Institute of Education Sciences

Last updated

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent, non-partisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. IES' stated mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public. [1] It was created as part of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.

Contents

The first director of IES was Grover Whitehurst, who was appointed in November 2002 and served for six years. As of March 2024, Matthew Soldner is the acting Director of IES. [2]

Divisions

IES is divided into four major research and statistics centers:

National Board for Education Sciences

The National Board for Education Sciences serves as an advisory board for IES and has 15 voting members, who are appointed by the President of the United States. The Board also includes several ex-officio, non-voting members, including the director of IES, the commissioners of the four centers, and representatives of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Science Foundation. The Board advises and consults with the director and the commissioners to identify research and organizational priorities for IES. On October 7, 2022, President Biden announced the intention to appointment 15 new members to the NBES. [6] Larry Hedges, of Northwestern University, was previously the chairman of the National Board for Education Sciences. [7]

Controversies

In the winter of 2020–2021, after the election of President Joe Biden but prior to his inauguration in January, the Trump administration carried out several eleventh-hour appointments, including filling the NBES board where vacancies had existed for several years. Many of these appointment choices were harshly criticized by education organizations for a lack of academic or educational research credentials. [8] [9] [10] [11]

In May 2021, two of the new NBES appointees, Steve Hanke and John Yoo, both professors, published a commentary in The Wall Street Journal , arguing that their Board commission documents and those of others had been duly signed and certified during the Trump administration and sent to the office of the Secretary of Education. Yet, the new Secretary, Miguel Cardona, refused to acknowledge the appointments, deliver the credentials, or facilitate statutorily required Board meetings. [12] In their Wall Street Journal commentary, the professors asserted that the circumstances mirrored those of the landmark 1803 U.S. Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison.

In July 2021, the Pacific Legal Foundation claimed that they had obtained emails from White House officials confirming that Department of Education officials were in possession of the credentials and that the foundation had sent a demand letter on behalf of Hanke and Yoo. [13]

In August, Pacific Legal Foundation filed suit on behalf of Hanke and Yoo in the U.S. District Court for The District of Columbia against Secretary Cardona and the Department of Education. The suit acknowledged that NBES Board members can be removed by the administration, but argued that it must do so transparently and cannot withhold credentials or obstruct the Board's statutorily required duties. [14]

On September 3, 2021, the Biden administration acknowledged the validity of the appointments and formally terminated them, leading to a withdrawal of the suit. [15] [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

ABET, also known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and applied and natural sciences.

The Early Childhood Education Act is the name of various landmark laws passed by the United States Congress outlining federal programs and funding for childhood education from pre-school through kindergarten. The first such act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaiʻi in the 1960s. The theory behind the act is that the years before a child reaches kindergarten are the most critical to influence learning. Many children do not have access to early education before entering kindergarten. The goal of the act is to provide a comprehensive set of services for children from birth until they enter kindergarten.

The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is an American non-profit organization dedicated to advancing professional licensure for engineers and surveyors. The Council’s members are the engineering and surveying licensure boards from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These boards are divided into four geographic zones: Central, Northeast, Southern, Western. It is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States. It also conducts international comparisons of education statistics and provides leadership in developing and promoting the use of standardized terminology and definitions for the collection of those statistics. NCES is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.


The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is an advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural issues. It works directly with the White House and the three primary cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as other federal partners and the private sector, to advance wide-ranging policy objectives in the arts and humanities. These include considerations for how the arts and humanities sectors can positively impact community well-being, economic development, public health, education, civic engagement, and climate change across the United States. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assessment of Educational Progress</span> Assessment

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what U.S. students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the United States Department of Education. The first national administration of NAEP occurred in 1969. The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is an independent, bipartisan board that sets policy for NAEP and is responsible for developing the framework and test specifications.The National Assessment Governing Board, whose members are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education, includes governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study</span> Study of international math and science skills

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)'s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a series of international assessments of the mathematics and science knowledge of students around the world. The participating students come from a diverse set of educational systems in terms of economic development, geographical location, and population size. In each of the participating educational systems, a minimum of 4,000 to 5,000 students is evaluated. Contextual data about the conditions in which participating students learn mathematics and science are collected from the students and their teachers, their principals, and their parents via questionnaires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology</span> White House advisory board

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30, 2001, by George W. Bush, was re-chartered by Barack Obama's April 21, 2010, Executive Order 13539, by Donald Trump's October 22, 2019, Executive Order 13895, and by Joe Biden's February 1, 2021, Executive Order 14007.

