National Center for Education Research (NCER) and National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER)
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The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As the independent research arm of the Department of Education, IES has made significant contributions to education research, policy, and practice, ultimately improving the quality of education in the United States. Notably, IES-supported research has identified and addressed the urgent learning needs of students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This plenary session aims to showcase past and present contributions of education sciences to pandemic recovery efforts, as well as offer insights and a roadmap for the next decade or two of education research. The session will kick off with an overview by Dr. Strunk, who will discuss the impact of COVID-19 on academic outcomes, particularly for historically disadvantaged students based on data from Michigan. Dr. Strunk will also address policy implications related to the need for ongoing academic supports for students who were the most severely impacted by the pandemic. Subsequently, Dr. Bradshaw will focus on the increased need for social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health support in the post-pandemic era, highlighting how implementation science can enhance the impact of these supports provided within the MTSS model. Dr.Wijekumar will then present her research on intelligent tutoring systems and how she leveraged technology to address emerging and urgent learning needs during the pandemic. Next, Dr. Therriault will share the RESTART Network's work and insights on engaging policymakers, educators, and researchers in identifying areas of need and developing relevant and timely research syntheses and research studies. Finally, the session's chair, Dr. Albro, will moderate an interactive Q&A session and discuss considerations for IES's future work to continue advancing the field.
COVID-19
Join Elizabeth Albro, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Research (NCER), to learn about the contributions of NCER-funded research and research training to the education sciences and improvements in education practice, NCER's newest investments, and ask questions about the work of the Center.
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Join Jacquelyn Buckley, Acting Commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), for an update on NCSER's recent investments and activities, work in progress, and a live question-and-answer session with attendees.
This interactive discussion will highlight methodological approaches for engaging in research with the English Learner (EL) community in IES-funded studies. Considerations and implications within each stage of recruitment, sampling, measurement, and analysis of ELs who are at varied stages of linguistic development will be discussed. Challenges and lessons learned within and across studies from these key concepts will be showcased with a focus for advancing research approaches with ELs. While recognizing progress made, there is a persistent need for greater cross-talk and collaboration among IES grantees and EL researchers to move the field forward in a cohesive and comprehensive manner.
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The career and technical education field still has much to learn about how particular program components contribute to student outcomes. Accurate measurement is especially challenging for work-based learning (WBL), one of the core components of career preparation. This interactive session brings together researchers with experience tackling the challenges of CTE and WBL data collection at both the secondary and postsecondary levels in IES-funded grants. Panelists and the audience will discuss the current condition of district, state, and postsecondary WBL data systems, innovative models for gathering better-quality data from a forthcoming IES-funded study, and lessons learned for researchers using these data.
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The purpose of this session is to have an interactive discussion about promoting family engagement in education research to advance access and equity. NCER and NCSER researchers investigating family participation or family partnerships will describe strategies to engage with schools and communities to promote parent participation and collaboration. Discussion questions based on researchers’ lessons learned will facilitate small group conversations and large group sharing. The emphasis will be on methods for developing authentic partnerships with schools, community organizations, and families while centering equity. The moderator will facilitate identifying action steps inclusive of implementation determinants and partnership-centered strategies.
Too often, researchers develop products and interventions that benefit students, but don’t make it out of the education research “lab” to a meaningful share of classrooms. The LEARN network was launched to adapt and scale evidence-based practices and products that can accelerate students’ learning and address disparities in outcomes in the wake of COVID. The network is led by SRI International and includes four research teams that are working to adapt and position their educational interventions to accelerate learning recovery in literacy and math. In this session, SRI and research teams will engage in a roundtable discussion about scaling education innovations.
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In this interactive discussion, you will hear from four researchers who have conducted long-term follow-up studies in postsecondary education using various methodologies. Long-term follow-up studies are becoming increasingly popular among educational researchers and funders. These studies allow researchers and their practitioner partners to explore whether programs impact more distal student outcomes (like degree attainment or employment) which represent the ultimate goals of most educational interventions. However, while these studies are appealing and have the potential to inform policy, they also come with distinct challenges. Presenters will discuss the challenges and opportunities of longitudinal research and set aside time for conversation with the audience.
