Research Grant Competitions Announced
March 28, 2016
Research Grant Competitions Announced
New Topic Areas Include Arts, Career Technical Education, and Student Mobility
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the nation's engine for research that can be used to improve teaching, learning, and student outcomes. One of the major ways that IES fulfills its missions is through grants that can be used to identify and study educational challenges, develop and test innovative solutions, and improve the research field.
Today (03/28/2016), IES' National Center for Education Research (NCER), released the funding announcements for two of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 grants competitions—Education Research Grants (84.305A) and Statistical and Research Methodology in Education Grants (84.305D). Full information is available on IES Funding Opportunities website and the Federal Register. The IES Funding Opportunities website also has information about funding webinars.
The remaining grant competitions, including those from the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), will be announced later this week.
Education Research Grants
The Education Research Grants focus on outcomes and challenges on a broad range of topics at all levels, including early childhood, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education. Grants can be funded for up to five years and support many kinds of projects, including exploratory research, development and pilot-testing of new interventions, efficacy and effectiveness studies, and measurement studies. For this year's competition, NCER has added three special topics for which it will accept applications:
- Arts in Education: Research investigating the relationship between arts participation and education outcomes or the effects of arts programs on education outcomes;
- Career Technical Education (CTE): Research on policies, programs, and practices that are aimed at increasing career readiness in K-12 students. IES is particularly interested in understanding what types of CTE programs work best, for whom, and under what conditions. (Read a blog post on the need for more CTE research); and
- Educating Highly Mobile Students: Research to improve the education of students who are highly mobile, including those who are homeless, in foster care, from migrant backgrounds, or are from military families. These students often face many learning challenges and IES is interested in developing a body of evidence on effective policies and practices that support the educational needs of highly mobile students.
As in previous years, IES is accepting applications for research in Cognition and Student Learning; Early Learning Programs and Policies; Education Leadership; Education Technology; Effective Teachers and Effective Teaching; English Learners; Improving Education Systems; Mathematics and Science Education; Postsecondary and Adult Education; Reading and Writing; and Social and Behavioral Context for Academic Learning.
Statistical and Research Methodology in Education
As part of its commitment to improve the quality and quantity of research, IES funds projects that seek to advance education research methods and statistical analyses. The long-term outcome of this research program will be a wide range of methodological and statistical products that will better enable education scientists to conduct rigorous education research.
For the FY 2017, there are two topics in this area: Regular Grants and Early Career Grants for researchers who completed their doctorates on or after April 1, 2012. Grants can be funded for up to three years.
Visit the IES website to view previously funded grants in all competition areas.
Important Links:
Media Contact: Dana Tofig, Communications Director, Institute of Education Sciences, 202-245-8235, dana.tofig@ed.gov