Overview of Education Research & Development Centers Competition (84.305C)

1. Overview of Education Research & Development Centers Competition (84.305C) Rebecca McGill-Wilkinson, Ph.D. James Benson, Ph.D. Erin Higgins, Ph.D. & Jonathan Levy, Ph.D. National Center for Education Research

2. Organizational Structure of IES Office of the Director National Board for Education Sciences Standards & Review Office National Center for Education Evaluation National Center for Education Research National Center for Education Statistics National Center for Special Education Research

3. 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

4. IES Grant Programs: Research Objectives • Develop or identify education interventions (practices, programs, policies, and approaches) • that enhance academic achievement • that can be widely deployed • Identify what does not work and thereby encourage innovation and further research • Understand the processes that underlie the effectiveness of education interventions and the variation in their effectiveness

5. Education Research & Development Centers (84.305C)

6. Research & Development Centers: Purpose • Contribute to solving U.S. education problems, improve the education system, and increase student achievement through • Research • Development • Evaluation • National leadership

7. Research & Development Centers: Activities • Focused research program • Contribute to solution of specific education problem within the Center’s topic • Generate new knowledge and theories • Detailed plan of focused program required • 75% of activities should be for focused program of research

8. Research & Development Centers: Activities • Supplemental activities • Meetings, smaller-scale studies • Work cooperatively with the Institute to select and design • No detailed plan needed • Show capacity for conducting supplemental activities • Set aside up to 5% of budget annually

9. Research & Development Centers: Activities • Leadership and outreach • Engage with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers • Website with reports, papers, etc. • Innovative uses of technology (e.g., webinars, podcasts) • Describe audiences and activities • Show capacity for leadership and outreach

10. Research & Development Center on Knowledge Utilization

11. Purpose • Research • Develop tools for observing and measuring research use in schools • Illuminate the conditions under which practitioners use researcher and factors that promote or inhibit research use in schools • Identify strategies that make research more meaningful to and impactful on education practice • Leadership and outreach • Demonstrate effective means of knowledge transfer to improve school performance and student outcomes

12. Background • Findings from high-quality research and evaluation on impact of education policies and interventions • Concern that this information is not used by practitioners • To adopt interventions with beneficial effects on students • To discard interventions with adverse or null effects

13. Background: Potential Causes • Misalignment between research questions (e.g., does it work?) and practitioners’ concerns (e.g., how do I use it with my students?) • Misunderstanding of social context of practitioners • Research use is multilevel phenomenon (e.g. involves districts, school leaders, and teachers) • Need new ways of working with practitioners • Partnerships • Bidirectional model of relationship • Intermediary organizations

14. The Center’s Focused Program of Research • One measurement study • Develop (or modify) and validate tools for observing and measuring research use in schools and school districts • Two descriptive studies • Understand the conditions under which research is used and factors that promote or inhibit research use in schools • Identify practices that are associated with greater use of research in schools and school districts

15. The Center’s Focused Program of Research • Option to conduct Development Study or Efficacy Study • As alternative to one or both descriptive studies • To develop a pilot intervention to improve research use in schools • Or to conduct an efficacy study to assess the impact of a particular practice on the use of research in schools or school districts • Study may range along a continuum of rigor

16. Significance of Center • Significance section at start of Research Narrative • Discuss the significance of your proposed Center • Your vision of the Center • What problems it is intended to address • How your set of research and leadership activities will work together to promote the use of scientific education research in schools and districts • Discuss significance of three studies in focused research program • Describe how you will engage researchers and practitioners in the work and communication of findings

17. The Measurement Study: Research Questions What are the right indicators to know if school staff are using education research in their decision-making? How to capture variation in research use across schools, school district, and over time? You may expand or add additional research questions (and should provide justification for doing so)

18. The Measurement Study: Methodological Requirements Methods of developing (or modifying) and validating assessment(s) Approach for gathering psychometric evidence Sample and setting Characteristics, size, and analytic adequacy of the sample, including justification for inclusion and exclusion criteria Timeline

