About us
Launched in 2021, the Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF, sounds like air-diff) is the first national nonprofit dedicated to advancing research and development in PreK-12 education, inclusively with educators, caregivers, and learners.
We pursue multigenerational change through scientific discoveries and inventions that further learners’ brilliance and transform their education futures.
Our Advanced Inclusive R&D programs generate powerful PreK-12 tools, insights, and solutions.
What we do
We build and support ambitious five year initiatives (known as programs), funded with budgets up to $25 million, to address major teaching and learning challenges and opportunities the public and private sector have historically ignored for Black and Latino learners and learners experiencing poverty in the United States.
Our programs build on existing community-driven evidence and expertise and rigorous learning science to translate fundamental insights into scientific insights, valuable practices, equitable approaches, and transformative tools for education practitioners and students.
Since our 2021 launch, our Advanced Inclusive R&D programs – currently focused on math, formative assessment, and reading – have engaged 47 school districts, 3,195 educators, and 45,423 learners across 15 U.S. states and counting.
Our Approach
We ground our approach in Advanced Inclusive R&D where we engage a community of learners, educators, researchers, developers, and others from the beginning and throughout the process in shorter cycles of innovation with clear, ambitious goals to achieve a breakthrough.
Through our unique Advanced Inclusive R&D approach, AERDF programs orchestrate an actively managed portfolio of R&D projects that are scoped beyond what can practically be explored with a single grant. AERDF programs focus on opportunity spaces that are:
- Under-explored and with strong potential for major breakthroughs, unlocking significant new capabilities that would propel multigenerational change in our US PreK-12 education system.
- Critically important for Black and Latino learners and learners experiencing poverty, furthering their brilliance and transforming their education experiences.
- Ideally explored by a cross-sector community whose diverse expertise, perspectives, and resources catalyze progress in a way no one could achieve on their own.
Our Story
Our story started in 2018 with a vision to address systemic inequities in PreK-12 education, primarily affecting learners who identify as Black and Latino in addition to all who are experiencing poverty. The goal was to demonstrate an approach to reduce the time it takes to translate research into breakthrough practices, programs, and solutions that better recognize the brilliance within every student and support them to achieve their full potential.
In 2019, we gathered insights through a Request for Information, focus groups, and surveys, seeking solutions to persistent educational challenges. The ideas submitted by many educators, researchers, and developers, among other experts, covered a broad range of subject areas.
Our first program began with EF+Math, founded by educational neuroscientist Dr. Melina Uncapher and co-built and now led by Dr. Aubrey Francisco, targeting innovative math learning systems that strengthen executive function skills. Next, Assessment for Good, under Dr. Temple Lovelace, focused on developing dynamic, identity-affirming formative assessments. Our third program, Reading Reimagined, guided by Rebecca Kockler, aims to increase reading fluency and comprehension.
Looking ahead, AERDF will continue to support innovative research and development programs to expand possibilities in student learning and opportunities.
Our Privacy Protections and Commitment to Safeguarding Data
We are guided by the tenet that all information worth collecting is worth protecting. Our key policies can be found here.
To learn more about our privacy protections and receive a copy of the Policies and Procedures, please contact us at info@aerdf.org