Dear Colleagues, 

Below are links to the application packages for IES Education and Special Education Research Grants. For the first two listed—Statistical and Research Methodology in Education and Special Education Research/Research to Accelerate Pandemic Recovery in Special Education, IHEs may apply independently; the category, Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Recovery in Policy only has State agencies as the eligible applicant, but I am listing it in case faculty have contacts with State agencies and would be able to arrange a sub-award. 

 

If you are interested in competing for one of these grants, please contact me for support. Application packages for the three other grant categories are released on June 30, 2021. 

 

Statistical and Research Methodology in Education LOI due July 8, 2021; Full Application due August 12, 2021 

Description https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/projects/program.asp?ProgID=60 

Application Package https://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2022_84305D.pdf 

The specific purpose of the Methods grant program is to develop and disseminate statistical and methodological products for use by education researchers as they carry out the type of education research IES supports. 

 

For FY 2022, IES is accepting Methods applications under two topics: 

• Core Grants 

• Early Career Grants 

 

The Methods grant program supports the development of a wide range of statistical and methodological products, including new and improved methods, toolkits, guidelines, compendia, review papers, and software, to better enable education scientists to conduct rigorous education research. Researchers should plan to disseminate their products to education researchers who may use them in their own work as well as to methods researchers who may further develop or make use of them. 

The Core Grants topic (previously called Regular Grants topic) supports the development of new and improved statistical and research methods and their dissemination to education researchers through such products as articles in applied education journals, working papers and monographs, software, and toolkits describing how to use them. In addition, the Core Grants topic supports the compilation of existing research and information for a given method into products that help education researchers understand and apply the method. These products include toolkits, guidelines, compendia, and review papers. These products should be tried out by education researchers to ensure their usability, revised as needed, then broadly disseminated. 

The Early Career Grants topic supports the development of new and improved statistical and research methods by early career researchers (defined as those who have received their doctorate on or after April 1, 2017) with the support of a mentor or advisory panel. Researchers who meet the early career definition can choose to apply under Core Grants or Early Career Grants for support to develop new and improved methods. Early career researchers who wish to compile existing research and information into toolkits, guidelines, compendia, and review papers should apply under Core Grants. 

 

Research to Accelerate Pandemic Recovery in Special Education LOI due June 30, 2021; Full Application due August 2, 2021 [Note: there is a second deadline of LOI due July 15; Full Application due September 9, 2021. See requirements for meeting the first deadline below] 

Description https://ies.ed.gov/ncser/projects/program.asp?ProgID=2116 

Application Package https://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2022_84324X.pdf 

 

Research projects should address a pandemic-related problem or issue of importance to a state or local education agency or school(s) (education agencies) and should yield information and/or products that are timely and of direct use to districts and states. 

Applicants may propose research on a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to, the following: 

• Strategies to accelerate academic learning; get students back on track in developing their social, emotional, and behavioral skills; and/or prepare students for important transitions between grades, developmental periods, or to postsecondary settings (for example, through tutoring, intensive interventions, or summer school programs) 

• Strategies to ensure that students with disabilities who suffer trauma, are experiencing homelessness, are in foster care or juvenile justice, or have migrant status are being identified and offered academic and social-emotional supports as needed 

• Professional development for educators to help students with disabilities make up for lost learning time 

• Data-based decision-making practices to identify students in need, revise instruction and services based on progress, and ensure staff are working collaboratively to address student needs 

• Strategies to improve school-family partnerships and better equip families to support student learning 

• Policies or programs that will be implemented district, or school-wide (such as extended school days or hybrid models of instruction) that affect students with disabilities 

 

The type of research proposed may be varied. IES knows that education agencies are developing and implementing a wide range of strategies to help accelerate recovery for students with disabilities. IES is interested in funding research on strategies that education agencies are already implementing or planning to implement. In addition, IES is interested in funding research that addresses an issue or problem that education agencies are facing but not currently addressing. In either case, research should focus on identifying ways to improve interventions and strategies to better identify what works for whom under what circumstances and to develop ways of generalizing or scaling the use of successful strategies and programs. The proposed research could include (but is not limited to) evaluating the impact of interventions, collecting data to inform improvements in intervention implementation, developing and/or adapting an intervention, or conducting exploratory work to inform decision making. Research may involve analyzing secondary (or existing) data only or collecting and analyzing primary data (see Award Limits for more information on these types of research). The use of mixed methods is encouraged for all types of research. 

 

Additional Requirement for Applications Submitted Under the 1st Application Deadline 

Applicants who submit proposals for the 1st application deadline must describe how the proposed project meets one or more of the following criteria (this information should be described in the Significance section of the project narrative): 

• The project involves the evaluation of an intervention that education agencies are poised to initiate starting in the 2021-2022 school year, AND 

o Baseline data will be available (if implementation is to begin before the start of the project) 

OR 

o Baseline data will be feasible to collect prior to implementation (if implementation is to begin after the start of the project). 

• The project involves the development or adaptation of an intervention that education agencies anticipate implementing within 4-6 months of the start of the project. 

• The project relies on existing data that are available to the applicants at the time of applying, the analysis of which would inform decisions related to pandemic recovery that education agencies need to make within 4-6 months of the start of the project. 

• The project builds upon research that is ongoing and would provide a time-limited opportunity to address meaningful and urgent questions around pandemic recovery; specifically, through the collection of additional data from a current sample or the analysis of existing data to inform decisions that education agencies need to make within 4-6 months of the start of the project. 

 

Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Recovery Policymaking LOI due July 8, 2021; Full Application due August 12, 2021 [from a State agency] 

Description https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/projects/program.asp?ProgID=112 

Application Package https://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2022_84305S.pdf 

Through the Using Data for Recovery grant program, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) supports state agencies’ use of their state’s education longitudinal data systems as they and local education agencies reengage their students after the disruptions caused by COVID-19. State agencies can apply for these grants, on their own or in collaboration with other organizations, to support research to inform their decisions regarding issues, programs, and policies related to learning acceleration and recovery. Learners may be in pre-kindergarten, K-12, postsecondary, and adult education. 

State agencies’ examination of SLDS data from before, during, and after the disruptions caused by COVID-19 can (1) identify subpopulations of students that did not engage or progress at expected rates during and after the disruption and the reasons why, and (2) develop evidence on the implementation and impact of programs and policies intended to help these students fully reengage in education. 

 

Student reengagement can be measured by their: 

• Academic learning 

• Progression through the education system 

• Preparation for the labor market 

• Interest, motivation, and participation in their education 

• Social, behavioral, and emotional learning 

 

SLDSs are designed to help states, districts, schools, educators, and other stakeholders make data informed decisions to improve student learning and outcomes as well as to facilitate research to increase student achievement and close achievement gaps. In addition to a set of common K-12 student data elements such as student demographics, grade level, enrollment and completion, attendance, and state assessment scores, many of these systems include other K-12 student elements and link K-12 student data to other data including K-12 teacher data, prekindergarten data, postsecondary data, Perkins CTE data, workforce data, and health and human services data. 

 

Thank you, 

Iwan