Postdoctoral Training Programs in Education Sciences

1. Funding Opportunities: Postdoctoral Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences Meredith Larson, Ph.D. Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences Policy and Systems Division National Center for Education Research

2. Overview • IES and its Postdoctoral Training Programs • Postdoctoral Training Grant Opportunities (Topic 1 in the Research Training in the Education Sciences RFA) • How to develop your application • Submitting an Application • What Happens Next

3. Legislative Mission • Describe the condition and progress of education in the United States • Identify education practices that improve academic achievement and access to education opportunities • Evaluate the effectiveness of Federal and other education programs

4. Purpose of the Training Programs • To increase the supply of scientists and researchers in education who are prepared to conduct rigorous education research • To prepare highly skilled researchers who are able to write competitive proposals that address relevant education issues and meet the methodological requirements specified by IES’ research goals

5. History of Training Programs at IES This year, only NCER is competing postdoctoral training grants. IES has two postdoctoral training programs, one in the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and one in the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER).

6. Current Postdoctoral Training Grant Opportunities

7. Changes from Previous Competitions The grants are now awarded as Cooperative Agreements. IES intends to award no more than five (5) training grants this year. Key personnel may work on only one IES postdoctoral training program at a time. Applications must include an example Letter of Agreement (to be included in Appendix B).

8. IES’ Expectations:At the end of the grant IES expects not only trained fellows but also… A description of training program (as realized) including all key components discussed in the original application A description of measures used to track progress and data demonstrating program’s success in recruiting, training, and placing fellows A determination of program’s success in preparing fellows with appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out type of research described in the original application Recommendations for future training programs

9. NCER’s Postdoctoral Training Programs Your training should address general education (i.e., typically developing students) and include either • a combination of a research topic and a research goal OR • a specific type of methods research.

10. Focus of a Training Program: Research Topic See topics in FY 2013 RFA for 84.305A:http://ies.ed.gov/funding/13rfas.asp Cognition & Student Learning Early Learning Programs & Policies Education Technology Effective Teachers & Effective Teaching English Learners Improving Education Systems: Policies, Organization, Management, & Leadership Mathematics & Science Education Postsecondary & Adult Education Reading & Writing Social & Behavioral Context for Academic Learning

11. Focus of a Training Program: Research Goal See research goals in FY 2013 RFA for 84.305A: http://ies.ed.gov/funding/13rfas.asp Exploration Development & Innovation Efficacy & Replication Effectiveness Measurement

12. Focus of a Training Program:Research Method See FY 2013 RFA for 84.305D: http://ies.ed.gov/funding/13rfas.asp Research on Statistical & Research Methodology in Education (84.305D) Purpose To develop new approaches, extend, and improve existing methods To create other tools to enhance the ability of researchers to conduct the types of research that IES funds

13. Focus of Postdoctoral Training Programs IES is especially interested in • Developing education researchers with skills and knowledge in • Education Technology • English Learners • Postsecondary and Adult Education • Development • Measurement (development and validation) OR • Preparing researchers who can develop and provide education scientists with research designs and analytical methods

14. Who Can Apply? • Academic institutions in the U.S. and its territories that grant doctoral degrees in fields relevant to education. • Program directors and all other faculty mentors must be PI or Co-PI on at least one education research grant supported by the IES or other sources. • Programs must be able to provide training opportunities for at least the first two years of the training grant. • Key personnel on postdoctoral training grant can take part in only one IES-funded postdoctoral training grant at a time, regardless of whether it is funded by NCER or NCSER.

15. The Basics • The designs of training programs can vary. • For example, you may propose having one or several mentors and one or several fellows • BUTthere are some restrictions • Maximum • Number of Fellows: 4 • Number of Years per Fellow: 3 • Total Number of Training Years: 8

16. Getting Started… When thinking about your training program, consider • Type of researcher you hope to produce • Type of research s/he will conduct Think of the types of experiences necessary for this type of researcher: • Background knowledge (e.g., theoretical, methodological) • Practical research experience (e.g., working in schools, running studies) • Other professional skills (e.g., presentation and writing skills)

17. What Should be in the Application? The heart of the application is the… Training Plan Narrative • Significance • Research Training Plan • Personnel • Resources

18. Significance In this section, you should describe how your training program will develop researchers and contribute to the field of education research: • What is the specific focus of your training program? • What types of skills and knowledge will fellows who participate in your training program acquire? • What is the overall importance of your training program?

19. Research Training Plan In this section, you should detail your proposed training program. This includes everything from describing how you will identify fellows to how you will help them transition to new positions: • Recruitment • Training activities • Placement • Evaluation

20. Training Plan: Recruitment Detail your recruitment plan, strategies, and timeline. • Describe the types of fellows you wish to train and choose appropriate venues for finding them • Seek out minority and under-represented candidates • Note the possible start date for the grant and plan accordingly

21. Training Plan: Recruitment Special Requirements Each fellow • Must be U.S. citizen or permanent resident • Must have completed Ph.D. prior to beginning the fellowship training • Must receive IES permission if the proposed postdoctoral fellow was a faculty member's pre-doctoral advisee or had a fellowship through another federal programs (including IES’ pre-doctoral training program)

22. Training Plan: Training Activities In this section, detail the specific training activities that will help fellows develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities you identified in the Significance section.

