President and Fellows of Harvard College
Project Title
As a final grant for a podcast series on U.S.-China relations
Date
Sep. 11, 2025
Duration
12 months
Description
Rising bilateral tensions between the United States and China have drawn Americans’ attention to China in unprecedented ways. Building off the success of its first two seasons, the next season of the Face Off: US vs China podcast will aim to explain the development of the modern U.S.-China relationship to a broad audience. Episodes will range from the rapid advances of China’s military to its relationship with American allies in the Pacific. Hosted by former New York Times Beijing bureau chief Jane Perlez with commentary from Harvard China historian Rana Mitter, Face Off merges narrative storytelling with expert interviews to create an educational podcast on the nature of the U.S.-China impasse as well as encourage thoughtful and diplomatic solutions to it.
Website
Project Title
For Russia Matters
Date
Sep. 11, 2025
Duration
24 months
Description
Given Russia’s consequential role in world affairs, it is essential for the United States to have aclear and accurate understanding ofdevelopments in its foreign and domestic policies. With support from Carnegie, theRussia Matters website was launched in 2016 to offer fact-based analysis, data, and informed debate on the factors shaping Russian behavior. It serves expert and policymaking communities in the English-speaking world, as well as the general public. With final funding, the site will continue to grow its content by commissioning new research and analysis on topics such as Russia’s political, economic, and social stability; U.S.-Russia strategic relations; and the future of Euro-Atlantic security. The grant will support the production of research, publications, convenings, and briefings.
Website
Project Title
For project support to the Applied Social Media Lab to implement the Frankly platform in youth dialogue projects
Date
Dec. 11, 2025
Duration
0 months
Description
In today’s polarized climate, the need for constructive dialogue among diverse groups is more urgent than ever. And in an increasingly online world, digital tools designed to foster deliberation and empathy are essential for advancing prosocial civic discourse among young people. In response to this pressing societal need, the Applied Social Media Lab at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center (BKC) developed Frankly, the only open-source video discourse platform natively built for structured civil dialogue. Frankly offers unique features including organized agendas within conversations and algorithmic group matching for balanced breakouts. With support from Carnegie, BKC will complete a 12-month pilot in partnership with two of the Education Program’s current grantees—Columbia University’s Center for Public Research & Leadership and Narrative 4—to adapt Frankly for use in their youth civic education programs. Frankly will host at least twenty events over a one-year pilot, receiving real-time feedback from these partners as they implement and refine new features and document outcomes to inform broader adoption by educational and civic organizations.
Website
Project Title
As a final grant for core support of Managing the Atom
Date
Dec. 11, 2025
Duration
24 months
Description
Rising tensions among nuclear-armed powers and the shift toward an increasingly multipolar world have heightened concerns about nuclear risk and instability. With renewed core support, Harvard’s Managing the Atom (MTA) program at the Belfer Center will continue to advance policy-relevant research on deterrence, nonproliferation, and the future of nuclear policy. Drawing on a global network of scholars and a longstanding reputation for fact-based analysis, the program combines original research with participation in Track II dialogues, engagement with policymakers, and training for emerging experts. Together, these activities reflect MTA’s approach to reducing nuclear risks and developing the next generation of nuclear experts.
Website
Project Title
As a final grant on a podcast series on U.S.-China relations
Date
Dec. 12, 2024
Duration
12 months
Description
Rising bilateral tensions between the United States and China have drawn Americans’ attention to China in unprecedented ways. But accessible resources examining the state of Sino-American relations for the general public remain scarce. Building off the success of its first season, Harvard University’s Belfer Center will produce the second season of Face Off: US vs China, a limited podcast series that seeks to explain the development of the modern U.S.-China relationship to a broad audience. Episodes will range from Beijing and Washington’s competition over semiconductors to the U.S. debate on TikTok. Hosted by former New York Times Beijing bureau chief Jane Perlez with commentary from Harvard China historian Rana Mitter, Face Off will merge narrative storytelling with expert interviews to create an educational podcast on the nature of the U.S.-China impasse as well as encourage thoughtful and diplomatic solutions to it.
Website
Project Title
As a final grant to support of Deeper Learning Dozen: Developing a New Approach to Equitable and Humane Systems Change
Date
Sep. 12, 2024
Duration
24 months
Description
Founded in 2018, the Deeper Learning Dozen (DLD) supports superintendents and their teams, through a community of practice, to transform their school districts to support equitable access to deeper learning experiences and outcomes for all students and adults. “Deeper learning” is defined as learning, which is purposeful, engaging, and helps students gain the necessary knowledge, skills, and critical capacities that will prepare them for college, careers, community, and citizenship. While a small number of students experience deeper learning, few if any districts are achieving this at scale, particularly districts serving large numbers of high poverty students and students of color. DLD supports district improvement efforts to provide deeper learning for all by centering programming around: changes in leadership approach, school and district systems, adult learning, and pedagogy. A grant from the Corporation will support DLD’s community of practice, individual advising to participating districts, and completion and dissemination of their District Transformation Playbook.
