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Department of Education

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

Appropriations Language .......................................................................................................W-1

Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes......................................................................W-2

Appropriation, Adjustments, and Transfers ............................................................................W-3

Summary of Changes ............................................................................................................W-4

Authorizing Legislation...........................................................................................................W-5

Appropriations History............................................................................................................W-6

Significant Items in FY 2020 Appropriations Reports..............................................................W-7

Summary of Request .............................................................................................................W-9

Activities:

Research, development, and dissemination .................................................................... W-12

Statistics.......................................................................................................................... W-20

Regional educational laboratories ................................................................................... W-31

Assessment..................................................................................................................... W-36

Research in special education......................................................................................... W-45

Statewide longitudinal data systems................................................................................ W-50

Special education studies and evaluations ...................................................................... W-54

Appropriations Language

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Appropriations Language

For carrying out activities authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, the 

National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act, [section 208 of the Educational 

Technical Assistance Act of 2002,] and section 664 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act, [$623,462,000] $565,440,000, which shall remain available through September 30, [20211: 

Provided, That funds available to carry out section 208 of the Educational Technical Assistance 

Act may be used to link Statewide elementary and secondary data systems with early 

childhood, postsecondary, and workforce data systems, or to further develop such systems:2

Provided further, That up to $6,000,000 of the funds available to carry out section 208 of the 

Educational Technical Assistance Act may be used for awards to public or private organizations 

or agencies to support activities to improve data coordination, quality, and use at the local, 

State, and national levels]

320221

. (Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2020.)

NOTE

Each language provision that is followed by a footnote reference is explained in the Analysis of Language 

Provisions and Changes document that follows the appropriations language.
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Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes

Language Provision Explanation

1 ..., [$623,462,000] $565,440,000, which 

shall remain available through September 

30, [2021...] 2022.

This language provides 2-year availability of 

funds for the account. This language is 

needed to facilitate the planning of long-term 

programs of research and to accommodate 

cyclical surveys and assessments.

2 [Provided, That funds available to carry out 

section 208 of the Educational Technical 

Assistance Act may be used to link 

Statewide elementary and secondary data 

systems with early childhood, postsecondary, 

and workforce data systems, or to further 

develop such systems:]

This language, which provides the authority 

to use funds to expand Statewide 

longitudinal data systems to include early 

childhood, postsecondary, and workforce 

information, is not needed because the 

program is proposed for elimination.

3 [Provided further, That up to $6,000,000 of 

the funds available to carry out section 208 

of the Educational Technical Assistance Act 

may be used for awards to public or private 

organizations or agencies to support 

activities to improve data coordination, 

quality, and use at the local, State, and 

national levels]

This language, which provides the authority 

to make Statewide longitudinal data systems 

awards to agencies and organizations in 

order to further the purposes of the program, 

is not needed because the program is 

proposed for elimination.
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Appropriation, Adjustments, and Transfers

(dollars in thousands)

Appropriation/Adjustments/Transfers 2019 2020 2021

Discretionary:

Discretionary: Appropriation .................................................. $615,462 $623,462 $565,440

Total, discretionary appropriation........... $615,462 $623,462 $565,440
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Summary of Changes

(dollars in thousands)

2020............................................................................................................. $623,462

2021............................................................................................................. 565,440

Net change .......................................................................... -58,022

Increases: 2020 base

Change 

from base

Program:

Increase funding for Statistics to support the Privacy 

Technical Assistance Center, which was previously funded 

under Statewide longitudinal data systems. $110,500 +$3,000

Increase for Assessment to restore funding for critical 

assessments. 153,000 +28,000

Subtotal, increases +31,000

Decreases: 2020 base

Change 

from base

Program:

Eliminate funding for the Regional educational laboratories to 

reflect changes in the strategy for providing technical 

assistance. 56,022 -56,022

Eliminate funding for the Statewide longitudinal data systems

because the program has fulfilled its initial mission. 33,000 -33,000

Subtotal, decreases -89,022

Net change -58,022
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Authorizing Legislation

(dollars in thousands)

Activity

2020

Authorized

2020

Actual

2021

Authorized

2021

Request

Research and Statistics:

Research and Statistics: Research, development, and dissemination (ESRA, Title I, parts A, 

B, and D, except section 174)................................................... 01,2 $195,877 01,2 $195,877

Research and Statistics:Statistics (ESRA, Title I, part C) ........................................................ 01,2 110,500 01,2 113,500

Regional educational laboratories (ESRA, section 174) ...................... 03 56,022 03 0

Assessment:

Assessment: National assessment (NAEPAA, section 303) ............................... 02 153,000 02 181,000

Assessment:National Assessment Governing Board (NAEPAA, section 302).... 02 7,745 02 7,745

Research in special education (ESRA, part E) ..................................... 04 56,500 04 56,500

Statewide longitudinal data systems (ETAA, section 208).................... 03 33,000 03 0

Special education studies and evaluations (IDEA, section 664) ........... 04 10,818 04 10,818

Total appropriation ..................................................................... 623,462 565,440

Portion of request not authorized................................................ 623,462 565,440

1 Section 194(a) of the Education Sciences Reform Act provides that not more than the lesser of 2 percent of the amount appropriated to carry out 

the Act (excluding amount appropriated for the Regional Educational Laboratories) or $1,000 thousand shall be made available for the National 

Board of Education Sciences and that the National Center for Education Statistics shall be provided not less than its fiscal year 2002 amount 

($85,000 thousand).

2 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009. The Administration proposes to continue funding this program in FY 2021 under 

appropriations language.

3 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009. No appropriations language or reauthorizing legislation is sought for FY 2021.

4 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2011. The Administration proposes to continue funding this program in FY 2021 under 

appropriations language.
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Appropriations History

(dollars in thousands)

Year

Budget Estimate 

to Congress

House

Allowance

Senate

Allowance Appropriation

2012 $760,473 $620,9031 $609,7881 $593,664

2013 621,150 593,6642 618,6612 562,612

2014 671,073 N/A3 652,9374 576,935

2015 637,180 N/A3 579,0215 573,935

2016 675,883 409,9566 562,9786 618,015

2017 693,818 536,0497 612,5257 605,267

2018 616,839 605,2678 600,2678 613,4628

2019 521,563 613,4629 615,4629 615,4629

2020 521,563 650,000 615,46210 623,46210

2021 565,440

1 The level for the House allowance reflects an introduced bill and the level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate 

Committee action only.

2 The levels for the House and Senate allowances reflect action on the regular annual 2013 appropriations bill, which 

proceeded in the 112th Congress only through the House Subcommittee and the Senate Committee.

3 The House allowance is shown as N/A because there was no Subcommittee action.

4 The level for the Senate allowance reflects Committee action only.

5 The level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate Subcommittee action only.

6 The levels for House and Senate allowances reflect action on the regular annual 2016 appropriations bill, which 

proceeded in the 114th Congress only through the House Committee and Senate Committee.

7 The levels for House and Senate allowances reflect Committee action on the regular annual 2017 appropriations 

bill; the Appropriation reflects the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017.

8 The level for the House allowance reflects floor action on the Omnibus appropriations bill; the Senate allowance 

reflects Committee action on the regular annual 2018 appropriations bill; the Appropriation reflects the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141).

9 The levels for the House and Senate allowance reflect Committee action on the regular annual 2019 appropriations 

bill; the Appropriation reflects enactment of the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and 

Education Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245).

10 The Senate allowance reflects the Chairman’s mark; the Appropriation reflects the Further Consolidated 

Appropriation Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-94).
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Significant Items in FY 2020 Appropriations Reports

Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Operating Plan

Senate: The Committee directs the Director to submit an operating plan within 90 days of 

enactment to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

and the Senate detailing how IES plans to allocate funding available to the 

Institute for research, evaluation, and other activities authorized under law.

Response: The fiscal year 2021 Budget request includes detailed information on how fiscal 

year 2020 funds will be used. The Department will provide additional information

upon request.

NAEP Assessment Schedule

Senate: The Committee is concerned with recent and sudden changes to the proposed 

NAEP schedule, which includes significant changes from the schedule outlined in 

the President’s budget request. The Committee directs the Department and 

NAGB to provide a briefing to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of 

Representatives and the Senate within 30 days of enactment on the proposed 

changes and estimated funding needed to maintain the schedule outlined in the 

fiscal year 2020 budget request. The Committee expects requested funding 

levels to align with assessment schedules included in the budget request, and 

directs the Department and NAGB to coordinate accordingly.

Managers’ 

Statement: The agreement supports assessments for students in United States History and 

Civics. The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is directed to 

continue administering assessments in these two areas, at least every 4 years, in 

accordance with the current National Assessment of Educational Progress 

(NAEP) schedule. The agreement notes concern with recent changes to the 

proposed NAEP schedule, some of which differ from the schedule outlined in the 

fiscal year 2020 budget request, which proposed a reduction in funding for 

assessments that is part of the explanation for the modified assessment 

schedule. The Department and NAGB are directed to provide a briefing to the 

Committees within 45 days of enactment of this Act on the proposed changes 

and estimated funding needed to maintain the schedule outlined in the fiscal year 

2020 budget request.