This interactive roundtable discussion will focus on the benefits, challenges, and promise of the use of observational methods in education research. The panel includes researchers from four different IES funded early learning and Autism grants/projects representing both NCER and NCSER funded projects. All four projects utilize observational methods in their grant/project for different purposes. For example, observations individual children within classrooms, fidelity of implementation within intervention studies, and professional development/quality improvement. The interactive roundtable discussion format will include flash presentations, a moderated panel discussion, and moderated questions geared toward attendee response and participation. These methods build upon previously funded research by IES using classroom observation tools, fidelity checklists, professional development, and quality improvement to embed naturalistic observations within observational, quasi-experimental, and experimental research-designs. However, observational methods are expensive to collect, intensive for teachers, and require in-person or technology-dependent resources that may limit use and acceptance in educational settings. As such, future directions for the application of observational measures in educational interventions and research will be discussed in this roundtable. Equity-related considerations also come into play when applying value-based judgments on the behavior or participants which can be problematic and will be discussed by the panel and participants.
In this session, leadership from IES’s National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) will reflect on the contributions the Center has made to the education sciences in the preceding 20 years and then look to the future. The conversation will include a discussion of work undertaken by NCEE’s five major programs—including its Evaluation Division, the Regional Educational Laboratories, the What Works Clearinghouse, ERIC, and the National Library of Education—and how each relates to IES’s larger mission. We’ll also discuss recent initiatives, such as the Standards for Excellence in Education Research (SEER), and how IES hopes they will positively affect the education sciences. Finally, we’ll consider how recent trends in education and the education sciences, as well as federal law and policy, have already begun to shape the work of NCEE and their potential influence in the years ahead. To conclude, we’ll “open the floor” for further discussion and live Q&A.
The researchers will present on various approaches to assessing teacher use of culturally-sustaining, anti-racist, and equity-supportive classroom practices. Dr. Owens will share data collected using qualitative and quantitative teacher self-report methodology measures. Dr. Bottiani will share progress on the development of a parent, teacher, and student multi-informant measure. They will discuss strengths and lessons learned emerging from their work. They, along with the facilitator, will pose key questions related to measurement of these constructs to engage audience members in an interactive discussion.
Anecdotal, local, and state-level data collection all point to substantial changes to the K-12 teacher workforce since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, recent research and policy work has identified considerable shortcomings of existing data systems that make it nearly impossible to draw timely conclusions about the teacher labor market nationally. This plenary session brings together representatives from the research, data, and policy communities to discuss potential opportunities to improve national data systems on the K-12 teacher workforce and help facilitate and inform the next several decades of teacher workforce policy and research.
Despite 20 years of investment in literacy intervention research, there remains a gap between research findings and classroom literacy practices. Low fidelity may indicate a lack of feasibility, but some degree of adaptation actually may be beneficial. Drawing on three IES-funded studies, this panel explores the complex issues surrounding fidelity of implementation in middle and high schools. Panelists will present data from classroom observations to identify contextual patterns, distinguish non/negotiable components, and bridge ideal versus realistic implementation. Panelists will also discuss implications for research and practice.
Recruitment and participant retention can be a challenge within educational research—especially when working with low-incidence populations. However, the existing educational landscape has only made this more difficult. Schools, educators, and families are hesitant to take on additional responsibilities, including research opportunities. Join this panel to learn about the recent challenges several researchers have faced within their IES-funded projects related to recruitment, retention, and day-to-day data collection and contribute to conversations about innovative solutions that can help you weather the challenges that many are facing in recruiting and conducting research with low-incidence populations in schools.
This focus of this session is on the challenges of scaling interventions from basic research ideas to applied and (ideally) effective interventions. High-quality instructional tools take substantial time to develop, refine, evaluate, and scale—many of these stages are often not seen by end-users or other researchers. Each step in scaling up interventions comes with substantial obstacles that are unique to circumstances. The presenters will provide overviews of their ongoing IES-funded projects in various stages of scaling up, challenges they have faced, and resources used to overcome obstacles. Guiding questions will be posed by the discussant to enhance conversation.
