IES Grant Writing Workshop

1. IES Grant Writing Workshop Erin Higgins, Ph.D National Center for Education Research Sarah Brasiel, Ph.D National Center for Special Education Research Note: Additional information is available in the slide notes of some slides.

2. Purpose of the Workshop • This workshop will provide instruction and advice on writing a successful application to IES’ research grant programs, specifically the: • Education Research Grants Program (84.305A) • Special Education Research Grants Program (84.324A) 2

3. Grant Writing is a Process! 3

4. Agenda • Introduction to IES • Grant Writing Tips • General Requirements • Grant Research Topics • Grant Project Types • Four Sections of the Project Narrative 4

5. Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. RESEARCH

6. Organizational Structure of IES

7. IES Infrastructure

8. Objectives of IES Grant Programs • Develop or identify education interventions (practices, programs, policies, and approaches) that enhance academic achievement and can be widely deployed • Identify what does not work and thereby encourage innovation and further research • Understand the processes that underlie the effectiveness of education interventions and the variation in their effectiveness 8

9. Why would you apply to IES? • You are interested in working in education settings • You are interested in improving education outcomes • You are committed to sharing your research findings with education practitioners

10. What makes us different from other ED funding programs? • Grant funds are to cover research, not program support • A good application is a good application - we don’t have priorities or competitive preferences that result in extra points for applicants • Reviewers have flexibility to assign points based upon overall scientific merit - we don’t ask reviewers to use a rubric as they score

11. How does IES compare to other agencies?

12. Funding Opportunities 12

13. Requests for Applications (RFAs) • Each Request for Applications (RFA) includes sections: • Overview and General Requirements • Topics • Project Type Requirements and Recommendations • Appendices and Other Narrative Content • Competition Regulations and Review Criteria • Compliance and Responsiveness Checklist • Each RFA includes a summary of changes • IES Submission Guide is a separate document 13

14. Who Should Read the RFA? • You, the proposed Principal Investigator • Your team members, including your Co-PIs, statistician, methodologist, developer • Your assigned sponsored projects officer • Anyone else participating in the preparation of the application 14

15. Who Should Read the IES Submission Guide? • You, the proposed Principal Investigator • Your assigned sponsored projects officer • Anyone else participating in the preparation of the application package 15

16. Attend to Changes from Previous Years’ Competitions • Carefully read the full RFA! • See Part 1 of the FY 2020 RFAs for a summary of changes to the RFA from the previous year 16

17. Primary Grant Programs • Primary Grant Programs • 84.305A Education Research Grants • 84.324A Special Education Research Grants • Apply to a Research Topic and a Project Type • Topic: field you will be working in • Project Type: type of work you will be doing 17

18. Grant Writing Tips 18

19. What You Need to Do Sell your research idea, promote yourself as the best person to do the research, and build goodwill and trust. How? By demonstrating that you know what the problem is and have a way to address it. 19

20. Opening Paragraph • Sets the scene for readers: • Identifies the significance of the work to be done and what actually will be done • Readers use it to organize information in the rest of the application • You can lose your readers right off with an unclear opening 20

21. Statement of Purpose • Should: • Contain the problem statement and your contribution to solving it; • Be short and attention-getting; • Be understandable for your fellow researchers, friends, and family members; • They should be able to see its relevance! It’s not as easy to do as you may think. You have to know a lot about what it is you want to do before you can describe it succinctly. 21

22. Theory of Change • The model underlying your research • A roadmap to your project narrative • A source for generating research questions • Constantly evolving Some fields and scholars use terms like Logic Model or Logical Framework to mean things similar to what we are calling a Theory of Change here. 22

23. Theory of Change & Your Research Plan • In your research plan, you need to specify exactly what it is you’re exploring, creating, validating, or testing. You also need to specify how you will do these things. • Strategies/Activities: • What are the pieces that you’ll be exploring, creating, testing, etc.? • Outcomes: • Indicators: What will you measure, and how you will measure it? • Populations: Who and where (both in treatment and control/comparison)? • Thresholds: What effect (size) should you expect? • Timeline: When should you be collecting what data? 23

24. Helpfulness of the Program Officer • Share your framework and statement of purpose with the Program Officer to: • Ensure you are submitting to the correct competition/topic and project type • Springboard further discussion 24

25. Clarity of Writing • Readers (e.g., application reviewers) often complain about lack of clarity… • Significance too general • Lack of detail regarding intervention, development cycle, or data analysis • Use of jargon and assumptions of knowledge • Poor writing (e.g., grammar), awkward constructions, etc. 25

26. Resources for Researchers • View IES on-demand Funding Opportunity Webinars • Review Resources for Researchers 26

27. General Requirements 27

28. All Proposed Studies Must • Measure education outcomes • Be relevant to education in the U.S. • Work within or with data from education settings • Specify 1 research topic • Specify 1 project type 28

