For Immediate Release: November 14, 2023
Contacts: Tony Pals, tpals@aera.net (202) 238-3235
Marla Koenigsknecht, mkoenigsknecht@aera.net (202) 238-3233
Statement from AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine on the House FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education Bill and Amendment to Eliminate Funding for the Institute of Education Sciences
November 14, 2023
On November 13, the House Rules Committee reported a rule to advance H.R. 5894, the FY 2024 House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) bill to the full House of Representatives. The consideration of this bill on the House floor includes an amendment (Amendment 76) that eliminates all FY 2024 funding for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). This amendment is without foundation, and strikes at the heart of bipartisan support for evidence-based policy and practice in education.
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), with over 25,000 members the largest scientific association worldwide dedicated to the advancement of knowledge on education and learning, stands in strong opposition to Amendment 76 and urges House members to vote no on the amendment and on the underlying bill.
IES is the independent, non-partisan statistics, research, and evaluation entity within the U.S. Department of Education. Relied on by states, school districts, federal agencies as well as families, communities, and public and private sector leaders, it is the primary source of federal funding for education research and development, statistics, and evidence-based resources that aim to improve academic and non-academic outcomes for students and diverse learners across the country, from early childhood through the workforce.
Eliminating IES funding would have a devastating impact on the country’s ability to gather and report objective data on key education indicators. For example, it would have an adverse impact on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, as we know it. National and state policymakers, as well as school leaders, frequently cite NAEP results in advancing policies to improve educational outcomes. The adoption of this amendment would undercut the ability of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to conduct the next mandatory NAEP assessments for 4th and 8th grade reading and math.
NAEP would only be one casualty of this proposed amendment. IES funds research in key national priority areas that have bipartisan support, including career and technical education, special education, and STEM teaching and learning. IES’s research centers, the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research, have already had to limit the number of grant competitions and research grants awarded over the past two years due to limited funding. Zero funding for IES would not only halt progress in advancing important research findings but disrupt the very research designs that contribute to evidence-based practice.
Our nation’s students, teachers, school leaders, and faculty rely on the research findings that inform and shape evidence-based resources for teaching and learning. Policymakers at all levels look to NCES data to inform evidence-based policies. At this very time when our country’s education system is still experiencing and responding to the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, education research and data continue to play a fundamental role in identifying the magnitude of these impacts and ways to accelerate learning recovery. For these, and many other reasons, we urge House members to vote no on Amendment 76.
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About AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.