James S. McDonnell Foundation accepting applications for Teachers as Learners program

Focus for the call: Teachers learning to facilitate communication in the classroom
Pre-proposal deadline: 4:59 p.m. May 8
Invitations to submit full proposal: Aug. 14

• The James S. McDonnell Foundation program will focus on supporting research on teachers as learners that builds from a cognitive science perspective–including a focus on the aspects of cognition (attention, working memory, motivation, reward) that guide teacher thinking and change in attitudes, knowledge, skills and the adoption of evidence-based practices in classroom contexts.
• The foundation is interested in research that can be characterized as useable, needs-driven education research that identifies malleable factors that promote teachers learning to improve their use of evidence-based practice.
• The inaugural call for pre-proposals is focused on supporting team-based research addressing the topic of teachers learning to facilitate communication in the classroom (e.g., eliciting student explanations, guiding collaborative discussions, making effective use of questions).
• It is expected that a typical pre-proposal team will be made up of individuals representing different expertise and skills (e.g. cognitive science, teacher education, classroom teaching, assessment, statisticians, etc.) from different institutions. It is important that the teams include classroom teachers as fully involved partners.
• Pre-proposals should articulate a clear need within the K-12 educational setting that has the potential for broadly shared benefits for society, especially for those historically underserved and those lacking ready access to rich educational resources.

The James S. McDonnell Foundation requests that prospective applicants review all the information provided in the call for pre-proposals carefully, including the topics, team members, and research approaches represented by the inaugural cohort of funded projects prior to preparing a pre-proposal application.

Please email the Office of Research and Graduate Education

if you are interested in pursuing this funding opportunity.