education research
AAPSS to Host an Upcoming Webinar: “Civic Education in a Time of Democratic Crisis”
On January 16, The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) will be hosting a webinar titled, “Civic Education in a Time of Democratic Crisis: Charting a new agenda for bipartisan and effective learning in our contentious environment”. AAPSS is a COSSA member institution. The webinar, moderated by William Galston of The Brookings Institution, will highlight research from a multi-disciplinary team of researchers to describe what works in civic education, and it will feature a dialogue on re-orienting teaching and learning toward meaningful civic outcomes. Panelists will discuss how educators can more effectively teach civics and how to best prepare…
IES Requests Comments on Topics for New Program “From Seedlings to Scale”
The National Center for Education Research (NCER), a center within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), released a request for information (RFI) seeking potential topics for the agency’s new program “From Seedlings to Scale” (S2S) within the recently developed Accelerate, Transform, and Scale (ATS) initiative. ATS is intended to produce high-risk, high-reward education research in response to FY 2023 appropriation language. S2S is intended to support research, product development, and sustainability and scaling in the education marketplace. The RFI’s list of questions can be found here. Comments are due November 13 and should be submitted here.
Register for AERA’s 20th Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research
On October 19, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, will host its 20th Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research. The annual lecture aims to illuminate the important role of research in advancing understanding of equality and equity in education. The 2023 lecture is titled, “Otherwise Qualified: The Untold Story of Brown and Black Educators’ Professional Superiority” and will be delivered by Dr. Leslie T. Fenwick, professor and dean emerita of the Howard University School of Education, and dean in residence at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Register for the event (virtually or in-person) here.
National Board of Education Sciences Meets for the First Time in Six Years
On September 11, the Institute of Education Sciences’ (IES) National Board of Education Sciences (NBES) met for the first time in six years. As previously reported, the Biden Administration appointed members to NBES in November 2022, allowing the board to resume it’s work with the institute to ensure their priorities are consistent with its mission. NBES is also responsible for strengthening procedures for technical and scientific peer review, presenting recommendations to improve education research, soliciting advice and information from the field, and ensuring IES is compliant with the Education Sciences Reform Act. The meeting was attended by Mark Schneider, director of IES, who…
John B. Diamond to Deliver AERA’s Annual Brown Lecture on White Supremacy in Education
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, will host its annual Brown Lecture in Education Research virtually on November 3. The Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research commemorates the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and is designed to feature the important role of research in advancing understanding of equality and equity in education. The 2022 lecture is titled “White Supremacy, Opportunity Hoarding and the Legacy of Brown” and will be delivered by John B. Diamond, Professor of Sociology and Education Policy at Brown University and scholar of the relationship between racial inequality and…
National Academies Release Reports on Education Research and Statistics
Recently, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) have released prepublications of reports evaluating education research and statistics activities within the Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences (IES). The first of which, titled The Future of Education Research at IES: Advancing an Equity-Oriented Science, analyzes the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) within IES to identify pressing issues facing the centers and developing approaches for future education research programs. The report identifies several areas for future focus, including: Adopting new categories for types of research that reflect the…
AERA to Host Annual Brown Lecture on Intersectionality and Education Equity
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, will host its annual Brown Lecture in Education Research virtually on October 21 at 6:00 pm ET. The 2021 lecture is entitled “Still Climbing the Hill: Intersectional Reflections on Brown and Beyond” and will be delivered by Lori Patton Davis, professor of higher education and student affairs at Ohio State University, and an influential scholar on critical race theory and African Americans in higher education. The Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research commemorates the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and is designed to…
National Academies Holds Meetings on the Future of Education Research at IES
On July 7 and 8, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) convened the second and third meetings of the panel on the Future of Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education (see previous COSSA coverage for more background). While much of these meetings consisted of closed-door sessions, there were three open, public sessions discussing a variety of topics related to the methods and measures used in education research, on the impact of investments in education research, and on training and retaining future talent in the education research enterprise. The…
Department of Education Seeking Comments on Education Research, COVID-19, and Equity
On May 3, the U.S. Department of Education released a request for comments on proposed priorities and definitions within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program. The request cites two proposed priorities that will be used to tailor the EIR program to address timely issues: (1) Measuring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and teachers; and (2) Promoting equity in students’ access to educational opportunities. The request also proposes three new definitions to be used for applications of the EIR program: “High-quality tutoring”, defined as tutoring based on evidence-based strategies to support…
National Academies Convenes Activities Exploring the Future of Education Research and Statistics
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has launched several activities in partnership with the Department of Education to identify areas for growth in the fields of education research and education statistics in the federal government, especially programs within the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). On May 10, the National Academies panel on A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics in 2030 and Beyond held its first public meeting to develop a plan for modernizing education statistics at IES’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) by the year 2030. The panel will produce a report that prioritizes…
