An experiment began in 2003 to fuel innovation in education.
"Education research is too slow."
"Researchers are too narrowly focused."
Many said it could not be done.
"Practitioners are too impatient."
"District leadership is too unstable."
Enter SERP.
With initial, small-scale support, the nonprofit SERP Institute was established to carry out that ambitious experiment: to generate innovative, scalable solutions to our schools’ most pressing problems through sustained collaborations among researchers, practitioners, and designers.
-- FUNDERS --
U.S. Dept of Education • National Science Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York • S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation • William and Flora Hewlett Foundation • Leonard Schaeffer • Simons Foundation • Spencer Foundation
Abell Foundation • Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation • Brinson Foundation • Burroughs Wellcome Fund • Chan Zuckerberg Initiative • Gates Foundation • Goldman Sachs Foundation • Haan Foundation for Children • Intel Foundation • Koshland Foundation • Leon Lowenstein Foundation • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation • National Academy of Sciences • New York Community Trust • Robert Noyce Foundation • John S. and Catherine L. Reed Foundation
SERP LISTENS TO PRACTITIONERS.
Since 2003, SERP has worked on problems prioritized by practitioners in partnerships with researchers and designers in locations
throughout the U.S.
Researchers willingly joined practice-based projects with
urban districts, with districts in
smaller cities and towns, and with
rural districts.
School District Partners
Adams-Friendship Area School District (WI)
Albany Unified School District (CA)
Alma School District (WI)
Ann Arbor Public Schools (MI)
Arlington Public Schools (VA)
Attleboro Public Schools (MA)
Austin Independent School District (TX)
Baltimore City Public Schools (MD)
School District of Beloit (WI)
Boston Public Schools (MA)
Brookline Public Schools (MA)
Carlinville Community Unit School District (IL)
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (NC)
Chicago Public Schools (IL)
Clayton School District (WI)
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District (MA)
District of Columbia Public Schools
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 (IL)
Evanston Township High School (IL)
Everett Public Schools (MA)
Franklin-McKinley School District (CA)
Fort Madison Community School District (IA)
Gillespie Community Unified School District (IL)
Green Bay Public Schools (WI)
Gresham Schools (WI)
Hayward Unified School District (CA)
Holy Hill Area School District (WI)
Jackson Public Schools (MS)
Leominster Public Schools (MA)
Los Angeles Unified School District (CA)
Madison Metropolitan School District (WI)
Moreland School District (CA)
New York City Department of Education
Oak Park Elementary School District 97 (IL)
Oakland Unified School District (CA)
Owen-Withee School District (WI)
Pacifica Unified School District (CA)
Penns Valley Area School District (PA)
Plum City School District (WI)
Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Community Unified School District (IL)
Rice Lake Area School District (WI)
San Francisco Unified School District (CA)
San José Unified School District (CA)
San Mateo-Foster City School District (CA)
Santa Fe Public Schools (NM)
Sauk Prairie School District (WI)
Shaker Heights School District (OH)
St Mary’s County Public Schools (MD)
Worcester County Public Schools (MD)
Worcester Public Schools (MA)
Research Partners
American Institutes for Research
Baltimore Education Research Consortium
Barnard College
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon University
Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)
Educational Testing Service (ETS)
George Washington University
Harvard University
Harvey Mudd College
Høgskolen i Sør-Trøndelag (HiST)
Howard Universit
Johns Hopkins University
Lawrence Hall of Science
Lectica
MDRC
Michigan State University
Mills College
Minority Student Achievement Network
New York University
Northwestern University
San Francisco State University
Silicon Valley Math Initiative
Stanford University
Temple University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Francisco
University of Colorado
University of Houston
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Kansas
University of Maryland
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina
University of the Pacific
University of Pennsylvania
University of Rochester
University of Texas
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
Vanderbilt University
WestEd
Wheelock College
Sample district problems addressed:
Plus many more!
Products developed by SERP are
research-based, practice-driven, and classroom-tested.
SERP PRODUCTS WORK
because we address barriers until they work.
They are rigorously tested for effectiveness, often in randomized trials across multiple districts.
Teachers embrace the newly-developed SERP approaches and marvel at how capable students are when engaged as bona fide thinkers with genuine agency.
SERP products are designed to scale.
Thousands of teachers
download SERP materials at no cost, and many districts purchase SERP materials for use district-wide.
More than 25,000 downloads monthly!
Not only does research change practice in SERP partnerships...
PRACTICE
CHANGES
RESEARCH.
SERP partnerships fundamentally change the research dynamic as well. Prestigious senior university faculty delight in the direct connection with practitioners.
Junior faculty can focus research on relevant and urgent problems because SERP clears hurdles that typically prevent access to school districts.
Graduate students in education join vibrant projects that contribute to practice-focused scholarship—a win-win opportunity and a sea change.
The need for innovation in education has never been greater, as we try to educate our children for a world that is so rapidly changing.
When the SERP Institute was a vision at the National Academy of Sciences, many said that it could not be done.
But the proof of concept has been a success.
We no longer have to guess about how to create change that matters.
Join us in scaling a model that is equipped to solve today’s urgent problems of practice — and to meet the challenges of tomorrow we cannot yet imagine.
