The Research Institute for Scholars of Equity (RISE): Conducting Mixed Methods Research to Improve Academic Outcomes Among PK-20 African American and Latino/a Children, Youth and Young Adults

RISE is a partnership between two universities in North Carolina: NCCU, and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. The training program will include faculty mentors and students from these two universities, in addition to a limited number of students and faculty mentors from collaborating institutions. Over the course of the five-year grant, RISE will offer up to 60 students one-year fellowships.

The interdisciplinary training program's theme focuses on the ongoing inequities in education found in American schooling, especially for preK-20 African American and Latino/a students. As part of the year-long RISE training program, fellows will receive training in education research, conduct research with peers and faculty mentors, and receive assistance in applying to doctoral programs.

One core feature of the fellowship is the eight-week summer research institute in which fellows will be introduced to critical race theory (as well as mixed-methods research techniques) as a means of studying issues such as teacher quality, education policy, and race and social justice in education. In addition to coursework, fellows will conduct several short research projects and begin conducting research related to the RISE theme as part of research interest groups (RIGs) under the supervision of their faculty mentors. Fellows will continue to conduct research through their RIGs during the academic year.

Increasing Diversity in the Education Sciences

A primary purpose of all Pathways training programs is to help increase diversity in the Education Sciences. RISE represents a partnership between two colleges within the University of North Carolina System that provide graduate training in education—one of which is a historically black university. Each year RISE will recruit several fellows from each of these two campuses, plus additional fellows from other collaborating institutions across the country. Participating faculty represent a variety of disciplines including education, economics, African American studies, urban policy and sociology.