Q: What are the criteria used to review applications?
A: The following links provide detailed information concerning review criteria. Be sure to read the document for Disqualified Applications and for either Existing Program Evaluation Applications or for Research Project Applications, depending upon the proposal you intend to submit.
This document describes factors that will cause a proposal to be disqualified and thus not reviewed by the Full Board of the Foundation; this information applies to ALL applications (Existing Program Evaluation (EPE) and Research Project (RP) applications):
Disqualified Applications
This document provides detailed information concerning review criteria specific to Existing Program Evaluation applications:
Existing Program Evaluation Application (EPE)
This document provides detailed information concerning review criteria specific to Research Project applications:
Research Project Applications (RP)
Q: What outcomes are you particularly interested in?
A: Educational outcomes, including academic achievement and cognitive outcomes (birth through 18 years). More specifically, these outcomes include (but are not limited to): performance on cognitive assessments, school readiness, achievement scores, language and literacy skills, skills associated with STEM, attendance, grades, enrollment in advanced classes, high-school graduation, college or career readiness. BEF favors projects that can assess these outcomes directly (e.g., children’s performance on a language assessment) rather than relying only on parent or teacher report.
Q: Are you interested in promoting academic and cognitive outcomes in systems or settings other than education?
A: Yes. We are interested in programs, policies, and practices to promote positive achievement and cognitive outcomes in a range of systems and in varied settings, such as neighborhoods, schools, families, and communities.
Q: What are the main reasons that proposals are not invited to advance in the application process:
A: The following are among (but not the only) main reasons LOIs are not invited to advance:
- The main aims of the work do not focus on promoting positive academic and cognitive outcomes for children, particularly those placed at risk due to environmental circumstances (e.g., low family income, live in a rural community with fewer resources, discriminatory systems).
- A deficit-model orientation guides the work.
- The methods are not likely to provide high quality data with generalizable findings.
- The potential impact is not likely to be very high (i.e., not have the potential to significantly inform educational research, practice, policy, and / or major philanthropic giving).
- The proposed total budget is beyond BEF’s capacity.
- The budget is inconsistent with BEF’s indirect costs and other funding policies.
- The PI is not a researcher at a university or college (public or non-profit, private) or a large, non-profit research organization with a strong history of conducting high quality and impactful research.
- The project is outside the US.
- The program to be evaluation is a for-profit program.
- The proposed timeline is longer than 3 years.
Q: Do you fund scholarships, annual or capital campaigns, fundraising drives, program operations, start-up costs, or endowments?
A: No. BEF provides funding for research and evaluation studies.
Q: Do you fund international projects (studies conducted outside the United States and its territories)?
A: No. BEF only funds studies conducted in the United States.
Q: Do you fund evaluation studies conducted by for-profit organizations?
A: No. Applicants must be researchers at universities or colleges (public or non-profit, private) or large, non-profit research organizations with a strong history of conducting high quality and impactful research. The Foundation makes grants only to tax-exempt organizations. Further, we do not make grants to individuals.
Q: Do you fund evaluations of for-profit programs:
A: No. BEF only funds evaluations of non-profit programs.
Q: Do you fund the evaluation of programs for children at risk for poor outcomes due to medical conditions or substance abuse?
A: No. BEF does not fund the evaluation of programs for children at risk for poor outcomes due to medical conditions (including developmental delays or disabilities associated with biological causes) or substance abuse. At this time, BEF is focusing its evaluation funding of programs aimed at promoting academic achievement and cognitive outcomes for children placed at risk due to environmental circumstances.
Q: Do you fund post-doctoral scholars or fellowships?
A: BEF is not currently accepting applications with the sole purpose of supporting a post-doctoral position or other type of fellowship. However, if such individuals would work on the proposed Research Project or Existing Program Evaluation, they can be included as key personnel and the %FTE they would work on the project can be included in the budget.
Q: Do research grants fund activities other than research (e.g., research institutes or programs, convenings, program operations).
A: No. BEF supports investigator-initiated research that is consistent with our mission.
Q: What percent of applications are awarded funding?
A: BEF recently implemented the policy that all applicants begin with the submission of a Letter of Inquiry. Thus, it is not possible to state yet what percent of LOIs are invited to submit a Stage 1 application. We will update this FAQ when those data are available. Further, given the recent disruptions in federal funding, BEF is receive many more applications than is typical. Prior to this disruption, approximately 18% of Stage 1 applications were invited to submit a Stage 2 application, and about 12% of Stage 1 applications were eventually funded.
