THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION

The naed/spencer dissertation fellowship program seeks to encourage a new generation of scholars from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields to undertake research relevant to the improvement of education. These fellowships support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world. Fellows receive funding stipends, attend professional development retreats, and receive mentorship from naed members and other senior scholars.

The naed has undertaken a peer review study, evaluating and improving teacher preparation programs (tpp), which addresses the role of tpps in preparing teachers well and the larger policy supports necessary for the nation to meet the critical goal of recruiting, retaining, and distributing a well-qualified workforce for the benefit of all students. Guided by an interdisciplinary steering committee of researchers and practitioners in teacher education, the naed released a series of project outcomes that aim to inform multiple stakeholder groups including policy makers, national accreditation agencies, media and other independent organizations, tpps, and researchers.

The naed initiative on civic reasoning and discourse aims to improve students' learning in these areas by ensuring that the pedagogy, curriculum, and learning environments that they experience are informed by the best available evidence. The naed and practitioner partners in the field are developing discipline-specific teacher resources to help schools and districts provide learning opportunities to enhance students' civic capacities across subject matter areas.