Connecting Research,
Policy and Practice
Funding Opportunities
at the Institute of Education Sciences
Elizabeth R. Albro, Ph.D.
Acting Commissioner
National Center for Education Research
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Organizational Structure
Office of the
Director
Standards &
Review Office
National
Center for
Education
Research
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National
Center for
Education
Statistics
National Board
for Education
Sciences
National
Center for
Education
Evaluation
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National
Center for
Special
Education
Research
Legislative Mission of IES Drives Priorities
• Describe the condition and progress of education in
the United States
• Identify education practices that improve academic
achievement and access to education opportunities
• Evaluate the effectiveness of Federal and other
education programs
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Partnerships with stakeholder groups
• The Institute will encourage researchers to
develop partnerships with stakeholder groups
to advance the relevance of the Institute's
work, the accessibility of its reports, and the
usability of its findings for the day-to-day work
of education practitioners and policymakers.
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Methodological priorities
• maintain rigorous scientific standards for
the technical quality of its …
research….activities
• ensure that the methods applied are
appropriate to the questions asked and the
results are valid and reliable
• include a variety of research and statistical
methods
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Missions of the Research Centers
• NCER
– supports rigorous research that addresses the
nation’s most pressing education needs, from
early childhood to adult education
• NCSER
– sponsors a rigorous and comprehensive program
of special education research designed to expand
the knowledge and understanding of infants,
toddlers, and students with or at risk for
disabilities from birth through high school
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QUICK OVERVIEW OF CURRENT
RESEARCH INVESTMENTS
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NCER Investments by Competition
Program
Number of Awards
Investment
(in millions)
2002-2012
2002-2012
Research & Development Centers
548
20
$897.2
$204.7
*Postdoctoral Research Training
35
$22
Predoctoral Research Training
26
$121.8
13
$53.4
Reading for Understanding
33
6
$23.9
$113.4
Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research
12
$20.2
Social and Character Development Research
7
$13.6
*Unsolicited
31
$44.9
58
$51
*Education Research
*Evaluation of State & Local Programs & Policies
*Statistical and Research Methodology in
Education
*Small Business Innovation Research
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NCER Awards (2002-2012)
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NCER Awards Made (2002-2012)
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NCSER Investments by Competition
(RFA)
Program
Number of Awards
(2006-2012)
Investment
(in millions)
(2006-2012)
233
$422.9
Research & Development
Centers
6
$62.0
Postdoctoral Research Training
12
$7.8
Small Business Innovation
Research
11
$7.9
Unsolicited Awards
3
$1.4
Special Education Research
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President’s FY 2013 Budget Request
• An increase of $12.5 million over 2012 level
for our Research, Development, and
Dissemination line.
• Enable IES/NCER to award up to $30 million in
new research and development grants in early
learning and elementary, secondary, and
postsecondary education.
• $49.9 million for Research in Special Education
to support new and ongoing projects.
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WHAT WERE THE FY 2013 FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES AND WHAT DO WE
ANTICIPATE FOR FY 2014?
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IES Grant Making Timeline
• Early March: Requests for Applications are
released
• Typical timeline after RFA release
June Deadline
September Deadline
mid-April
mid-July
mid-to-late June
mid-to-late September
Peer Review Meeting
late October
late February
Awards Announced
early March
early July
Letters of Intent Due
Applications Due
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How to Identify Funding Opportunities
• Begin at the IES website (http://ies.ed.gov/funding)
• Sign up for the IES Newsflash
• Funding Opportunities are announced in The Federal
Register
• Review current Requests for Applications
• Contact relevant Program Officer(s) for the topic(s) of
interest in the relevant Center
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http://ies.ed.gov
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How to Identify
Appropriate Grant Programs
• Read the Request for Applications
• Review announced topics and methodological
requirements
• Look at abstracts of projects funded under a research
topic or program
– http://ies.ed.gov/ncer/projects
– http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/projects
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FY 2013 Research Competitions
CFDA Number
Program Title
84.305A
Education Research Grants
84.324A
Special Education Research Grants
84.305D
Statistical and Research Methodology in Education
84.324D
Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students with Learning
Disabilities Research Initiative
84.305E
Evaluation of State and Local Programs and Policies
84.305H
Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in Education Research
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Anticipated FY 2014 Competitions
CFDA Number
Program Title
84.305A
Education Research Grants
84.324A
Special Education Research Grants
84.305D
Statistical and Research Methodology in Education
84.305?
