ies.ed.gov

Connecting Research,Policy and Practice

Kristen Rhoads, Ph.D.Program Officer

National Center for Special Education Research

Research Training Program in Special Education: Early Career Development and Mentoring

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Agenda

• Introduction to IES and NCSER• Early Career Program– Purpose– Eligibility Requirements– Components: Research and Career Development

Plans– Overview of Topic and Goal Structure for Research

Component• Application Submission and Review

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Organizational Structure of IES

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National Board for Education

SciencesStandards &

Review Office

Office of the Director

National Center for Education Evaluation

National Center for Education Statistics

National Center for Education Research

National Center for

Special Education Research

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IES Grant Programs: Research Objectives

• Develop or identify education interventions (practices, programs, policies, and approaches) – that enhance academic achievement– that 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

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National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER)

• Mission– NCSER sponsors a rigorous and comprehensive

program of special education research designed to expand the knowledge and understanding of infants, toddlers and students with or at risk for disabilities from birth through high school

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Agenda

• Introduction to IES and NCSER• Early Career Program– Purpose– Eligibility Requirements– Components: Career Development and Research– Overview of Topic and Goal Structure for Research

Component• Application Submission and Review

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Request for Applications

Research Training Program in Special Education: Early Career Development and

Mentoring (CFDA #84.324B)

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Purpose of Early Career Program

• Develop and maintain a strong cadre of independent researchers addressing the needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities, and their families and teachers

• Support for an integrated research and career development plan for investigators in the early stages of their academic careers

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Awards

• Maximum Awards– 4 years– $400,000 total (direct plus indirect)

• Award will be a Cooperative Agreement– Involves partnership between PI and IES

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Principal Investigators Requirements

• Must have completed a doctoral degree or postdoctoral program no earlier than May 1, 2012 and no later than the start of the award period

• Must hold a tenure-track position or research faculty position at an institution of higher education

• Could not have served as PI or Co-PI on an IES grant• Could not have received a training fellowship through

an IES postdoctoral training program• Must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United

States

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Mentor Requirements

You must:• Designate a primary mentor• Include a mentor at your home institution• Select as mentors only individuals who were

not your primary graduate school or dissertation advisor or postdoctoral supervisor

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Research Focus Requirements

• Focus on infants, toddlers, preschool children, or students with or at risk for disabilities, their families, teachers, related services providers, or instructional personnel

• Address education outcomes

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Requirements for Proposal

• Significance• Research Plan• Career Development Plan• Personnel• Resources

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Significance

• Justify and describe:– Need for further career development – Planned program of research – Research program and research questions– Rationale for proposed research topic and goal

• How will research and career development activities are important and enhance your knowledge and skills?

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Special Education Research Topics (84.324A)

• Autism Spectrum Disorders• Cognition and Student Learning in Special Education• Early Intervention and Early Learning in Special Education• Families of Children with Disabilities• Mathematics and Science Education• Professional Development for Teachers and Related Service Providers• Reading, Writing, and Language Development• Social and Behavioral Outcomes to Support Learning• Special Education Policy, Finance, and Systems• Technology for Special Education• Transition Outcomes for Secondary Students with Disabilities

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FY2015 Research Goals

• *Exploration

• *Development & Innovation

• Efficacy & Replication

• Effectiveness

• *MeasurementRFA for Special Education Research Grants found at http://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2015_84324a.pdf

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Research and Career Development Plans

• Research and career development plans designed to enhance knowledge and skills of Principal Investigator

• Plans should be integrated: Career Development Plan should support the Research Plan

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Research Plan

• Major Elements– Focus of your research, topic area and goal– Research Design– Sample and setting– Key variables or measures– Data analysis

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Research Plan

• Mentors should assist with development of Research Plan

• Less detail is expected compared to proposals submitted to the Special Education Research Grants competition

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Research Plan

1. What education problem do you want to solve? What question do you want to answer?

2. Does the underlying issue of this research question/problem fit within one of the IES grant topics?

3. What content will you address? What sample will you study?

4. Does your research method fit the requirements of one of the IES goals?

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Exploration Goal

• Explore associations between education outcomes and malleable factors

• Identify factors and conditions that may mediate or moderate relations between malleable factors and student outcomes

• Possible methodological approaches include:– Analyze secondary data– Collect primary data– Complete a meta-analysis– Combination of above

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Development & Innovation Goal

• Develop an innovative intervention (e.g., curriculum, instructional approach, program, or policy)

• OR improve existing education interventions

• AND collect data on its feasibility, usability, and fidelity of implementation in actual education settings

• AND collect pilot data on student outcomes.