Website
Project Title
For core support of Managing the Atom
Date
Jun. 06, 2024
Duration
24 months
Description
Heightened tensions between nuclear weapon states and the increasingly multipolar nature of world order have exacerbated concerns about nuclear risks and instability. With renewed funding, Harvard’s Managing the Atom (MTA) program will continue to analyze these problems and develop policy solutions for future arms control, understanding the role of nuclear weapons in security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and identifying and addressing the long-term risks of Iranian nuclear proliferation. MTA staff will also continue participation in international Track II dialogues and targeted outreach to policymakers.
Website
Project Title
As a final grant for advancing EdRedesign's Success Planning Initiative
Date
Jun. 06, 2024
Duration
24 months
Description
Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Education Redesign Lab (EdRedesign) was founded in 2014 with the belief that all children and youth, especially those affected by racism and poverty, should have clear and accessible pathways to well-being, educational attainment, upward mobility, and opportunities to succeed in school and in life. EdRedesign’s Success Planning Initiative works with families to develop personalized plans that leverage the opportunities available in their communities. By articulating a path forward and providing families with direct and long-term support, EdRedesign aims to increase the likelihood that students will successfully complete their high school and postsecondary education, setting them on a positive career trajectory. With continued support from the Corporation, EdRedesign will provide coaching to sixteen cross-sector community teams through its Community of Practice, build capacity around success planning through resources, tools, and training, and codify and disseminate tools and learnings related to the impact of success planning on students.
Website
Project Title
For core support of Opportunity Insights
Date
Sep. 12, 2024
Duration
24 months
Description
Opportunity Insights (OI), a nonpartisan research and policy institute focused on improving economic opportunity, utilizes big data to document both the decline of upward mobility and potential solutions to revive it. Their model is designed to produce foundational scientific research, translate this research to both scholars and non-academic audiences, and ultimately inform policies that increase upward mobility. Since its founding in 2018, OI has released a series of studies that have made fundamental contributions to the science of economic opportunity, sparked significant policy changes in domains ranging from federal affordable housing to higher education to the design of economic stimulus programs, and trained a diverse new generation of scholars and practitioners focused on economic opportunity. With support from the Corporation, OI will undertake three related projects focused on how postsecondary education can be an engine of mobility: exploring how to increase economic diversity in higher education access; understanding college value-add; and strengthening the evidence on workforce program impacts.
Website
Project Title
For support of the Education Recovery Scorecard
Date
Sep. 12, 2024
Duration
12 months
Description
Launched in 2022 by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, the Education Recovery Scorecard (ERS) has served as a critical resource for assessing pandemic-related educational losses at the district and state levels. With Corporation support, the 2022 Scorecard analyzed achievement changes as a result of the pandemic across nearly 8,000 districts in forty-one states, and provided insights into additional factors within districts, such as annual instructional budgets, that impacted student learning during the pandemic. With additional Corporation support, the 2023 edition was the first national report on the pace of recovery in individual districts across the country. CEPR is seeking to expand the Scorecard beyond its focus on pandemic recovery to make it a trusted annual source of local student outcome data, including student achievement and other outcomes such as chronic absenteeism. Continued support will allow CEPR to update and expand the ERS with new and broader data, conduct analysis and publish reports on the relationship between (1) absenteeism and recovery and (2) federal pandemic relief, and widely promote the Scorecard and related analysis and reports in local and national media.
Website
Project Title
For a global scholars network on identity and conflict
Date
Mar. 07, 2024
Duration
36 months
Description
The world is witnessing the rise of nationalism and polarization. In response to these trends, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University launched the Global Scholars Network on Identity and Conflict (GSNIC). The international and interdisciplinary network aims to improve intergroup relationsin conflict-affected regions by constructing and maintaining aglobal intellectual community of scholars with expertise in “identity politics.” Corporation grant willsupport analyses on the roots of violence waged in the name of ethnicity, religion, or other identities and effective ways to addressing it.
Website
Project Title
For support of an initiative to reinvigorate civic education in America
Date
Dec. 12, 2024
Duration
0 months
Description
An initiative of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University, the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn (DKP-Learn) conducts research on civic learning, co-designs curricular resources with educators, offers professional learning opportunities, and develops assessment tools and resources—all in support of education for and about constitutional democracy. With Corporation support, the Democratic Knowledge Project-Learn will enhance its efforts in K-12 civic learning, provide professional development for K-12 educators in the civic learning space, and scale the implementation of the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Roadmap. This groundbreaking effort convened a diverse, cross-ideological group of scholars and educators to create guidance and an “inquiry framework” that states, local school districts, and educators can use to transform history and civics education to meet the needs of today’s diverse K–12 student body.
Website
Project Title
For a project on Scholars Without Borders
Date
Mar. 07, 2024
Duration
27 months
Description
Given the implications of Russia’s war on Ukraine foracademic communities, among others, the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies has launched a Scholars Without Borders (SWB) initiative to support scholars in Ukraine affiliated with Ukrainian institutionsand scholars who fled Russia. With support from the Corporation, SWB will aim to:Improvesocial capital by helping academics build international networks, local ties, and professional skills; createan online resource to allow affected scholars to identifygrant competitions and employment opportunities; and provideresearch grants to spur cooperation amongscholarly communities. The grant will support administrative and operational costs.