Q: Are staff available to discuss projects prior to the submission of a Letter of Inquiry?
A: We are a small staff and generally do not have capacity for conversations about individual project ideas prior to the submission of the LOI. We highly encourage you to review the Application Guidelines webpage (particularly the documents concerning disqualified applications and review criteria for EPE and RP applications) before submitting your letter of inquiry for consideration.
Q: Are staff available to discuss projects after a Letter of Inquiry is approved and prior to the submission of a Stage 1 application?
A: We are a small staff and generally do not have the capacity to have conversations about individual projects prior to the submission of a Stage 1 application. If an application is invited to continue to Stage 2, staff are available to discuss the project prior to the submission of the Stage 2 application.
Q: Are you able to provide feedback on LOIs and Stage 1 applications not invited to continue in the application process or Stage 2 applications that are not approved for funding?
A: Due to having a small staff and the high volume of proposals that we receive, we are unable to provide customized feedback to applicants whose proposals do not advance in the application process or for Stage 2 proposals not approved for funding.
Q: Are staff available to meet with several researchers together in a department or research organization to discuss BEF’s priorities and application process in general?
A: Yes. If you are interested in having a representative of BEF meet with several researchers at your university, college, or non-profit research organization, please send your request to applications@BradyEducationFoundation.org. We will do our best to accommodate your request, but please note that we are not always able to fulfill these requests due to a variety of reasons. These meetings are typically virtual via Zoom. Please note, BEF representatives are typically not able to provide feedback concerning individual projects in these meetings, rather the focus is a discussion concerning BEF’s priorities and application process and to give potential applicants the chance to ask general questions.
Q: What is the typical total budget size of grants BEF funds?
A: For studies that would collect data, the total budget is on average $125,0000 per year or less (maximum 3-year timeline). For studies that would only conduct analyses of existing data sets (e.g., administrative data), the requested budget is typically less than $100,000 (1- to 1.5-year timeline).
Q: How much of my budget may go to indirect costs?
A: See our full indirect costs policy on our Application Guidelines page of our website.
Q: Who should submit the letter of inquiry?
A: The principal investigator should submit the letter of inquiry. This person must be a researcher at a university or college (public or non-profit, private) or a large, non-profit research organization. An office of sponsored programs or development representative who wishes to submit a letter of inquiry on behalf of the principal investigator should be sure that the principal investigator is copied on the email when the LOI is submitted.
Q: May an organization submit multiple applications?
A: We do not limit the number of research grant applications by organization. We will accept Letters of Inquiry from multiple principal investigators at the same organization.
Q: May an applicant submit more than one LOI at the same time?
A: Applicants may submit more than one letter of inquiry. However, we encourage applicants to focus their resources on developing a few ideas well.
Q: May I resubmit an LOI or a Stage 1 application if not invited to continue with the application process?
A: Resubmissions of LOIs and Stage 1 applications are allowed, but unless specifically invited to resubmit, are rarely successful.
Q: How long does it take to receive feedback on a LOI after submission, and what is the time frame between submission of a Stage 1 application and funding notification?
A: The review process for Letters of Inquiry is about two weeks. See the Submission Timetable for due dates and notification dates. If the LOI is approved and the applicant is invited to submit a Stage 1 application, the applicant can submit their Stage 1 application for the current review cycle or wait to submit their Stage 1 application in a later cycle. If they choose to wait and submit for a later cycle, they are NOT required to resubmit their LOI.
Q: Are letters of support ( e.g., letters of support from schools in which data would be collected) required with the submission of a Letter of Inquiry?
A: Applicants are welcome to submit letters of support with the Letter of Inquiry, but they are not required. Letters of support are required when a Stage 1 application is submitted.
Q: Is it possible to submit figures and appendices with the Letter of Inquiry?
A: You are welcome to submit appendices to the LOI, included in the same .pdf attachment, although we cannot guarantee that reviewers will consider materials submitted in excess of the 1,000-word statement.
Q: What expectations do you have for the career status of PIs?
A: Applicants at all career stages may apply; teams are evaluated in terms of their abilities to successfully carry out the proposed work. We welcome applications that include both early career scholars and more experienced scholars in the leadership team (PI / co-PI level).
Q: Do I have to submit a Human Subjects Approval with my LOI?
A: IRB Approval is not needed with submission of the Letter of Inquiry.
Q: Do I have to submit a CV, bio sketch, or resumé with my LOI?
A: You do not need to submit a CV or resumé with the Letter of Inquiry. CVs for all key personnel are required when a Stage 1 application is submitted.