IES Deputy Director for Science, Anne Ricciuti, will provide an overview of the scientific review process for grants, including information about what happens to an application after it is submitted, how reviewers are recruited and assigned, what guidance is provided to reviewers, how triage is conducted, and what happens at and after panel review meetings. Common myths about IES peer review will also be addressed. Geared toward both new and experienced grantees. Bring your questions, ideas, and feedback!
The pandemic highlighted a persistent challenge for U.S. schools - how best to support all learners but especially those from marginalized populations and communities. This session will share findings from three large-scale IES investments in MTSS. The first presenter will describe initial findings from NCER’s R&D Center on rural school mental health. The second will present preliminary findings from NCSER’s network on integrated MTSS for learners with or at risk for disabilities. The final presenter will describe results from NCEE’s national evaluation of MTSS for behavior. The discussant/moderator will focus on factors that influence implementation within the MTSS tiers and implications for achieving equity in access and achievement.
In 2012, IES hosted methodologists and applied researchers to understand the hurdles facing adult education research. A decade later, this field still lags behind but continues to provide methodologists opportunities to develop or refine approaches. In this session, applied researchers will describe contextual factors that stymie research, e.g., extreme heterogeneity, high student mobility, and small sample size. A methodologist will share examples of meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships that advance methodological research and will guide participants in a conversation to explore the issues, discuss existing solutions and overlaps, identify areas for further methodological research, and share ideas for building partnerships.
COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on youth have forced an increasing reliance on educational technology to support teaching and learning. Yet, questions remain regarding how teachers can most effectively implement technology to support educational goals across diverse student populations and how the technology can be designed to be flexibly used across instructional contexts (e.g., in-school vs. remote). In this panel, we explore the factors that accelerate pandemic recovery with educational technology, with a particular focus on how design features, implementation factors, and the instructional context interact to affect learning. We include four presentations that feature digital learning.
This panel session showcases projects examining student access to educational opportunities in four different states. Two of the projects focus on the impact of desegregation efforts to decrease unequal access to learning, one via bussing and another via school choice. Two other projects examine differences by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status in opportunity and outcomes of services provided for gifted students. The results of these research projects will give state and local leaders evidence with which to make future policy decisions that provide greater equity in access to learning.
Panelists examine the English Learner student trajectory from ninth grade through to postsecondary education in Chicago, and surface insights into policies and practices that facilitate and inhibit these transitions. Findings on current practices and policies presented in this session require researchers to consider how these student populations’ linguistic and academic needs are being addressed, and supports that can facilitate these students’ academic and professional pathways. The chair introduces the session goals, followed by presentations of study findings from each presenter. The audience then shares comments and questions, and the chair closes with a discussion around improving educational pathways among ELs.
There have been substantial investments in the scientific study of reading, yet high-quality practices aligned with this science are not universally observed in U.S. classrooms. Core faculty and fellows from the IES-sponsored Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) program will discuss the potential to enhance reading research through implementation science. Implementation studies can help address the “last mile” problem in reading, or the gap between evidence and uptake among those responsible for delivering evidence-based reading instruction and intervention. This session will provide an introduction to implementation science, followed by examples of how the impact of reading research can be enhanced through these methods.
Efforts to increase use of evidence-based practices in postsecondary teaching and learning to improve student retention, engagement, and success in STEM courses have intensified in recent years, especially with the upheaval of Covid-19. In this session, panelists will share two distinct approaches to identifying specific, generalizable instructional practices. One is a field experimental methodology using a classroom-based ecological-belonging intervention that can reduce demographic-based performance disparities in large-enrollment college STEM courses. The second involves partnering with institutions to codesign and test instructional strategies using technology tools to support diverse students’ motivational mindsets, metacognitive skills, and applied learning strategies in online STEM courses, with attention to culture and context.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the ability to conduct research in the Education Sciences. For example, access to students was severely limited by factors such as the move to online learning, building entrance restrictions, and waves of student and teacher absences resulting in noisy, incomplete, or missing data. In this interactive discussion, we highlight the use of various methods to make valid and generalizable inferences from the types of sparse and often non-representative data generated during COVID-19; highlighting key approaches used in their own research on student learning and affect in a Civic Education context.