29. Education Outcomes of Interest: 84.305A

30. Education Outcomes of Interest: 84.324A 30

31. Grant Research Topics 31

32. Research Topics • All applications to the primary research grant programs must be directed to a specific topic • Note on SF 424 Form, Item 4b (Agency Identifier Number) • Note at top of Abstract and Project Narrative 32

33. 84.305A & 84.324A Research Topics

34. Research Topics: Things to Pay Attention To • Must address education outcomes • Grade range varies by topic • Your project might fit in more than one topic 34

35. Choosing Among Overlapping Research Topics • What literature are you citing? • To which topic is your area of expertise best aligned? • If your focus is on a specific population of learners and/or teachers, go to that topic: • Is your focus on a specific type of learner and/or teacher (e.g., English learners), or are you studying them as a subgroup of your sample? 35

36. Grant Project Types 36

37. Project Types • All applications to 84.305A/84.324A must be directed to a specific project type • Note on SF 424 Form, Item 4b • Note at top of Abstract and Research Narrative • The project type describes the type of research to be done • Every application is directed to a specific topic/project type combination • Where appropriate, project type descriptions and requirements/recommendations are aligned with the SEER Principles (https://ies.ed.gov/seer.asp) to ensure that research is transparent, actionable, and focused on meaningful outcomes that have the potential to dramatically improve education. 37

38. Which Topic and Project Type Fit Your Project?

39. Program Officer Role • As you are thinking through which is the appropriate topic and project type for your project, we encourage applicants to reach out to your program officers. They are a valuable resource! 39

40. 84.305A & 84.324A Project Types • Exploration • Development and Innovation • Initial Efficacy and Follow-Up • Measurement Note: IES will not accept Replication project applications in this competition in FY 2020. See the Research Grants Focused on Systematic Replications (CFDA 84.305R & 84.324R) grant competition for funding for replication studies of IES-identified reading and math interventions

41. IES PROJECT TYPESKey Research Questions to Address under Each Project Type 41

42. Award Maximums(84.305A & 84.324A) 42

43. Project Type Requirements • Your application must meet all requirements listed for the project type you select in order for your application to be considered responsive and sent forward to review. • We strongly encourage you to incorporate the recommendations into your Project Narrative. 43

44. Tackling New Questions with Exploration Grants RESEARCHERS HAVE ASKED… How does variation in an aspect of instruction associate with variation in elementary and middle school learners’ science achievement? Which school-based behavior screening practices are implemented, how are they implemented, and are they associated with learners’’ behavioral outcomes? 44

45. Exploration • Identify relationships between individual-, educator-, school-, and policy-level characteristics and education outcomes • Identify factors that may influence or guide those relationships. • Possible methodological approaches include: • Analyze secondary data • Collect primary data • Complete a meta-analysis • Combination of above • Example factors include: • Learner behavior and skills • Teacher practices and credentials • School climate and organization • Education practices, curricula, instructional approaches, programs, and policies 45

46. Supporting New Approaches with Development and Innovation Grants RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED OR ARE CURRENTLY DEVELOPING… A classroom-based intervention to improve learners’ understanding of algebra concepts A program to prevent burnout among special education teachers A curriculum to promote effective coping strategies to manage stressors that impede learning for adolescents in low-income urban areas. 46

47. Development & Innovation • Develop an innovative intervention (e.g., curriculum, instructional approach, program, or policy) ORimprove an existing education intervention • ANDcollect data on its feasibility, usability, and fidelity of implementation in education settings • ANDcollect pilot data on the intervention’s promise • ANDconduct a cost analysis of implementing the fully developed intervention 47

48. Generating Reliable Evidence with Efficacy and Follow-Up Grants RESEARCHERS HAVE EVALUATED WHETHER… Check & Connect leads to improved engagement, school completion, and academic outcomes among high school learners at risk for dropping out. Enhanced Milieu Teaching is effective in remediating language delays and preventing secondary impairments for young children with language delays. The positive impacts of the Kindergarten Family Check-Up program are sustained over time. 48

49. Efficacy & Follow-Up • Evaluate whether or not a fully developed intervention is efficacious under limited or ideal conditions • Gather follow-up data examining the longer term effects of an efficacious intervention 49

50. Key Features of Initial Efficacy Studies • Test a causal question • Conduct a cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis [or provide rationale for why a cost-effectiveness analysis cannot be done] • Examine factors that influence intervention implementation and what might be needed to implement under routine conditions (recommended) • Explore potential mediators and moderators (recommended) • Consider role of developer to avoid conflict of interest for developer-evaluators 50