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The Institute for Learning at Pitt’s Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) has received a $1 million grant from the Hewlett Foundation.

The Hewlett award will fund an 18-month planning grant for the institute and nonprofit collaborator The New Teacher Project to study the establishment of cross-school networked improvement communities to work on specific problems of practice. 

The institute’s impact has been accelerated in recent years by its use of network improvement communities, in which researchers use principles of improvement science to develop, test, refine and share promising instructional routines across membership.

The study team is led by Angela Allie, executive director; Anthony Petrosky, director and Pitt professor of education and English; Sara DeMartino, a fellow of the institute. They will use student-centered practices to pilot test networks in partnership districts, then develop a district-specific playbook to use across school networks as form of professional development for teachers and leaders.

The Institute for Learning is the LRDC’s practice arm, bridging the historical gap between research and practice. Since its creation in 1995, the institute has worked in more than 100 urban districts across the country. Fellows work on-site and online to conduct seminars on learning and professional development, provide tools for analyzing classroom practice, and run programs for school principals learning to function as instructional leaders.