The Education Research & Development Centers Competition (84.305C): Postsecondary Center

1. The Education Research & Development Centers Competition (84.305C):Postsecondary Center Meredith Larson, Ph.D. National Center for Education Research

2. Presentation Outline • Overview of IES and R&D centers • The Improving Teaching and Learning in Postsecondary Institutions (Postsecondary Center) Topic • Next steps for applicants

3. Introduction Overview of IES and the R&D centers

4. 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

5. Organizational Structure of IES

6. NCER’s Purpose NCER supports field-initiated, innovative solutions to improve education research and inform policy and practice. This includes • Rigorous, relevant research • Dissemination to stakeholders (policymakers, practitioners, researchers, the public) • Training to develop researchers prepared to do the above

7. Purpose of the R&D Centers Contribute to solving U.S. education problems, improve the education system, and increase student achievement through • Basic/Exploratory research • Development • Evaluation • National leadership • Dissemination • Supplemental studies (research, meetings, etc.)

8. Improving Teaching and Learning in Postsecondary Institutions

9. Purpose of the Postsecondary Center Improving teaching and learning at the postsecondary level by increasing knowledge about how innovations can improve outcomes and facilitating the research-to-market pipeline. • Focus on the needs of open- and broad-access institutions • Focus on credit-bearing courses • Could focus on one or more technology-based innovations • Could focus on one or more academic outcomes Increase the ability of researchers, developers, and postsecondary leaders/faculty to design and deploy innovations

10. Examples of Possible Innovations Institutional-level Innovations: things that may be institution- or department-wide, may require larger investments in infrastructure • Example: Developing fully online, hybrid, or blended options for courses or programs Classroom-level Innovations: things that may be initiated by faculty first or that leverage existing tools • Example: Using Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis or discussion boards Developer-driven Innovations: things that researchers may design and market • Example: interactive tutoring systems and eTextbooks

11. What Makes This Center Different • Strong connection between the research and leadership activities • May allocate more resources for leadership activities • Must focus on credit-bearing courses and cannot focus exclusively on developmental education.

12. What This Center Will Do The Postsecondary Center will address these research gaps to improve postsecondary teaching and learning through • a focused program of research • national leadership, capacity-building, and outreach activities • supplemental activities Note: You must have a data management plan to share the data you collect with others

13. The Focused Program of Research Address fundamental questions about which innovations improve learning outcomes, for whom, and under what conditions. • Help the community of researchers, developers, administrators, and instructors understand the benefits and limitations of the innovation(s) • Improve theories of change, practical guidance, and materials that stakeholders can use to strengthen their work The research questions should inform theory and practice.

14. The National Leadership, Capacity-Building, and Outreach Activities These activities should help to address three major hurdles facing the field: • Information Hurdle: lack of clear, objective information about the benefits, costs, and implications of such innovations • Adoption and Implementation Hurdle: difficulty faced by administrators and faculty in choosing the most appropriate innovation(s) to meet their needs and evaluating whether their investments are working as intended • Research/Market Pipeline Hurdle: lack of coordination among research, development, and the market

15. The National Leadership Activities: Examples • Information Hurdle: • Examples: website; papers, publications, and briefs; social media; and presentations • Adoption and Implementation Hurdle: • Examples: rubrics, workshops, and trainings for institutional staff • Research/Market Pipeline Hurdle: • Examples: research toolkits, workshops on moving to market, training with the Center’s data or hands-on experience conducting research • The Center must host a yearly convening of IES-funded researchers and developers.

16. Supplemental Studies IES does not expect a detailed plan for these supplemental activities in the application. IES and the Center will work together to form the specifics. • Examples of Activities: meetings, smaller scale studies, dissemination work You must set aside 5 percent to fund them. You could offer a few suggestions for what you might do.

17. Award Limits

18. Preparing the Narrative Section of Your Proposal

19. Requirements and Recommendations When preparing your application, attend to both the requirements and the recommendations. • Requirements The minimum required elements for an application to be sent forward to peer reviewers for funding consideration • RecommendationsThe suggestions and guidance that applicants should keep in mind when preparing their application narratives • Where appropriate, recommendations refer to the Standards for Excellence in Education Research (SEER) principles.

20. Requirements: Sample, Outcome, Setting • Sample • Must focus on postsecondary learners (may include students with or at risk for disabilities) • Outcomes • Must include measures of academic outcomes (may include social-behavioral competencies and employment and earnings) • Setting • Must be conducted in open/broad-access postsecondary education settings

21. Center Proposal Narrative Recommended: no more than 35 pages • Five sections • Significance • Research Plan • Leadership and Outreach Activities • Management and Institutional Resources • Personnel

22. Center Proposal Narrative: Significance (1) Significance • Research questions/issues • Rationale for your proposed research Requirements: You must describe • the conceptual framework that will guide the Postsecondary Center’s work, including the national leadership activities • the innovation(s) that will be the focus of the research • the research questions the Postsecondary Center will address

23. Center Proposal Narrative: Research Plan (2) Research Plan • The research you propose • The methods, measures, etc. that you will use Requirements: You must describe the • characteristics of your sample • research design and methods for each study proposed • power analyses for each study • the cost analysis plan for implementing the innovation(s) • data analysis plans for each study

24. Center Proposal Narrative: Leadership and Outreach (3) Leadership and Outreach Activities • The audiences you intend reach, how you will communicate with them, website, etc. • The groups you intend to work with or get input from Requirements: You must describe how you will • disseminate to technical and nontechnical audiences • build capacity to leverage teaching and learning technologies d • improve the pipelines connecting research, development, and the postsecondary market, including plans for a yearly convening with IES-funded researchers and developers.

25. Center Proposal Narrative: Management and Resources (4) Management and Institutional Resources • The organizational structure and management • The resources available to the Center Requirements: You must describe the • organizational structure of the center; • plans and procedures for the overall management of the center; and • resources to conduct the work of the center.

26. Center Proposal Narrative: Personnel (5) Personnel • Describe the key personnel at your institution and, if applicable, at other (subaward) institutions. • Describe each person’s training, experience, and role. • Demonstrate that they will commit sufficient time to the project. Requirements: You must describe your project team.

27. Next steps

28. The RFA and the Submission Guide • Carefully read the full RFA! • Read the Application Submission Guide For FY 2020 • This is now a separate document and is no longer embedded in the RFA. You can find it here: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/submissionguide.pdf. • You may need to set up accounts ahead of time, so don’t wait until the last minute! 28

29. Important Dates 29

30. Submitting an LOI • Submit online at https://iesreview.ed.gov • Include the following information: • Descriptive title • R&D Center topic that you will address • Brief description of the proposed R&D Center • Name, institutional affiliation, address, telephone number and email address of the Principal Investigator and any Co-Principal Investigators • Name and institutional affiliation of any key collaborators and contractors • Duration of the proposed R&D Center • Estimated total budget request

31. Other Resources • Look at abstracts of funded projects (search for R&D centers) • NCER Projects • View IES on-demand webinars • Funding Opportunity Webinars • Review Resources for Researchers

32. Working with Program Officers Program Officer: Meredith.Larson@ed.gov Feel free to • Email a synopsis and schedule a time for a call • Email short questions • If you submit and LOI, I will reach out to you. • Time permitting, I will review draft applications. 32