19. Descriptive Study 1: Research Questions What role do State and local education agencies play in making research available to school administrators, faculty, and staff? What role do school leaders play? How do education agencies, school leaders, and teachers obtain and process scientific information? How do social networks within schools and school districts appear to support or hinder research use? What are the major incentives or disincentives for practitioners to better understand and apply education research? What contextual factors seem to affect the use of research in schools and school districts? You may expand or add additional research questions (and should provide justification for doing so)

20. Descriptive Study 2: Research Questions Do certain communication strategies used by researchers or intermediaries correlate with greater use of research by practitioners? Is the presence or absence of intermediaries associated with greater use? Are particular technological innovations associated with greater use of research by practitioners? Are partnerships between researchers and practitioners associated with greater research use? To what extent do researchers perceive partnerships with practitioners as an enhancement or burden to their work? You may expand or add additional research questions (and should provide justification for doing so)

21. Descriptive Studies: Methodological Requirements Population from which you’ll select your sample and sampling approach Measures Data collection and analysis plan Timeline

22. Optional Development or Efficacy Study: Methodological Requirements Clear description of intervention to be developed or evaluated, including a theory of change Research questions Sample and setting Study designs may fall along a continuum of rigor but efficacy studies should meet What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards Detailed power analysis Read Goal 2 and Goal 3 of 84.305A RFA for more details on methodological requirements

23. Optional Development or Efficacy Study: Methodological Requirements Measures, including of fidelity and comparison group practices Key moderators and mediators Plan to analyze implementation fidelity and comparison group practices Data analysis plan Timeline

24. Leadership & Outreach Innovative approaches to fostering dialogue among practitioners and researchers You may coordinate leadership/outreach with annual conferences to save time/money Institute encourages website Institute open to learning how other applied social sciences encourage research use among practitioners

25. Maximum Awards 5 years $5,000,000 Maximum of one award Focused program of research must comprise at least 75% of the total budget

26. Research & Development Center on Standards in Schools

27. Motivation • Standards being rapidly deployed • >40 states currently implementing the Common Core State Standards • Others implementing some form of college- and career-ready standards • Little known about the actions that districts are taking to implement the standards and the influence that the standards are having in schools and classrooms

28. Motivation • Need for a Network • To coordinate a research agenda on standards that addresses the needs of practitioners and policymakers for timely information • To coordinate efforts of researchers from multiple areas of expertise

29. Purpose • Timely and accurate information • The Center will be a source for unbiased information regarding implementation of the standards. • Leadership, Outreach and Networking • The Center will bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are actively engaged in standards-related research, practice, and policy development. • Assess Early Outcomes of College- and Career-Ready standards • The Center will be at the forefront of assessing whether the standards are making a difference, and for whom.

30. Main Focus Areas for the Center The Center must carry out three focused activities: An Implementation Study A Longitudinal Outcomes Study A Leadership and Outreach Program The Center may also elect to conducta Measurement Study.

31. Implementation Study Goals • How is implementation taking place? • What strategies are SEAs and/or LEAs taking to implement college- and career-ready standards? • How do these strategies vary across sites? • How are implementation strategies seeking to address the needs of key student groups including ELLs and students with disabilities? • What changes, if any, are college- and career-ready standards bringing about in schools and classrooms?

32. Implementation Study • RFA encourages an expansive view of implementation, including several key dimensions, such as: • State, district and school leader support for implementation • Professional development for teachers • Curriculum materials • Teacher practice • Student assessment • All of the above as they pertain to ELLs and students with disabilities • Broader contextual factors that may affect implementation

33. Longitudinal Outcomes Study • OPTIONS:Exploratory or Efficacy Study • Twin goals • Assess the relation between standards implementation and student outcomes • Assess the factors that explain variation in student performance across sites

34. Possible Research Questions • Should reflect the broad objectives for the Center • As CCRS standards are implemented… • Do student outcomes improve or worsen as CCRS are implemented, including for sub-groups? • Do achievement gaps between sub-groups improve or worsen over the study period? • Which factors (implementation or contextual) moderate the relation between the standards and student outcomes?

