You can find the full list of grants here: studentupwardmobility.urban.org/current-grants We are excited to work with SUMI grantees to move the field forward by supporting their work and translating, synthesizing, and disseminating their collective insights to educators and policymakers.
Two studies will develop new "non-cognitive" measures based on data schools already collect. One will measure executive function using data from a digital learning platform and another will use question-level response data from an ELA test to measure critical thinking.
"Soft skills" (or whatever you prefer to call them!): Two SUMI teams will connect non-cognitive measures collected in K-12 to long-term outcomes. One uses national data and the other focuses on schools in rural Mississippi.
Two other studies will dive into how social context affects career readiness. One will develop the first-ever measure of “critical career readiness" and another will test whether administrative data can be used to measure students' social capital.
Career preparation: Two SUMI projects will connect widely used CTE skill measures (from ACT WorkKeys and NOCTI) to employment and earnings outcomes. Another will look at work-based learning in high school, using innovative data from daily timecards and performance ratings.
Some studies will go beyond the scores testing companies provide and use students' responses to individual test questions to generate new measures of skills that may be linked to economic mobility.
These studies will look beyond summative reading & math scores to include other subjects (e.g., science & social studies) and skills within these subjects (e.g., "using data to make predictions" section of an algebra test). And they will cover early grades through high school.
Academic skills: only two studies exist that connect state test scores to long-term outcomes. 7 SUMI projects will link test data from students in LA, MA, MD, OR, and TX to indicators of long-term success, including college enrollment and graduation and employment and earnings.
I'll lift up more specific aspects of this work in the coming days & weeks. For now, just a huge thanks to the Urban team and our fabulous partners! First RFP deadline is April 30! studentupwardmobility.urban.org/about-us
Our mission is to support students’ economic mobility by establishing a set of skills and competencies in PK–12 education—across academic achievement, “noncognitive” factors, health and well-being, so...