AERA Responds to the New Administration Efforts to Dismantle Scientific Research and Data—NCES and IES Take Big Hit
AERA Responds to the New Administration Efforts to Dismantle Scientific Research and Data—NCES and IES Take Big Hit
 
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February 2025

Since the Presidential inauguration on January 20, AERA has been speaking out, coordinating with other scientific organizations, and taking other steps to address Executive Orders, contract cancellations, and other actions that were immediately having adverse impacts on education research and the broader scientific community.

On January 27, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to halt federal funding for activities as part of a review of alignment with federal funding to several executive orders, including one that prevents the federal government from supporting “DEIA” initiatives. Although the OMB memo was subsequently rescinded, this action raised uncertainty and concern in the scientific community, particularly as the National Science Foundation (NSF) put pauses on review panels and in allowing for funding drawdowns for grant activities.

In response, on January 30, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine and AERA President Janelle T. Scott issued a letter to members to express commitment to the work of education researchers and to seek feedback on what they have been experiencing due to the administration’s executive orders through a survey.

With news of the takedown of data from key federal surveys that include those held by the Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), AERA joined a multi-signatory letter sent to Congress on February 11 on preserving federal data access and shared information on a key data resource, DataLumos, from AERA’s partners at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) for crowdsourcing government data.

Most notably, beginning on February 10, the Trump administration Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cancelled many contracts that were supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The cancelled contracts have effectively halted many of IES’s activities, including the collection, reporting, and analysis of data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES); evaluations conducted on behalf of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE); and ongoing peer review panels for FY 2025 grant programs under the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). In addition, the Department of Education announced the cancellation of contracts for the Regional Educational Laboratories on February 13.

In response to the initial news of the contract terminations, AERA joined by the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) issued a statement highlighting the impact on NCES. In that statement, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine said, “We call on this administration to reinstate these contracts to ensure that those who rely on and trust NCES data are able to access them without interruption and can continue to monitor educational progress and performance and inform sound educational policy and practice.”

AERA also joined a multisignatory letter led by Knowledge Alliance sent to Congress on February 14, calling for action on the cancelled contracts. Congressional members sent a letter to acting secretary of the Department of Education Denise Carter and IES acting director Matthew Soldner on February 21 seeking information on the cancelled contracts. The letter was signed by 18 senators and 74 House members, including House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA); Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT); and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA). AERA expressed its appreciation to congressional members who joined that letter.

In addition, a letter to AERA members on February 19 from AERA Executive Director Levine and AERA President Scott noted AERA’s continued commitment to protecting the integrity of federal data and statistics and federally funded education research. That letter also encouraged AERA members to complete a survey of impacts that they are seeing due to the cancellation of a contract or subcontract they were involved with or as a user of data, research training, or evidence-based resources that were impacted by contract cancellations.

AERA continues to respond to these actions and others that have affected federal support for education research and data collection.

“The urgency of the situation at NCES and IES requires our laser-focused attention on fact gathering, communication, and outreach to many stakeholders,” said Levine. “Meanwhile, we continue to monitor adverse actions at NSF and NIH and to the scientific workforce in those important scientific agencies.”