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2011 National Board for Education Sciences Annual Report
Appendix B: Approved National Board for Education Sciences Resolutions Since Inception

  1. Congress, in authorizing and funding evaluations of federal education programs, should require [program] grantees, as a condition of grant award, to participate in the evaluation if asked, including the random assignment to intervention and control groups as appropriate. (April 2005)
  2. Congress and the U.S. Department of Education should ensure that individual student data can be used by researchers (with appropriate safeguards for confidentiality) in order to provide evaluations and analyses to improve our schools. (September 2006)
  3. Congress should designate the Institute of Education Sciences, in statute, as the lead agency for all congressionally authorized evaluations of U.S. Department of Education programs, responsible for all operations, contracts, and reports associated with such evaluations. (September 2006)
  4. Congress should allow the U.S. Department of Education to pool funds generated by the 0.5 percent evaluation set-aside from smaller programs. (September 2006)
  5. The U.S. Department of Education should use its "waiver" authority to build scientifically valid knowledge about what works in K–12 education. (September 2006)
  6. Congress should create, in statute, effective incentives for federal education program grantees to adopt practices or strategies meeting the highest standard of evidence of sizeable, sustained effects on important educational outcomes. (May 2007)
  7. Congress should revise the statutory definition of "scientifically based research" so that it includes studies likely to produce valid conclusions about a program's effectiveness, and excludes studies that often produce erroneous conclusions. (October 2007)
  8. The Board will review and advise the IES Director on grant awards where the proposed grantee is selected out of rank order of applicant scores that result from peer review for scientific merit. (January 2008)
  9. The Board commends the Secretary and the U.S. Department of Education for moving forward in developing new regulations and guidance about how to maintain confidentiality of educational data under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) while also providing for research uses of student and school data. The Department should finalize these regulations quickly, incorporating the major clarifications that have been submitted in comments. (May 2008)
  10. Congress should expand on the program of supporting statewide longitudinal data systems by requiring that states accepting funding under this program agree to make data in these systems available to qualified researchers (subject to FERPA) for the purpose of research that is intended to help improve student achievement. (May 2008)
  11. The Board recommends that Congress continue funding for the Regional Educational Laboratories at current levels as part of any Congressional spending agreement for FY 2011, and authorize the Institute of Education Sciences to extend the existing Laboratory contracts for one additional year beyond their scheduled completion date. (March 2011)
  12. The Board recommends that Congress include the following reforms in the authorizing language of Education Department grant programs, wherever feasible and cost-effective, to advance the use of evidence of effectiveness in decision-making:
    • Funding incentives for grant applicants to use program models or strategies ("interventions") supported by evidence of effectiveness, as judged by IES standards such as those used in the Department's Investing in Innovation program;
    • Funding to evaluate previously untested but highly promising interventions, through studies overseen by IES that allow for strong causal conclusions, including randomized controlled trials where appropriate; and
    • Funding incentives for state and local educational agencies to engage in systematic evaluation and improvement of local initiatives, consistent with evidence standards established by IES. (March 2011)