Partnerships and Collaborations Focused on Problems of Practice or
Policy
Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in Education Research
Continuous Improvement in Education Research
Evaluation of State and Local Programs and Policies
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FY 2013 Research Training
Competitions
CFDA Number
Program Title
84.305B
Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences
Postdoctoral Research Training Program in the Education
Sciences
Researcher and Policymaker Training Program in the Education
Sciences
84.324B
Research Training Program in Special Education
Early Career Development and Mentoring
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Anticipated FY 2014 Research
Training Competitions
CFDA Number
Program Title
84.305B
Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences
Postdoctoral Research Training Program in the Education
Sciences
Researcher and Policymaker Training Program in the Education
Sciences
84.324B
Research Training Program in Special Education
Early Career Development and Mentoring
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EDUCATION RESEARCH AND
SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH
PROGRAMS
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A Basic Requirement
• Each application to the education research or
special education research program must
address one topic and one research goal.
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FY 2013 Education Research Topics
(84.305A)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cognition and Student Learning
Early Learning Programs and Policies
Education Technology
Effective Teachers & Effective Teaching
English Learners
Improving Education Systems: Policies, Organization,
Management, and Leadership
Mathematics and Science Education
Postsecondary and Adult Education
Reading and Writing
Social and Behavioral Context for Academic Learning
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Education Research Grants by Topic
(2002-2012)
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FY 2013 Special Education Research Topics
(84.324A)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Cognition and Student Learning in Special Education
Early Intervention and Early Learning in Special Education
Families of Children with Disabilities
Mathematics and Science Education
Professional Development for Teachers and Related Service Providers
Reading, Writing, and Language Development
Social and Behavioral Outcomes to Support Learning
Special Education Policy, Finance, and Systems
Technology for Special Education
Transition Outcomes for Secondary Students with Disabilities
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NCSER Research Investments by Topic
FY 2006 – FY 2012
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% of Funds Expended
R & D Centers not included
FY 2013 Research Goals
•
•
•
•
•
Exploration
Development & Innovation
Efficacy & Replication
Effectiveness
Measurement
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Exploration Goal
• Explore associations between education outcomes
and malleable factors
• Identify factors and conditions that may mediate or
moderate relations between malleable factors and
student outcomes
• Possible methodological approaches include:
– Analyze secondary data
– Collect primary data
– Complete a meta-analysis
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Development & Innovation Goal
• Develop an innovative
intervention (e.g., curriculum,
instructional approach, program, or
policy)
Development
process must be
iterative!
• OR improve existing education
interventions
• AND collect data on its feasibility and usability in
actual education settings
• AND collect pilot data on student outcomes.
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Efficacy & Replication Goal
• Evaluate whether or not a fully developed
intervention is efficacious under limited or ideal
conditions
OR
• Gather follow-up data examining the longer term
effects of an intervention with demonstrated efficacy
OR
• Replicate an efficacious intervention varying the
original conditions
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Effectiveness Goal
• Evaluate whether a fully developed intervention that
has evidence of efficacy is effective when
implemented under typical conditions through an
independent evaluation
• Prior to submitting an effectiveness proposal, at least
two efficacy studies of the intervention with
beneficial and practical impacts on student outcomes
must have been completed
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Measurement Goal
• Development of new assessments or refinement of
existing assessments, and the validation of these
assessments
OR
• Validation of existing assessments for specific
purposes, contexts and populations
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NCER Grants by Goal (2004-2012)
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NCSER Projects by Goal
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NCER Grants Funded by Developmental
Level
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NCSER Investments by Developmental
Level
Combination
17%
Middle and/or High
School
26%
FY 2006 – FY 2012
% of Funds Expended
R & D Centers not included
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Early Childhood
27%
Elementary School
30%
FY 2013 Maximum Award Amounts
(84.305A & 84.324A)
Goal
Maximum
(direct + indirect)
Exploration
With secondary data
With primary data
Development & Innovation
2 years, $700,000
4 years, $1,600,000
4 years, $1,500,000
Efficacy & Replication
Follow-up study
4 years, $3,500,000
3 years, $1,200,000
Effectiveness
Follow-up study
5 years, $5,000,000
3 years, $1,500,000
Measurement
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4 years, $1,600,000
Connecting Research,
Policy and Practice
Additional FY 2013 Research and
Research Training Programs
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Research Training Programs in the
Education Sciences (84.305B)
• Postdoctoral Research Training Program
• Researcher & Policymaker Training Program
in the Education Sciences
