond description to intervention or capitalizing on “natural” change; • Meets some of our other special considerations; and • Is preceded by a coherent letter of inquiry, a thoughtful and clear proposal; and a measured response to reviewer comments. 7

8. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org The Current Education Portfolio Education-related grants are approximately 25% of our portfolio (50/200). 54 current or recently completed Education-related grants* can be categorized as follows: after-school (23); K-12 policies and reforms (10); student motivation and involvement (6); influences of culture and family on achievement (9), and post-secondary policies and reforms (6). *A hand-out describing these grants will be available at the meeting and also on our website. 8

9. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org The Current Education Portfolio (cont’d.) • Most of our current grants are either descriptive or intervention studies looking at how a setting (school/family) affects young people. • Very few studies are trying to understand how to intervene and improve schools or other youth organizations (examples of projects that are doing this include Hohmann and Smith; Smith and Smoll; Alexander; Hirsch; Bowen; Quint). • No studies of how or when “influential” scholars, policymakers, and practitioners use research evidence. 9

10. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org The Challenge for the Future We have considerable agreement on the features of a “good school” or a “good youth program”. But we do not know how to create such features when they do not exist. 10

11. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org A Few Realities About Our Challenge • We know much more about how changes in policies (e.g. desegregation policies, class size) and practices (e.g. curricula, staff practices) affect young people than how changes in policy and practice affect school systems, schools, and classrooms. • Change is unlikely without dissatisfaction with the status quo and the knowledge, skills, and resources that will support change (in short: “will” and “capacity”). • We like to learn about new practices from persons we know or trust. Peers are powerful.

12. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org A Few Realities About Our Challenge (cont’d.) • Complex problems usually demand local ownership and adaptation of possible solutions. • Educational achievement and attainment are a function of many things including family, peer, and community influences. But schools (and especially classrooms) make a big difference. • Educational achievement and attainment will not improve without changing the daily experiences of young people (reforms need to penetrate the classroom walls).

13. William T. Grant Foundation www.wtgrantfoundation.org Possible Next Steps for NEKIA and Members • Meet with grantees (we can broker) • Submit Letters of Inquiry that pose important questions and methods up to answering those questions. • Watch for next year’s RFP.