Grover (Russ) Whitehurst, Director

The Institute funds a variety of research activities. It supports research on teaching and instructional practice. It also funds research on curriculum, assessment and accountability, learning and cognition, social and character development, the instructional and administrative workforce, resource allocation, and educational systems and policies.

The methods supported by the Institute vary with the question being addressed. They include methods for producing sound descriptive summaries, including surveys, observational data, and administrative records; methods appropriate for isolating possible relationships such a multivariate analysis; and methods designed to address questions concerning the effectiveness of particular policies or practices, including single-subject, quasi-experimental, and experimental approaches.

We strongly prefer, as do policy makers and the public, randomized field trials when the question is the effectiveness of mature programs and practices. Such trials virtually always include the collection of process data that can provide insight into why an intervention does or does not work and that allow an examination of the relationship between implementation and outcomes.

However, randomized trials are only a part of our portfolio. A substantial portion of our funding goes to upstream work in which researchers are developing new programs or identifying promising practices, using methods appropriate for those investigations. We also invest in the development and validation of measurement and assessment tools. All of the Institute's research programs are embedded in practice, requiring both the selection of topics that are highly relevant to practitioners and the conduct of research in authentic education delivery settings.

The Institute aims to transform education into an evidence-based field. We are devoted to establishing the rigorous and relevant research base and the effective dissemination strategies that are a prerequisite to that goal.