Response: The Department and NAGB will conduct a briefing for Committee staff shortly 

after the release of the fiscal year 2021 budget request on the changes to the 

NAEP schedule and the projected costs of implementing the scheduled 

assessments.

Second Chance Pell Evaluation

House: The Committee encourages the Department to continue the experiment and 

directs the Department to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the Second Chance 

Pell Experiment, so that Congress and stakeholders may examine the benefits of 
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providing members of society a second chance through the Pell Grant program. 

To that end, the Committee recommendation includes up to $2,000,000 within 

the Research, Development and Dissemination program at the Institute of 

Education Sciences (IES) solely for the rigorous evaluation of the Second 

Chance Pell Experiment as announced in the Federal Register (Volume 80, 

Number 148 on Monday, August 3, 2015). The Committee directs the 

Department’s Policy and Program Studies Service to work with IES on this effort.

The Committee also directs IES to submit the evaluation to the Committees on 

Appropriations, within 30 days of completing the evaluation.

Senate: The Committee directs the Department to report not later than 90 days after the 

enactment on the implementation of GAO’s recommendation in its April 2019 

report, Federal Student Aid: Actions Needed to Evaluate Pell Grant Pilot for 

Incarcerated Students [GAO–19–130). The Committee also continues to 

encourage the Department to work with an experienced third-party evaluator to 

conduct an external and objective evaluation of the Second Chance Pell and 

Dual Enrollment ESIs, including working with participating IHEs to provide data, 

as allowable, to conduct rigorous evaluations.

Managers’

Statement: The agreement directs IES to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the Second 

Chance Pell Experiment as announced in the Federal Register (Volume 80, 

Number 148 on Monday, August 3, 2015) and work with the Department’s Policy 

and Program Studies Service on this effort. The agreement directs IES to submit 

the evaluation to the Committees within 30 days of completing the evaluation. 

The agreement also directs the Department to report no later than 90 days after 

the enactment of this Act on the implementation of GAO’s recommendation in its 

April 2019 report, ‘‘Federal Student Aid: Actions Needed to Evaluate Pell Grant 

Pilot for Incarcerated Students’’ (GAO–19–130).

Response: IES will identify whether data collected by Federal Student Aid can be used to 

support a descriptive study of student outcomes associated with sites’ 

participation in the experiment. However, IES is unable to carry out the requested 

rigorous evaluation of the Second Chance Pell experiment because it was not 

implemented in a manner that supports evaluation using a randomized control 

trial. Since this is the case, IES is determining what level of rigor may be 

possible. Assuming IES can identify an evaluation plan that satisfies the 

Committees, it will submit the final evaluation to the Committees within 30 days 

of completion. The Department also notes that the evaluation staff of the Policy 

and Program Studies Service were moved to IES in a reorganization 

implemented in late 2019.
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Summary of Request

Click here for accessible version

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FISCAL YEAR 2021 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

(in thousands of dollars)

Cat 

Code

2019

Appropriation

2020

Appropriation

2021 President's 

Budget

2021 President's Budget Compared to 

2020 Appropriation

Amount Percent

1.

2.

3.

Subtotal 158,745 160,745 188,745 28,000 17.42%

4.

5.

6.

Total D 615,462 623,462 565,440 (58,022) -9.31%

NOTES: D = discretionary program; M = mandatory program 

Detail may not add to totals due to rounding.

Institute of Education Sciences

Research and statistics:

(a)

(b)

Research, development, and dissemination (ESRA I-A, B and D, except section 174) D 192,695 195,877 195,877 0 0.00%

Statistics (ESRA I-C) D 109,500 110,500 113,500 3,000 2.71%

Regional educational laboratories (ESRA section 174) D 55,423 56,022 0 (56,022) -100.00%

Assessment (NAEPAA):

(a)

(b)

National assessment (section 303) D 151,000 153,000 181,000 28,000 18.30%

National Assessment Governing Board (section 302) D 7,745 7,745 7,745 0 0.00%

Research in special education (ESRA, Part E) D 56,000 56,500 56,500 0 0.00%

Statewide longitudinal data systems (ETAA section 208) D 32,281 33,000 0 (33,000) -100.00%

Special education studies and evaluations (IDEA, section 664) D 10,818 10,818 10,818 0 0.00%
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Summary of Request

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) supports research, data collection and analysis 

activities, and the assessment of student progress. IES serves as a leader both within 

Department of Education and in collaboration with other Federal agencies in developing

standards for research, improving the use of evidence in grant competitions, and reducing

burden and improving the quality of evaluation and research through the use of administrative 

data. The Administration requests $565.4 million for this account for fiscal year 2021, a

decrease of $58.0 million from the fiscal year 2020 appropriation.

Reauthorization Proposal

The request reflects the Administration’s proposal for the reauthorization of the Education 

Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) of 2002, which after nearly two decades needs updates to support 

the efficient and effective administration of the IES mission. Our reauthorization proposal would:

• Authorize the Secretary, rather than the President, to appoint members of the National 

Board for Education Sciences (the Board), consistent with the more efficient process for 

appointments to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB).

• Remove the requirement that IES support at least eight national research and development 

centers that address mandated topics of research. IES needs the flexibility to choose, in 

consultation with its Board and consistent with available resources, the research topics and 

evaluation strategies that best address evolving needs and current problems in the field.

• Modify the mission statement and duties of the National Center for Education Evaluation 

and Regional Assistance (NCEE) to clarify that NCEE is responsible for all long-term 

evaluations of Department programs, not just causal impact studies and program 

evaluations. This change reflects a recent reorganization that moved Policy and Program 

Studies Service evaluation staff to IES.

• Create a National Center for Education Assessment (NCEA) within IES in recognition of the 

growth in the scale and importance of IES’s assessment activities since enactment of ESRA. 

The new NCEA would be headed by a Commissioner for Education Assessment and would 

be responsible for both the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and 

International Assessments, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment

and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. In 2002, when IES was 

established, assessment activities represented a small portion of the budget. In the 2021 

request, they represent over one-third of IES’s total budget. Creation of NCEA also would 

allow the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which currently administers these 

activities, to focus on its core statistical mission, including those activities outlined in the 

Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2019.

• Authorize the Director of IES to appoint the commissioners for all of the IES Centers, as is 

now the practice for all Centers except for NCES, whose Commissioner is a Presidential 

appointee. 

• Repeal the authority for support of Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems under the 

Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002. There is no longer a need for the systembuilding support for which this program was enacted as nearly all States now have such 

systems in place.
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Summary of Request – continued

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Program Requests

The Administration requests $195.9 million for Research, Development, and Dissemination, 

level with the fiscal year 2020 appropriation. The investment in research is important because 

high-quality information about effective practices can help improve both student outcomes and 

the return on the public investment in education at the Federal, State, and local levels. The 

funding will provide support for building a high-quality evidence base for what works in 

education and for IES dissemination efforts to ensure that the evidence base informs practice 

both in the field and in the Department.

For Statistics, which provides funds to support the collection, analysis, and reporting of data 

related to education at all levels, the Administration requests $113.5 million, $3 million more 

than the fiscal year 2020 appropriation, for NCES. The $3 million increase would support the 

Privacy Technical Assistance Center, which serves as a valuable resource center to State and 

local educational agencies, the postsecondary community, and other parties engaged in 

building and using education data systems on issues related to privacy, security, and 

confidentiality of student records.

A total of $188.7 million is requested for Assessment in fiscal year 2021, including

$181.0 million for the NAEP, $28.0 million more than the fiscal year 2020 appropriation, and 

$7.7 million for NAGB. The requested funding for Assessment would support NAGB in 

formulating policy guidelines for NAEP, as well as the costs associated with carrying out the 

schedule of assessments approved by NAGB on July 19, 2019, including sampling and data 

collection; pilot testing; item development; and scoring, analysis, and reporting of NAEP 

assessments.

The Administration requests $56.5 million for Research in Special Education, level with the 

2020 appropriation. The requested funds would support programs of research, including 

research intended to improve the developmental outcomes and school readiness of infants, 

toddlers, and young children with disabilities; improve education outcomes in core subject areas 

for children with disabilities; improve social and behavioral outcomes; and help adolescents with 

disabilities attain college- and career-readiness.

The request includes $10.8 million for Special Education Studies and Evaluations, level with 

the fiscal year 2020 appropriation, to support a range of evaluations that are designed to 

provide information on effective programs and practices to inform guidance for educators and 

parents.

No funds are requested for the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) and the Statewide 

Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) programs. The RELs support dissemination and technical 

assistance activities that are duplicative of existing investments in the areas of training, 

technical assistance, and professional development to build State capacity to provide highquality education. The SLDS program has fulfilled its original purpose of enabling States to 

design, develop, and implement longitudinal data systems to efficiently and accurately collect, 

manage, and analyze individual student data, with all but three States receiving grants to date to 

develop and implement longitudinal data systems.
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Research, development, and dissemination

(Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Parts A, B, and D, except section 174)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01, 2

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

$195,877 $195,877 0

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009; reauthorizing legislation is sought for FY 2021.

