Dear Colleagues, In the words of our favorite detective, Inspector Columbo—"Just one more thing…". Well, three more things: Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Community Youth Development Program due December 14, 2020 2:00 PM https://apps.hhs.texas.gov/PCS/HHS0008417/HHS0008417-DFPS-CYD-RFA-FINAL.pdf The goal of CYD is to support Youth by fostering safe spaces, positive relationships, and structured opportunities to build assets and skills. These supports lead to strengthened connections, engagement, and contribution to the community. CYD provides an array of Positive Youth Development program opportunities such as Mentoring, Youth Leadership Development, and Post-High School Readiness in select ZIP Codes. Supports offered under CYD should meet the DFPS goal to increase Protective Factors and Developmental Assets, thus increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes for Youth. Protective Factors in this context are a broad set of characteristics and environmental supports that increase an individual’s ability to avoid risks and promote social and emotional competence to thrive in all aspects of life, now and in the future. Protective Factors as defined by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) are typically organized into the following domains: 1. Individual; 2. Family; 3. Peer; 4. School; and 5. Community. CYD uses a Positive Youth Development Framework According to the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, “Positive Youth Development is an intentional, pro-social approach that engages Youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people’s strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strength.” A Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach moves beyond solely preventing and removing risk behaviors to understanding the skills, attributes, and developmental assets that are needed to prepare young people to grow into thriving adults. PYD engages Youth as resources to be nurtured, rather than focusing on a problem to be changed. Several frameworks have been developed that can help programs easily and effectively incorporate Positive Youth Development into their ongoing work with Youth. Once such framework is the Developmental Assets framework from the Search Institute. The framework, based in research in Youth development, resiliency, and prevention, identifies 40 internal and external assets that have been shown to lead to thriving behaviors in Youth, reduce Youth engagement in risk-behaviors, and increase resiliency. Spencer Foundation Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program LOI due November 24, 2020 Noon; Proposal due December 17, 2020 Noon. https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/research-practice-partnerships This grant program is open to partnerships between researchers and a broad array of practitioners—i.e., school districts, county offices of education, state educational organizations, universities, community-based organizations, out-of-school-time providers, informal educators, and other social sectors that significantly impact learners’ lives. As such, we are open to applications from design-based research teams, networked improvement communities, placed-based research alliances, and other partnership arrangements. Research Activities—Each proposal should describe new research that would be launched or existing research activities that would be expanded with the grant. Examples might include randomized trials of new curricula, participatory studies with learner and family co-researchers; design-based research focused on teacher classroom practice; needs mapping with community partners; or deep descriptive work focused on a range of learner outcomes. We encourage a wide range of research methods and approaches. Research Infrastructure—Funds may be used for building and sustaining infrastructure needs for the research activities of the partnership. These infrastructure needs may apply to the full range of methodological approaches. Examples may include the development of surveys, assessment tools, and other instruments; the development of co-design protocols; and the upkeep of data archives and matching systems. Additionally, administrative activities concerning data may be supported by this grant. These may include developing IRB and review protocols, creating standard data definitions, co-designing consent forms, and developing data security and privacy protocols. Outreach, Communications, and Relationship Building—Activities that strengthen the working relationship between partners and other stakeholders are also a possible component of the projects. Successful research-practice partnerships devote a great deal of attention to building and maintaining trust across stakeholder groups and within their partnership. Potential activities may include convening researchers, educators, learners, parents, and other participants to co-design a research agenda; hiring a communication specialist and/or developing a strategy for communicating research findings to important constituents; supporting staff in the partner organizations to manage partnership relations; and preparing research reports and other publications to present the work of the partnership to the public. Capacity Development—Many research-practice partnerships seek to assist the practice partner in developing capacity to use research evidence and data in their daily decision-making. Funds could be used to learn how to better engage others in research, conduct better practice-driven research, or to be better equipped to communicate complex research findings to practitioners, families, communities, or policy makers that were not primary partners. And from Associate Dean Yaeger of COLFA especially for early career faculty who are addressing issues of inclusion and/or social justice, the following: Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders Award- deadline December 2, 2020 https://woodrow.org/fellowships/facultyleaders/info/mfn-eligibility-selec... For assistant professors in tenure-track appointments who are pursuing tenure. They will have successfully passed the standard third-year/midpoint review or their institution’s equivalent no later than January 31, 2021. Eligible applicants are typically in the fourth or fifth year of the tenure-track appointment and are still working to complete key items for the tenure dossier. Open to any field of the humanities or social sciences—including, for example, history, sociology, anthropology, literature, art, gender studies, ethnic/diaspora studies, and related fields—with an emphasis on scholarly topics that relate to or provide context for the study of culture, equity, inclusion, civil rights, and education in the Americas.. Examples might include (but are certainly not limited to) changing perspectives on civil rights; legal, social, and organizational responses to social change (such as affirmative action or community organizing); women in leadership; intersectionality within larger social movements; social justice issues in education; historic precursors of contemporary constructions of race and ethnicity; and the evolution of social institutions and movements in the 20th and 21st century. The Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders Award will recognize junior faculty candidates who not only balance research, teaching, and service but in fact give great weight to the creation of an inclusive campus community for underrepresented students and scholars. The selectors will focus on and privilege service and leadership activities that address and ameliorate underrepresentation on campus and give preference to candidates who embody a high standard of excellence. Have a safe and socially responsible Election Day, Iwan Mr. Iwan Notowidigdo Senior Grant Development Coordinator The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Education & Human Development (COEHD) iwan.notowidigdo(a)utsa.edu (Mobile: 347-231-5931) [cid:ce8517f5-1b54-4734-82f1-c66614b8a51d]