23. Training Plan: Training Activities You should describe • Fellows’ roles on their mentors’ education research grants • The supporting activities that will supplement the fellows’ training • The link between these activities and fellows’ development into independent researchers

24. Training Plan: Training Activities When describing the research projects that fellows will have access to… • Discuss what fellows will learn from their work on the grant projects • Elaborate both the topical and methodological focus of each grant held by the faculty mentors and how these support the focus of the training program • Include summary table in Appendix A with information on each project

25. Training Plan: Placement Discuss what your program will do to help transition the fellows to their next positions • E.g., support fellows as they prepare job packets, practice talks, and review job offers • Maybe include a timeline for when you think fellows should engage in these activities

26. Training Plan: Evaluating the Progress of Fellows Include description of how you will measure fellow’s progress toward meeting the program’s and his/her own goals • You may set goals for specific tasks on the research projects • collecting or compiling data, supervising research assistants, meeting with stakeholders, etc. • You may set professional development milestones for fellows • presenting at professional conferences, assisting in grant writing, submission of journal articles, etc.

27. Training Plan: Evaluating the Program Include a plan to evaluate the success of the program itself. Basic measures Did you recruit the type of fellows you intended to? Did they stay long enough to benefit from the training? Did you assist them as they sought their next positions in the field of education? Other potential measures Self-defined measures that you value as signs of a program’s success (should be aligned to the program goals mentioned in the Significance section) Analysis of cost per fellow training year including recruitment efforts

28. Personnel After discussing training program plan, describe who will deliver the training • Describe relevant expertise of key personnel, their responsibilities, and time commitments to the program • Elaborate on how their expertise aligns with goals of the program and reflects content and methodological foci of the Institute • If a mentor has held previous postdoctoral training grants, provide information about the fellows (e.g., current positions) in a table in Appendix A. (See page 14 of the RFA for details about what to include.)

29. Resources Finally, describe institutional resources you have access to and how these resources will support the program This includes • the participating institution, and • the field settings (e.g., schools, software development laboratories) with which the Training Director/PI has a relationship that could support fellows’ research projects.

30. What Else Should be in the Application? • Appendix A • Appendix B • Budget and Budget Narrative

31. Appendix A (required) LIMIT: 10 pages • You must include a summary table of ongoing education research projects being conducted by the PI and other faculty involved in the proposed program. • You may includeany figures, charts, or tables that supplement the training program narrative. • If you currently have or in the past have had a postdoctoral research training grant, you must include information on current and former postdoctoral fellows. • If this is a resubmission, you must includea response to reviewer comments (no more than 3 pages).

32. Appendix B (required) LIMIT: 2 pages Include an example of a Letter of Agreementthat the PI and each fellow will sign. The purpose of this document is to clarify • what the fellows can expect from the training program, • what the training program expects from the fellow, and • what IES’ expectations of both the fellows and their programs are (as specified by the RFA) See the RFA for more details: http://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2013_84305B.pdf

33. Budget and Budget Narrative Maximum amount of award is $687,000 over 5 years IDC: Limited to 8% on allowed costs For the fellows • Stipend support ($52,500 per year) • Fringe benefits support ($12,000 per year) • Funds for fellow research, travel, and recruitment ($12,000 per year) For the programs • Up to $15,000 per year for program expenses (e.g., PI travel to IES Annual PI Meeting, administrative assistant, visiting scholars)

34. Budget and Budget Narrative All funds spent on the individual fellows should be in Section E of the SF 424. Check your university’s IDC agreement to determine what should go into indirect cost calculations.

35. Preparing and Submitting an Application

36. Important Dates and Deadlines R305B: Research Training in the Education Sciences See the RFA at http://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2013_84305B.pdf

37. Getting Started • Request for Applications • IES Grants.gov Application Submission Guide • ApplicationPackage

38. Finding Requests for Applications FY 2013 Requests for Applications and the IES Grants.gov Application Submission Guide are available at http://ies.ed.gov/funding/13rfas.asp

39. Finding Application Packages • FY 2013 Application Packages for Research Training Programs will be available on Grants.gov • Will be available on July 19, 2012

41. Page Restrictions for Postdoctoral Applications

42. Help Us Help You • Read the RFA carefully • Call or e-mail IES Program Officers early in the process • IES program staff can review draft proposals and provide feedback Don’t be afraid to contact us!

43. Reading the RFA and Application Instructions BE SURE TO ATTEND TO THE FOLLOWING: • Eligible Applicants • Special Requirements • Content and Formatting Requirements • Application Submission and Processing • Application Due Dates

44. Final Tips: Reviewers’ Perspectives • Write clearly and concisely • Address the points described in RFA • Organize information in logical sequence • Label sections and number pages • Make it easy for reviewers to find and understand the information

45. What Happens Next?

46. Peer Review • Application is reviewed for compliance. • Compliant applications are assigned to a review panel. • Two or three panel members conduct primary review of each application. • The most competitive applications are reviewed by the full panel at the panel meeting.

47. Notification • All applicants will receive e-mail notification of the status of their application. • All applicants receive copies of reviewer comments. • If you are not granted an award the first time, consider resubmitting and talking with your Program Officer.

48. For more information about the Research Training Programs in the Education Sciences (FY 2013) – 84.305B Meredith Larson Meredith.Larson@ed.gov (202) 219-2025