Website
Project Title
For the development of the 2023 Education Recovery Scorecard
Date
Dec. 14, 2023
Duration
12 months
Description
With support from the Corporation, researcher Tom Kane has released numerous reports exploring the ramifications of the pandemic on student learning loss. These reports examined learning loss due to missed instructional hours and the efficacy of specific interventions, such as tutoring, in facilitating academic recovery.In 2022, Kane, with support from the Corporation, developedthe 2022 Education Recovery Scorecard (ERS), which provided district-level data that allowed the education sector, inclusive of USDOE, states, districts, and researchers, the opportunity to understand further how remote instruction, federal dollars expenditure, and other factors impacted students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. With continued support from the Corporation, Kane endeavors to develop the 2023 Education Recovery Scorecard, which will provide state and district level data on the first year of academic recovery post the pandemic, by analyzing state-level test scores relative to 2022 NAEP scores. From this analysis, Kane aims to identify exemplars of districts that had losses and have made substantial improvements to combat inertia and identify promising paths forward.
Website
Project Title
For Russia Matters
Date
Dec. 14, 2023
Duration
27 months
Description
It is critical that the U.S. understanding of Russia is grounded in accurate and factual information. With Corporation support, the Russia Matters website was launched in 2016 to provide empirically grounded analyses, interpretations, data, and debate on the drivers of Russian behavior to anglophone expert andpolicymaking communities, as well asthe general public. With renewed support, the website will continue to expand its content production by commissioning new analyses and research on Russia’s political, economic, and social stability; U.S.-Russia strategic relations; and the future of Euro-Atlantic security. The grant will result in research, publications, convenings, and briefings.
Website
Project Title
For Scholars without Borders
Date
Jun. 08, 2023
Duration
12 months
Description
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused significant security, economic, and social disruption in Europe, including the dislocation of thousands of academic professors and researchers from Ukraine, Russia, and other states in the region. With Corporation support, the Davis Center at Harvard University will initiate a pilot program to support Ukrainian and Russian academics to continue their scholarship and maintain connections with their peers around the world. The program will entail the development of professional services to help displaced academics outside or within their countries, alongside the formation of an international network. Program principals will cooperate with other nongovernmental institutions assisting displaced scholars in the region in developing and implementing a comprehensive and longer-term approach to supporting trans-national scholarship.
Website
Project Title
As a one-time grant for a podcast series on U.S.-China relations
Date
Dec. 14, 2023
Duration
7 months
Description
Rising bilateral tensions between the United States and China have drawn Americans’ attention to China in unprecedented ways. But accessible resources examining Sino-American relations for the general public remain scarce. Responding to this need, Harvard University’s Belfer Center will produce Face Off: China, The West and the World, an eight-episode podcast series that seeks to explain the development of the modern U.S.-China relationship to a broad audience. Episodes will range from how Beijing and Washington spy on each other to Apple’s history of success and uncertain future in China. Co-hosted by Harvard China historian Rana Mitter and former New York Times Beijing bureau chief Jane Perlez, Face Off will merge narrative storytelling with expert interviews to create an educational podcast on the nature of the U.S.-China impasse and what can be done about it.
Website
Project Title
For advancing EdRedesign’s talent development and research priorities
Date
Mar. 09, 2023
Duration
15 months
Description
The pandemic has put into stark relief the fallibility of our public systems, with those most marginalized, bearing the brunt of interrupted learning, housing instability, and food insecurity to name a few. In the pursuit of equity and social justice, and to furtherance of design equitable systems, EdRedesign supports the field to build cross-sector, community-wide systems of support and opportunity over children from birth to adulthood. With support from the Corporation, EdRedesign will (1) launch a Fellowship over Cross-Sector Leadership to develop community leaders and their teams who can manage complex, cross-sector initiatives that yield positive outcomes over children and youth at scale (2) create data-focused proof points, practical resources and toolkits, and case studies that highlight key lessons, challenges, and strategies over the field.
Website
Project Title
For support of Deeper Learning Dozen: Developing a New Approach to Equitable and Humane Systems Change
Date
Sep. 15, 2022
Duration
30 months
Description
Founded in the fall of 2017, the Deeper Learning Dozen (D.L.D.) supports superintendents and their teams, through a community of practice, to transform their school districts to support equitable access to deeper learning experiences and outcomes for all students and adults. D.L.D. does this by centering programming around: changes in leadership approach, school and district systems, adult learning, and pedagogy. The main problem D.L.D. aims to address is the inequitable access to deeper learning experiences. There are many classrooms, and some schools, which enable their students to engage in what is increasingly being called “deeper learning” – learning which is purposeful, engaging, and helps students gain the necessary knowledge, skills, and critical capacities that will prepare them for college, careers, community, and citizenship. But while these classrooms and schools show that it can be done, there are few, if any, districts that are achieving this at scale, especially districts serving large numbers of high poverty students and students of color. The Corporation will providesupport to twelve districts currently engaged in the initiative.
