The Future of Education Research at IES Advancing an Equity-Oriented Science (2022) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 11-30
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 11... ...
Equally important was the new federal insistence on exposing disparities in achievement among students from a variety of demographic subgroups. In support of those policy efforts, Congress passed the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA)
|
From page 12... ...
Such an examination can ensure that IES-funded research moves the field forward on issues that are of critical importance to education and special education policy and practice and that improve learner outcomes. STUDY SCOPE AND APPROACH In response to a request from the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine through its Board on Science Education convened the Committee on the Future of Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences to provide guidance on the future of education research at the National Center for Education Research (NCER)
|
From page 13... ...
The committee will consider the policy and practice needs for education and special education research, as well as the balance across basic and applied research. The committee's work will be informed by documents that encompass the research mission and vision of IES, including the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA)
|
From page 14... ...
in NCEE. The theory of change, in this sense, is that research funded by NCER and NCSER that meets WWC standards can be included in the WWC repository, where it can be accessed by practitioners and policy makers in search of scientific evidence to support decision making.
|
From page 15... ...
Along those same lines, the committee interpreted the statement of task's four bullets as the primary tasks relevant to our work, and for this reason, focused on the research centers' activities that have direct bearing on future investments in critical problems or issues, new approaches or methods, training, and organization of RFAs. As described in Chapter 3, NCER and NCSER support research activities across multiple grant competitions, ranging from annual Education Research and Methods grant competitions to funding for Research and Development centers and Research Networks.
|
From page 16... ...
Instead, we were asked to apply our professional judgment to a discrete set of recommendations about the future of IES, an assignment that requires deep expertise across education contexts and content areas, as well as a breadth of professional experience as IES grantees, reviewers, and research consumers. This particular statement of task demanded that the committee consider the prevailing evidence in their respective fields as the foundation for their expert judgment: that is, in the absence of a specific body of evaluative literature about IES, committee members were called upon to apply their own expertise in making recommendations.
|
From page 17... ...
Support for public education, politically and economically, has vacillated over this time, creating challenges for K–12 and higher education in providing high-quality learning experiences, retaining staff, and maintaining facilities. Political polarization and ideological differences have become heightened, embroiling educators and education decision makers in conflicts that often do not have much to do with student learning and student well-being.
|
From page 18... ...
Though much media attention has been paid to the notion of "learning loss" as a result of interference with in-person schooling, the committee acknowledges a series of challenges in interpreting existing evidence around this concern. Beyond student achievement, however, there remains an abundance of open questions about how the pandemic will impact education going forward.
|
From page 19... ...
That is, changing what happens in a given classroom for a given student or group of students may be limited in the absence of attention to a broad array of interacting policies and practices that are under the purview of many different actors and decision makers operating at many different levels of the education system. Crosscutting Themes In order to make sense of and provide focus to this broad set of contextual issues and take account of advances in the understanding of learning and of education broadly, the committee developed five crosscutting themes: (1)
|
From page 20... ...
. Specifically, • The rate of Black children living in high-poverty areas in 2016 was about six times higher than that for White children (30% and 5%, respectively)
|
From page 21... ...
To frame its thinking on this issue, the committee relied on President Biden's 2021 Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, which outlines in full all federal agencies' responsibilities related to equity. President Biden has declared that this order applies across his administration, and 4 This sentence was modified after release of the report to IES in order to clarify the role of NCER vs.
|
From page 22... ...
The EO directs several federal actors to take actions to rectify past inequities and also advance a formal equity agenda in all future work. Of note, the EO directs the heads of all agencies to "assess whether underserved communities and their members face systemic barriers in accessing benefits and opportunities" in their respective programs, and to produce a plan for addressing these barriers.
|
From page 23... ...
In sum, the attention to equity issues laid out in both ESRA and Executive Order 13985 is rooted in a wealth of education research that posits that attending to equity is a necessary condition for ensuring that education in the United States lives up to its promise. For these reasons, the committee has used equity in education as a crosscutting theme throughout this report.
|
From page 24... ...
How best to leverage these systems to support improved student outcomes, while also respecting privacy and ethical use, are critical issues for education at all levels. Given this substantial shift, the committee found it prudent to consider not only the speed of change prior to 2022 in adoption of technology, but also the likelihood that future decades will experience continued growth and development.
|
From page 25... ...
As outlined in ESRA, the functions of IES include obligations to "promote the use, development, and application of knowledge gained from scientifically valid research activities," and "promote the use and application of research and development to improve practice in the classroom." Thus, the committee understands that IES's function is not merely to "disseminate," or inform the public about, research findings, but to take steps to enable their use in practice. As a result, the committee identified use and usefulness of research as a theme that must be consistently addressed.
|
From page 26... ...
. A stable process producing undesirable results needs to shift the entire system to yield improvement; an unstable process requires systemic improvements to detect and correct issues to bring the process under control.
|
From page 27... ...
Rather, there is increasing recognition that the process of implementation itself is worthy of study if education research is to provide educators with sufficient guidance on how to improve student outcomes. Implementation research "is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice, and, hence, to improve the quality and effectiveness" of interventions, policies, and practices (Eccles & Mittman 2006, p.
|
From page 28... ...
We address the second, third, and fourth elements of our charge in Chapter 6, which focuses on methods and measures; Chapter 7, which examines the future of training; and Chapter 8, which offers commentary on how the request for applications process can be organized to support NCER and NCSER's future work. We conclude with a chapter offering our vision for the future of education research in NCER and NCSER.
|
From page 29... ...
Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA)
|
From page 30... ...
New Evidence on School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps. CEPA Working Paper No.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.