IES Director Advances Proposed Priorities for Public Comment
IES Director Advances Proposed Priorities for Public Comment
 
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March 2019

On March 28, the Federal Register published a request for comment on proposed priorities for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Comments on the priorities can be submitted at regulations.gov through May 28.

The public comment request comes on the heels of a letter from key House Democrats to IES Director Mark Schneider. As reported in Education Week, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), chair of the House appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, requested responses from the agency on its priorities and future plans. Some of the information they seek includes plans for ensuring that research produced by IES is used by educators, any plans and rationale for changes to NAEP, and plans for training predoctoral and postdoctoral students. 

The proposed priorities reflect initiatives that Schneider has discussed in several blog posts over the past year. These include plans to incorporate outcome measures in the upcoming round of Research Funding Announcements, developing the Standards for Excellence in Education Research (SEER) Principles, and increasing dissemination and use of research.

Under the Education Sciences Reform Act, the IES director is responsible for proposing priorities to the National Board of Education Sciences (NBES), which has the authority to approve or disapprove of the priorities before transmitting them to Congress

NBES requires a quorum of members to meet and make decisions. Because several NBES members have completed their terms without the positions being filled, NBES cannot currently meet its quorum. The Trump administration has not made appointments to NBES, which has not met since November 2016.

AERA will be providing comments on the proposed priorities. Any AERA members who wish to provide input into the comments may email govrelations@aera.net