Website
Project Title
For core support of Managing the Atom project
Date
Jun. 09, 2022
Duration
24 months
Description
Policymakers require new approaches and analyses on the many nuclear security challenges facing the United States and the world, from North Korea’s nuclear program to the deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations that impacts the nuclear policies of the two major nuclear powers. Harvard University’s Managing the Atom (MTA)project has a track record of identifying, incubating, and advancing solutions.This core support grant will allow MTAto adapt its research and outreach efforts to the highest priority challenges in the nuclear security field, and to engage with U.S. and international partners to promote practical risk reduction steps.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the Journalist's Resource at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy
Date
Dec. 08, 2022
Duration
24 months
Description
Founded in 1986, the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School is dedicated to bridging the gap between academia and journalism. While academic research can be a valuable resource for journalists, journalists are often unable to identify quality research or efficiently incorporate them into their reporting. Many do not have research methods training or the time to sift through academic journals. The Shorenstein Center launched the Journalist’s Resource to help journalism instructors to teach “knowledge-based journalism,” which entails incorporating academic research into reporting and storytelling. The Journalist’s Resource has since evolved into a resource hub that gives critical support to working journalists, providing accessible issue expertise to newsrooms during a time when they are severely understaffed. With renewed Corporation support, the Shorenstein Center will further expand the reach of the Journalist’s Resource. The center will recruit scholars and fellows, convene experts and practitioners, and disseminate resources, helping to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
Website
Project Title
For support the development of the Education Recovery Scorecard
Date
Dec. 08, 2022
Duration
12 months
Description
Data has shown that millions of students have fallen behind as a result of the pandemic. Parents and policymakers, however, currently do not have access to the data they need for gauging the magnitude of their school districts’ achievement losses in the context of national losses. The transparency of a districts performance relative to similar districts across the nation, will help in determining whether districts’ plans are likely to be sufficient to help students catch up. For this project, Harvard will develop the Education Recovery Scorecard, which will allow users to 1) identify the level of learning loss caused by the disruptions of the past 3 years, 2) compare those levels across subgroups and districts (including districts in other states), and 3) monitor districts’ progress in recovering from this learning loss in future years. This will give local actors the information they need to monitor education recovery and press for more changes if current strategies are insufficient.
Website
Project Title
For research on the effectiveness of COVID-19 educational recovery efforts
Date
Dec. 02, 2021
Duration
18 months
Description
Data has shown that millions of students have fallen behind as a result of the pandemic. While schools are beginning to implement new programs to address student learning loss, state data systems will unfortunately not provide the evidence that districts need to manage students’ recovery, assess the effectiveness of new programs, and adjust their strategies as needed. Through this project, Harvard and their research partners will partner with districts to track student participation in recovery interventions and utilize interim assessment data to quickly and accurately assess the impact of these interventions. The project will be the primary source of evidence on the rate of COVID catch-up and on the efficacy of alternative COVID catch-up strategies in the United States. It also will serve to maximize the impact of federal recovery dollars and will inform and encourage districts and states to allocate the dollars toward the most effective strategies.
Website
Project Title
For support to Russia Matters
Date
Dec. 02, 2021
Duration
24 months
Description
The importance of U.S. policy toward Russia necessitates access to in-depth information about Russia’s domestic and foreign policies. The Russia Matters website was launched several years ago to serve as a platform for analyses, interpretations, factual data, and discussions about Russia and U.S.-Russian relations. With continued support, this website will expand content and dissemination outreach with the goal of providing reliable, objective, and educational information and analyses to a wide spectrum of audiences interested in the subject.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the Education Redesign Lab
Date
Jun. 03, 2021
Duration
12 months
Description
Despite facing greater challenges related to health, safety, and academic performance, students living in poverty continue to have relatively limited access to high quality schools and enrichment opportunities as compared to their more affluent peers. Addressing this challenge will require integrated systems of support that bring together multiple community stakeholders to attend to the broad spectrum of student needs within and outside of the classroom.This is precisely the work of the Education Redesign Lab (the Lab) at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE).With Corporation support since 2017, the Lab has worked with city teams—comprising mayors, superintendents, and key cross-sector community leaders—to develop comprehensive systems of education and child support in those cities.The Lab has also developed and shared resources, and facilitated a broader network of cities,so that innovations can be implemented beyond the Lab’s partner communities.Renewed support will enable the continuation and next iteration of this work.
Website
Project Title
For the Education Redesign Lab’s next phase of work, with a focus on the research agenda for cross-sector collaborations and the launch of a national Success Planning community of practice
Date
Sep. 02, 2021
Duration
18 months
Description
In the pursuit of equity and social justice, EdRedesign supports the field to build cross-sector, community-wide systems of support and opportunity for children from birth to adulthood.They aim to advance principles of effective practice in two interrelated focus areas: (1) cross-sector collaborations, which bring together government, schools, and community organizations to coordinate supports and opportunities for children, supported by a backbone organization; and (2) success planning, through which each child in a community is paired with a caring adult navigator, who utilizes the infrastructure created through cross-sector organizations to help the child access supports and opportunities based on their individual needs and interests, both in and out of school. This grant supports a broad research agenda on cross-sector collaborations and the launch of a national community of practice focused on success planning.
