Research

Grant Description
The Trustees of the NCTE Research Foundation support projects related to the teaching and learning of language(s), literacy (literacies), and culture(s).

Who Is Eligible?
Proposals are invited from teachers, teacher researchers, and teacher educators. Applicants must be current members of NCTE.

Suggested Research Topics
The Trustees of the Research Foundation seek proposals that reflect the diverse interests among our NCTE membership, including, but not limited to, proposals focusing on underrepresented populations, equity pedagogies, curriculum changes, and the effect these changes have on students, school policies, changes in teaching methods, student interaction and learning, community literacies, home-school literacy relationships, after-school programs, student literacy practices in and out of school, and other relevant topics of study.

Funding and Timeline Parameters
Grants will be awarded for periods of up to one year and up to $4,000 over the life of the grant. Applicants must be members in good standing of NCTE. Applicants are limited to one grant submission in each funding cycle and will only qualify for one funded project every three years.

Disbursement of Funds
Funding is awarded in two phases: Upon approval of the proposal by the Board of Trustees, 80% of the grant is awarded. The remaining 20% of the grant will be funded after the satisfactory completion of the interim requirements (interim report and budget summary; see below).

Non-Allowable Expenses
The following expenses are NOT permitted as part of the grant budget:

• Commercial teaching materials
• Dissertation support
• Tuition expenses
• Indirect, overhead, or benefit costs
• Non-NCTE affiliated convention or conference travel
• Previously incurred expenses related to the project
• Researcher salaries
• Refreshments

Deadline and Notification
The proposal form (including the grant proposal narrative outlined below) must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 15, 2025. Notification of grant decisions will be announced by June 1, 2025.

Note: Before starting your proposal, please review the proposal form and the proposal narrative information below. Collect all necessary information before starting your proposal as you will not be able to make edits to your proposal once it is submitted.

Grant Proposal Narrative and Format

The following items should be included in your grant proposal narrative. Please upload your narrative as a single PDF document in the proposal form.

1. Research Questions: What am I asking and investigating?
2. Statement of Significance: What do I propose to do? Why is this important?
3. What led you to this proposal?: Ideas, stories, experiences, readings, etc.
4. Research Design/Description of the Study: How will I do this? If submitting a group proposal, please include how you will organize the group to support the research and how the participants will cooperate.
5. Timeline: What will take place and when?
6. Statement of Ethics: How will I account for the ethical demands that may arise during the inquiry process, including issues of consent, confidentiality, privacy, reciprocity for participants? What’s in it for them? How will I address anonymity?
7. Budget: Applicants are required to include a budget outlining each item and a rationale for expenditures. We encourage applicants to include a line item related to travel to the NCTE Annual Convention where research can be presented. Convention travel may be no more than 25% of your funding request.
8. Appendixes: If applicable, a statement from the administrator(s) of the cooperating school(s) indicating willingness to cooperate with you.
9. One-Page Résumé: The primary researcher should include a one-page résumé.

Interim and Final Reports
Interim and Final Reports are required by grantees.

• Interim Report Format (midway through sponsored research project period): 500–750 words. The Interim Report should be written in response to these questions and must include an updated budget summary:
  • What have I done to date?
  • What am I learning?
  • What issues and problems have come up?
  • What questions do I have at this point?
  • Where do I need to go next?
  • How has my thinking about this issue changed?
    An updated budget summary is also required outlining how the funds have been spent to this point. The remaining 20% of the grant is funded upon a satisfactory fulfillment of this requirement.
• Final Report Format (at completion of sponsored research project period): 500–750 words. A Final Report is required that addresses the points below. Please note that a version of this report may be featured in a future NCTE blog post with your permission:
  • Share your reason for applying for this grant. What was your purpose? Include a restatement of your research question and, if applicable, note the ways your question changed during this process.
  • What kind of impact was made possible because of the grant? How were your participants and/or students affected by it? Include a summary of your findings and understandings.
  • What are the implications of your research and are there new questions that your research uncovered?

NOTE: Recipients of the grants will be invited to present their work funded by the Research Foundation during a Research Foundation grant session at the 2026 NCTE Annual Convention. If your proposal is accepted, you may use a portion of your grant to pay for your Convention travel expenses. Make sure that you include this in your budget and note that Convention travel may be no more than 25% of your funding request.

Recipients are also encouraged to submit manuscripts based on their research to one of the NCTE publications.

Contact
For further information on this grant program or any questions on your proposal, please contact the NCTE Research Foundation at researchfoundation@ncte.org.

Past Research Grant Recipients