Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Announces New $5 Million Funding Opportunity for Expanding Effective School Practices to Support the Whole Child

August 1, 2019 – Today, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is inviting teams of schools, support organizations, and researchers who want to apply the science of learning and human development to improve existing school-based practices that develop self direction and curiosity to submit applications for CZI’s new $5 million whole child grant program. This program will provide one- to two-year grants that will support up to 10 teams aiming to help schools advance exemplary practices which are helping to improve student outcomes. 

CZI’s mission in education is aimed at ensuring every young person enters adulthood with the skills and abilities they need to reach their full potential – and that every teacher is equipped with the research-based tools and practices they need to help students get there. Through this request for applications, CZI will support educators in implementing, improving and measuring practices in their schools using the science of human adolescent learning and development. 

“Taking an evidence-based, whole child approach to learning is critical for accomplishing our mission in education,” said Sandra Liu Huang, head of education at CZI. “We believe that this RFA provides an opportunity to identify and improve existing whole child practices by leveraging the science of learning and human development to help educators access resources that help students develop key thinking and behavioral skills beyond academics.”

This request for applications builds on CZI’s work over the last two years in partnership with the members of the Science of Learning and Development Initiative, and The Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development to advance learning and developmental science in the field, as well as CZI’s support for child development research such as the Promise of Adolescence paper published by the National Academy of Sciences. 

This grant opportunity will accept applications from 6:00am PDT on Thursday, August 1, 2019 until 9:00pm PDT, on September 13, 2019. The opportunity is intended to support specific projects that will identify a specific school-based practice, use the science of learning and human development to refine and iterate the practice, collect data to measure how the practice impacts the intended competencies, skills and mindsets, and use data collected to improve the practice’s design. This grant opportunity is not intended for general operating support, program implementation, or systems for scaling. 

For more information and application instructions, please visit https://chanzuckerberg.com/rfa/effective-school-practices-to-support-the-whole-child/. For questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact us at wholechildrfa@chanzuckerberg.com. 

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About Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan in December 2015, is a new kind of philanthropic organization that brings together world-class engineering, grant-making, impact investing, policy, and advocacy work. Our initial areas of focus include supporting science through basic biomedical research and education through personalized learning. We are also exploring other issues tied to the promotion of equal opportunity including access to affordable housing and criminal justice reform. For more information, go to chanzuckerberg.com