35. Leadership & Outreach Activities The Center should be a source of objective information for a variety of audiences from federal policymakers to local audiences. • Minimum requirements • Provide specifics about the targeted audiences and strategies to reach those audiences • Maintain a website • Convene researchers and stakeholders to discuss research findings and needs

36. Application Sections Significance of the Focused Program of Research Research Plan for the Focused Program of Research Plans for Other Center Activities (Leadership & Outreach) Management and Institutional Resources Personnel

37. Application: Significance Section • Opportunities and Challenges posed by college- and career-ready (CCR) standards • Major research issues in need of attention • How will your approach address these issues, and the goals of the Center? • Conceptual Framework and Literature Review • What is your conceptual framework? • How is it grounded in theory on standards? • How will it guide research design, data collection and analysis plans?

38. Application: Significance Section • Sites • Describe geography, school setting, student population, implementation of standards • How will findings inform policy discussions and analysis? • Describe partnerships with SEAs, LEAs • Letters of agreement (Appendix D) • Research Agenda • Areas of focus for your Implementation Study • Research questions for your Outcomes Study • Justification for measures • IF you propose measure development

39. Application: Research Plan Implementation Study • Sample selection, including population and sampling method • Measures you will use • Data collection strategy • Analysis plan • Timeline

40. Application: Research Plan Longitudinal Outcomes Study • Exploration Study • Population and sample selection • Measures you will use; student outcomes • Data collection and analysis plans • Timeline • Efficacy Study • All of the above • Research design to produce impact estimates • Power analysis • Data analysis procedures • Dissemination plan

41. Application: Research Plan Optional Measurement Study • Provide a rationale for a new measure or substantial modification to an existing measure • Instructional practice • Classroom activities • Opportunities to learn • Alignment of instruction, classroom activities, or curriculum materials to college- and career-ready standards

42. Application: Leadership and Outreach • Target Audiences: Who will you be speaking to and what will be the key topics for each group? • National audiences (including federal policymakers and national organizations) • Local audiences where the research will be conducted • Role of practitioners in reviewing findings • Website (required) • Other Dissemination Venues • Products for downloading • Social media

43. Maximum Awards 5 years $10,000,000 Maximum of one award Focused program of research must comprise at least 75% of the total budget

44. Research & Development Center on Virtual Learning

45. Virtual Learning Lab (VLL): Background • Many open questions: • Whether education technologies lead to meaningful improvements in teaching and learning • How “big data” can be used to improve teaching and learning • Infrastructure is needed to: • Support the analytic and instructional use of the data • Store and share these data with others, and to mine data generated from the use of education technologies ies.ed.gov

46. VLL: Broad Purpose • Evaluate and improve instructional practices, content, and/or learning tools offered by one or more widely used online instructional delivery platforms • Focus: Improving outcomes of students in K-12, particularly low-income and low-performing students • One platform must be for K-12 students, but additional platforms can be for either K-12 or postsecondary students • Address how large amounts of data generated within these platforms can be used to improve teaching and learning ies.ed.gov

47. VLL: Broad Purpose • Inform stakeholders about the use of "big data" for education research and practice • Create a “hub” • Offer workshops and other activities ies.ed.gov

48. Definition of “Widely Used Online Instructional Delivery Platform” • The technological infrastructure used to: • Deliver any of a number of education technologies, and • Collect large amounts of information about students • Platform(s) must be used across multiple states, in the majority of districts in a single state, or in the majority of schools in one or more large districts ies.ed.gov

49. Definition of “Widely Used Online Instructional Delivery Platform” • The online instructional delivery platform(s) you choose may be used to provide any of the following: • Online courses offered by a state, school district, or postsecondary institution • Online courses with open enrollment (i.e., MOOCs) • Online schools or certificate/degree programs • Intelligent tutors • Blended learning models (combine online/classroom instruction) • Flipped models (instruction online and homework/other activities during class) ies.ed.gov

50. Examples of Research Questions • How can online and blended learning be used to address the instructional needs of learners across the spectrum – typical, advanced, and struggling – more effectively? • How can online instruction be designed and implemented to promote the learning and retention of material, not just in the short term, but also over longer school-relevant time periods? • How can online courses be designed so that students are more likely to persist in and complete the instruction? • How can online instruction be targeted and delivered to meet the needs of low-income students, and to reduce achievement gaps between higher- and lower-performing students? ies.ed.gov 50