Website
Project Title
For support of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics’ work to develop and pilot renewed civics education curriculum
Date
Dec. 02, 2021
Duration
38 months
Description
For the last forty years, the dominant educational policy paradigm has focused almost exclusively on education’s vocational purpose: the goal has been to ensure that young people, and society generally, can compete in a global economy. The result has been increased investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM) and correspondingly reduced outlays for the humanities. As civic-minded organizations seek to rebuild history and civic learning, however, it is also important to deepen formal understanding of success in the civic learning space. The Democratic Knowledge Project (DKP) is a K-12 civic education provider based at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. With Corporation support, the DKP will strengthen its K-12 civic education curricula by engaging families, school districts, and administrators to ensure that classroom content is equitable and adaptable enough to address the values, perspectives, and concerns of the diverse students and communities served.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the Education Redesign Lab
Date
Jun. 04, 2020
Duration
12 months
Description
Despite facing greater challenges related to health, safety, and academic performance, students living in poverty continue to have relatively limited access to high quality schools and enrichment opportunities as compared to their more affluent peers.Addressing this challenge will require integrated systems of support that bring together multiple community stakeholders to attend to the broad spectrum of student needs within and outside of the classroom.This is precisely the work of the Education Redesign Lab (the Lab) at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). With Corporation supportsince2017, the Lab hasworked withcity teams—comprising mayors, superintendents, and keycross-sectorcommunity leaders—todevelop comprehensive systems of education and child supportin those cities.The Lab has alsodevelopedand shared resources so thatinnovations canbeimplemented beyond the Lab’sninepartner communities.Renewed support willenable the continuation and next iteration of this work.
Website
Project Title
For core support of Managing the Atom
Date
Jun. 04, 2020
Duration
24 months
Description
Policymakers require new approaches and analysis on the many nuclear security challenges facing the United States and the world, from North Korea’s nuclear program to the deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations that impacts the nuclear policies of the two major nuclear powers. Harvard University’s Managing the Atom (MTA)project has a track record of identifying, incubating, and advancing solutions.This core support grant will allow MTAto adapt its research and outreach efforts to the highest priority challenges in the nuclear security field, and to engage with U.S. and international partners to promote practical risk reduction steps.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
Date
Sep. 10, 2020
Duration
24 months
Description
In the era of political polarization and “fake news,” it is critical that journalists provide the public with substantive and factual reporting. Academic research can increase the accuracy of news and provide much-needed context for individual stories, but many journalists do not know where to find trustworthy research or how to properly incorporate it into their reporting. To address these deficits, in 2015, Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy created the Journalist’s Resource, an online database containing curated academic and government research findings selected for their relevance to current challenges facing American society. The center works to make this information accessible to non-academics by translating complex statistics into logical data points and reformulating esoteric terminology into clear language. This tool enables reporters to incorporate scientific evidence and high-quality, peer-reviewed research into their stories. With Corporation support, the Shorenstein Center will continue to improve and expand the Journalists Resource.
Website
Project Title
For support of a project to explore policy opportunities that would expand voter participation in the United States
Date
Jun. 04, 2020
Duration
12 months
Description
In 2018, more than 118 million people turned out to vote in the United States midterm elections. While it was the highest turnout for any midterm election since 1914—at which point women had not yet won the right to vote—it represented only 53.4 percent of eligible voters, leaving the voices of nearly half of the voting-eligible population unheard. Based at Harvard University, the Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation is partnering with the Brookings Institution to explore innovative reforms to the country’s voting systems and voting culture. With Corporation support, the Ash Center will engage with voting rights leaders, scholars, election officials, policymakers, and organizers around key issues in American democracy. The center will also produce a report on potential solutions to help increase voter participation in the United States.
Website
Project Title
For support of the Edmond J. Safra Center’s role in developing and piloting renewed civics education curriculum
Date
Jun. 04, 2020
Duration
18 months
Description
In 2012, the United States Department of Education acknowledged that civic learning and democratic engagement in the United States have become “add-ons” rather than “essential parts of the core academic missions” of schools. Housed at Harvard University, the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics is incubating a national initiative for renewed civic education at all levels of schooling, including K-12, higher education, continuing education, and teacher professional development. With Corporation support, the center will further develop its programming for students and educators, expand its network of partner school districts in Massachusetts, and promote its model in additional states.
Website
Project Title
For planning that helps EdRedesign chart its next phase of work focused on policy change at the federal, state and local levels that will enable communities to significantly expand cradle-to-career support systems for children
Date
Dec. 10, 2020
Duration
6 months
Description
The Education Redesign Lab is committed to closing education and opportunity gaps for children across the U.S. This planning grant will enable the Lab to build upon their experience supporting forty-fivecommunities across the country to create Children’s Cabinets and support integrated child development and education systems dedicated to improving child well-being. In addition to mapping out the next phase of work for the Lab, the strategic plan that results from this grant will also include: (1) a strategy for building broad support for the expansion of effective local collaborative models to improve child-wellbeing; (2) the identification of critical federal, state, and local policy and budgetary levers for creating cradle-to-career support systems for children and youth; and (3) the identification of two states to pilot a policy agenda for expanding effective local cross-sector collaborative models.
Website
Project Title
For support of the Edmond J. Safra Center’s role in developing and piloting renewed civics education curriculum in Massachusetts public schools
Date
Jun. 13, 2019
Duration
12 months
Description
In 2012, the United States Department of Education acknowledged that civic learning and democratic engagement in the United States have become “add-ons” rather than “essential parts of the core academic missions” of schools. A recent nationwide survey of more than 40,000 adults revealed a majority of respondents in forty-nine states were unable to pass the U.S. citizenship test, which tests basic U.S. history and civics knowledge. Housed at Harvard University, the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics is incubating a national initiative for renewed civic education at all levels of schooling. With Corporation support, the center will partner with Massachusetts teachers and school districts to develop curricular materials and active learning exercises for eighth grade civics courses in Massachusetts. The center will provide consulting services to teachers as they transform their curriculum to meet the state’s new civics standards. If successful, this will be a model for working in other states.
