March 2022 | eNewsletter

We are excited to release our first newsletter of the year and share with you the latest stories, news, and highlights from AERDF. Our three program teams have hit the ground running in 2022 as they continue to pursue breakthrough outcomes in student learning, well-being, and opportunity. Here are a few highlights:

Program Highlights

Leadership Transition News

Some exciting leadership transition news! After nearly three years at the helm of EF+Math, Melina Uncapher has been named AERDF’s new Chief of Research and Development. An accomplished neuroscientist of 20 years, Melina founded EF+Math in 2019. Its early success led to the creation of AERDF.

Her transition strengthens AERDF’s ability to launch and support future R&D programs tackling complex educational challenges. The foundational work the EF+Math community has done to create and implement equitable, inclusive R&D processes and improve their critical racial equity knowledge and cultural fluency has prepared them for the next phase: development of truly impactful prototypes the community imagines for their students!

In her new post, Melina will focus on crystalizing a vision and develop how models of inclusive R&D can be implemented across AERDF programs support diverse teams of educators, researchers, and developers to work collaboratively as they pursue ambitious goals and help push our understanding of what’s possible for student learning.

Aubrey Francisco has moved into the role of Program Director at EF+Math. Aubrey has been with the program since its founding, serving as deputy director. An experienced engineer, she has extensive expertise working with teams at the intersection of research, educational practice, and technology development to create approaches that can improve learning outcomes.

Her expertise is critical as EF+Math enters a new phase of supporting R&D teams to translate their findings into usable practices and tools for math classrooms. Melina will continue working closely with the program team on portfolio strategy and providing scientific guidance as Founder and Scientific Director.

Michelle Tiu will serve as the program’s newly appointed Program Officer. Michelle has over a decade of experience developing and evaluating education technology tools. Michelle will help lead efforts to develop math learning approaches that are equity-focused, grounded in rigorous learning science, and designed with educators and students at the center.

To learn more about the EF+Math team, visit the website.

New Request for Proposals and Concept Paper

A new paper from Reading Reimagined discusses the program’s inclusive research and development efforts in 2022 and beyond. Reading Reimagined: A New Inclusive Research and Development Initiative also presents the foundational research that grounds the program’s literacy work.

The program’s first request for proposals focuses on projects that support word recognition and fluency development to accelerate the reading success of Black, Latino, Native American students, and those experiencing poverty, in grades 3-8.

Deadline for an Indicator of Intent is March 8, 2022

Have questions or want to learn more? Contact the team at ReadingReimagin edInfo@aerdf.org.

View the RFP & Apply

View the Concept Paper

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Welcome Sara and Lauren!

Congratulations to Sara Solar, Associate Director of Stakeholder Engagement, (left) and Lauren Tate, Operations and Strategy Director, (right) who joined the team full time last December after serving as consultants!

AFG Announces First Awardees

Meet the five partner teams selected to conduct research and development on how assessment can be done differently to create affirming learning environments and improve learning opportunities for Black and Latinx learners. The teams were selected through two initiatives, a request for proposals released in Summer 2021 and the launch of AFG’s in-house research initiative.

View AFG's Funded Projects