This interactive discussion session will feature the latest research on pandemic recovery and renewal in California, Chicago Public Schools, Illinois, and North Carolina. The California team will examine the $4.6 billion Expanded Learning Opportunity (ELO) grant. The Chicago team will examine the ongoing implementation of Skyline+PL, a post-pandemic K-12 comprehensive literacy curriculum system with aligned professional learning. The Illinois team will discuss the effects of the Learning Renewal-Social Emotional Learning Programs (LR-SEL). The North Carolina team will examine the impact of school extension programs on school re-engagement and academic recovery.
This panel brings to together PIs from four ongoing IES projects focused on the ways that teachers’ preservice experiences shape their career paths and associate with K-12 student outcomes, particularly for teachers and students of color. The session will be moderated by the IES program officer for all four projects, and the panel format will provide an opportunity for the four PIs to describe what they are learning and will learn about the preservice experiences of the K-12 teacher workforce in Massachusetts, Maryland, Tennessee, and Washington State. The moderator will synthesize trends and patterns and then facilitate discussion with panel attendees.
The four studies in this session illustrate state-of-art statistical and machine learning methods to analyze process data to advance our understanding of literacy and math test-taking and learning behaviors of middle-schoolers and adults. These presentations identify (1) math problem-solving behavior of students with learning disabilities and their general education peers using natural language processing, (2) patterns of time allocation for adults on literacy items using cluster analysis, (3) response patterns and problem-solving behaviors using Fuzzy Miner framework, and (4) underlying strategies adopted by adults with different literacy levels using hidden Markov model.
Disseminating findings is a crucial last step in any research project, but how can we disseminate our work in a way that will reach not only fellow researchers, but also practitioners and decision-makers in the education community? Through a series of interactive discussions and group brainstorming activities, this session aims to highlight the unique challenges of navigating the pipeline of information that flows back and forth between researchers and practitioners, and identify ways that IES researchers can succeed in designing, producing, and publishing research-based products that are relevant to a broad audience.
Commissioner Liz Albro and Associate Commissioner Laura Namy will discuss planned updates to the Department of Education’s Public Access Plan in response to the White House’s memo “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.” After an overview of planned implementation of the memo at IES, Drs. Albro and Namy will facilitate a conversation about questions and concerns from the IES research and research training community about proposed new requirements for current and future awardees.
As educational researchers, we carry out studies because we want to improve outcomes and opportunities for students. However, research alone is insufficient for impact. In this interactive session, we will share successes and brainstorm possibilities to identify – What factors make research spur change? Session facilitators bring perspectives as both NCER/NSCER-funded researchers and current leaders in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) program. We will use breakout rooms and collaborative tools to identify and capture ways we can strengthen dissemination plans and increase the uptake of evidence-based resources and practices.
While design-based research (DBR) has been successfully used to improve learning environments and address issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, one limitation of DBR is its focus on local contexts and therefore potential lack of generalizability. In contrast, platforms such as MATHia+UpGrade have unlocked the potential to field-test hypotheses at scale. However, the combination DBR and testing-enabled digital learning platforms raises questions about how best to integrate them in actual practice. This session will explore how to combine DBR and testing-enabled digital learning platforms in the context of two IES-funded projects, both focused on supporting middle-school mathematics students.
Assessing literacy skills and language proficiency at an early age has shown to be effective in guiding instruction within a multitier system of support. Technology, such as natural language processing (NLP) and speech recognition, can provide better and quicker feedback to school administrators, and teachers on their student academic strengths and weaknesses. We discuss two IES projects that are using NLP and deep learning methods to reliably assess students’ expressive science vocabulary, oral reading fluency, and prosody. This session addresses how technology can accelerate education sciences by providing efficient and minimally invasive tools that support teaching and learning.
Please join us for the closing session where we will celebrate 20 years of IES!