2 The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) provides that not more than the lesser of 2 percent of the 

amount appropriated to carry out the Act (excluding appropriations for the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs)) 

or $1.0 million shall be made available for the National Board for Education Sciences (NBES).

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Research, Development, and Dissemination (RDD) program funds core activities of the 

Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform 

Act of 2002 (ESRA). IES provides national leadership to expand knowledge and understanding 

of education from early childhood through postsecondary study, as well as career and technical 

and adult education, in order to provide parents, educators, students, researchers, 

policymakers, and the public with reliable information about the condition and progress of 

education, educational practices that support learning and improve academic achievement, and 

the effectiveness of Federal and other education programs.

IES includes four national centers: the National Center for Education Research (NCER), the 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the National Center for Education Evaluation 

and Regional Assistance (NCEE), and the National Center for Special Education Research 

(NCSER). The RDD program funds NCER and NCEE, as well as the National Board for 

Education Sciences (NBES), which is composed of private sector leaders as well as 

researchers and educators who are charged with approving priorities and peer review 

procedures and generally providing guidance to IES.

NCER conducts sustained programs of scientifically rigorous research that build an evidence 

base in education to drive better decisions and lead to more effective practice. Activities within 

NCER are organized around research topic areas, such as reading and writing, early learning, 

mathematics and science education, teacher effectiveness and pedagogy, and education 

systems and policies. Since its authorization in 2002, IES has built a diverse NCER research 

portfolio that includes field-initiated research projects, education research training projects, fieldinitiated evaluations of State and local programs and policies, and advancements in statistical 

and research methodology. NCER also funds research training programs to help develop a 

steady supply of researchers dedicated to finding solutions to problems in education.
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Research, development, and dissemination

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NCEE supports a wide range of activities in the areas of evaluation, technical assistance, and 

dissemination. The Center conducts evaluations of the implementation and impact of key 

Federal education programs through both traditional and quick-turnaround studies and serves 

as a standards and validation body for education evaluations. A portion of funding used to 

support NCEE program evaluations comes from other programs (e.g., the Special Education 

Studies and Evaluations program) and is not part of the RDD request. 

NCEE is also responsible for translating research findings into information that is accessible to 

education practitioners and for enhancing the use of evidence by policymakers and practitioners 

through the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), the Education Resources Information Center 

(ERIC), and the National Library of Education (NLE). These programs work with NCES, NCER, 

and NCSER to promote and make accessible the results of their work. Funding for the WWC, 

ERIC, and NLE is part of the RDD request.

Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016.............................................................................$195,000

2017...............................................................................187,500

2018...............................................................................192,695

2019...............................................................................192,695

2020...............................................................................195,877

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests $195.9 million for the RDD program, level with 

the 2020 appropriation. The RDD program identifies effective strategies for improving student 

learning in early childhood, K−12, postsecondary, and adult education, and it disseminates this 

information to policymakers and practitioners. RDD funds support key activities in IES, including 

those administered by NCER and NCEE.

IES Reauthorization

The Administration’s 2021 request would support a reauthorization proposal for the Education 

Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) that would:

• Modify the mission statement and duties of NCEE to clarify that NCEE is responsible for all 

long-term evaluations of Department programs, consistent with current practice.

• Provide greater flexibility for NCER to respond to research needs by removing the mandate 

to support at least eight national research and development centers, as well as the 

mandated topics of research that must be addressed by those centers. These mandates 

represent an outdated approach to education research, which limits IES’s ability to select 

research strategies that best suit the work to be done and its ability to address topics that 

speak to current problems in education.
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Research, development, and dissemination

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• Revitalize the NBES by allowing appointments to the Board to be made by the Secretary, as 

is the case with appointments to the National Assessment Governing Board, to help address 

the lack of timely appointments under the current system. (Currently, only 3 of 15 Board 

members are in place). The Board plays a crucial role in advising the IES Director on 

priorities to guide IES’s work, and for ensuring that the work meets the needs of the field, 

and allowing the Secretary to make the appointments will ensure that members are replaced 

promptly when their terms end.

Key activities supported by the request include the following:

NCER Research Grants

The request includes approximately $157.0 million for NCER grants designed to support 

research that will help improve the quality of education for all students from early childhood 

through postsecondary and adult education. NCER determines funding priorities for its research 

competitions by holding Technical Working Group meetings with education researchers and 

practitioners from around the country and soliciting public comments through the IES website. 

Staff members also discuss priorities with the NBES and with officials within the Department. 

For fiscal year 2020 awards, IES published the notice inviting applications in the Federal 

Register on June 19, 2019; awards will be made in the summer of 2020. The fiscal year 2021 

awards will be made on a similar schedule.

The NCER research grant program currently includes the following competition areas:

• Education Research Grants: This program supports field-initiated research projects and 

accounts for the largest share of NCER grants

(https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/research/researchMethods.asp). For each competition, IES invites 

applications on specific but wide-ranging topic areas. Applicants may propose to conduct 

exploratory research projects, development and innovation projects, efficacy and replication 

projects, effectiveness studies, or measurement projects.

• National Research and Development (R&D) Centers: The R&D Centers program 

(https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/research/randdCenters.asp) supports research, development, 

evaluation, and national leadership activities aimed at improving our education system and, 

ultimately, student achievement. Each R&D Center conducts a focused program of 

research in under-investigated topics that are of interest to education policymakers and 

practitioners. ESRA requires IES to support at least eight R&D Centers on specified topics; 

the Administration’s reauthorization proposal would allow IES to use funding now reserved 

for R&D Centers for the types of awards and topics that best fit the needs of the field.

• Statistical and Research Methodology in Education: This program helps give education 

scientists the tools they need to conduct rigorous applied research by supporting the 

development of products that will help education researchers at all levels improve their study 

designs, perform complex data analyses, and rigorously interpret findings.

• Partnerships and Collaborations Focused on Problems of Practice or Policy: This program 

supports research that is carried out by research institutions and State or local educational
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Research, development, and dissemination

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agencies working collaboratively on problems or issues that are a high priority for the 

education agencies (https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/research/collaborations.asp). The research is 

intended to improve education outcomes for all students, including students at risk of failure 

and students with or at risk for disabilities.

• Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluations of Education Interventions: This program supports 

rigorous evaluations of education interventions that State and local educational agencies

believe will produce meaningful improvements in student outcomes within a short period of 

time, such as within a single semester or academic year. The evaluations are low cost

because they focus on outcomes that can be easily measured using administrative records

or other sources of secondary data to provide information on student outcomes.

• Research Training: Through its pre- and post-doctoral training programs, NCER supports 

grants to institutions of higher education to develop training programs that help prepare

graduate students and research professionals to conduct rigorous research that helps

States and local school districts improve student outcomes and contributes to the 

advancement of theory and practice (https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/research/researchTraining.asp).

• Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Policy or Practice: This program 

focuses on high-priority education problems or issues and helps researchers working on 

these problems or issues to share ideas, build knowledge, and strengthen their research 

and dissemination capacity (https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/research/researchNetworks.asp).

IES also makes a small number of unsolicited grant awards for projects that are not eligible for 

funding under current grant competitions or that address time-sensitive questions. Additional 

information is available at https://ies.ed.gov/funding/unsolicited.asp.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

The SBIR program (https://ies.ed.gov/sbir/) awards contracts to qualified small businesses to 

conduct innovative research and development projects focused on education technology. Small 

businesses can receive Federal funding for two phases of research and development: Phase I 

awards are designed to determine the scientific or technical merit of ideas by testing the 

feasibility of a technological approach, while Phase II awards support further development or 

expansion of Phase I projects. Phase II awards require a more comprehensive plan for research 

and development and must include a description of the commercial potential of the education 

technology. Approximately $10.3 million would be used for the SBIR program in fiscal year 

2021.

NCEE Dissemination Activities

The 2021 request includes $25.5 million for NCEE dissemination activities designed to ensure 

that practitioners and policymakers have access to high-quality research information in usable 

forms. These activities provide tools to help practitioners and policymakers easily locate current 

information on the effectiveness of various strategies and interventions, thereby amplifying the 

impact of the Department’s investments in rigorous research and evaluation. Examples of such 
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tools include the WWC thematic information campaigns publicized through email blasts and on 

Twitter, Facebook, and the WWC website.

The NCEE dissemination activities include the following: 

• Education Resources Information Center: ERIC is an internet-based digital library of 

education research and information that provides access to bibliographic records of journal 

and non-journal literature from 1966 to the present. ERIC's mission is to provide a 

comprehensive, easy-to-use, searchable Internet-based bibliographic and full-text database 

of education research and information for educators, researchers, and the general public 

(https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/projects/eric.asp). Over half a million users search the ERIC website 

each week, with many more searching through ERIC data using vendor sites.

