The Nellie Mae Education Foundation in Quincy, Massachusetts, has announced grants totaling $1.5 million in support of research related to competency-based education and student-centered learning.

The grants will support projects designed to increase understanding of the effectiveness of specific student-centered learning approaches and evaluate the support systems needed to promote positive outcomes. The funded projects will build on a growing body of knowledge already documented by such efforts as Students at the Center and will help the foundation as it works to transform public education in New England.

Grants were awarded to the American Institutes for Research, which will use the funds to assess the implementation and outcomes of competency-based education among high schools participating in the Innovation Lab Network; Education Connection, which will examine the impact of the STEM21 blended-instruction competency-based education model on underserved students; Research for Action, which will study Extended Learning Opportunities in New Hampshire and their links to postsecondary preparedness in that state; and the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts, which will evaluate competency education through online courses for credit recovery and acceleration.

"In the long run," said Nellie Mae Education Foundation research and evaluation director Beth M. Miller, "this research base can contribute to education policy, public awareness, and educational practices."