NASP is pleased to announce the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice (EDIJ) small research grants. The NASP Research Committee intends to award one annual grant for each of the following categories;

• Graduate Student – up to $3,000. These grants are intended to support a student in completing a project to address equity, diversity, inclusion, and/or NASP’s Social Justice strategic goal alongside an identified mentor. The funding period for this grant is 1 year.

• Early Career – up to $10,000. These grants are for early career professionals (defined as within 6 years of receiving their terminal degree) and are intended to support university researchers or school practitioners in completing a research project related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or NASP’s social justice strategic goal. Applicants for this award should apply with a senior research mentor who will support project efforts by acting as a consultant on the grant. Applicants, in their applications, should detail how their mentor will support their project. The funding period for this grant is 2 years.

• Established Career – up to $5,000. These grants are intended for established career professionals (defined as those who are 7 or more years past their terminal degree) to support university researchers or school practitioners in completing a research project related to equity, diversity, inclusion and/or NASP’s social justice strategic goal. The funding period for this grant is 1 year.

One grant will be provided in each category for each grant cycle. (If no proposal within a submission cycle is evaluated as sufficiently meritorious by the reviewers, no grant will be awarded).

Projects supported by these awards must have a clear timeline and set of expected outcomes for the completion of the project that further equity, diversity, inclusion and/or justice within the K-12 educational setting including but not limited to; student focused interventions, training for school staff (including school psychologists), or system level interventions. Expected project outcomes must address the specific needs of students who have historically been marginalized in the school setting and for whom traditional mainstream intervention and assessment strategies have been largely unsuccessful or ignored.   

Eligibility

Any NASP student, regular or early career member is eligible to apply for the appropriate grant category. The Principal Investigator (PI) must maintain current and active NASP membership for eligibility. Proposals may be co-authored, however, with a non-NASP member and mentors for early career grant proposals may be non-NASP members.

Note that there are no citizenship or residency requirements for this grant. Though applicants must complete a W9, they can use a Taxpayer Identification Number to complete the form.

Timeline

• Proposal submission deadline: Februrary 23, 2024
  
• Notification of awards will be made within 90 days of the submission deadline.
• All funds must be expended within the grants funding period. Failure to complete the project and expend funds appropriately within the project year will result in the return of all or some portion of the award funds.
• One extension of this deadline will be considered by the Research Committee, upon written request by the grant recipient, at least 60 days prior to the close of the project year. An extension of up to one additional year can be granted.

Use of Grant Funds

Approved research costs must be reasonable and necessary expenses directly associated with the procedures in the research study. These project-related expenses might include participant recruitment, incentives, stipends for research assistants or school liaisons (e.g., teachers or other school staff), statistical software, transcriptions, qualitative coding tools, measurement tools, and other project specific expenses not listed here. No more than 10% of funds may be used for PI salary or stipends. Funds may not be used for conference/travel expense, food or alcohol, overhead, etc.

Proposal Submission

Submissions should follow the EDIJ Grant Application Format and include;

• A cover page with a brief (one paragraph) description of the project and how it will further NASP’s social justice strategic goal
• A project description with a clear outline of how this project furthers NASP’s social justice strategic goal as well as a description of a reciprocity plan. A reciprocity plan should describe how the researcher will either build sustainability of the project beyond the life of the grant or communicate widely and effectively their study findings and implications with the community from which their data originates. The project description should not exceed 5 pages, single spaced, 11-12 point font, 1 inch margins.
• On a separate page include a clear timeline, budget, and description of how funds will be used to further this project.
• The budget and justification should not exceed one page and should not exceed the allotted amount for the grant. The timeline for the budget should not begin before (TBD) nor should it exceed the timeline of the grant (12 months for student and established career grants, and 2 years for early career grants).
• Also include a title page and reference list (does not count towards the project description page limit)
• An abbreviated curriculum vitae (last 5 years) for all researchers involved.
• For Early Career and Established Career grants: Unofficial (or official) transcripts showing date degree conferred
• For Early Career grants: Detail how your mentor will help support your project goals.
• All submissions should be sent to Nicholas Affrunti, NASP Director of Research.

Proposal Review

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel consisting of current members of the NASP Research Committee, Social Justice Committee and 2 additional members of the NASP Board of Directors appointed by the NASP President. Therefore, proposals should be written such that they can be understood by individuals who are not experts in the applicant's exact area of study. Review criteria include the following:

1. Project's potential for having significant impact in addressing equity, diversity, inclusion and/or NASP’s Social Justice strategic goal. This should be clearly described in the proposal.
2. Methods and procedures that are appropriate to the project's stated goals and research questions, including research questions that directly relate to NASP’s Social Justice strategic goal. Sample projects could include but are not limited to testing interventions, secondary data analysis, qualitative studies, quantitative studies, mixed method studies, and action research projects.
3. Feasibility of the study, including the proposed timeframe and plans for recruitment of research participants, if any.
4. A clear description of how funding from this grant will move the project to completion.
5. Researcher's qualifications to implement the project, including a record of scholarship and publications that supports the researcher's capacity to bring the project to a successful conclusion.
6. There must be evidence that the research project has met federal standards regarding research with human participants by submitting documentation of approval by their Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Participants (IRB).

Responsibilities of Grantees

Recipient must submit a 1-2 page final report presenting a summary of project results and financial report of funds used. This final report and any unused funds are due to NASP and should be sent to the NASP Director of Research by June 30 of the final project year. Eligibility for future NASP grant awards will be contingent upon timely submission of a final report and return of the unused funds.

Recipient must submit a completed Form W-9 prior to release of funding. Note that there are no citizenship or residency requirements for this grant. Applicants can use a Taxpayer Identification Number to submit the W9 form.

Recipient agrees to submit research findings to a NASP publication outlet (e.g., NASP Research Reports, School Psychology Review, NASP Communiqué).

All resulting research articles should include a funding acknowledgement statement in the manuscript (e.g., This work was supported by the NASP Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice grant program).