• What Works Clearinghouse: The WWC (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/) is a central and 

trusted source for scientific evidence on what works in education. The WWC reviews 

research to determine which studies meet rigorous, consistent, and transparent standards 

and produces single study reviews, intervention reports, and practice guides that present 

finding on what works in education. The WWC website provides reviews of over 10,000 

individual studies, as well as more than 580 intervention reports and 24 practice guides. The 

Find What Works tool (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/FWW) allows users to easily search by 

topic area, such as math or science, to find studies where there is evidence of positive 

effects.

• National Library of Education: Operating as a depository library under the Federal 

Depository Library Program of the U.S. Government Publishing Office, the NLE serves as 

the Federal government's primary education information resource to the public, education 

community, and other government agencies (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/projects/nle/). The 

NLE's current collection, in print and electronic formats, focuses on education and includes 

subject matter such as economics, law, psychology, and sociology, as they relate to 

education.

• Digital Modernization. The IES Digital Modernization project will re-build IES website with a 

priority on customers and products, using a customer-centric design, content and data 

management tools, and agile technologies. This work will advance IES' mission as an 

applied science agency by leveraging the website to support core audiences' (including 

parents, teachers, and administrators) interests in practical and accessible data and 

research on education.

Dissemination activities funds also are used for logistical and technical support, as well as 

technical assistance supporting evidence-building and use.

In addition, RDD funds support the costs for peer review of new grant proposals and the 

National Board of Education Sciences.

In order to provide the flexibility IES needs to plan and administer a regular cycle of research 

competitions, the Administration requests that RDD funding continue to be available for 2 years.
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PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

NCER Grants

Education r esearch: Grant awards (new)1 $36,884 $50,360 $25,467

Education r esearch: Grant award (continuations) 114,349 108,454 131,541

Education r esearch: Subtotal 151,233 158,814 157,008

Small Business Innovation Research Contracts 10,189 10,337 10,300

Dissemination Activities

Disseminati on Activities: Educational Resources Information Center 8,056 0 4,000

Disseminati on Activities: What Works Clearinghouse 9,467 9,128 9,060

Disseminati on Activities: National Library of Education 2,247 2,370 2,370

Disseminati on Activities: Digital Modernization 5,000 5,000 5,000

Disseminati on Activities Technical assistance and logistical support 3,715 5,208 5,084

Disseminati on Activities: Subtotal 28,485 21,706 25,514

Peer review of new award applications 2,682 2,720 2,755

Second Chance Pell Evaluation 106 2,0002 0

National Board for Education Sciences 0 300 300

Total 192,695 195,877 195,877

NOTES:

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.

1 The Department made 75 new grant awards in 2019, ranging in size from $114,480 to $1,848,865 for the first year 

of the awards. Applicants for 2020 grant awards could request funding of $100,000 to $2 million, depending on the 

competition. The number of 2020 and 2021 new awards will depend on the number of high-quality proposals received 

in the 2020 and 2021 competitions.

2 The Department has budgeted $2,000 thousand in fiscal year 2020 funds, but the actual amount will be determined 

by the study design selected.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Performance Measures

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the resources 

and efforts invested by those served by the program. The Department established new 

measures for NCER in 2014.
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Goal: Transform education into an evidence-based field.

Objective: Raise the quality of research funded or conducted by the Department.

Measure: The minimum percentage of projects that result in peer-reviewed publications.

Year Target Actual

2016 78% 82%

2017 85 83

2018 87 82

2019 87 82

2020 89

2021 90

Additional information: Peer-reviewed publications are an expected product of all research 

projects (i.e., grants). NCER has been funding research projects since 2002. Given the lag from 

time of award to completion of the study and publication, the denominator for each reporting 

year will be the cumulative number of research grants that had been funded through the end of 

the fiscal year 3 years prior to the reporting year. 

Measure: The minimum number of IES-supported interventions with evidence of efficacy in 

improving student outcomes.

Year Target Actual

2016 94 105

2017 104 110

2018 114 119

2019 130 124

2020 137

2021 144

Additional information: IES-supported interventions include those developed or evaluated by 

IES. Results of intervention evaluations typically are not available until the end of a grant award 

period. The reported data are the cumulative numbers of interventions since 2002 with evidence 

of meeting WWC standards and having positive effects on student outcomes as determined by 

the WWC reviewers.
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Efficiency Measures

Measure: The average number of research grants administered per each program officer 

employed in the National Center for Education Research.

Year Target Actual

2016 40 38

2017 40 42

2018 40 41

2019 40 41

2020 40

2021 40

Additional information: The principal efficiency measure for IES is the ratio of research staff to 

research grants. In 2001, staff of the Department’s predecessor research organization 

monitored 1.3 research grants per staff member. As of 2019, the average staff monitoring load 

is 41 grants per program officer. IES believes that 40 research grants per program officer 

represents an appropriate level of oversight and capacity and that future targets should maintain 

this level.
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Statistics

(Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part C)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01, 2

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

$110,500 $113,500 +$3,000

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009; reauthorizing legislation is sought for FY 2021.

2 The statute authorizes such sums as may be necessary for all of Title I, of which not less than the amount provided 

to the National Center for Education Statistics for FY 2002 shall be available for Part C, which is $85,000 thousand.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is one of four Centers in the Institute of 

Education Sciences (IES) established by the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) of 2002. 

NCES is the chief Federal entity engaged in collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to 

education in the U.S.

NCES is authorized to:

• collect, acquire, compile, and disseminate full and complete statistics on the condition and 

progress of education in the U.S.;

• conduct and publish reports on the meaning and significance of such statistics;

• collect, analyze, cross-tabulate, and report data, where feasible, by demographic 

characteristics, including gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, limited English 

proficiency, mobility, disability, and urbanicity;

• help public and private educational agencies and organizations improve their statistical 

systems;

• acquire and disseminate data on U.S. education activities and student achievement 

compared with foreign nations; and

• conduct longitudinal and special data collections necessary to report on the condition and 

progress of education.

NCES is also authorized to establish a program to train employees of public and private 

educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in the use of statistical procedures and 
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concepts and may establish a fellowship program to allow such employees to work as 

temporary fellows at NCES.

Statistical information collected by NCES contributes to the identification of needs in education

and informs the development of policy priorities. The authorizing statute requires the 

Commissioner of NCES to issue regular reports on education topics, particularly in the core 

academic areas of reading, mathematics, and science, and to produce an annual statistical 

report on the condition and progress of education in the United States. NCES studies provide 

information on a wide range of issues that are critical to understanding the U.S. education

system, including such topics as preparation for higher education, college costs, student 

financial aid, school choice, homeschooling, high school dropouts, school crime, teacher 

shortages, teacher mobility and attrition, and the achievement of students in the U.S. compared 

with that of other countries. NCES coordinates with other Federal agencies when carrying out 

surveys to maximize the value of the information collected and to minimize response burdens 

on stakeholders. For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has

contributed to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten Class of 2010−11 (ECLSK:2011); the National Science Foundation participated in the High School Longitudinal Study 

(HSLS:2009); and NCES collaborates with the Bureau of Justice Statistics to administer the 

School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Most work is conducted 

through competitively awarded contracts.

ESRA also authorizes the National Board for Education Sciences (NBES) to advise the NCES 

Commissioner. NBES may establish a standing committee to advise NCES.

Five areas, each with a set of specific activities, make up the Statistics budget:

• Administrative Data Collections and Support include basic descriptive data collections from 

public schools at the elementary and secondary levels and from public and private 

postsecondary institutions, as well as activities that improve data standards and provide 

technical assistance.

• Longitudinal Studies collect information on the same students over time. Such studies 

provide insight into how students and educational systems influence one another, and can 

ultimately provide educators and policymakers with information to improve the quality of 

education.

• International Studies provide insights into the educational practices and outcomes in the 

U.S. by enabling comparisons with other countries. These studies reflect the longstanding 

concern—dating back at least to the landmark 1983 report A Nation At Risk—over the role 

of education in maintaining the Nation’s global competitiveness and ensuring continued 

economic growth and prosperity.

• Cross-sectional Studies provide extensive staffing, school safety, adult education, and other 

issue-specific data from public and private schools, staff, and households.

• Cross-cutting Activities include initiatives to train the public on accessing and using NCES 

data; activities designed to enhance the usefulness of statistical data collections and 
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publications; and programs to review and improve the quality of NCES studies and to 

safeguard privacy and confidentiality.

Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016 .................................................................................... $112,000

2017 .......................................................................................109,500

2018 .......................................................................................109,500

2019 .......................................................................................103,0001

2020 .......................................................................................110,5002

1 Reflects a reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2019 funds from Statistics to the 

Assessment program in the IES account that will be “repaid” by reprogramming $6,500 of fiscal year 

2020 Assessment funds to Statistics.

2 Does not reflect the anticipated reprogramming of $6,500 thousand from Assessment to Statistics 

in fiscal year 2020.

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests $113.5 million for Statistics, $3 million more 

than fiscal year 2020 appropriation. The additional $3 million would support the Privacy 

Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), which serves as a valuable resource on issues related to 

privacy, security, and confidentiality of student records to State and local educational agencies, 

the postsecondary community, and other parties engaged in building and using education data 

systems. PTAC previously was funded under Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems, which is 

proposed for elimination elsewhere in this account.

