News from The Teagle Foundation

March 2012 Newsletter

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Several weeks ago, the Foundation issued its 2011 Annual Report, which contains an essay by the president. As I reviewed the Foundation's initiatives for the prior year, it became ever more pointed and telling how the thread of student learning tied all of our work together. Student learning is a rich and central theme because it decisively connects what we otherwise find hard to keep together in higher education: how students learn, what they learn, and the consequences of learning. The slow revolution that has portrayed and pursued education as a learner-centered and engaged process of intellectual and personal development often seems to make learning as the mastery of knowledge of uncertain importance. What pulls these facets of learning together is a perspective that links the methods, the content, and the outcomes of learning to the formation of human potential. As we connect the elements in both theory and practice, we discover why education in all its forms and stages in life makes a powerful moral claim on us--because it is so intimately linked to the unfolding of human possibility.

In the grants that support the several initiatives that are listed in this newsletter, several facets of the large and complex challenges of improving student learning become apparent. In the series of grants made to support graduate education, we are addressing the well-known fact that graduate education is focused intensely on developing student talents for research, but typically gives scant attention to the demands of preparing for the responsibilities of teaching and fostering student learning. We are supporting initiatives at a number of universities that will give graduate students a chance to broaden their understanding of how students learn and to relate those insights to their teaching. At another point in the spectrum of faculty professional life are the large stresses and strains with which today's faculty must contend, and the ways innovations in student learning are both possible and necessary. These questions are reflected in the "Faculty Work and Student Learning in the 21st Century" initiative. Faculty are deepening their grasp of what cognitive science contributes to improving student learning, finding new ways to blend technology with traditional forms of learning, and exploring new policies to contend with the mounting pressures on faculty time as student learning occurs in ever more diverse forms both on and off the campus.

The issues of learning are not limited to the college campus, but are critical matters in high school as well, especially as students begin to chart their course for the future. Insistent advice from many quarters continues to suggest that students should make job preparation and training their first priority and avoid the broader but less practical forms of education in the arts and sciences. When students from lower income families confront these choices, the issues become of special importance since financial options are fewer, and choice is often more constrained by location. Against the conventional and easy answers of these approaches, the Teagle Foundation has developed a program in liberal education for high school students from low-income families in greater New York City called the College-Community Connections (CCC) program. Annie Bezbatchenko, the Teagle program officer who coordinates the CCC initiative, recently described the essence of the program and the promise of liberal education in The Washington Post (February 22, 2012), writing,

Since its inception, CCC has been designed to build bridges between secondary and higher education; community-based organizations partner with colleges and universities in the New York City metropolitan area for this program. The program requires students to think critically about issues and ideas, integrate ideas from various sources, understand different perspectives, and connect learning in the classroom to real world situations. An emphasis is also placed on the responsibilities of being a college student, including navigating the admission process, managing the amount of work involved, and taking advantage of the various campus support services readily available to students.

The CCC results to date have been promising; an evaluation conducted by Metis Associates, an independent national research and evaluation firm, indicated that the program has helped financially disadvantaged students (79 percent of whom are eligible to receive reduced-price meals in school) develop the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and also become more thoughtful in their own college search processes. To use Metis's words, the program is a "highly effective model," providing authentic college experiences for highly talented but disadvantaged youth to "expose them to the rigors, realities, and possibilities of a liberal education."

In whatever work the Foundation pursues -- whether it be in graduate school teaching, faculty work, or college access and success -- the end goal is always to improve undergraduate student learning. I invite you to learn more about our current work through this newsletter as well as our website.

Sincerely,

Richard L. Morrill, President

IN THIS ISSUE

From the President

Teagle News & Resources

Recent Grants

Professor Andrew Delbanco

delbanco

Andrew Delbanco, Teagle board member, awarded National Humanities Medal

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Teagle President,

Richard L. Morrill

Rich Morrill

Richard L. Morrill writes on collaboration in a new era of higher education, the role of trustees in assuring the quality of learning, and presidential leadership for student learning

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Teagle's 2011 Annual Report:

Leadership for Student Learning in a New Era

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Teagle News & Resources:

Teagle program officer discusses

liberal education and college access in the Washington Post

Teagle senior advisor writes about a theory of change for improving student learning in the Chronicle of Higher Education

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Council of Independent Colleges and Universities

Catalyst for Change: The CIC/CLA Consortium

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Association of American Colleges and Universities

A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy's Future

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Modern Language Association Past President urges reform for doctoral education in the humanities

RECENT GRANTS

College-Community Connections (CCC)

The Teagle Foundation invited proposals in "College-Community Connections: Phase III" to refine, expand the reach, and institutionalize the existing partnerships between community-based organizations with strong college preparatory programs and NYC-area colleges and universities. The purpose of the partnerships is to develop academically challenging and stimulating programs that will enhance the readiness - and success - of talented but disadvantaged New York City high school students. To see the Request for the Proposals for this initiative, please click here.