Website
Project Title
For the web portal Russia Matters
Date
Dec. 05, 2019
Duration
24 months
Description
The importance of U.S. policy toward Russia necessitates access to in-depth information about Russia’s domestic and foreign policies. The Russia Matters website was launched four years ago to serve as a platform for analyses, interpretations, factual data, and discussions about Russia and U.S.-Russian relations. With continued support, this website will expand content and dissemination outreach with the goal of providing reliable, objective, and educational information and analyses to a wide spectrum of audiences interested in the subject.
Website
Project Title
For support of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics' Democratic Knowledge Project
Date
Mar. 08, 2018
Duration
12 months
Description
In 2012, the United States Department of Education acknowledged that civic learning and democratic engagement have become “add-ons” rather than “essential parts of the core academic missions” of schools and college campuses. Over the past decade, many civic leaders—including former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Florida Senator Bob Graham—have been actively working to revamp and recalibrate civic education in the United States. The Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, housed at Harvard University, has been working to amplify the university’s own renewed focus on civic education. With Corporation support, the Safra Center will help develop a robust, ideologically diverse civics program at Harvard University, as well as set the foundation for the university’s broader civics initiative, which will aim to serve as a national model for higher education. The center will also explore the possibility of a national commission to disseminate a new generation of innovations in civic education and learning, as part of its effort to engage universities in a national conversation on rejuvenating American civic education.
Website
Project Title
For the Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations
Date
Dec. 06, 2018
Duration
58 months
Description
Despite the tensions between the United States and Russia, global stability and the interests of both countries call for expert level engagements. A Working Group on U.S.-Russia Relations, coordinated by Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow brings together experts in international relations to discuss and debate the dynamics between the two powers and their global implications. Comprised of both rising and established scholars from leading American and Russian institutions, the Group enables participants with different perspectives to advance mutual understanding, analysis, training, and networking. The Group’s written outputs reflect American and Russian perspectives on key global challenges and the options for addressing them.
Website
Project Title
For developing and launching an Institute model for Proving Ground, an initiative of the Center for Education Policy Research.
Date
Sep. 13, 2018
Duration
51 months
Description
As states, districts, and schools increasingly move towards using evidence-based practices to drive continuous improvement at the school level, a number of limitations, including cost, time, and capacity, prevent them from fully leveraging data and analysis. As a result, school districts are constantly cycling through new initiatives, with no valid way to know which are working and which are not. To address this challenge, Proving Ground, an initiative of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, has launched a collaborative network of state, district, and charter management organizations that makes analytical results more readily available and widespread in order to learn together about what is working and what is not in U.S. education. The goal is to provide education leaders with better evidence in order to inform decision making, improve implementation, and assess impact. This grant supports the development and launch of an Institute to provide intensive support to pipeline districts not yet in the network.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the Education Redesign Lab
Date
Sep. 13, 2018
Duration
21 months
Description
Despite facing greater challenges related to health, safety, and academic performance, students living in poverty continue to have relatively limited access to high quality schools and enrichment opportunities as compared to their more affluent peers. Program staff recognize that addressing this challenge will require integrated systems of support that bring together multiple community stakeholders to attend to the broad spectrum of student needs within and outside of the classroom. This is precisely what the Education Redesign Lab (the Lab) at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) has begun to create through By All Means (BAM), a multi-year initiative that develops comprehensive child wellbeing and education systems in six cities by bringing together mayors, superintendents, and key community leaders from social service, recreational, and cultural institutions. Current Corporation support has enabled the launch and first iteration of the BAM initiative, as well as associated research and policy activities, and this proposal builds upon that work.
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Project Title
For the Journalist's Resource
Date
Dec. 06, 2018
Duration
24 months
Description
In the era of political polarization and “fake news,” it is more critical than ever that journalists provide the public with substantive and factual reporting. Academic research can increase the accuracy of news and provide much-needed context for individual stories. However, many journalists do not know where to find trustworthy research or how to use it in their reporting, do not have the time to sift through lengthy journal articles, or, when reporting on research, do not know how to avoid common pitfalls that inadvertently lead to misinformation. Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy has created the Journalist’s Resource, an online database containing curated academic and government research findings selected for their relevance to current the challenges facing American society. The center works to make arcane information accessible to non-academics by translating complex statistics into logical data points and reformulating esoteric terminology into clear language. This tool enables reporters to incorporate scientific evidence and high-quality, peer-reviewed research into their stories, essentially acting as a research desk for newsrooms with few other resources. With renewed Corporation support, the Shorenstein Center will continue to improve and expand the Journalists Resource.
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Project Title
For the web portal, "Russia Matters"
Date
Dec. 07, 2017
Duration
24 months
Description
The importance of U.S. policy toward Russia necessitates access to in-depth information about Russia’s domestic and foreign policies. The Russia Matters website was launched two years ago to serve as a platform for analyses, interpretations, factual data, and discussions about Russia and U.S.-Russian relations. With continued support, this website will expand content and dissemination outreach with the goal of providing reliable and objective information and analyses to a wide spectrum of audiences interested in the subject.
