Record Number: 1262
 
Pew Charitable Trusts
 Education
  Higher Education and Reform
 
Monique Dade-Pettway, Lisa Kittrell, or Connie Sydow
2005 Market Street, Suite 1700
Philadelphia, PA  19103-7017
Phone: (215)575-4833/4859/4834  Fax: (215)575-4939
E-mail: mdade-pettway@pewtrusts.com or lkittrell@pewtrusts.com or csydow@pewtrusts.com
Web Site: http://www.pewtrusts.com/
 
ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED:         Research or Dissertation
                              Provision of Training Programs
LAST REVIEWED:                02/12/98
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND REQUIRED: Not Specified in Sponsor Literature
CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED:         Not Specified in Sponsor Literature
AGENCY TYPE:                  Other
DEADLINES ANNOUNCED:          None
 
The Trusts make grants only to nonprofit organizations that have been 
classified as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 
Code and as public charities under section 509(a) of that code. The 
Trusts do not make grants to individuals or to for-profit organizations. 
The goals of the Higher Education and Reform program are 1) to establish 
new and higher aspirations with regard to the purposes and performance of 
undergraduate education; 2) to engage colleges and universities more 
productively and strategically in the reform of America's schools; and 3) 
to shape a professoriate that is responsive to America's changing needs 
for quality teaching and scholarship in the coming century. Objectives 
for Goal One are: 1A) to encourage colleges and universities to take 
responsibility for improving student learning, and to use evidence of 
cumulative student learning as the basis for continuous quality 
improvement; 1B) to encourage colleges and universities to adopt 
pedagogies for engaged forms of learning (such as problem-based learning 
and service learning) and to use new technology in ways that enhance 
quality, extend access, and reduce costs as well; and 1C) to strengthen 
the incentives for continuous quality improvement by making evidence of 
quality teaching and student learning a more critical factor in 
accreditation, government funding and the competitive marketplace for 
students and faculty. Objectives for Goal Two are: 2A) to align college/
university standards and assessment policies, especially in the area of 
admissions and placement, with the effort to develop high standards and 
performance-based assessments for elementary and secondary schools; and 
2B) to support policy studies that renew the connections between higher 
education and America's vital needs. Objectives for Goal Three are: 3A) 
to prepare faculty with a broader view of their roles and 
responsibilities as scholars and professors by redefining the criteria 
and assessments required for a PhD; 3B) to encourage and design career 
paths, employment arrangements and criteria for faculty promotion and 
advancement that will match the professional lives and aspirations of 
faculty to the diverse missions of colleges and universities; and 3C) to 
encourage faculty to regard teaching as a form of scholarly work, worthy 
of serious inquiry and peer review. Requests will be considered for 
projects that result in the award of degrees for performance rather than 
the accumulation of student credit hours; nationally significant efforts 
to enhance the use of pedagogies for engaged learning; research and 
development projects leading to new methods of quality assurance, such as 
projects that seek to reinvent rating systems, methods of accreditation 
and/or practices of performance funding; experiments in the creation of 
new career paths for faculty, such as attractive non-tenure tracks for 
full-time faculty with diverse scholarly and teaching interests; and 
experiments with new forms of documenting, evaluating and recognizing 
teaching as scholarly work. APPLICATION INFORMATION: The letter of 
inquiry should include the following information: Who: a description of 
the applicant organization and the nature of its work, as well as a brief 
summary of its organization's achievements, particularly as they relate 
to the problem or issue to be addressed; What and How: a statement of the 
problem or need the applicant plans to address and an explanation of how 
it will be addressed. A brief description of anticipated achievements or 
outcomes should also be included; When: a description of the time frame 
of the proposed activities; and How Much: the estimated cost for the 
project or activity and the amount requested from the Trusts. When the 
letter of inquiry arrives at the Trusts, it will be reviewed by the 
appropriate program staff, and the applicant will be notified either by 
telephone or letter, usually within four to six weeks, whether or not the 
request meets the funding criteria and guidelines of the program. 
Examples of past work, articles, reports, videos or other material should 
not be submitted with a letter of inquiry. Because of the large number of 
requests the Trusts receive and the time entailed in developing a 
proposal, we urge applicants not to send in full proposals unless they 
have been requested to do so by a representative of the Trusts. If staff 
determine that the activity proposed in the letter of inquiry falls 
within the program's stated goals and objectives, the applicant will be 
asked to submit a full proposal for further consideration. An application 
package will be forwarded to the applicant organization to complete and 
return to the Trusts. Proposals are accepted year-round and reviewed on a 
rolling basis. The Trusts' board meets quarterly, generally in March, 
June, September and December.
 
SUBJECTS: Education
          Educational Curriculum Studies
          Teacher Education
          Educational Psychology
          Educational Measurement
          Educational Assessment
          Educational Systems and Institutions
          Postsecondary Education
          Higher Education
          Undergraduate Education
          Teaching Methods