Much of the funding provided by IES is used to support development of and innovation in education interventions:
- curricula,
- instructional approaches,
- technology, school practices,
- programs, and
- policies.
The Institute stresses that Development/Innovation applications are about development and not about demonstrations of the efficacy of an intervention. It is critical that the development process be iterative – that is, it must be clear how the project will gather data to assess the impact and guide the development of the intervention, and that plans to modify the intervention in response to the data be an integral part of the study. One way to approahc
From the Institute’s standpoint, a funded Development project would be successful if at the end of the development award, the investigators had
- a well-specified theory of change for the intervention,
- a detailed description of what it means for the intervention to be operating as intended,
- a fully developed version of the proposed intervention (including prototypes of all materials and products necessary for implementation of the intervention in authentic education delivery settings),
- fidelity measures to assess the implementation of the intervention,
- data addressing the feasibility of its implementation in an authentic education delivery setting, and
- pilot data (typically collected with students) addressing the promise of the intervention for generating the intended beneficial outcomes.
At the end of a Development/Innovation project, researchers should have
- a clear detailed description of the intervention and its key components,
- evidence that the intervention can be successfully implemented in an authentic education delivery setting, and
- evidence of the promise of the intervention for achieving its intended outcomes, which can be used in support of a subsequent application for an Efficacy/Replication proposal.
Significance: Under Development/Innovation, the Institute invites applications to develop new interventions or further develop interventions that are in the early stages of development (e.g., those that do not have an entire program or product ready to evaluate). It is important for applicants to provide a strong rationale to support the development of the proposed intervention. In essence, applicants are answering two questions:
- First, why is the proposed intervention likely to produce better student outcomes relative to current education practices?
- Second, what is the overall importance of the proposed project?
Applicants address the significance of their proposal by describing (i) the aims of the research project; (ii) the context for the proposed intervention; (iii) the intervention (e.g., features, components), including its theory of change and the theoretical and empirical support for the proposed intervention; (iv) the practical importance of the intervention; and (v) a compelling rationale justifying the importance of the proposed research, which may include input from education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers
Awards: Typical awards for Development and Innovation projects will range from $150,000 to $400,000 (total cost = direct + indirect costs) per year for up to 3 years. The maximum duration of the award is 3 years and the maximum award for a 3-year project is $1,500,000 (total cost). Development costs vary according to the type of intervention that is proposed; the size of the award depends on the scope of the project. Under Development/Innovation, no more than 30 percent of the total funds may be used for collection of pilot data to demonstrate the promise of the intervention for achieving the desired outcomes.
Example of Funded Research
Development and Innovation #1
In this project, researchers are developing and testing a series of working memory interventions for elementary school-aged children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The interventions are designed to improve working memory in order to improve learning and academic outcomes.
Training Working Memory and Executive Control in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disordered Children
Purpose: Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder often experience difficulties in academic areas. Working memory, the cognitive system that allows for the maintenance and manipulation of information, is also affected in children with the disorder. Research has demonstrated an association between performance on working memory tasks and academic skills and learning outcomes. Given the importance of working memory for scholastic achievement, there has been increased interest in developing interventions that will improve working memory skills.
Other examples
To explore other examples of Exploration research, go to
- https://ies.ed.gov/ncser/projects/
- select a topic of interest (e.g., early intervention)
- choose “development and innovation” as the “goal”
- FYI, the IES database does not always identify all relevant funded projects