Research Proposals on Costs of Student-Centered Learning at Secondary Schools

Posted by on July 11, 2011

Nellie Mae Education Foundation Invites Research Proposals on Costs of Student-Centered Learning at Secondary Schools
Deadline: July 29, 2011

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, which focuses on the promotion and integration of student-centered approaches to learning at the middle- and high-school levels in New England, is seeking a research team to study cost and funding issues at a small sample of student-centered secondary schools in the U.S.

Through the project, NMEF hopes to learn about how secondary schools allocate resources to support student-centered learning, what sources of revenue they harness, and about the school-level costs of shifting toward student-centered learning approaches to education.

The funded research project will explore the student-centered practices at a small sample of high schools and the costs associated with these practices. NMEF expects that the research will explore costs that arise from the design and development of student-centered practices as well as ongoing implementation costs. The research also will need to differentiate between reallocation of existing dollars, time, and/or staff, and additional new funding obtained by the school.

Desired deliverables for the nine-month grant period include sample selection plan and criteria; comparison school plan and criteria (if necessary); detailed description of categories of revenue and expenditure to be captured in the study; literature review of what is known about school financing; a full report that includes policy recommendations; and one to two conference presentation(s) and one webinar at the conclusion of the research.

To be eligible, applicants must be nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations such as higher education institutions, secondary schools, and other nonprofit organizations that fall under the tax designation 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2) and have an education focus.

The foundation anticipates a total project budget of $100,000, which includes funding for direct support of the research team as well as indirect costs (capped at 15 percent). The foundation also will compensate the selected schools for their participation in the project out of separate budget resources of up to $50,000.

Visit the NMEF Web site for complete program guidelines and application materials.

http://www.nmefdn.org/Grantmaking/Guidelines.aspx