Latest Our Blog

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Five Studies That Inspired Our Thinking in 2025

Year-round, we keep our ears to the ground to identify new and interesting research that can spark ideas and deepen our understanding of the education landscape. Here, Meghan McCormick reflects on the past year of evidence in education, highlighting five standout research studies that inspired our thinking in 2025.

School bus on street

What We’re Learning From Our Investments in Reducing Chronic Absenteeism

Chronic absenteeism remains one of the most pressing challenges facing schools today, but the field lacks rigorous evidence on the key drivers and potential solutions to reduce it. Here, we share early lessons from five studies focused on generating actionable insights to boost attendance from Pre-K through high school.

Teacher works with preschool students

Spotlight On Evidence: The Role of Curricula and Professional Learning in Improving Pre-K Quality

There’s broad scientific agreement that Pre-K programs can have positive impacts on children’s learning and development, but simply providing access to Pre-K isn’t enough—the quality of the program and the teaching matter. Meghan McCormick examines what we know about the important role high-quality instructional materials and professional learning play in strengthening Pre-K programs.

Our 2025 Research Strategy

As an impact-focused education funder, we’re committed to studying programs, interventions, and approaches that show promise in supporting students and educators. In 2025, we’re continuing to make targeted investments in rigorous evaluations, field-building research, and large-scale data projects that can help guide the field.

2024 Bright Spots: Unlocking Evidence

Here, we highlight stories of how our funding helped unlock evidence in 2024 to advance field knowledge or validate program models in the areas of high-impact tutoring and curriculum-based professional learning.