Case Study: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

PROJECT SUMMARY

This was Substantial’s first time writing and publishing a design research case study. I was responsible for interviewing project stakeholders; writing, editing, designing the piece in the CMS; and finally, telling the story on our media channels. In addition to this content work, I also contributed as a project member to the final deliverable where I was responsible for copyediting the Target Product Profile (TPP) – a 36-page document overviewing the research findings. Partnering with the project’s Strategy Director and visual designer, we then created an interactive PDF experience for our client.

Using equity centered design to improve Algebra 1 for students of color

THE PARTNERSHIP

Grand Challenges are a series of grant-making initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focused on fostering innovation to solve key problems in global health, development, and equitable access to opportunity. Early in 2020, two teams within the foundation’s K-12 Program, Coherent Instructional Systems and Middle Years Math, set out to release a Grand Challenge, primarily focused on Black, Latino, emergent multi-lingual learners, and/or students from communities experiencing poverty to dramatically overhaul and improve student experiences and outcomes in Algebra 1.

The foundation partnered with Substantial to use design research and strategy to help de-fine the most impactful areas of focus to affect change in the Algebra 1 landscape. These opportunity areas would then inform the Grand Challenge.

THE OPPORTUNITY

For middle and high school students, Algebra 1 is one of the most important indicators of future success. Students who don’t complete Algebra 1 have only a 1 in 5 chance of graduating from high school. Many young people don’t have the support they need in the Algebra 1 classroom — especially Black and Latino students, students from communities experiencing poverty, and emergent multilingual learners.

The goal of the Grand Challenge was to encourage the brightest minds across the coun-try to submit ideas that promise to accelerate student learning toward mastery of Algebra 1 by the end of 9th grade. Moreover, the foundation outlined their desire for this Grand Challenge to elicit a response from people who might not typically apply to large grants.

Led by VP of Strategy, Sheryl Cababa, Substantial’s researchers sought to conduct hu-man-centered design research that provided the foundation with: 1) a full understanding of the Algebra 1 existing ecosystem and its stakeholders; and 2) a clear definition of the ideal areas of focus to address student mastery of Algebra 1.

THE APPROACH

The Substantial team focused on two major points of inquiry: 1) harnessing the exper-tise of math and education luminaries through participatory design workshops, and 2) learning about and elevating student voices through direct activities and interviews with Black and Latino Algebra 1 students. Aligning with principles of targeted universalism which emphasizes an understanding that Black and Latino students are not a monolith, we sought to interview students from varied economic backgrounds, school types, and U.S. geographic regions, both urban and rural.

To carry out this work, the team also partnered with EdSolutions for market and quantita-tive context, and Samantha Gil-Vargas from Geeking Out Kids of Color to provide cultural context for our researchers. The start of the research project coincided with the beginnings of the COVID-19 global pandemic. As a result, the team had to find creative ways to conduct research and engage expert stakeholders in a virtual format, rather than the usual approach of contextual inquiry and dynamic in-person workshops.

THE OUTCOME

Launched in October 2020, the Algebra 1 Grand Challenge was the first Grand Challenge focused on education in the United States. Based on Substantial’s primary research efforts with students, teachers, and academic experts across the nation, five areas of focus were identified in the grant application as having the biggest opportunity for altering the traditional classroom experience and its outcomes for priority students.

Ultimately, the grant application received 416 applications and 15 grantees were selected to enter Phase 1 of the program. Of those 15, a final group of 8-10 will then be funded to enter into Phase 2, where their solutions will continue to be developed and piloted into the 2021-2022 school year.