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Project Title
For enhancing district capacity to gather and use evidence through participation in the Proving Ground project out of the Center for Education Policy Research
Date
Sep. 07, 2017
Duration
12 months
Description
As states, districts and schools increasingly move towards using evidence-based practices to drive continuous improvement at the school level, a number of limitations, including cost, timeframe and capacity, prevent them from fully leveraging data and analysis. As a result, school districts are constantly cycling through new initiatives, with no valid way to know which are working and which are not. The Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University was founded in 2006 to address this and related issues, with the goal of providing education leaders with better evidence to guide their decisions. In 2016, they launched Proving Ground, a collaborative network of state, district and charter management organizations (CMOs) learning together about what is working and what is not in U.S. education, by making analytical results more readily available and widespread in order to improve implementation, assess impact, and inform decision-making. This grant supports the start-up costs for four districts to join Proving Ground, after which the districts will cover the annual operating costs.
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Project Title
For core support of Managing the Atom
Date
Dec. 07, 2017
Duration
27 months
Description
Policymakers in the United States and abroad confront no shortage of nuclear security challenges, from North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests to the deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations to the uncertain future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (known as the Iran deal). The scope and the significance of these and other challenges with nuclear undertones require fresh ideas, perspectives, and analyses. Harvard University’s Managing the Atom project (MTA) has a track record of identifying and incubating new approaches and potential solutions. This core support grant will allow MTA to adapt its research and outreach efforts to the highest priority challenges as they emerge, and engage with U.S. and international partners to identify and promote practical risk reduction steps.
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Project Title
For support of Education Redesign Lab's ‘By All Means’ initiative and related research, policy, and knowledge-building activities
Date
Mar. 02, 2017
Duration
18 months
Description
Addressing the widening achievement and opportunity gaps between poor children and their more affluent counterparts will require solutions that extend beyond the school building and consider students’ socio-emotional development alongside their academic growth. The Education Redesign Lab (ERL) at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is working with multi-agency city teams to develop cross-functional solutions offering students high-quality schools options and the kinds of enrichment, tutoring, and extra-curricular opportunities that middle and upper class families enjoy. With support from the Corporation, ERL will partner with city leaders to design integrated systems of support for high-poverty children in each of the six cities included in the By All Means initiative—Newton, Somerville, and Salem, MA, Providence, RI, Oakland, CA, and Louisville, KY—and undertake related research, policy, and dissemination activities to benefit a national audience.
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Project Title
For a research project related to liberal arts and sciences in the 21st Century
Date
Sep. 08, 2016
Duration
24 months
Description
Howard Gardner is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and founding member of Project Zero (PZ), an educational research group. In 2013, the project “Liberal Arts and Sciences in the 21st Century” was launched by PZ with a goal to preserve an education the liberal arts and sciences while rethinking and reinventing this form of education for our times. In 2015 the Corporation provided funding in support of an in-depth study of the perspectives of stakeholders (students, parents, faculty, senior staff, alumni, and trustees) at a diverse group of campuses to ascertain alignments or misalignments among the constituencies with respect to the goals, values, and means of implementing quality post-secondary education. With Corporation support, the project will expand the study to include three community colleges, the results of which will be shared with second school educations and to use this information to inform policy at the local and national levels.
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Project Title
For support of the Meselson Chemical and Biological Weapons Archive and Website
Date
Jun. 09, 2016
Duration
12 months
Description
In the 1960s, biologist Matthew Meselson was an arms control consultant who advised the Richard Nixon Administration to renounce biological weapons (BW). In the decades that followed, Meselson’s expertise influenced policy as the United States signed the BW Treaty, banned the development of the weapons and adopted efforts to control their spread. A few years ago, Meselson offered to make publicly available his collection of historically relevant documents related to major developments regarding BW and chemical weapons nonproliferation; the Corporation has supported the effort. This grant will continue to scan and make publicly available Meselson’s letters, memoranda, interviews, and visual materials relevant to the adoption and subsequent implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 and the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, both of which directly involved Meselson.
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Project Title
For the Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations
Date
Dec. 10, 2015
Duration
36 months
Description
The deterioration of the U.S.-Russia relationship from the time of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war through the Obama Administration’s attempt to reset the relationship led a group of Russia experts at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (Davis Center) to create a working group of experts from the two countries. The objective of the group was to cultivate fresh ideas and innovative approaches to problem solving about the U.S.-Russia relationship, which the group’s organizers considered crucial to international peace and stability. Despite the current aggravated bilateral relationship, the Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations (Working Group) has accelerated the flow of ideas, generated engagement, and provided regular interaction among its members. We recommend this proposal for support so that the Working Group’s biannual meetings and resultant publications can continue.
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Project Title
For support for the project "Technology and the Contemporary Self"
Date
Sep. 17, 2015
Duration
53 months
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Project Title
For a research project related to liberal arts and sciences in the 21st Century
Date
Jun. 04, 2015
Duration
12 months
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Project Title
For strengthening nuclear security and nonproliferation policies
Date
Sep. 17, 2015
Duration
30 months
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Project Title
For the web portal, "Russia Matters"
Date
Dec. 10, 2015
Duration
24 months
Description
There is a systemic lack of knowledge of Russia among U.S. policymakers and shapers, despite the fact that the policies of Russia affect U.S. national interests profoundly. The decline of Russia expertise in the United States has occurred even though in many respects Russia-related graduate training and research there has remained strong. The drop is dangerous, given the ways that Russia continues to matter to the United States. A team at the Belfer Center of Harvard University (Belfer) proposes to launch a web portal that would become a single go-to web site on all things Russia. It would generate in-depth analysis and build expert capacity. The proposed portal would partner with U.S. organizations and individuals that possess the best expertise on Russia to generate analysis and products on Russia and U.S. policies toward the country.
