The College of Education at the University of Missouri–St. Louis has once again received significant financial support to further education research in the St. Louis region.
In November, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, a private philanthropic institute in St. Louis, awarded a six-year, $4 million grant to Associate Professor Natalie Bolton and co-principal investigators in the College of Education to establish the St. Louis Translational Fellowships in Education.
The program will focus on embedding the science of learning best practices into daily K-12 instruction and the subsequent impact on educators and students. The majority of the funds will go toward hiring up to eighteen full-time postdoctoral fellows for two-year “inquiry cycles” over a six-year period. Prospective fellows must have a doctorate in education, learning science or psychology.
They will administer the program, provide mentorship and place fellows in UMSL Charter Schools, which include six public charter elementary, middle, and K-8 schools, as well as K-12 public schools in the university’s Studio School program to work with administrators and teachers.
“It’s extremely exciting not only for UMSL and the College of Education, but also for our work with UMSL Charter Schools and the benefits that we anticipate students and educators will receive,” Bolton said.
The science of learning is an approach to education pedagogy that draws on cognitive psychology research to better understand how students learn.
“There are some foundational instructional practices that over time have shown this is what makes a difference for learners to retain content,” Bolton said. “For instance, tapping and making connections to prior knowledge and using examples and non-examples to really make sure an individual understands content deeply.
The primary aim of the fellows during their two-year appointments will be to ensure that local schools are adhering to those best practices. Additionally, fellows will receive training from the Thinking Collaborative, a third party, related to instructional coaching and facilitation skills in the classroom with teachers and outside the classroom with administrators.
