Vision Grants

Overview

The Spencer Foundation invests in research to improve education, broadly conceived. We have identified a critical need for innovative, methodologically and disciplinarily diverse, large-scale research projects to transform education systems for equity. To stimulate research that addresses this need, the Spencer Foundation is investing in a new program designed to provide scholars with the time, space, resources, and support to plan a large-scale study or program of research: geared toward real-world impact on equity; based on research across disciplines and methods; reliant on meaningful collaboration with practitioners, policymakers, and communities; and focused on transforming educational systems.

The Vision Grants program funds the collaborative planning of innovative, methodologically diverse, interdisciplinary research on education that contributes to transforming education systems for equity. Vision Grants are research planning grants to bring together a team, for 6 to 12 months, to collaboratively develop ambitious, large-scale research projects focused on transforming educational systems toward greater equity. This program takes as core that visionary, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research projects require time, space, and thoughtfulness to incubate and plan. Vision Grants are $75,000 total and two cycles of this grant program will be held annually. Different from many of Spencer’s other programs, the proposal should not be a fully fleshed out research plan. Instead, this is an invitation to think forward about what research we need to transform education systems toward equity and then to envision how that systems-change will happen, utilizing research evidence. Teams are encouraged to reflect on the people who need to be involved from the beginning of the research design process, and how evidence from the eventual research study/studies could be used to actually transform systems. Vision Grant proposals should identify the system(s) targeted for transformation and the specific levers the team thinks need to be engaged in order to work toward systems transformation.

Proposals should also explicitly identify:
1.    a research topic and initial thoughts about scope and methodological approach of the study;
2.    the plan for impact, identifying the levers for systems change that will likely be engaged;
3.    the collaboration process; and
4.    a team that will lead to a fully fleshed out research plan by the end of the grant period
While the Vision Grant program stands on its own to spark research ideas and collaborations, being awarded a Vision Grant is also a prerequisite for applying to our Transformative Research Grant program (TRG, $3.5 million), which is designed for large-scale research projects that transform education systems for equity.
Vision Grants will provide planning funds for teams to develop proposals for research projects that: 
•    Are focused on key challenges and opportunities that have the potential for increasing equity in education
•    Engage across disciplines and/or research methods
•    Collaborate with practitioners, policymakers, and communities (and other stakeholders)
•    Have clear sightlines to transformational change through research at a systemic level
We imagine that research projects developed with these planning grants will consist of a range of project types. We expect that these grants will go far beyond solely documenting inequality, to instead make significant movement toward policy, practice, or pedagogical change in a way that transforms an education system or systems. We also expect that a range of disciplinary perspectives would be thoughtfully employed, and that these research projects will require multiple methods. Funded projects will engage across disciplinary traditions or methods, rather than utilizing one disciplinary perspective or lens and/or one methodological tradition.
We are field-initiated and invite proposals on a wide range of topics and issues. With that said, we also want to especially encourage Vision Grant proposals that focus on three key areas:

1.    Youth civic engagement and youth organizing toward systems transformation for equity;
2.    New avenues of research about teaching, educator preparation, and learning for equity and thriving; and
3.    How we better measure and assess the full range of skills, capacities, and experiences that lead to robust learning.
Additionally, and as part of The Spencer Foundation's Initiative on AI and Education, we will fund an additional set of vision grants specifically focused on AI and Education.

Proposals to the Vision Grant program must be for developing research projects.

Proposed budgets for this program are limited to $75,000 total and may not include indirect cost charges per Spencer’s policy.

The Intent to Apply is required to submit a proposal to the Vision Grants program.  

Full Proposals are du March 11, 2025

PIs and Co-PIs may apply for a Vision Grant if they have another active research grant from the Spencer Foundation or if they have another Spencer grant proposal in review.

All awarded Vision Grantees will have the option to apply for a Transformative Research Grant, with awards to carry out the planned research project (budgets up to $3.5M).