The Department’s reauthorization proposal for ESRA would move responsibility for assessment

activities, including international assessments, from the jurisdiction of the NCES Commissioner 

to the newly created National Center for Education Assessment, but in fiscal year 2021 the 

Statistics program would likely continue to fund these assessments.

The Statistics request includes funds for a broad range of surveys and activities that provide 

information on education at all levels, including:

Administrative Data Collections and Support

The Administrative Data Collections and Support category includes basic descriptive data 

collections from public schools at the elementary and secondary levels and from public and 

private postsecondary institutions, as well as activities that support improvement of data 

standards and technical assistance. The fiscal year 2021 request includes approximately 

$24 million for administrative data collections. Key activities include:

• The Common Core of Data (CCD) (http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/), the Department’s primary 

database on public elementary and secondary education in the U.S., provides annual 
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information on all school districts and public elementary and secondary schools, including 

public charter schools. Examples of such information include basic descriptive information

such as student enrollment, demographic, dropout, and high school completion data; 

numbers of teachers and other staff; and fiscal data, including revenues and expenditures.

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/) is 

a comprehensive data collection system for postsecondary institutions, including all HEA 

Title IV institutions. Components of the survey include: institutional characteristics, fall 

enrollment, completions, salaries, finance (including current revenues by source; current 

expenditures by function, assets, and indebtedness; and endowment investments), student 

financial aid, staff, graduation rates, outcome measures, and academic libraries.

• The Common Education Data Standards (https://ceds.ed.gov/) project is a national 

collaborative effort to develop voluntary, common data standards for a key set of education 

data elements to streamline the exchange, comparison, and understanding of data within 

and across P-20W (Preschool, Grade 20 or Higher Education, Workforce) institutions and 

sectors.

• The Surveys and Cooperative Systems program provides support for a number of efforts to 

improve the quality, timeliness, and comparability of statistics used for education 

policymaking at all levels of government, including the National Forum on Education 

Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov/forum/about.asp) and two National Postsecondary Education 

Cooperatives (http://nces.ed.gov/npec/): one focused on IPEDS and one on the 

postsecondary longitudinal and sample surveys.

• The Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program 

(http://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/) uses data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau to 

create custom school district indicators of social and economic conditions for school-age 

children. Data generated by EDGE and many other NCES programs can be analyzed and 

viewed spatially using the MapEd tool (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/maped/).

Longitudinal Studies

Longitudinal Studies are designed to collect information on the same students over time. The

fiscal year 2021 request includes approximately $38 million to support the following longitudinal 

studies:

• The Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies (ECLS) (http://nces.ed.gov/ecls/) are a series of 

longitudinal studies that follow children from birth or from kindergarten entry to examine child 

development, school readiness, and early school experiences. The first study was the ECLS 

Kindergarten Class of 1998-99; the second was the ECLS Birth Cohort of 2001. The latest 

study in the series, the ECLS Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:11), concluded data 

collection in the spring of 2016 and has enabled researchers to study how a wide range of 

family, school, community, and individual factors are associated with school performance 

over time. The next study is scheduled to follow the kindergarten class of 2022-23.
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• The Middle Grades Longitudinal Study (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/mgls/) is the first 

longitudinal study to provide information on children’s development in grades 6 through 8 on 

factors associated with successful transition from elementary to secondary school. The 

study includes a nationally representative sample of sixth graders in the 2017-2018 school 

year and will focus on topics associated with students’ high school readiness, inclusion, and 

math and literacy learning in the middle grades.

• The High School Longitudinal Studies (HSLS) collect data on a cohort of students from 

9

th grade through their postsecondary years. The first study began in 1972. The fifth study, 

the HSLS:09 (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/hsls09/), collected data in the fall of 2009 from a 

sample of students in the 9th grade; follow-ups were conducted in 2012, 2013, and 2016.

Subsequent waves of data collection will follow the sample members through college and 

beyond, providing information on transitions from high school to postsecondary education or 

work. The next survey will collect data beginning in the fall of 2020.

• The National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS) 

(http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/) is a comprehensive cross-sectional study of 

undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree students that examines how 

students and their families pay for postsecondary education. NPSAS serves as the baseyear sample for two longitudinal studies, the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) 

longitudinal study and the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) longitudinal study. NPSAS is 

conducted every 2 years with a student interview included every 4 years (e.g. NPSAS:20 

and NPSAS:24). An administrative data collection, which uses only administrative data from 

the Department’s data systems and institutional student records, occurs in the other years 

(e.g., NPSAS:22 and NPSAS:26).

• The Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/) 

follows a cohort of beginning postsecondary students and provides data on a variety of 

topics, including student demographics, school and work experiences, persistence, transfer, 

and degree attainment. The BPS 12/17 cohort began their postsecondary education in 

2012; follow-up data collection occurred in 2014 and 2017.

• The Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/b&b/) follows students 

who complete their baccalaureate degrees. Initially, students in the NPSAS surveys who are 

identified as being in their last year of undergraduate studies are asked questions about 

their future employment and education expectations, as well as about their undergraduate 

education. In later follow-ups, students are asked questions about their job search activities, 

education, and employment experiences after graduation. The first B&B cohort was drawn 

from the 1993 NPSAS sample; the latest B&B cohort was drawn from the 2016 NPSAS and 

will be followed for 10 years.

International Studies

International Studies (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/) provide insights into U.S. 

educational practices and outcomes by allowing comparisons with other countries. Funding for 

the International Studies program is estimated at $20 million in fiscal year 2021 and supports

the following activities:
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• International Analysis supports a number of activities, including the Indicators of National 

Education Systems Project, a cooperative effort among member countries of the 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to develop an education 

indicator reporting system. The primary vehicle for reporting on these indicators is an annual 

OECD report entitled Education at a Glance (http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/).

• The International Computer and Information Literacy Study, organized by the International 

Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) (https://www.iea.nl/icils), is 

a comparative study to evaluate students’ computer and information literacy (i.e., their ability 

to use computers to investigate, create, and communicate in order to participate effectively 

at home, at school, in the workplace, and in the community).

• The International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study

(http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/international-early-learning-and-child-well-being-study.htm), 

organized by the OECD, will collect comparative data that will allow policymakers to better 

understand what outcomes are possible for children in early childhood education and will 

enable insights on the relative effectiveness, equity, and efficiency of early childhood 

education systems across the world.

• The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies

(http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/), which is sponsored by the OECD, is a household study 

assessing the basic skills and the broad range of competencies of adults around the world.

The next data collection in the U.S. is scheduled for 2021.

• The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 

(http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/), also sponsored by OECD, is designed to monitor, on a 

regular 3-year cycle, the achievement of 15-year-old students in three subject areas: 

reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. An online International Data 

Explorer (IDE) is available that allows users to create their own tables and charts from 

available data (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/ide/).

• The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 

(http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pirls/), which is sponsored by the IEA, assesses the reading 

literacy of fourth graders and the experiences they have at home and school in learning to 

read.

• The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 

(http://nces.ed.gov/TIMSS/), also sponsored by the IEA, is a study conducted every 4 years 

of fourth and eighth graders’ mathematics and science achievement in the U.S. and other 

participating nations. The TIMSS IDE allows users to create their own tables and charts 

using TIMSS data (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/ide/).

Under the Administration’s reauthorization proposal, the international assessments would be 

administered by the new National Center for Education Assessment.
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Cross Sectional Studies

Cross Sectional Studies, which include a set of sample surveys that provide extensive data 

about public and private schools, staff, and households throughout the U.S., would receive 

nearly $17 million in fiscal year 2021 for the following surveys and activities:

• The National Teacher and Principal Survey (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/) is the 

Department’s primary source of information on teacher and principal preparation, classes 

taught in public schools, and demographics of the teacher and principal labor force. Topics 

include professional development, working conditions, and teacher and principal evaluation, 

and the survey supports trend analyses in areas such as the average salary of a beginning 

principal, the average student-teacher ratio in the U.S., and teachers’ views of their 

autonomy in the classroom.

• The Private School Survey (PSS)(https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/), conducted every 

2 years, provides information on the number of private schools, teachers, and students in 

the U.S. while providing a sampling frame for other NCES surveys. The survey includes 

private schools in the 50 States and the District of Columbia.

• The School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime/) and 

the School Crime Supplement (SCS) (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ssocs/) provide many of 

the statistics used to provide context when crises and tragedies strike our Nation’s schools. 

SSOCS provides estimates of school crime, discipline, and school safety programs and 

policies from a nationally representative sample of approximately 3,500 public elementary 

and secondary schools, while the SCS collects information about school-related 

victimization, crime, and safety in public and private schools as part of a national survey of 

students ages 12 through 18 conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The two studies 

follow each other on a 2-year cycle.

• The Survey of Earned Doctorates in the United States

(http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvydoctorates/) annually collects basic statistics from the 

universe of doctoral recipients in the U.S.

• The National Household Education Surveys (https://nces.ed.gov/nhes/) is a suite of data 

collections designed to provide descriptive data on a wide range of education-related issues, 

including early childhood care and education, children’s readiness for school, before- and 

after-school activities of school-age children, adult participation in education and training for 

work, parent involvement in education, school choice, and homeschooling.

