From 2010 to 2015, the Hewlett Foundation’s Education Program invested more than $100 million in its deeper learning strategy with over 350 grants. In 2016, the program commissioned RTI International to conduct an independent evaluation of the first five years of its strategy.
RTI’s report examined several questions: What progress has been made in the field of deeper learning? How effective have strategic grantmaking decisions been? Do the assumptions undergirding the deeper learning strategy have merit? What next steps should be considered? RTI relied on multiple sources of evidence, including grant reports, grantee surveys, a national teacher survey, prior Hewlett-funded evaluations, and interviews with current and former foundation staff.
The analysis in this evaluation is intended to provide information on the strengths and limitations of the foundation’s strategy, and suggest refinements to the assumptions and activities that serve the effort to expand deeper learning to all students.
Related: Deeper learning, six years later