2024 Young Scholars Program – Jun 13

Posted by Foundation for Child Development on May 30, 2023

Foundation for Child Development issues RFP for 2024 Young Scholars Program

The mission of the Foundation for Child Development (FCD) is to harness the power of research to ensure that all young children benefit from early learning experiences that affirm their individual, family, and community assets, fortify them against harmful consequences arising from poverty, racism, prejudice, and discrimination, and strengthen their developmental potential.

To that end, FCD invites LOIs for its 2024 Young Scholars Program. The program funds implementation research that is policy- and practice-relevant and examines the preparation, competency, compensation, well-being, and ongoing professional learning of the early care and education (ECE) workforce. Three specific goals frame the foundation’s current programmatic priority to strengthen the ECE workforce: professionalize the early childhood field and build greater awareness of the status of the early childhood workforce; enhance the quality of professional practice; and improve teacher preparation and ongoing professional learning, with particular attention to the influence and role of institutions of higher education.

Award amounts will be up to $225,000 for primary data collection or a combination of primary and secondary data analysis and up to $180,000 for secondary data analysis.

The foundation supports research related to the ECE workforce that serves the YSP priority population of young children who experience the harmful effects of poverty, racism, xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination from birth to age eight. Priority populations include children from low-income families and/or those experiencing extreme poverty; children of color, including those with Asian American, Latinx, Black/African American, and/or Indigenous backgrounds; children in immigrant or refugee families, including child migrants, undocumented minors, children whose family members have been detained or deported, and dual language and multilingual learnings; children with special education classifications; children experiencing homelessness; and victims of trauma and/or child maltreatment.

To increase the diversity of research perspectives, the foundation encourages applications from scholars from underrepresented groups that have historically experienced poverty, racism, xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination. Such groups include, but are not limited to, researchers of color, first-generation college graduates, researchers from low-income communities and/or immigrant families, and scholars who represent a variety of disciplines and methodological approaches.

To be eligible, researchers must have received their doctoral degrees (e.g., PhD, EdD, PsyD, JD, etc.) between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2022. Physician applicants must have received their MD degrees between January 1, 2011, and June 30, 2022.

Letters of intent are due June 13, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application by October 19, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

For additional information on research focus, eligibility criteria, application instructions, and timeline, see the FCD website.

Deadline: June 13, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. ET (Letters of Intent)