June 2013

The June 3 meeting of the National Board for Education Sciences, which oversees the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), focused on three major issues of importance to the education research community: (1) resources; (2) knowledge utilization and dissemination; and (3) new fields of research with potential for contributing to learning.

IES Director John Easton briefed the board on the institute’s strategy for cutting its research budget in the face of reduced funding brought about by the sequester. Easton reported IES has sought to protect the integrity of existing grants by curtailing new awards. For example, while the National Center for Education Research funded 49 new grants, it would have funded 16 additional meritorious awards if the sequester were not in place.

Other IES components face similar reductions in grant awards and program development. In the case of the National Center for Special Education, funding levels will not permit a grant competition in Fiscal Year 2014.

Board Chair Bridget Terry Long led a discussion on the importance of better understanding of knowledge utilization and research dissemination. The board learned of planning under way in two IES centers—the National Center for Education Evaluation and the National Center for Education Research—to implement the new requirement that utilization and dissemination be incorporated into the research grant applications.

Perhaps the most dramatic indication of IES’s commitment in this area is the competition for a five-year, $5 million national research center to study knowledge utilization in education. Applications for this award are due September 4, 2013.