Together We Are Strong

During this time of uncertainty, we wanted to reach out with some assurances. The past few days and weeks have left many of us reeling, as education researchers, as family members, as community members. The recent threats to education research and university research infrastructure, and to scholarship and work that centers equity, jeopardize our communities, educators, and our collective ability to design education systems that support all students to reach their full potential.

We stand shoulder to shoulder with our university colleagues, with scholars, and with all of those impacted by recent executive actions. We at Spencer remain steadfast in our commitment to funding education research across the field, to the power of research to improve education, and to the responsibility to steward equitable education systems that serve the needs of young people, families, and communities. 

We are holding both short-term and long-term considerations as the field grapples with the path forward this moment. In the short term, we are deeply concerned about preserving important data and databases, supporting the well-being of scholars and university leaders, and continuing to provide opportunities for scholars to get their important research funded. We continue to run our competitive education research grants programs—our Small and Large Grants, our Research Practice Partnership Grants, and our Racial Equity Grants—and to fund scholars to do rigorous and impactful research. For the long-term, we recognize that this moment for our field is a fraught one, but it is a moment. We must continue to hold a vision of the future that is in line with our values and highest ambitions for education and education research. We continue to fund in our Transformative Research Program, including our Vision Grants and Transformative Research Grants. These grants support deep partnerships with families, communities, policymakers, community-based organizations, activists, and educators and focus on envisioning and using evidence from research to work towards more equitable and ambitious education systems. To up and coming scholars—your work matters and your contributions to our field matter. We will continue to support early-career scholars through our NAEd fellowship programs and in all of our programs 

My heart is heavy but together we are strong. We must all be wise and agile right now, given the uncertainty, and we must remain grounded in our values and our work to weather the storm. I come from a long ancestral tradition of a people that imagined freedom when it was unimaginable. Lean into your joy, your loved ones, and the strength of community.  In the coming days and weeks, we will be thinking hard about how we can deepen our support and partner with like-minded organizations to meet the challenges of the moment to better serve the field. Know that we are with you, and we stand clear-eyed in the belief in the power of data, research, and evidence to create equitable and joyful classrooms and education systems.