Founded in 1996, the Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education was established to promote understanding of the implications of globalization for pre-collegiate education. It serves to bring together leading scholars, educators and policy makers to incubate new ideas and act as a catalyst for educational change. The Ross Institute is a not-for-profit research organization dedicated to exploring and applying educational innovations to best prepare students for an increasingly globalized world and the requirements of 21st century lifelong learning skills. It is directly affiliated with Ross School, Ross Global Academy, and Tensta Gymnasium.

A key function of the Ross Institute is to facilitate dissemination of best practices and new research findings that promote 21st century learning skills and understandings. Ross Institute Academy was created to provide and support professional development for these best practices and findings through workshops, conferences, on-line mentoring, publications and multi-media distribution via websites as well as audio and video recordings.

Ross Institute has a productive working relationship with New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Scholars from New York University’s Institute for Globalization and Education in Metropolitan Settings (IGEMS) work closely with Ross Institute and Ross Model Schools to exchange ideas and improve knowledge about globalization, immigration, and education. Ross Institute also collaborates with Harvard Graduate School of Education; scholars and neurologists from Harvard’s Mind, Brain, and Education department have forged a new, cooperative relationship with educators at Ross Model Schools and Ross Institute Academy to perform long-term collaborative research to document the acquisition of 21st century skills by students experiencing the unique curriculum and educational pedagogies at the Ross Model Schools. These institutional partnerships are instrumental in developing new understandings and practices in education that promote global awareness and prepare students for success in the 21st century.