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Postdoctoral Research Training Program
• For institutions to establish postdoctoral training
programs to train researchers in the skills necessary
to conduct the type of research that the Institute
funds
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Researcher and Policymaker Training
Program in the Education Sciences
• Researcher Training
– To provide opportunities for current education researchers
to maintain and upgrade their methodological skills
• Policymaker Training
– To share evidence from rigorous education research with
education practitioners and policymakers working on a
specific program or policy
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Research Training Program in Special
Education (84.324B)
• Early Career Development and Mentoring
– Provides new investigators support to further develop
methodological, content, and grant writing expertise
needed to develop a strong line of research that includes
federal funding
– Requires identification of mentor at time of application
– Requires a research plan and career development plan
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Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students
with Learning Disabilities Research Initiative (84.324D)
• To develop and evaluate interventions (e.g.,
instructional approaches, curricula, technology) to
accelerate reading and math achievement of
students with or at risk for reading and math
disabilities in Grades 3 through 8
• Will create tightly linked network of researchers
across variety of disciplines who will work
collaboratively to address problem
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Statistical and Research Methodology in
Education (84.305D)
• Research projects intended to expand and improve
the methodological and statistical tools available for
education researchers
• These tools will be used to improve the design of
research studies, analysis of research data, and
interpretation of research findings
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Evaluation of State and Local Education
Programs and Policies (84.305E)
• Support for rigorous evaluations of education
programs or policies that are paid for and
implemented by State or local education agencies
• Evaluations are to determine both the overall impact
of the programs/policies and the impact across a
variety of conditions
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Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in
Education Research (84.305H)
• Intended to support the partnering of researchers
with State and local education agencies in the
development of joint research projects
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FY 2013 Award Parameters
(84.305B-H & 84.324B-D)
Program
Maximum
Number of Years
Maximum Award
(direct + indirect)
305B Postdoc Training
5 years
$687,000
305B Researcher & Policymaker
Training
3 years
$1,000,000
324B Early Career
4 years
$400,000
324D A3
5 years
$10,000,000
305D Stats/Methods
3 years
$900,000
305E State/Local
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305H
Partnerships
5 years
2 years
$5,000,000
$400,000
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NOW THAT YOU’VE DECIDED TO
APPLY, WHAT’S NEXT?
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Contact Relevant Program Officers
•
Then,
Contact
a
Program
Officer
Program Officers are associated with competitions
and/or topics
• Contact information is included at the end of each
RFA
• Contact information is also available on each of the
program pages on the IES website
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Submit a Letter of Intent
• Letters of Intent (LOIs) are important, but not
required
• LOIs are submitted electronically
– https://iesreview.ed.gov
• We encourage all researchers to submit LOIs
– April 2013 for June applications
– July 2013 for September applications
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Application Due Dates
• Applications are accepted twice a year.
• For FY 2014, applications will be due:
– June 2013, date TBD
– September 2013, date TBD
• We do NOT accept late applications
• The authorized representative at your institution (not
the PI) actually submits the grant to IES
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Finding Application Packages
• FY 2014 Application Packages will be
available on www.grants.gov
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Review Application Requirements
 Request for Applications
 Currently available at http://ies.ed.gov/funding
 Grants.gov Application Submission Guide
 Will be available at http://ies.ed.gov/funding
 Application Package
 Will be available on Grants.gov
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Peer Review Process
• Applications are reviewed for compliance and
responsiveness to the RFA
• Applications that are compliant and responsive are
assigned to a review panel
• Two or three panel members conduct a primary
review of each application
• At panel meeting, the most competitive applications
are reviewed by full panel
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Resources for Researchers
• Visit links for faculty and researchers on IES website
• Review past webinars, and participate in future
webinars for the FY 2014 competitions
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http://ies.ed.gov/resourcesforresearchers.asp
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Help Us Help You
• Read the Request for Applications carefully
• Call or e-mail IES Program Officers early in the process
• As time permits, IES program staff can review draft
proposals and provide feedback
Don’t be afraid to contact us!
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Notification Process
• All applicants will receive e-mail notification of the
status of their application
• All applicants receive copies of reviewer comments
via e-mail
• If you are not granted an award the first time, plan
on resubmitting, and talk to your Program Officer
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For More Information
http://ies.ed.gov/funding
Elizabeth Albro
Elizabeth.albro@ed.gov
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