Request for Information: Tell IES About Your Science and Math Interventions

I wonder if there are any K-12 distance, online, and/or blended learning folks that can contribute their own science and math interventions.

To identify and encourage the use of evidence-based practices in education, IES is planning two new prize competitions: one to incentivize innovation in middle school science instruction and another to leverage technology to improve mathematics achievement for elementary students with disabilities using digital instruction, specifically around fractions. With these prizes, we hope to spur new thinking about how to improve student performance and encourage the participation of developers and program providers who are willing to systematically test the effectiveness of their interventions. IES is seeking information from developers on relevant science and math interventions, including any research describing their efficacy. To share your intervention, respond to our Request for Information by February 14, 2022. For additional information about IES’s STEM Learning Challenges please visit https://ies.ed.gov/challenge. The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment.

By visiting Newsflash you may also sign up to receive information from IES and its four Centers NCES, NCER, NCEE, & NCSER to stay abreast of all activities within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

Free Online Training for Regression Discontinuity Design Standards Now Available

While I doubt this is of much interest to the practitioners that follow this space, it may be of some use to the researchers.

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released a free, online training on version 4.1 of the WWC’s Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) Standards. This training is intended primarily for researchers and applied analysts interested in becoming WWC-certified reviewers of RDD studies. This training is also relevant to RDD researchers who are interested in designing studies that meet WWC standards.  The RDD training covers the following topics: An overview of key features of regression discontinuity designs Criteria for review eligibility and determining a study rating How to use the RDD study review guide Visit the RDD Online Training webpage: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/RDDTraining Participants must be certified in version 4.1 WWC group design standards before obtaining RDD certification. Training in those standards is available here. The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment.

By visiting Newsflash you may also sign up to receive information from IES and its four Centers NCES, NCER, NCEE, & NCSER to stay abreast of all activities within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

REL Tool: Using Decision Trees to Inform Education Decisions

I wonder how useful this decision tree might be for K-12 distance, online, and/or blended learning leaders.

Educators need the ability to use available data to identify students who might benefit from extra support in the months and years before issues fully materialize. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis is a statistical modeling approach that uses quantitative data to predict future outcomes by generating decision trees. REL Appalachia has developed a guide to CART analysis that can be used by data analysts and research directors at local and state education agencies to generate actionable findings to inform decisions. Data analysts with intermediate statistical software programming experience can use the guide to learn how to conduct a CART analysis and support research directors in local and state education agencies and other educators in applying the results. Research directors can use the guide to learn how results of CART analyses can inform education decisions. Access the toolkit at: https://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=REL2022133   ***** The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) build the capacity of educators to use data and research to improve student outcomes. Each REL responds to needs identified in its region and makes learning opportunities and other resources available to educators throughout the United States. The REL program is a part of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education. To receive regular updates on REL work, including events and reports, follow IES on Facebook and Twitter. To provide feedback on this or other REL work, email Contact.IES@ed.gov. The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment.

By visiting Newsflash you may also sign up to receive information from IES and its four Centers NCES, NCER, NCEE, & NCSER to stay abreast of all activities within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

IES Announces New Regional Educational Laboratories to Work with States, Districts, and Communities

Historically, the RELs, as a part of their contracts, have specific foci that they target their work – often based on regional needs and/or demands (although also based on the specific foci of the agency selected or the individuals working within that agency).  I do note that over the past two years all – or almost all – of the RELs have had some focus on K-12 remote, distance, online, and/or blended learning.  So now may be the time for folks in our field to reach out to these organizations to try and sway that foci.

IES is announcing the award of seven new contracts for Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs), which work in partnership with educators and education stakeholders to bridge research, policy, and practice in education. The REL program is IES’ largest single investment in supporting the use of rigorous evidence in education. RELs conduct applied research in partnership with stakeholders to address local and regional needs; provide training, coaching, and technical support for applying research to education improvement; and widely disseminate findings from high-quality research. Contracts for the following REL regions will begin on January 3, 2022: REL Appalachia: SRI International REL Mid-Atlantic: Mathematica REL Midwest: American Institutes for Research REL Northeast and Islands: Education Development Center REL Northwest: WestED REL Pacific: McREL International REL West: WestED IES will provide updates on the two other regions that were part of this competition, REL Central and REL Southeast, as information becomes available. A separate competition for REL Southwest is currently underway. Learn more about the REL program on the IES website. For more information about the REL program, email NCEE.feedback@ed.gov. The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment.

By visiting Newsflash you may also sign up to receive information from IES and its four Centers NCES, NCER, NCEE, & NCSER to stay abreast of all activities within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

IES Announces New Research Networks Competitions and Virtual Technical Assistance

The second of two items from the folks at IES.

IES is announcing two funding competitions for Fiscal Year 2022, one focused on leveraging evidence to accelerate recovery and one on improving pandemic recovery activities in education agencies. Through the Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice (84.305N) competition, NCER will establish one research network – the Leveraging Evidence to Accelerate Recovery Nationwide (LEARN) Network. This network will include up to ten product teams focused on adapting and preparing to scale existing evidence-based products to accelerate learning and one network scaling lead who will focus broadly on scaling evidence-based products and supporting the product teams. Under the Improving Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Education Agencies grant program (84.305X), NCER will establish two research networks: one examining PreK-12 recovery activities and one examining recovery activities in community colleges. Each network will consist of a network lead and up to five research teams examining recovery activities identified by participating education agencies. Each research team will include at least one education agency (defined as state and local agencies involved in PreK-12 education and community college systems) and its research will focus on the learners and student subgroups served by that agency and the recovery activities the learners are engaged in. The competitions have been announced in the Federal Register and more information including the requests for applications can be found on the IES Funding Opportunities web page. IES will also provide Virtual Technical Assistance for these new competition areas throughout the month of January.  Please see the Digital Technical Assistance web page for additional details.   The Institute of Education Sciences is the independent research, evaluation, and statistics arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Visit the IES website, sign up for the IES news flash or follow IES on Twitter and Facebook to learn more. The Institute of Education Sciences, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the nation’s leading source for rigorous, independent education research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment.

By visiting Newsflash you may also sign up to receive information from IES and its four Centers NCES, NCER, NCEE, & NCSER to stay abreast of all activities within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).