Education Research
Education Research
AERA Holds Its 22nd Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research
On October 23, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, hosted James A. Banks, professor and founder of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, as its 2025 annual Brown lecturer. The Brown Lecture aims to continue the legacy of the Brown v. Board decision by highlighting the role of research in advancing educational equality. In his lecture, Rethinking Brown When Diversity and Equity Are Imperiled and Democracy Is Fragile, Banks discussed the recent attacks the Trump Administration has made on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and drew upon existing studies to offer…
Policy Issues Confronting Higher Education w/ Tobin Smith
On May 21, COSSA hosted the recent installment in the Headlines Webinar series. May’s meeting focused on the many challenges confronting higher education in this new political reality and featured guest speaker Tobin Smith, Senior Vice President for Government Relations & Public Policy at the Association of American Universities (AAU). View the Slides Not a COSSA member? Learn more about how your association or university can join here.
Latest from the White House (April 1)
COSSA continues to follow the flurry of executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here. Eliminating the Department of Education As promised on the campaign trail, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) on March 20 that instructs the Education Secretary to begin the process of closing the U.S. Department of Education. The order, Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities, directs the Secretary to āfacilitate the closure of…
Register for AERAās Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research
On October 24, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, will host its 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 2024 lecture is titled, āBrown v. Board of Education and the Democratic Idealsā and will be delivered by Elise Boddie, James V. Campbell Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. Register for the event (virtually or in-person) here.
NCER Opens Applications for Two Competitions
The National Center for Education Research (NCER), a center within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the Department of Education, announced they are seeking applications for two competitions: “From Seedlings to Scale” and “Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice” (see previous COSSA coverage). Through the “From Seedlings to Scale” program, IES plans to invest in innovative products, policies, and processes within a particular focus area. Their three-phase plan will allow ideas to grow from seedlings to scalable solutions. Applications are now available for Phase One where teams will define a problem, refine a solution, and build…
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 āFrom Seedlings to Scaleā
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 āFrom Seedlings to Scaleā (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 RFIās list of questions can be found here. Comments are due November 13 and should be submitted here.
Register for AERAās 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 Sciencesā (IES)Ā National Board of Education SciencesĀ (NBES) met for the first time in six years.Ā As previously reported, the Biden Administration appointed members to NBES in November 2022, allowing the board to resume itās 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…
CNSF/CEF to Host Virtual Briefing on Investing in the Development of STEM Talent
TheĀ Coalition for National Science FundingĀ (CNSF) and theĀ Committee for Education FundingĀ (CEF) are co-hosting a virtual briefing titled āThe National Imperative to Develop STEM Talent: Why the Investment in Education Matters.āĀ The briefing will feature an expert panel focused on how the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation can support the STEM pipeline. Panelists include Dr. AndrĆ© M. Green, Chair of the Department of Leadership and Teacher Education at the University of South Alabama, and Mr. Billy Mawhiney, Executive Director of the South Dakota Afterschool Network. The virtual briefing will take place on June 21 at 1:00 pm ET. Participants can…
John B. Diamond to Deliver AERAās 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 virtuallyĀ on November 3. The Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research commemorates the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision inĀ Brown v. Board of EducationĀ and is designed to feature the important role of research in advancing understanding of equality and equity in education. The 2022 lecture is titled āWhite Supremacy, Opportunity Hoarding and the Legacy of Brownā 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 Educationās 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 āStill Climbing the Hill: Intersectional Reflections on Brown and Beyondā 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 studentsā access to educational opportunities. The request also proposes three new definitions to be used for applications of the EIR program: āHigh-quality tutoringā, 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 Departmentās 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 IESās 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 Academiesā 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 Instituteās largest grant programs for fiscal year (FY) 2021 as well as updates to some of the Instituteās 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…