Federal Funding for Education Research: Tips and Trends

1. Federal Funding for Education Research: Tips and Trends Adam Gamoran Wisconsin Center for Education Research

2. Funding your work, and planning for the future • I will talk about two federal agencies • National Science Foundation • U.S. Department of Education • I will focus mainly on what is available now • I will also speculate about directions for the future

3. Federal Funding Sources • UW-Madison is a national leader • Over $500 million in federal research support in 2006-07 (5th most in the nation) • Over $400 million in non-federal research support (most in the nation)

4. National Science Foundation • Supports basic research on fundamental discipline-based and interdisciplinary problems • Key program areas for social scientists • Social and Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) • Education and Human Resources (EHR)

5. National Science Foundation • Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences • Discipline-based programs • E.g., anthropology, political science, sociology • Interdisciplinary programs • Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation • Human and Social Dynamics • Science of Learning Centers • …and many others • See www.nsf.gov

6. National Science Foundation • Most NSF programs have small and large awards • Smaller awards for pilots, conferences, syntheses, applications, dissemination • Large awards for full projects • Most NSF awards are for basic research, but some span basic and applied research

7. National Science Foundation • Disciplinary programs generally have two deadlines each year, e.g. January and August • Interdisciplinary programs have ad hoc deadlines, usually once per year • Disciplinary programs are relatively permanent, interdisciplinary programs seem to come and go as funding and interests wax and wane

8. National Science Foundation • Education and Human Resources Divisions • Undergraduate Education • Graduate Education • Human Resource Development • Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings • NSF-supported education research at UW-Madison mostly falls within this program • Note: NSF’s interest in education is limited to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education

9. National Science Foundation • Key programs within the Division of Research on Learning • Discovery Research K-12 • REESE (Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering) • FIRE (Fostering Interdisciplinary Research on Education) • Informal Science Education

10. National Science Foundation • Whether in SBE or EHR, NSF reviewers are looking for • Clear, concise statements of purpose • Relevant literature and theoretical framework • Valid and reliable measurement • Effective dissemination • Two key elements of NSF proposals • Intellectual merit: Contribute to knowledge • Broader impact: Enhance diversity and benefit society

11. National Science Foundation • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) • Social Sciences is one of the program areas • For beginning or first-year graduate students • Must be US citizen or permanent resident • Applied fields are excluded, specifically including social work and education (except science education)

12. Institute of Education Sciences • The U.S. Department of Education’s research division is the Institute of Education Sciences • Four centers: research, statistics, evaluation, and special education research • Research is supported by the research and special education research centers

13. Institute of Education Sciences • IES supports research in a variety of programs, such as: • Math and science education/teacher quality • Reading and writing education/teacher quality • Education policy, finance, and systems • Cognition and student learning • …and many more • See http://ies.ed.gov/funding/

14. Institute of Education Sciences • New programs this year include: • Organization and Management of Schools and Districts • Analyses of Longitudinal Data to Support State and Local Education Reforms • Early Learning Programs and Policies • See http://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncer_progs.asp

15. Institute of Education Sciences • Special Education programs include: • Early Intervention and Early Learning • Reading, Writing, and Language Development • Social and Behavioral Outcomes to Support Learnig • Transition Outcomes for Spec. Ed. Secondary Students • Cognition and Student Learning in Special Education • Professional Development for Teachers and Related Services Providers • Special Education Policy, Finance, and Systems • Autism Spectrum Disorders • See http://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncser_progs.asp

16. Institute of Education Sciences • Many think IES is focused on a particular methodology • But the real change is not the advancement of one method over another • Rather: a narrowing of the question • What works in education? • Generally: what works to raise test scores?

17. Institute of Education Sciences • All IES program areas support research that addresses one of five goals • Goal 1: Analyze large-scale data sets to develop hypotheses that could later be tested in randomized trials • Goal 2: Develop interventions that could later be tested in randomized trials • Goal 3: Small-scale efficacy trials • Goal 4: Large-scale randomized trials • Goal 5: Develop instruments/assessments

18. Institute of Education Sciences • IES proposals require less emphasis on theory and more emphasis on application • IES proposals tend to be tightly scripted • Specific elements depend on the goal • Application is preceded by (optional) letter of intent • Full proposals always include the following sections: significance, methods, personnel, resources

19. Institute of Education Sciences • IES also has a graduate fellowship program, but it is provided to universities rather than to students directly • UW-Madison has an interdisciplinary training program in education sciences • Enables social science doctoral students to apply rigorous methods that permit causal inference to pressing problems of education policy and practice • Students in economics, political science, psychology, sociology, and social welfare are eligible • www.wcer.wisc.edu/itp

20. Graduate Fellowships from Other Sources • Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowships • Deadline in November • AERA Dissertation Grants • Deadlines in January, March, and September

21. Future Directions for Federal Funding for Education Research • This is a hard time economically for our country • But it is a good time for education research • Recognition of the need for rigorous research that answers pivotal questions about programs

22. Future Directions for Federal Funding for Education Research • In science and engineering: • Rising above the Gathering Storm • Substantial increase to NSF funding for 2010 • In education • New funds for reform efforts • Reform efforts will be studied • Opportunities for research and evaluation

23. Future Directions for Federal Funding for Education Research • In science and engineering: • Rising above the Gathering Storm • A call to action from the National Academies • Heeded by Congress • Substantial increase to NSF funding for 2010 • In education • New funds for reform efforts • Reform efforts will be studied • Opportunities for research and evaluation