The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) is an American not-for-profit education research, advocacy, and educator professional learning organization based in Washington, DC, that first formed in 1988 as the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce D. Benson</span> President of the University of Colorado

Bruce Davey Benson is a United States businessman and educational administrator, who served as the 22nd president of the University of Colorado (CU) from March 2008 to July 1, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Literacy in the United States</span>

Literacy in the United States was categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics into different literacy levels, with 92% of American adults having at least "Level 1" literacy in 2014. Nationally, over 20% of adult Americans have a literacy proficiency at or below Level 1. Adults in this range have difficulty using or understanding print materials. Those on the higher end of this category can perform simple tasks based on the information they read, but adults below Level 1 may only understand very basic vocabulary or be functionally illiterate. According to a 2020 report by Gallup based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States lack English literacy proficiency.

WestEd is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization. The organization's mission states, "WestEd, a research, development, and services agency, works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evidence-based education</span> Paradigm of the education field

Evidence-based education (EBE) is the principle that education practices should be based on the best available scientific evidence, with randomised trials as the gold standard of evidence, rather than tradition, personal judgement, or other influences. Evidence-based education is related to evidence-based teaching, evidence-based learning, and school effectiveness research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Giroir</span> American physician-scientist (born 1960)

Brett P. Giroir is an American pediatrician. He was formerly the U.S. assistant secretary for health, a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and an acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National University (California)</span> Private university in San Diego, California, United States

National University is a private university headquartered in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1971, National University offers academic degree programs at campuses throughout California, a satellite campus in Nevada, and various programs online. Programs at National University are designed for adult learners. On-campus classes are typically blended learning courses, concentrated to four weeks or on weeknights with occasional Saturday classes. The university uses asynchronous learning and real-time virtual classrooms for its online programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridget Terry Long</span> American economist

Bridget Terry Long is an American economist and academic administrator who is the 12th Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Saris Professor of Education and Economics at Harvard University. She is an economist whose research focuses on college access and success. Long is a Faculty Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the National Academy of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguel Cardona</span> American educator (born 1975)

Miguel Angel Cardona is an American educator and is currently serving as the twelfth United States secretary of education under President Joe Biden since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 64–33 on March 1, 2021. Cardona previously served as commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education from 2019 to 2021.

Carol McDonald Connor was an educational psychologist known for her research contributions to the field of early literacy development in diverse learners, in particular for work on individualized student instruction interventions and the lattice model of reading development. She held the position of Chancellor's Faculty and Equity Advisor in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabinet of Joe Biden</span> Members of President Joe Bidens Cabinet

Joe Biden assumed office as president of the United States on January 20, 2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.

Douglas H. Clements is an American scholar in the field of early mathematics education. Previously a preschool and kindergarten teacher, his research centers on the learning and teaching of early mathematics, computer applications for mathematics teaching, and scaling up successful educational interventions. Clements has contributed to the writing of educational standards including the Common Core State Standards, the NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and the NCTM's 2006 Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics.

References

  1. ↑ "Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Home Page, part of the U.S. Department of Education". ies.ed.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Mark Schneider's Term Ends as Director of IES; NCEE Commissioner Matthew Soldner Named Acting Director". American Educational Research Association. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  3. ↑ Sparks, Sarah D. (June 25, 2017). "Higher Ed Researcher Matthew Soldner to Lead Evaluations at IES". Education Week. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Albro Appointed IES Commissioner of NCER" . Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  5. ↑ "NCES Blog | NCES Welcomes a New Commissioner". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  6. ↑ "President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions", Whitehouse.gov, October 27, 2022, retrieved July 30, 2023
  7. ↑ "National Board for Education Sciences, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)". ies.ed.gov. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Trump Appointments to NBES Raise Serious Concerns on Appropriate Expertise on Education Research". American Educational Research Association. December 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  9. ↑ "President Trump Appoints Eight Members to NBES". Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences. December 15, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  10. ↑ Sparks, Sarah D. (December 14, 2020). "Researchers Balk at Trump's Last-Minute Picks for Ed. Science Board". Education Week. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  11. ↑ Mervis, Jeffrey (December 11, 2020). "Researchers decry Trump picks for education sciences advisory board". Science | AAAS. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  12. ↑ Hanke, Steve H.; Yoo, John (May 24, 2021). "Marbury v. the Education Department". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  13. ↑ Thompson, Jessica (July 16, 2021). "Agency bureaucrats can't ignore Marbury v. Madison" . Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Hanke and Yoo v. Secretary Cardona Case 1:21-cv-01913" (PDF). Pacific Legal Foundation. July 15, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  15. ↑ "HANKE et al v. CARDONA et al" . Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Nine months late and facing a federal lawsuit, Dept. of Education complies with law". September 3, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.

38°53′00″N77°01′39″W / 38.883333°N 77.0275°W / 38.883333; -77.0275

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.