Center for Education Benefits from Brown Foundation Grant

Programs of Rice’s Center for Education do a lot to support primary and secondary education and reached more than 8,000 teachers and 320,000 children at the end of last year. Now the center has received some support of its own from the Brown Foundation in the form of a $500,000 grant that will further the center’s research on teaching, learning, school reform, and educational policy, as well as its numerous professional development programs for teachers of students in grades K–12.

The center’s programs include the Model Science Lab, the School Science Project, the School Literacy and Culture Project (including the Classroom Storytelling Project), the School Writing Project, and the Asia Outreach and Global Education Project—all jointly coordinated with one or more of the largest school districts in the Houston area.

“As it continues to grow in influence, the center faces a growing demand for its programs and research from teachers as well as from policymakers,” says Ron Sass, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and co-director of the Center for Education. “This grant from the Brown Foundation will assure that the center can continue to serve the teachers of our region’s neediest students, while allowing center staff and board members to implement a developing plan designed to increase visibility, impact, and support of the center in the coming decade.”

The Brown Foundation, established in 1951, has awarded more than $800 million in grants since its inception. The foundation’s grants are principally for support, encouragement, and assistance to education, community service, and the arts. The foundation has been giving to Rice University since 1952, with grants to the university totaling $82.6 million to date. See “Teaching the Sound of Music” on page 43 for news of a $5-million Brown Foundation grant to support the Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Program at the Shepherd School of Music.

— Margot Dimond