Development process must be

iterative!

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Measurement Goal

• Development of new assessments or refinement of existing assessments, and the validation of these assessments

OR

• Validation of existing assessments for specific purposes, contexts and populations

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Career Development Plan

• Describe the following components in your Career Development Plan– Planned process of mentoring– A training plan, including educational

opportunities to extend your expertise• Describe how both components of your

Career Development Plan are integrated with (and support) the Research Plan

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Career Development: Additional Training Plan

• Example educational opportunities:– IES Summer Institute (e.g., RCT or single-case

design)– Grant-writing workshop– Advanced statistical coursework to learn new

analysis skill (e.g., HLM, SEM)

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Personnel• Expertise of your research team, including

mentors– Qualifications, roles, and relationship to content

and methodology foci of IES– Mentors’ prior experiences with mentoring early

career researchers– Special education research projects conducted by

mentors• Time commitments

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Resources• Show the institutions involved have access to

resources needed to complete the work at primary and sub award institutions– Do not use university boilerplate– Describe institutional training supports (e.g.,

workshops, research groups on campus)– Include start-up packages

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Agenda

• Introduction to IES and NCSER• Early Career Program– Purpose– Eligibility Requirements– Components: Career Development and Research– Overview of Topic and Goal Structure for Research

Component• Application Submission and Review

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Writing the Proposal: Narrative

• Key portion of your application• Comprised of five sections:

1) Significance (of research and career development)

2) Research Plan3) Career Development Plan4) Personnel5) Resources

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Appendices• Appendix A (3 page limit)

– Response to prior reviewer comments• Appendix B (no limit)

– Summary table of special education research projects of each mentor– Letter of support from your institution– Letters of support from mentors

• Appendix C (15 page limit)

– Timeline of planned activities– Examples of measures

• Appendix D (10 page limit)

– Examples of materials used in an intervention or assessment• Appendix E (no limit)

– Letters of Agreement (districts, schools, data providers, other partners, consultants)

– Clearly state responsibilities of the writer

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Budget for Early Career Program

• Salary: Up to 50% of academic year salary– Can be used for protected time (or “buy out”) to

concentrate on research• Honoraria for mentor(s) up to $3000 total per year• Travel– Meet with primary mentor (if different institution)– Travel to workshops available at other institutions– Travel to professional conferences (including IES PI

meeting in Washington, DC)

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Application Deadline

Letter of Intent Due

Date

Application Package Posted

Start Dates

August 7, 2014

4:30:00 PM DC Time

June 5, 2014 June 5, 2014 July 1, 2015to

Sept 1, 2015

Important Dates and Deadlines

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Submit a Letter of Intent

• Letters of Intent are strongly encouraged– Program Officer will contact you to offer assistance– Used to identify expertise needed for peer-review panels and to

secure a sufficient number of reviewers– Non-binding and not used in review

• LOIs are submitted electronically– https://iesreview.ed.gov

• If you miss the deadline, please contact Kristen Rhoads to let her know of your intent to submit

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Application Due Dates

• Applications are accepted once a year• For FY 2015, applications are due August 7, 2014 at

4:30:00 PM Washington DC time (Eastern)• We do NOT accept late applications • The authorized representative at your institution (not

the PI) actually submits the grant to IES

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Finding Application Packages

• FY 2015 Application Packages will be available on www.grants.gov

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Peer Review Process

• Applications are reviewed for compliance and responsiveness to the RFA

• Applications that are compliant and responsive are assigned to a review panel

• Two or three panel members conduct a primary review of each application– Most competitive applications move to full panel

• At panel meeting, the most competitive applications are reviewed by full panel

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Peer Review Process Information

http://ies.ed.gov/director/sro/peer_review/index.asp

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Notification

• All applicants will receive e-mail notification that the following information is available via the Applicant Notification System (ANS):• Status of award• Reviewer summary statement

• If you are not granted an award the first time, consider resubmitting and talking with your program officer

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Resources for Researchers

• Visit links for faculty and researchers on IES website: http://ies.ed.gov/resourcesforresearchers.asp

• Participate in webinars for FY 2015 competitions

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Help Us Help You

• Read the Request for Applications carefully• Call or e-mail me early in the process• As time permits, I can review draft proposals and

provide feedback

Don’t be afraid to contact me!

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For More Information

http://ies.ed.gov/funding

Kristen RhoadsKristen.Rhoads@ed.gov

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