Does Deeper Learning Improve Student Outcomes?

For the Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, experts at American Institutes for Research (AIR) set out to determine whether students who attended high schools with a mature and at least moderately wellimplemented approach to promoting deeper learning actually experienced greater deeper learning opportunities and outcomes 

New Assessments, Better Instruction?

In 2010, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation initiated a new strategic initiative that focuses on students’ mastery of core academic content and their development of deeper learning skills (i.e., critical-thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and learn-how-tolearn skills). In its efforts to encourage schools to promote deeper learning, the Foundation is looking for leverage points to 

Lessons Learned from Strategy Landscape Tool

In 2011 Grantmakers for Education (GFE) partnered with the Monitor Institute to develop the K-12 Education Strategy Landscape Tool—an asset mapping tool that used interactive data visualization to provide a clear picture of the who, what, where, and when of education grantmaking. The prototype launched in January of 2012 with initial support from the Rockefeller 

Harnessing OER to Drive Systemic Educational Change in Secondary Schooling

In the world of education, there has been a growing buzz about the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) and how it can transform education around the world. Since being coined at a UNESCO Conference in 2002, OER has been the subject of increased attention globally, with many donor-funded projects (most often, led by universities) 

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards

Science education is facing dramatic change. The new A Framework for K-12 Science Education (hereafter, the framework) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are designed to guide educators in significantly altering the way science is taught—from kindergarten through high school (K-12). The framework is aimed at making science education more closely resemble the way 

Benchmarks for Spending on Evaluation

This paper is a distillation from a memo prepared for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Board of Trustees. It was presented for discussion and all recommendations were adopted by the board in November, 2013. In November 2012’s Board Meeting, a question was raised about how much the Foundation should spend each year on evaluation.The 

Evaluation of the Population and Poverty Research Initiative (PopPov)

Since 2005, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with collaboration and co-funding from research councils in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, and Norway and from the World Bank, has invested in a portfolio of social science research on the relationship between population dynamics and micro- and macroeconomic outcomes; the portfolio is known as the 

The Faces of the Future

In response to earlier research, the James Irvine Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation established the Next Generation Arts Leadership Initiative in 2009 to promote the leadership development of younger arts professionals. “Faces of the Future” documents what has occurred, including early indicators of success, and lessons learned in the first few years 

Learning to Improve Learning

In response to overwhelming evidence of the learning crisis across the globe, parents, governments, and donors are increasingly asking: “What can we do to improve student achievement?” In particular, they are eager for solutions that will work within existing, resource-constrained school systems. In 2006, when the Hewlett Foundation started the Quality Education in Developing Countries 

Measuring Deeper Learning Through Cognitively Demanding Test Items

In 2010, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Education Program initiated its Deeper Learning Initiative, which focuses on students’ development of deeper learning skills (the mastery of core academic content, critical-thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and “learn-how-to-learn” skills). As part of that initiative, the Foundation is interested in monitoring the extent to which deeper learning is 

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