• The Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/) collects issuespecific data quickly and with minimal response burden from elementary and secondary 

staff, schools, and districts. Data collected through FRSS surveys are representative at the 

national level, drawing from a universe that is appropriate for each study. To ensure minimal 

burden on respondents, the surveys are generally limited to three pages of questions and 

sample sizes are relatively small.
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Cross-cutting Activities

Cross-cutting Activities would receive approximately $15 million in fiscal year 2021 to support 

the following:

• The Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) provides technical assistance to State and 

local educational agencies, and institutions of higher education related to the privacy, 

security, and confidentiality of student records. The PTAC currently is funded under the 

Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems program, which the Department is proposing for 

elimination in 2021; the $3 million increase for Statistics in fiscal year 2021 would allow 

continued funding for the PTAC.

• Annual Reports and Indicators include three major annual statistical compilations of critical 

education indicators: the “Condition of Education” (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/), the 

“Digest of Education Statistics” (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/), and “Projections of 

Education Statistics” (https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018019). NCES 

also produces short-format statistical briefs on emerging issues in education.

• The Current Population Survey (http://www.census.gov/cps/) is a monthly household survey 

conducted by the Bureau of the Census. Since the late 1960s, NCES has provided funding 

for a supplement that gathers data on enrollment in elementary, secondary, and 

postsecondary education and on educational attainment. NCES funds additional items on 

education-related topics such as language proficiency, disabilities, computer use and 

access, student mobility, and private school tuition.

• Funding for Data Development and Statistical Standards provides methodological and 

statistical support to NCES, as well as to Federal and non-Federal organizations that 

engage in statistical work in support of NCES mission. Activities include developing 

standards that ensure the quality of statistical surveys, analyses, and products; coordinating 

the review of NCES products; coordinating revisions to the NCES Statistical Standards; 

funding the National Forum on Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov/forum/); and 

improving the ED Data Inventory (http://datainventory.ed.gov/).

In order to provide the flexibility IES needs to support program activities, The Administration 

requests that funding continues to be available for 2 years.
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PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

Administrative Data Collections and Support $17,412 $23,351 $23,631 

Longitudinal Studies 36,908 38,100 38,100

International Studies 19,827 20,073 20,073

Cross-Sectional Studies 17,280 16,550 16,550

Cross-Cutting Activities 11,573 12,426 15,146

Total 103,0001 110,5002 113,500 

NOTES: 

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.

1 Reflects a reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2019 funds from Statistics to the Assessment program 

in the IES account that will be “repaid” by reprogramming $6,500 of fiscal year 2020 Assessment funds to Statistics.

2 Does not reflect an anticipated reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2020 funds from Assessment to 

Statistics. The Department anticipates using the reprogrammed funds for Administrative Data Collection and Support 

activities.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the resources 

and efforts invested by those served by the program.

Performance Measures

Goal: To collect, analyze, and disseminate information on the condition of education in 

the United States and to provide comparative international statistics.

Objective: Provide timely and useful data that are relevant to policy and educational 

improvement.

Measure: The extent to which customers would recommend NCES to others and would rely on 

NCES in the future as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

Year Target Actual

2016 74% 72%

2018 74 73

2020 74
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Additional information: NCES collects customer satisfaction information through the ACSI 

(http://www.theacsi.org/), which provides satisfaction scores based on samples of customers. 

The baseline for this measure, 74 percent, was established using 2008 data. 

Measure: The percent of data collections in which the response rate was below 85 percent.

Year

Number of 

Reports

Number of 

Survey 

Components

Number of Survey 

Components with 

Response Rates 

Below 85%

Percent of Survey 

Components with 

Response Rates 

Below 85%

2016 10 22 3 14

2017 20 49 16 33

2018 12 29 6 21

Additional information: One way in which NCES attempts to ensure the quality of its work is 

by maintaining high survey response rates. High response rates help ensure that survey data 

are representative of the target populations. When a survey response rate is lower than 

85 percent, the NCES statistical standards require that NCES conduct bias analyses to help 

determine the effect of the low rate on the survey results. All NCES surveys in 2009 through 

2018 either had an 85 percent response rate or higher or had nonresponse bias analyses 

conducted and weight adjustments made, as needed. Data for 2019 are anticipated to be 

available in 2020.

Efficiency Measures

NCES adopted an efficiency measure in 2016 that tracks survey data release timeliness by 

measuring if the reports for certain periodic data collections are released by a predetermined 

date. The efficiency measure addresses customers’ concerns about data timeliness and helps 

assess whether NCES completes work in a timely manner.

Measure: The percentage of reports for certain periodic data collections meeting their annual or 

biennial release dates.

IPEDS Data Collection

Year Number of Reports Target Actual

2016 3 100% 33%

2017 3 100 100

2018 3 100 100

2019 3 100

2020 100

2021 100
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Common Core of Data (CCD) Data Collection

Year Number of Reports Target Actual

2016 3 100% 0

2017 3 100 100%

2018 3 100 67

2019 3 100

2020 100

2021 100

Private School Survey (PSS) Data Collection

Year Number of Reports Target Actual

2017 1 100% 0

2019 1 100

2021 100

Condition of Education Data Collection

Year Number of Reports Target Actual

2016 1 100% 100%

2017 1 100 100

2018 1 100 100

2019 1 100

2020 100

2021 100

Additional information: NCES’ goal is to release reports for certain periodic data collections to 

the public by a predetermined release date, ensuring that the public can expect NCES reports 

for annual or biennial data collections at an anticipated date during a reporting year. Specifically, 

the data collections that are tracked for this measure are IPEDS (annual), CCD (annual), PSS

(biennial), and the Condition of Education (annual). 
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Regional educational laboratories

(Education Sciences Reform Act, section 174)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

$56,022 0 -$56,022

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009. No reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2021.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) program (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/), which 

is administered by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance within 

the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), supports a network of 10 laboratories that work in 

partnership with State educational agencies (SEAs), school districts, and other entities to use 

data and research to improve academic outcomes for students. Each of the RELs serves a 

specific region of the country, with the fundamental mission of providing support for a more 

evidence-based education system. A map displaying the regions served by each REL is 

displayed on the following page.

RELs are intended to support activities to enhance State and local use of research and 

evidence, including: conducting applied research and evaluations; developing and 

disseminating products and processes based on the best available research findings; and 

providing training, coaching, and technical support to SEAs, local educational agencies (LEAs), 

school boards, and State boards of education. Through these activities, the RELs build local 

and State capacity to use data and evidence, access high-quality research to inform decisions,

identify opportunities to conduct original research, and track progress over time using highquality data and methods.

The RELs are part of a larger technical assistance and dissemination network that includes but 

is not limited to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), Equity Assistance Centers, and 

Technical Assistance Centers supported under Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act. This network is organized by the Department to provide accessible, 

comprehensive, and relevant support to SEAs, LEAs, and schools as these entities work to 

provide a high-quality education for all students.
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Allocation of resources among the RELs is based on several variables, including the number of 

LEAs, the number of school-age children, and the cost of providing services within the 

geographic area encompassed by the region. RELs are funded through 5-year contracts with 

research organizations and institutions of higher education.

The current REL contracts were awarded in fiscal year 2017 and include an explicit focus on 

supporting sustained, ongoing partnerships with stakeholders at the State and district levels. 

Under the direction of their regional governing boards, RELs identify priority topic areas on which 

to focus their activities. Although the research partners in the regions are the primary

stakeholders of each REL, the Department also requires that RELs develop materials for 

national distribution through the IES website. In addition to reports and studies, these materials

include tools (e.g., rubrics or data organizers) and technical assistance documents (e.g., 

PowerPoint presentations, workshop activities, and facilitators’ guides) that can be used by 

others who are not directly involved in the RELs’ work.
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Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016................................................................................$54,423

2017..................................................................................54,423

2018..................................................................................55,423

2019..................................................................................55,423

2020..................................................................................56,022

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests no funding for the Regional Educational 

Laboratories, $56.0 million less than the fiscal year 2020 appropriation. The RELs support 

dissemination and technical assistance activities that are duplicative of other investments that 

may be used to obtain the training, technical assistance, and professional development that 

SEAs and LEAs need to provide a high-quality education to their students. Under the 

Department’s overall request for fiscal year 2021, States and school districts seeking assistance 

in these areas could support similar activities that more directly meet their needs using funds 

provided through the proposed Elementary and Secondary Education for the Disadvantaged 

Block Grant. This State-directed approach is more consistent with the spirit of empowering State 

and local educators emphasized in the latest reauthorization of the ESEA (the Every Student 

Succeeds Act, or ESSA) than seeking regionally determined services from a provider assigned 

by the Department.

Moreover, past surveys and evaluations suggest that the technical assistance currently provided 

through the RELs may be underutilized or not relevant to State and district needs. In the most 

recent REL independent evaluation (released April 2015), only 29 percent of State 

administrators and 26 percent of district administrators reported that their research and 

technical assistance needs were met “very well” (as opposed to “moderately well” or “not well”). 