AERA and National Academies to Host Forum on Educational Equity Research Needs
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) are partnering on a forum on the research needs and implications of the 2019 Academies’ report Monitoring Educational Equity. The forum will feature experts who served on the National Academies panel that produced the report and explore a select set of the 16 indicators proposed in the report, including exposure to racial, ethnic, and economic segregation; non-exclusionary disciplinary policies; access to non-academic support for students; and access to high-quality academic supports. The forum will take place on December 15, 2020…
IES Announces Changes, Requests Applications for Several of its Largest Grant Programs
On May 27, Mark Schneider, the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) within the Department of Education, issued an announcement of new Requests for Applications (RFA) for several of the Institute’s largest grant programs for fiscal year (FY) 2021 as well as updates to some of the Institute’s programs. The Requests for Applications are mainly in the Education Research and Training Grant Programs and in Special Education Research and Training Grant Programs. A full list of the RFAs are available on the IES website. Some of the programmatic changes mentioned in the announcement include higher funding limits to…
IES Director Seeks Input on Topic Areas, Announces Possible Request for Applications
Mark Schneider, the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research, evaluation, and statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education, announced in a blog post on August 13 that he is considering three new topic-specific requests for applications (RFAs) and seeking comment on the topics around which IES research is structured. The three proposed off-cycle RFAs are “using state longitudinal data systems to measure long-term outcomes,” “using NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress] process data,” and “systematic evaluation of widely used math and reading programs.” The blog post includes more details about the proposed RFAs and a request…
Academies Releases “How People Learn II”
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recently released a new consensus study report, How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures, which summarizes the current research on the science of learning. The report is a follow-up to a 2000 study and highlights advances in knowledge produced over the past 15 years, including “insights about the influence of culture in shaping how people learn, the dynamic nature of learning across the life span, and the importance of motivation in learning.” The report also identifies priorities for future research in two main areas: (1) connecting research on internal mechanisms…
AERA & AAPSS Briefing Focuses on Inequality and Public Education
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), both COSSA members organizations, hosted a Congressional briefing on March 22 entitled, In the Age of Inequality, Does Public Schooling Make a Difference? The event discussed the effects of public schooling since the “Coleman Report” of 1966, a groundbreaking and controversial study that found schools have little influence on inequality in America, and instead students’ growth is determined by their socioeconomic status and race. AAPSS and AERA welcomed four panelists who discussed their research on public schooling’s influence on the opportunities of underserved youth….
Annual AERA Brown Lecture to Feature Alfredo J. Artiles
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, will hold its 14th annual Brown Lecture in Education Research on October 19 in Washington, DC. The 2017 lecture will be delivered by Alfredo J. Artiles, Dean of Graduate Education and the Ryan C. Harris Professor of Special Education at Arizona State University. Artiles’ work focuses on the intersection of disability with other socio-cultural differences and how to better understand and address related educational disparities. More information on Artiles and the lecture, including how to register to attend in person or watch via webcast, is available on the AERA website….
Department of Education Issues Request for International Research and Studies Program Applications
The Department of Education issued a request for fiscal year (FY) 2017 applications for the Title VI International Research and Studies Program. The program supports surveys, studies, and development of instructional materials to improve and strengthen instruction in modern foreign languages, area studies, and other international fields. Priorities for funding in FY 2017 include research, surveys, or studies about U.S. school-based dual language immersion programs or about outcomes of international education programs for U.S. postsecondary students. This request for applications marks the first time the International Research and Studies Program has been funded since FY 2011. Applications are due by…
Academies Report Examines Impact of Social Competencies on College Success
On April 13, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education released a report, Supporting Students’ College Success: The Role of Assessment of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies. Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the report “examines how to assess interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies (e.g., teamwork, communication skills, academic mindset, and grit) of undergraduate students for different purposes.” It also establishes “priorities for the development and use of assessments related to the identified intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies that influence higher education success, especially in STEM.” Central themes of the report include diversity and…
AAA&S Report Makes Recommendations for Improved U.S. Language Education
On February 28, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), a COSSA member, released, America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century, the final report of the Commission on Language Learning. A bipartisan group of U.S. Members of Congress requested that AAA&S establish the Commission in order “to examine the current state of U.S. language education, to project what the nation’s education needs will be in the future, and to offer recommendations for ways to meet those needs.” The Commission found that only 10 percent of the U.S. population speaks a second language proficiently, a number insufficient…
AERA Releases “Ed-Talks”
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, has released over thirty “Ed-Talk” videos, which feature discussions of cutting-edge research on education and learning. Additionally, AERA released research fact sheets to provide more details on the findings and research presented in the “Ed-Talks”. These presentations were given at a forum held in Washington, DC as well as the AERA annual meeting in April of 2016. More details can be found here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.