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Project Title
For a conference on US-Russia Relations
Date
Sep. 11, 2014
Duration
4 months
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Project Title
For meetings of the Carnegie-Knight Journalism Deans and for Journalist’s Resource
Date
Dec. 04, 2014
Duration
38 months
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Project Title
For executive training programs for military officers and policymakers
Date
Sep. 11, 2014
Duration
32 months
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Project Title
For work to strengthen nuclear security and safeguards and promote International Atomic Energy Agency reform
Date
Jun. 06, 2013
Duration
26 months
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Project Title
As a one-time grant for scholar mobility fellowships to U.S. universities in support of social scientists from the Arab region
Date
Sep. 12, 2013
Duration
48 months
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Project Title
For the Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations
Date
Jun. 06, 2013
Duration
30 months
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For training programs for military officers and policymakers
Date
Jun. 14, 2012
Duration
30 months
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For a project to study the effects of decreasing social mobility on Americans' attitudes toward immigrants
Date
Jun. 14, 2012
Duration
12 months
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Project Title
For a study of higher order skills and school design at secondary schools
Date
Jun. 14, 2012
Duration
45 months
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For a working group on the future of U.S.- Russian relations
Date
Jun. 09, 2011
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
For the bi-annual Deans' Dialogue Meetings regarding the Carnegie-Knight initiative on journalism education
Date
Jun. 09, 2011
Duration
48 months
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Project Title
For an examination of China's nuclear security and reprocessing decisions
Date
Mar. 10, 2011
Duration
27 months
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Project Title
Toward executive training programs for military officers and policymakers
Date
Jun. 03, 2010
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
Toward a project on community organizing and school reform
Date
Mar. 04, 2010
Duration
12 months
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Project Title
Toward archiving Matthew Meselson's historical record on biological weapons nonproliferation
Date
Sep. 16, 2010
Duration
36 months
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Project Title
For a pilot study examining civic trust and engagement among immigrant young adults
Date
Dec. 02, 2010
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
For analysis and documentation of new business models for quality journalism
Date
Sep. 10, 2009
Duration
16 months
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For a conference on new business models for journalism
Date
Sep. 10, 2009
Duration
12 months
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Project Title
Toward an evaluation of D.C. Public Schools' human-capital practices as measured by their effects on teacher effectiveness and student achievement
Date
Dec. 03, 2009
Duration
36 months
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Project Title
For policy-relevant analysis of political, social, and religious change in Eurasia
Date
Jun. 12, 2008
Duration
144 months
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Project Title
Toward the executive training programs for military officers and policymakers from Eurasia
Date
Jun. 12, 2008
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
Toward a comprehensive examination of China's role in advancing nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, and disarmament
Date
Dec. 04, 2008
Duration
27 months
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Project Title
Toward the establishment of a program that recognizes journalistic independence and honors the life of I.F. Stone
Date
Sep. 11, 2008
Duration
12 months
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Project Title
Toward a meeting of retired U.S. and Chinese military officials
Date
Mar. 06, 2008
Duration
5 months
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Project Title
For research and leadership of Carnegie Knight Task Force on Journalism
Date
Jun. 12, 2008
Duration
48 months
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Project Title
For a study on the modern history of the Shi'ite clergy in Iraq
Date
Mar. 01, 2007
Duration
17 months
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Project Title
For an online resource mapping change and diversity in contemporary Islamic thought
Date
Sep. 27, 2007
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
For a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review on adolescent literacy
Date
Jun. 14, 2007
Duration
12 months
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Project Title
Toward the executive programs for Russian military officers and policymakers from Russia and the Black Sea region
Date
Jun. 08, 2006
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
Toward research and writing on international security
Date
Sep. 28, 2006
Duration
24 months
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For research on predictors of teacher effectiveness
Date
Sep. 28, 2006
Duration
14 months
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Project Title
Toward a study on citizens' attitudes and trust of democratic institutions
Date
Sep. 28, 2006
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
For a study on reading speed and comprehension
Date
Mar. 03, 2005
Duration
18 months
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Project Title
Toward research on diversity, immigration, inequality and social capital
Date
Mar. 03, 2005
Duration
42 months
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For the creation of Carnegie Knight Task Force on Journalism
Date
Sep. 29, 2005
Duration
36 months
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Project Title
Toward research and writing on international security
Date
Jun. 09, 2004
Duration
27 months
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Project Title
Toward a study on the potential exploitation of biotechnology
Date
Jun. 09, 2004
Duration
19 months
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For a project on developing bipartisan solutions for urban school reform
Date
Dec. 02, 2004
Duration
4 months
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Project Title
Toward the executive programs for Russian military officers and policymakers from Russia and the Black Sea region
Date
Jun. 09, 2004
Duration
24 months
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Project Title
For use by the Civil Rights Project, for a research symposium on the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Date
Jun. 09, 2004
Duration
9 months