Institute of Education Sciences (IES): Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Education Interventions

Deadline: March 1, 2018

Agency/Sponsor: US Department of Education

Website: https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/projects/program.asp?ProgID=90

The Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Education Interventions (Low-Cost Evaluation) grant program is designed to support rigorous evaluations of education interventions (broadly defined as practices, programs, and policies) that state or local education agencies expect to produce meaningful improvements in student education outcomes within a short period (for example, within a single semester or academic year). These evaluations are to be conducted for $250,000 or less and completed within two years.

The program will be carried out by research institutions and state or local education agencies working together as partners. The evaluations will use randomized controlled trials or regression discontinuity designs to determine the impact of interventions on student education outcomes, and will rely on administrative data or other sources of secondary data to provide measures of these student outcomes. Applicants may propose to evaluate interventions for students in prekindergarten, K-12, postsecondary, or adult education. At every level, the Institute is mainly interested in interventions that are expected to improve outcomes for students who are struggling or at risk of failure. Applicants must demonstrate that the intervention will be in operation during the first year of the project and that they will obtain and analyze data from that year.

There ae tow categories of student academic outcomes that are of interest.

1. Academic outcomes that reflect learning and achievement in the core academic content areas (e.g., measures of understanding and achievement in prereading, reading, pre-writing, writing, English language proficiency, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). For postsecondary education, these outcomes apply only to students in developmental courses and bridge programs (e.g., summer programs between high school and college).
2. Academic outcomes that reflect students’ successful progression through the education system (e.g., course and grade completion and retention in grades K through 12; high school graduation and dropout; postsecondary and adult education enrollment, progress, and completion). Social and behavioral competencies encompass a range of student social skills, attitudes, and behaviors (e.g., attendance and tardiness rates, disciplinary actions) that may be important to students’ academic and post-academic success. Social and behavioral competencies may be the primary focus so long as your application makes clear how they relate to academic outcomes.

Funds: a maximum of $250,000 with a maximum a duration of 2 years

Optional Letters of Intent are due January 11, 2018. See the Institute of Education Sciences' webpage for LOI details.