From GrantWeek: ED Board Offers IES Planning and Competition Insight

During an October 5, 2012 meeting of the National Board for Education Sciences, GRC staff joined a discussion on the future of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the primary research arm of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Background information and meeting materials will provide important insight to researchers who are preparing to compete for FY 13 and 14 federal education research funding.

Although IES remains one of ED’s most selective grantmaking units, it has steadily increased the number competitions—beginning with just three in its inaugural year—and awards. In FY 12, for example, the institute supported 49 new projects through the National Center for Special Education Research and 33 new projects through the National Center for Education Research. IES leaders are currently working their way toward FY 13 funding decisions, with reviewers wrapping up evaluation of proposals submitted in June before turning to last month’s round of submissions.

Meanwhile, the institute is seeking comments on a new FY 14 research topic, tentatively titled Continuous Improvement Research in Education. With a February competition planned, the program will offer $1.5 million over five years for research on the ways education system components work together to generate desired outcomes. The broad objectives are to create a safe, orderly, and supportive learning climate for students from preschool through high school; improve students’ transition to high school; and increase access to college and postsecondary training.

The continuous improvement research topic will join the existing Evaluation of State and Local Education Programs and Policies (84.305E) and Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in Education Research (84.305H) topics under a new program umbrella, Partnerships and Collaborations Focused on Problems of Practice or Policy. These will complement, not replace, IES’s established Education Research Programs (84.305A).

From the Institute of Education Sciences: Funding Opportunities Webinars

The Institute of Education Sciences will host a series of funding opportunities webinars in April – August, 2012. These webinars will focus on a wide range of topics for applicants to the FY 2013 grant programs, including the application process, grant writing, and overviews of specific funding opportunities. Full descriptions of the webinars are available and registration is now open.

Register for the webinars by clicking here: http://ies.ed.gov/funding/webinars/index.asp.

Sessions include:

• General Webinars, including Basic Overview and Application Process
• Grant Writing Overviews
• Grant Writing for 84.305A and 84.324A
• Overviews of Specific Funding Opportunities

Once a webinar has been aired, the presentation slides will be available here. 

IES Research Funding Priorities

From GRC:

At its November 1, 2010 meeting, the National Board for Education Sciences approved research priorities for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the arm of the U.S. Department of Education that works to compile statistics, support research, conduct evaluations, and promote and facilitate the use of scientific evidence. According to the published priorities, IES will sponsor projects that do the following:

• Examine the state of education in the U.S.;
• Develop and evaluate innovative approaches to improving education outcomes;
• Understand the characteristics of high-quality teaching and how better to train current and prospective teachers and to recruit, support, and retain effective teachers;
• Understand the processes of schooling through which education policies, programs, and practices affect student outcomes; and
• Understand classroom, school, and other social contextual factors that moderate the effects of education practices and contribute to their successful implementation and sustainability.

In addition to research, the priorities describe an increased focus on education and training of educators. IES will support “postdoctoral and interdisciplinary doctoral training in the education sciences, providing training to equip education researchers with the skills to conduct rigorous research and effectively engage stakeholders in that research, and conducting training in research design and methods and in the use of longitudinal data.”

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