ABSENT FROM MOST INSTRUCTION in today's U.S. public high schools are the very things success demands in the 21st century workplace: complex problem solving, effective communication, informed opinions that take in diverse points of view, the ability to exercise independent judgment while working in groups and across disciplines.

Absent from most conversations about what kids can do is a view of students that encourages and welcomes their role as innovators, community builders, and contributors to social and intellectual capital.

Click here to read Progress Reports from the 2005-2006 grant winners.

Absent from prevailing accountability systems that measure student and teacher accomplishments with a multiple-choice grid is a more expansive view of what constitutes ambitious learning and how best to demonstrate it.

Student Research for Action, a national initiative by What Kids Can Do with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sends a different set of messages: that complex problem solving, independent judgment, and teamwork among students and teachers merit a place in every high school's curriculum; that what happens inside a school's walls should connect to the world outside; that young people have the capacity to reflect, analyze, and create new knowledge that can then improve their schools and communities.

How this initiative works

Student Research for Action awards on a competitive basis student action research grants of up to $4,500. The competition is open to all schools linked to one of the several grant initiatives the Gates Foundation has launched to support high school reform. The initiative began in 2003 and extends through 2006, possibly continuing after that. We issue a call for proposals in early September that are due in late October and then evaluated by a national review committee. We announce grant winners in mid-November and they start their work in December. Some projects run a semester, others extend through the following school year. To be eligible for consideration the project must: Involve a team of students (minimum of three), supported by two teachers (from different disciplines) and a community partner Target a problem or issue meaningful to the school/community and show promise of having real impact Lead participants through an extended period of research that includes a formulation of the problem, a research design, data collection and analysis, and the creation of a final product(s) Put students in a leadership role, including being the primary authors of the grant proposal Earn students academic credit of some kind Culminate in a public school-community presentation and a plan for next steps

Some of our goals Supporting research by groups of students, guided by teachers and other adults, that is rigorous and relevant, substantive and action-oriented. Recognizing the power of adolescents to engage in real world problem solving. Tapping the drive of adolescents to feel respected and connected. Encouraging teachers and students to work across disciplines and as a team. Demonstrating what students and teachers can accomplish when afforded the curricular flexibility and resources that allow for creativity and risk taking.

What Kids Can Do provides grant winners much more than simply funds. Through conference calls with student research teams, we keep in touch with their progress. We link teams with groups and resources that can help them and provide hands-on assistance ourselves, where needed. We collaborate with students and teachers in polishing their final products and making them of interest to the widest audience possible. We bring teams together to share their learning and final results in the same way professional (adult) researchers gather to exchange findings.

What you'll find here

Grant winners and short descriptions of their projects 2005 - 2006 2004 - 2005 2003 - 2004 Final student research team reports, including student work products (video clips, multi media presentations, PowerPoints, publications, reports, student-designed surveys, photographs, data summaries): 2004 - 2005 2003 - 2004

In the News Articles about Student Research for Action grant winners have appeared in newspapers and on television. Click here for a digest of research projects in the news.

2005-2006 Grant Application for eligible Gates-funded schools

Click here to download the PDF