For each of the topics identified previously ( e.g., autism, early intervention), IES typically supports five research goals (i.e.,types of research) that I have summarized below ( each will be discussed in more detail in the following pages):
- Exploration
- of the association between education outcomes and malleable factors and
- of factors and conditions that may mediate or moderate the relations between malleable factors and education outcomes.
- Development & Innovation
- in education interventions—curricula, instructional approaches, technology, school practices, programs, and policies.
- Efficacy & Replication
- the testing of the efficacy of fully developed interventions (i.e., practices, programs, and policies).
- Effectiveness/ Scale-up
- to determine whether or not fully developed interventions are effective when they are implemented under conditions that would be typical if a school district were to implement them
- Measurement
- research to develop and validate new assessments, or validate existing assessments
As you can see below, while IES provides some support for “basic” research (Exploration, and Measurement), most of the support is for “applied” research, that is the testing of new intervention procedures (Development and Innovation, Efficacy and Replication). Effectiveness/Scale-up research (testing education interventions under “real world” conditions” is of great interest to IES, however the standards for this type of research are so high (e.g., random assignment to treatment conditions, strong evidence of treatment integrity, regular assessment) that it is sometimes difficult to get enough school districts to participate, and therefore only a small number of grants are funded for this goal.