For more details on each of the below CCC grants, please click here.

$270,000 over 36 months to Barnard College & Harlem Education Activities Fund (HEAF) for the program, "HEAF @ Barnard"

$270,000 over 36 months to Brooklyn College & CAMBA for the program, "Leading to College" at the School for Democracy and Leadership

$270,000 over 36 months to Columbia University & Double Discovery Center for the program, "Freedom and Citizenship: Explorations in Ancient, Modern, and Contemporary Thought"

$270,000 over 36 months to Cornell University & Henry Street Settlement for the "CAUSE (College Achievement through Urban Science Exploration) Project"

$270,000 over 37 months to Drew University & Union Settlement Association for the program, "Building Bridges to (and from) the Liberal Arts"

$270,000 over 26 months to Fordham University & Bronxworks for the "History Makers Scholars Program"

$270,000 over 32 months to Manhattan College & Kingsbridge Heights Community Center for the "Young Scholars Immersion Program"

$180,000 over 22 months to New York University & Children's Aid Society for the "EXCEL in Writing, Thinking, and Inquiry Project"

$270,000 over 36 months to Polytechnic Institute of New York University & the Urban Assembly Institute of Math & Science for Young Women for the program, "College Prep and Readiness for STEM Education"

$270,000 over 36 months to Skidmore College & Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) for the program, "SEO-Skidmore Connections"

$270,000 over 28 months to SUNY Old Westbury & Harlem RBI for the project, "College-Community Connections: Phase III"

College Preparatory Program

$50,000 over 24 months to Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) for the "New York City Leadership Corps"

Faculty Work and Student Learning in the 21st Century

The "Faculty Work and Student Learning in the 21st Century" initiative asked college and university consortia to think through how faculty work can / should change in response to the changing conditions -- indeed, the changing nature -- of undergraduate liberal education. To see the Request for Proposals for this initiative, please click here.

For more details on each of the below "Faculty Work" grants, please click here.

$150,000 over 27 months to the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges for the project, "Distance Mentored Undergraduate Research: Leveraging Consortium-wide Faculty Expertise to Enhance Student Learning

$150,000 over 25 months to the Independent College Enterprise for the "Collaborative Course Delivery" implementation project

$30,000 over 24 months to the University of Southern California for the project, "Student Success as Faculty Profiles Shift: Creating Institutional Solutions for Non-tenure Track Faculty Majorities and Student Learning"

$49,875 over 12 months to the Higher Education Policy Institute for the "Curriculum Simplification Project: Proof of Concept Analysis"

$150,000 over 24 months to the Great Lakes Colleges Association for the project, "GLCA Lattice for Pedagogical Research and Practice"

$15,000 over 11 months to the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium for the planning project, "Faculty Work and Student Learning in the 21st Century"

$15,000 over 6 months to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education for the planning project, "Building Faculty Capacity for 21st Century Teaching"

Graduate School Teaching in the Arts & Sciences

The "Graduate School Teaching in the Arts & Sciences" initiative focuses on educating graduate students in the arts and sciences in current research on learning, drawing on fields such as neuroscience, cognitive psychology and assessment. The goal is for graduate students to understand how this knowledge can help them ensure that they teach -- and their students learn -- as effectively as possible, and to use the knowledge in their own classrooms. To see the Request for Proposals for this initiative, please click here.

For more details on each of the "Graduate School Teaching" grants, please click here.

$125,000 over 27 months to Stanford University for the project, "Graduate Student and Faculty Collaborative Teaching in the Humanities"

$300,000 over 36 months to the Council of Graduate Schools for the project, "Embedding Assessment of Student learning into Future Facutly Preparation Programs: A National Strategy for Enhancing Undergraduate Teaching and Learning in Arts and Sciences"

$35,000 over 23 months to the University of Virginia for the pilot project, "Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Implementing and Evaluating a Pedagogy Seminar for Higher Education"

Outcomes and Assessment

The Foundation's "Outcomes and Assessment" work has grown out of our conviction that efforts to improve student learning are best grounded in efforts to use evidence.

$200,000 over 14 months to the Association of Governing Boards for the project, "Improving Board Oversight of Student Learning" (more details)

$150,000 over 30 months to the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment for the project, "Assessing Student Accomplishment: Driving Demand and Creating Capacity for Evidence-based Action" (more details)

$50,000 over 12 months to the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability for the project, "New Directions for the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability" (more details)

OUR WEBSITE

Visit our website for additional resources that can help improve student learning on your campus.

www.teagle.org

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