The evaluation also indicated that less than half of State administrators and only 18 percent of 

district administrators relied on the REL program “to a great extent” or “to a moderate extent” for 

education research and/or technical assistance, as opposed to a “small extent” or not at all. In 

contrast, 87 percent of State administrators relied on professional associations, and 82 percent 

of district administrators relied on their counterparts in other districts “to a great extent” or “to a 

moderate extent.”

Data from an April 2016 report from the IES-funded National Center for Research in Policy and 

Practice (NCRPP) align with these findings. In a nationally representative survey of principals

and district leaders in the Nation’s mid-sized and large school districts, NCRPP found that 

leaders were more likely to access research through their professional associations, staff in 

other school districts, SEAs, and social media than through the RELs. Specifically, 60 percent of 

leaders reported that they “never” or “rarely” accessed research through the RELs (compared to 

12 percent who reported that they “often” or “all the time” accessed research through the RELs). 

Findings from the report suggest that State and local leaders prefer to choose their own 

technical assistance providers, something the Administration’s 2021 request would empower.
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PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

Regional educational laboratory contracts $50,470 $54,268 0

Other, including evaluation and peer review of 

REL plans and products 4,953 1,754 0

Total 55,423 56,022 0

NOTE:

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the resources 

and efforts invested by those served by the program. No targets are included for 2021 because 

the Administration is not requesting funding for the program.

IES established new measures the 2017 REL cohort.

Goal: Increase effective use of data and research, and capacity for use, among State and 

local education agencies.

Objective: Increase the use of research to inform policy and practice.

Measure: Annual rating of the degree to which participants report that REL training and 

research-based dissemination was relevant and increased their capacity to use research.

Year Target Actual

2017 Baseline 3.4

2018 3.5 3.5

2019 3.6

2020 3.6

2021 3.7

Additional information: The 2017-2022 RELs are required to survey participants in each REL 

training and research-based dissemination activity and report the data to IES. This measure 

averages participant responses to five survey items to create a single score for quality and 

relevance of dissemination activities. The baseline for this measure was set during the first year 
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of the 2017-2022 REL contract cycle and was a rating of 3.4, using a 4-point scale where 

1 equates to “Strongly Disagree” and 4 equates to “Strongly Agree.”

Measure: Annual rating of the degree to which participants report that they or their agencies 

use data and research as a result of participating in a REL research partnership.

Year Target Actual

2018 Baseline 3.3

2019 3.4

2020 3.6

2021 3.7

Additional information: This measure averages participant responses to four survey items to 

create a single score. Participants across 92 partnerships answered each question by providing 

a rating on a 4-point scale where 1 equates to “Strongly Disagree” and 4 equates to “Strongly 

Agree.” The 2018 rating was 3.3 across all of the RELs. The RELs did not report on this 

measure for the first year of the 2017-2022 cycle because most of the partnerships were too 

new to have achieved these outcomes.
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Assessment

(National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

National Assessment of Educational Progress $153,000 $181,000 +$28,000

National Assessment Governing Board 7,745 7,745 0

Total 160,745 188,745 +28,000

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009; reauthorizing legislation is sought for FY 2021.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “The Nation’s Report 

Card,” is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our Nation’s 

students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP is designed to measure and provide 

objective information on the status of and trends in student learning over time in a wide range of 

subject areas.

Assessment frequency is specified in the authorizing statute. The Commissioner for Education 

Statistics must conduct:

• National reading and mathematics assessments in public and private schools at 

grades 4 and 8 at least once every 2 years;

• National grade 12 reading and mathematics assessments in public and private schools on a 

regular schedule; and

• Biennial State assessments of student achievement in reading and mathematics in 

grades 4 and 8.

If time and resources allow, the Commissioner may conduct: additional national and State 

assessments in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades in public and private schools at regularly scheduled 

intervals in additional subjects, including writing, science, U.S. history, geography, civics, 

economics, foreign languages, and arts; 12th grade State reading and mathematics 

assessments; and long-term trend assessments of academic achievement at ages 9, 13, and 

17 in reading and mathematics. Whenever feasible, information must be collected and reported 

by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, and limited English proficiency. The 

NAEP schedule is publicly available at https://www.nagb.org/about-naep/assessmentschedule.html.
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The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is responsible for formulating policy for 

NAEP. NAGB is composed of 25 voting members including Governors, State legislators, chief 

State school officers, a superintendent, State and local board of education members, testing 

and measurement experts, a representative of business or industry, curriculum specialists, 

principals, classroom teachers, and parents. The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences 

(IES) serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member of the Board. Using a national consensus 

approach, NAGB develops appropriate assessment objectives and achievement levels for each 

grade in each subject area to be assessed.

The Assessment budget supports the following major program components:

• National NAEP: The main NAEP assessments report results for the nation and are designed 

to follow the curriculum frameworks developed by NAGB. They periodically measure student 

achievement in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and 

other subjects.

• State NAEP: State assessments address the needs of State-level policymakers for reliable 

data concerning student achievement in their States in reading, mathematics, science, and 

writing.

• The Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA): Begun in 2002, the TUDA provides information 

on 4th and 8th grade student achievement in reading and mathematics in a small number of 

urban school districts. Although participation is voluntary, demand from districts to be 

included in TUDA has significantly increased in recent years, with 27 districts participating in 

2017.

• Long-term trend NAEP: In its long-term trend program, NAEP administers identical 

instruments from one assessment year to the next, measuring student achievement in 

reading and mathematics. These assessments do not evolve based on changes in curricular 

or educational practices.

• Evaluation and validation studies: Congress mandates that the Secretary provide for 

continuing review of the national and State assessments and student performance levels by 

one or more nationally recognized evaluation organizations. NAEP funds also support 

studies to examine critical validity issues involving NAEP design, interpretation, and 

operations.

In order to inform the American public about the performance of the Nation's students, NAEP 

produces a series of public audience and technical reports. All NAEP reports are available 

online (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/). In addition, a data tool 

(http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/) allows users to create their own data tables 

with national and State data.

The Federal Government is specifically prohibited from using NAEP to influence standards, 

assessments, curriculum, or instructional practices at the State and local levels, or from using 

NAEP to evaluate individual students or teachers or provide rewards or sanctions for individual 

students, teachers, schools, or school districts. In addition, the use of NAEP data for student 
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promotion or graduation purposes is prohibited, and NAEP should not affect home schools. 

Maintenance of a system of records containing personally identifiable information on students is 

also barred, and assessments must not evaluate or assess personal or family beliefs and 

attitudes.

Test integrity is further ensured by the Commissioner for Education Statistics’ ability to decline 

to release cognitive test items that will be used in future assessments for 10 years (and longer if 

important to protect long-term trend data) while continuing to provide for public access to 

assessment materials in secure settings. The NAEP statute requires that the public be notified 

about such access; requires that access be provided within 45 days in a mutually convenient 

setting; establishes procedures for receiving, reviewing, and reporting complaints; and provides 

criminal penalties for unauthorized release of assessment instruments.

Finally, the NAEP law mandates that participation be voluntary for students and schools, as well 

as for local educational agencies. Each participating State must give permission for the release 

of the results of its State assessment. However, under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act (ESEA), each State participating in the Title I program had to develop a State 

plan (ESEA, Title I, Part A, Section 1111) in which it agreed to participate in the biennial 

grades 4 and 8 reading and mathematics NAEP assessments beginning in the 

2002-2003 school year, provided that the Secretary of Education pays for the costs of 

participation. Any State with an approved plan under section 1111 is deemed to have authorized 

the release of its grades 4 and 8 reading and mathematics NAEP data.

Funding levels for both NAEP and NAGB for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016............................................................................$157,235

2017..............................................................................156,745

2018..............................................................................156,745

2019............................................................................. 165,2451

2020............................................................................. 160,7452

1 Reflects a reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2019 funds from Statistics to the 

Assessment program in the IES account that will be “repaid” by reprogramming $6,500 thousand of fiscal 

year 2020 Assessment funds to Statistics.

2 Does not reflect an anticipated reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2020 funds from 

Assessment to Statistics.

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests $188.7 million for Assessment, $28 million 

more than fiscal year 2020 appropriation. The request includes $181.0 million for the National 

Assessment of Educational Progress and $7.7 million for the National Assessment Governing 

Board. NAEP is the largest continuing and nationally representative source of data on what the 

Nation’s students know and can do in various subject areas and plays a critical role in helping to 

benchmark national education progress because it is the only assessment of student 
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achievement that provides comparable data across States and school districts. At the request 

level, the Department would be able to carry out the assessments on the schedule approved by 

NAGB on July 19, 2019 (see below).

