Is your education organization eager to strengthen the evidence-base of its learning solution? Apply for the MIT Solve/Jacobs Foundation LEAP Challenge 2023 and get support from expert researchers and social entrepreneurs who will advise you and build your approach to strengthening your evidence-base.

LEAP seeks to advance evidence-based learning solutions that help children thrive. For the 2023 LEAP Challenge, they welcome applications from education organizations (Project Hosts) with learning solutions that improve outcomes for children ages 2-12 that are focused on demonstrating the effectiveness of its solution and accelerating its impact through a stronger connection to evidence.

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About LEAP

MIT Solve and the Jacobs Foundation have a shared goal of supporting and accelerating education solutions that positively impact learners. In 2022 we launched LEAP (Leveraging Evidence for Action to Promote change) to provide education organizations with expertise to strengthen the evidence base of their learning solutions.

LEAP pairs education organizations (Project Hosts) with a team of researchers and social entrepreneurs (LEAP Fellows) who lend their best-in-class expertise to the organization for a 12-week sprint (a “LEAP Project”). Fellows provide tailor-made research recommendations that inform the organization’s approach to strengthen the evidence base of their solution (a product or program.)

Benefits from Jacobs Foundation LEAP Challenge

Benefits of hosting a LEAP project include:

• Access to a global pool of research and social entrepreneur Fellows who apply their knowledge and skills to support your education solution’s evidence journey;
• A final report that details tailor-made research recommendations (guidance, strategies, resources, and/or tools) that inform your approach to strengthen the evidence-base of your education solution;
• Professionally-managed project facilitation provided by MIT Solve, allowing you to focus solely on the most critical elements of the 12-week project;
• Valuable networking opportunities across the global cohort of LEAP Fellows and Project Hosts;
• A $5,000 stipend to compensate for time spent hosting the LEAP Project.

Eligibility for Jacobs Foundation LEAP Challenge

Project Hosts are education organizations (for-profit, non-profit, or hybrid models) with learning solutions that:

• Aim to improve learning outcomes for children ages 2-12
  • Though not an eligibility requirement, the organisers have a special interest in applications from education organizations with solutions that embrace learning variability in typically developing children aged 2-12.
• Are eager to demonstrate the effectiveness of its education solution and accelerate the solution’s impact through a stronger connection to evidence.
• Are from anywhere in the world
  • With the exception of United States embargoed countries: US law prevents MIT Solve from accepting applications from people who are ordinarily resident in Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Russia, and Belarus, or from parties blocked by the US Treasury Department.

To be eligible for LEAP, Project Hosts must apply with an education solution (product or program) in one of the following stages of development:

• Prototype: An organization building and testing its product or program, but which is not yet serving anyone.
• Pilot: An organization testing a product or program with a small number of users.
• Growth: An organization with an established product or program that is rolled out in one or more communities.

Judging Criteria for Jacobs Foundation LEAP Challenge

Reviewers and the judging panel will score applications according to the following criteria:

• Alignment: The applicant is an education organization with a product or program (solution) that provides quality learning opportunities and improves outcomes for children ages 2-12.
• Partnership Potential: The application demonstrates that the organization has a supportive infrastructure and a dedicated Team Lead who has authority and capacity to partner and engage collaboratively with a Fellow Team on a research-intensive LEAP Project.
• Awareness of Current Evidence Base: The application has a sound theory of change or logic model that describes what the solution does and why it matters coherently and convincingly. The application outlines a clear understanding of the solution’s current evidence base as well as the need to strengthen it. Note: the evidence level that you place your solution – whether you are early in your evidence journey or more advanced – will not impact your score on this dimension.
• Research Aims: The application clearly describes how and why engaging in a LEAP Project will enable the organization to build an approach to strengthen the evidence base of its solution. The research questions are logical based on the organization’s needs. The outputs appropriately link to the research questions.
• Project Feasibility: The application proposes a LEAP Project with outputs that are manageable for a Fellow team (3-4 part-time LEAP Fellows working 6-10 hours a week) to accomplish within a 12-week sprint period.
• Potential for Impact: The application outlines realistic, practical plan for what the organization will do with the outputs once the LEAP Project concludes. The application proposes a LEAP Project that has the potential to be transformative for the organization’s solution and the population it serves.

Application of Jacobs Foundation LEAP Challenge

Click here to submit a solution

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Lastly, It is important to visit the official website link found below to access the application form.

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