Featured Grants
Our grantees often report important and interesting findings during the course of their work. We feature that work here, and update as new grantees begin projects and new findings become available. Featured findings from completed grants are available in the Publications and Reports section of our website.
The Causal Effects of Financial Aid on the Educational Experiences of Low-Income College Students
Principal Investigators: Sara Goldrick-Rab, Ph.D., and Douglas Harris, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison
October 2008–September 2010
$441,503
Will offering increased financial aid to low-income students affect educational outcomes, such as college performance and completion? How will it impact these students’ family and peer relationships? The literature on financial aid suggests that it affects college enrollment, but there is little research on its relationship to college retention and performance. The investigators have designed a financial aid intervention that is being implemented in five public colleges (both two- and four-year schools) and universities in the state of Wisconsin. Approximately 2,400 freshmen currently receiving federal Pell grants have been randomly assigned to receive additional financial aid (a scholarship of $1,700 per semester for up to 10 semesters of full-time enrollment) or the control condition. A subsample of 20 students is being interviewed twice each year and is asked to keep budget logs with detailed information about expenses and income. The interviews use the budget focus as a lens through which to explore the nature and importance of relationships with family and friends and how those relationships influence student behavior.
Improving the Measurement of Classroom Mathematics Instruction
Principal Investigators: Heather Hill, Ph.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education; and
Robin Jacob, Ph.D., and Geoffrey Phelps, Ph.D., University of Michigan
June 2009–May 2012
$400,000
Hill and her research team have been developing a video observation protocol that assesses the teaching of mathematics, and they will use this grant to make it more user-friendly, reliable, and accurate. The grant will focus on improving how the protocol measures teacher and student interactions with mathematical content, and the interactions between teachers and students regarding mathematical content. To refine and improve their measure of the “Mathematical Quality of Instruction” (MQI), the research team will capitalize on data they are collecting in an intervention trial meant to improve math teaching. To assess the accuracy of their protocol, the team will calculate how well it predicts change in student performance on a state test.
Making a Difference: Examining Classrooms Practices in Middle School English Language Arts
Principal Investigators: Pam Grossman, Ph.D., and Susanna Loeb, Ph.D., Stanford University
December 2008–November 2010
$188,446
Is it possible to identify and accurately measure the instructional practices of middle school English/language arts classrooms that predict classroom effects on student achievement? With this grant, Grossman and Loeb will test an observational measure of English/Language Arts instruction that they have developed to supplement the CLASS system. The measure, Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO), includes 10 dimensions of instruction. Building on an initial pilot that incorporated classroom observations, teacher logs, and student work samples, the team will expand their observational study to a sample of 220 6th–8th grade English/language arts teachers in New York City. The analysis will focus on instructional practices that predict teachers' impact on changes in student achievement.
Marital Conflict-Focused Parent Education for Families with Adolescents
Principal Investigators: E. Mark Cummings, Ph.D., Jennifer Cummings, Ph.D. and Brad Faircloth, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame
January 2008–December 2010
$405,995
Can a relatively brief, research based program for parents that focuses on the effects of marital conflict reduce family conflict and improve adolescent outcomes? Does an adolescent program in conjunction with the parent program further reduce family conflict and improve adolescent outcomes? Studies have shown that marital conflict in a family setting has a deleterious effect on youths’ future success. The researchers will introduce an intervention that will teach conflict resolution to help reduce the development of serious family problems, which should result in fewer negative youth outcomes. Families will be randomly assigned either to a parent only treatment group, a parent and adolescent treatment group, a self-study control group, or a no treatment control group, with planned sample sizes of approximately 50 for each group. Intervention groups will meet for four treatment and two booster sessions; and pre, post, six-month and one-year follow-ups are planned. The study includes 200 volunteer families with an adolescent between the ages of 12 and 16 from northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan. This project fits the Foundation’s interest in families as a social setting, and the focus on family processes will advance our understanding of how such processes causally affect youth outcomes.
Understanding Social Network Structure in Schools Under Corrective Action: A Longitudinal Comparative Analysis of Research Use and Diffusion in Urban Districts
Principal Investigators: Alan Daly, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego; and Kara Finnigan, Ph.D., University of Rochester
August 2009–July 2011
$342,246
How do district and school staff acquire, interpret, and use research evidence to reform schools designated as in need of “corrective action” by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)? NCLB created a series of sanctions for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress in improving student achievement. Two years of inadequate progress triggers an improvement phase, which is followed by corrective action sanctions. NCLB also included over 100 references to the use of “scientifically based research” to improve schools. Despite this unprecedented demand on educators to use research within a high-stakes accountability environment, there has been little work examining the use of research evidence in schools. The investigators will explore the use of research evidence in the San Diego Unified and Rochester City School Districts, two urban school districts with a large, increasing number of schools designated as corrective action schools. Both districts serve a disproportionate number of minority youth from low socio-economic backgrounds, especially in the lowest performing schools. In each district, social network surveys will be completed by teachers, school administrators, and district personnel to assess who they approach for information about school improvement, consider as trusted sources, and communicate with regularly. Three to four schools in corrective action will be used for intensive case studies involving interviews with school and district staff, document review, and observations of meetings associated with school improvement.
Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards: An Embedded Child and Family Study of Conditional Cash Transfers
Principal Investigators: James Riccio, Ph.D., MDRC; and J. Lawrence Aber, Ph.D., and Pamela Morris, Ph.D., New York University
October 2009–September 2011
$425,000
How do conditional cash transfers (CCTs) to low-income families affect family social processes, child expectations and motivations, and long-term mental health and behavioral problems? Opportunity New York City Family Rewards (ONCY-Family Rewards) is a CCT program that encourages changes in both parent and child behavior. The cash transfers are given to families that exhibit positive changes in three keys areas: children’s engagement and achievement in school, preventive health care practices for parents and their children, and parents’ employment-related activities. Money is distributed to program participants based on improved health and/or changes in the amount of time parents dedicated to household management versus time at work. The Foundation is funding an add-on to the original study that allows the researchers to focus on how the program impacts family routines and child management. The add-on will focus on 3,000 children and their families in grades 4, 7, and 9. The sample will be selected from among the children and families represented in the full sample of the ONYC-Family Rewards Program evaluation. The add-on assessment will occur approximately two years after families enrolled in the program, at which point the research team will conduct surveys with parents and children.