College of Education Awarded Grant to Analyze Racial Inequality in Education Research and Journalism

Andy Saultz, PhD, interim dean of the College of Education, has received a $50,000 research grant award from the Spencer Foundation for the project “Innovations in Measuring, Analyzing, and Discussing Race and Racial Inequality in Education Research and Journalism.”

In Fall 2023, this project will bring scholars and journalists together during a two-day research symposium to discuss, identify, and chronicle problematic practices in the scientific process of measuring, analyzing, and discussing race and racial inequalities, and to document potential alternative practices. The outcomes of this research will include a sustained community of diverse scholars and journalists and an edited volume of theoretical discussions and empirical analyses of these issues, aimed at audiences of scholars and journalists.

Pacific will collaborate with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) to complete the deliverables of the project. NWEA was originally awarded the grant but later merged with the for-profit tech learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. NWEA approached Pacific to take leadership of the grant project following the merger. 

“This grant and collaborative project are possible because of Andy’s working relationship with NWEA’s researchers and Pacific’s College of Education’s reputation as a leader in teacher preparation and social justice,” said Jo Isgrigg, director of Pacific's Office of Scholarship & Sponsored Projects.

“Amazing things are going to come from this opportunity.”