National Assessment of Educational Progress

The Administration’s reauthorization proposal would make essential changes to the NAEP 

program in order to continue to provide the broadest range of useful student achievement data 

in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The legislation would move all assessment activities 

currently administered by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), including the 

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the International Assessments 

supported by the Institute (such as the Program for International Student Assessment, the 

Progress in International Reading Literacy, and the Trends in International Mathematics and 

Science Study, to a new National Center for Education Assessment within IES that would be led

by a Commissioner for Education Assessment. The new center would support more effective 

administration of IES assessment programs while allowing NCES to focus on its core statistical 

mission and activities. The center would be staffed with experts in the design and administration 

of assessments, allowing a synergy that is difficult to maintain with the current structure.

The recent effort to renew the NAEP Alliance Contracts that support NAEP administration has 

shown that NAEP costs are rising, in considerable part because of the cost of developing and 

implementing digital-based assessments. Initial bids for activities on the original NAEP schedule 

were far higher than expected, necessitating significant modifications to the assessment 

schedule, including the following:

• For 2020, adding the long-term trend assessment. 

• For 2021, adding grade 8 civics and U.S. history assessments, which were previously

scheduled for 2022, and dropping the writing assessments. The writing assessments will

next be conducted in 2029.

• For 2022, dropping all assessments. The dropped assessments are grades 4 and 

8 U.S. history, civics, geography, and technology and engineering literacy (TEL), and grade 

12 economics. The TEL will be conducted at grade 8 in 2023. The grade 8 U.S. history and 

civics assessments were moved to 2021.

• For 2023, dropping the State and Urban District science assessments, and conducting the 

national science assessment at grade 8 only, not at grades 4, 8, and 12. The grade 8 TEL 

was moved to 2023 from 2022.

• For 2024, dropping the grade 8 arts assessment and the grade 12 foreign language 

assessment and conducting only the long-term trend assessment. Arts and foreign language 

are not on the schedule, which goes until 2029.
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Year Subject

National

Grades 

Assessed

State

Grades 

Assessed

Urban District

Grades 

Assessed

2019 Reading 4, 8, 12 4, 8 4, 8

2019 Mathematics 4, 8, 12 4, 8 4, 8

2019 Science 4, 8, 12

2019 High School Transcript Study

2020 Long-Term Trend1

2021 Reading 4, 8 4, 8 4, 8

2021 Mathematics 4, 8 4, 8 4, 8

Civics 8

2021 U.S. History 8 8

2023 Reading 4, 8, 12 4, 8 4, 8

2023 Mathematics 4, 8, 12 4, 8 4, 8

2023 Science 8

2023 Technology and Engineering Literacy 8

2023 High School Transcript Study

2024 Long-Term Trend1 8

1 The long-term trend assessment is conducted at ages 9, 13, and 17.

Rising assessment costs mean that, over time and absent further funding increases, 

maintaining the requirement to conduct reading and mathematics assessments in grades 

4 and 8 every 2 years effectively would supplant assessment in all other subjects. One costsaving option under consideration that could give NAGB more flexibility to conduct assessments 

in other subjects — while limiting required funding increases — is assessing reading and 

mathematics performance in grades 4 and 8 every 4 years instead of every 2 years. IES plans 

to further explore this option, among others, by consulting extensively with stakeholders to 

determine the relative value of various NAEP assessments in meeting the needs of educators 

and State and local policymakers.

Since 2017, all assessments except the 2020 Long-Term Trend assessment have been

administered to students through digital-based assessments (DBAs), which allows inclusion of 

more interactive question types, such as simulations and graphing, allowing for the 

measurement of skills not as easily assessed by paper-and-pencil assessments. Funding for 

DBAs support technology costs, as well as bridge studies to compare results using paper-andpencil assessments to results using DBAs.

The costs for any given assessment are spread out over 4 years and vary depending on a 

variety of factors, such as scope, subject, grade levels, and whether the assessment is 

conducted alone or in combination with another assessment. Based on current plans, the fiscal 

year 2021 request for NAEP would be used primarily for the following activities:

• analysis and reporting of the 2020 high school transcript study;

• conducting the 2021 national, State, and urban district assessments; 
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• preparation for the 2023 national, State, and urban district assessments; and

• continuing the transition to DBAs.

National Assessment Governing Board

The $7.7 million request for NAGB, an independent, bipartisan organization that formulates 

policy guidelines for NAEP, would be used for the salaries, expenses, and operations of NAGB 

staff, which supports the development of achievement levels and frameworks required for the 

administration and scoring of assessments, outreach for initial public release efforts, and the 

dissemination of assessment results.

NAEP State-level assessments are held every other year, meaning that costs are considerably 

higher in some years and lower in others. Consequently, the Administration requests that NAEP 

funds continue to remain available for 2 years in order to provide flexibility to meet these varying 

year-to-year cost requirements.

PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

NAEP $157,500 $153,000 $181,000

NAGB $7,745 $7,745 $7,745

Total 165,2451 160,7452 188,745

Number of full-time equivalent permanent 

personnel associated with NAGB 13 15 15

NOTE: 

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.

1 Reflects a reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2019 funds from Statistics to the Assessment program 

in the IES account; in fiscal year 2020 the Department plans to restore these funds by reprogramming $6,500 of fiscal 

year 2020 Assessment funds to Statistics.

2 Does not reflects an anticipated reprogramming of $6,500 thousand in fiscal year 2020 funds from Assessment to 

Statistics. 
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PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the resources 

and efforts invested by those served by the program. 

Performance Measures

Measure: The number of website page views: NAEP page views, excluding views of the NAEP 

Data Explorer (NDE).

Year Target Actual

2016 1,028,662

2017 1,057,546

2018 1,050,000 775,988

2019 1,050,000

2020 750,000

2021

Additional information: The NAEP page view measure provides an indication of the number of 

sessions during which a page in the entire NAEP website (nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/) was 

viewed at least once, excluding visits to NDE. It includes information from Report Cards, special 

reports, and data dashboards. The revised 2020 target reflects decreased views following the 

move of the NDE and other results-oriented tools to the nationsreportcard.gov web site.

Measure: The number of website page views: Nation’s Report Card page views (all Nation’s 

Report Card web site data)

Year Target Actual

2016 470,859

2017 440,904

2018 470,000 653,545

2019 550,000

2020 600,000

2021

Additional information: The Nation’s Report Card measure provides an indication of the 

number of sessions during which a page in the entire Nation’s Report Card site was viewed at 

least once, which includes information from all the of the Report Cards, special reports, and 

data dashboards. The Nation’s Report Card Website saw an increase in traffic in 2018 due to 

the 2017 reading and mathematics release and also because it became the location for the 

State Profiles, District Profiles, and the NAEP Data Explorer (as opposed to the NCES website).
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Measure: The number of website page views: NDE page views 

(nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/)

Year Target Actual

2018 87,009

2019 82,750

2020 83,000

2021

Additional information: The NDE measure provides an indication of the number of sessions 

during which a page in the Data Explorer was viewed at least once. Targets have been reset to 

reflect the implementation of a new version of the Data Explorer in February 2018.

Efficiency Measures

NCES measures efficiency by reporting on the time to release of NAEP reports. These 

measures examine the actual time from the end of data collection to release to NAGB and are 

an indication of how efficiently the Department analyzes and reports NAEP results.

Because any year with new frameworks requires additional work to analyze the results (e.g., 

conducting trend studies and having achievement levels set by NAGB) and produce the final 

reports, NCES believes it is appropriate to exempt assessments with new frameworks from the 

efficiency measure calculations. This provides more comparable measurements from year-toyear, since different percentages of assessments may have new frameworks each year.

Measure: The percentage of NAEP reports on state-level 4th grade and 8th grade (and 12th 

grade if implemented) reading and mathematics assessments ready for release by the National 

Assessment Governing Board within 6 months of the end of data collection.

Year Target Actual

2015 100% 100%

2017 NA NA

2019 100

2021 100

Additional information: In 2017, due to the transition from a paper-based assessment to a 

digitally-based assessment, the state results were released more than 12 months after the end 

of data collection. The assessments are conducted every other year, so data are reported for 

odd numbered years only.

Other Performance Information

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine completed an evaluation of 

the NAEP achievement levels (Basic, Proficient, and Advanced) in 2016 

(https://www.nap.edu/read/23409/chapter/1#ix), concluding that the achievement levels are a 

meaningful and important part of NAEP reporting. The evaluation report provided 
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recommendations to ensure that the achievement levels represent the knowledge and skills of 

students at each level. Recommendations included:

• Evaluate the alignment of achievement levels for grade 4 and grade 8 mathematics 

assessments and revise them as needed.

• Regularly review the achievement-level descriptors to ensure they reflect both the 

frameworks and the incorporation of those frameworks in NAEP assessments.

• Research the relationships between the NAEP achievement levels and concurrent or future 

performance on measures external to NAEP, such as being on track for a college-ready 

high school diploma for 8th grade students and readiness for middle school for 4th grade 

students.

NAGB has awarded a contract to address some of these recommendations, particularly the 

alignment of achievement level descriptors with the scale. Also, in response to the 

recommendations, NCES has raised the prominence of the cautionary language in the NAEP 

Report Cards regarding the developmental status of the achievement levels.
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Research in special education

(Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Part E)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

$56,500 $56,500 0

1

 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2011; reauthorizing legislation is sought for FY 2021.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Research in Special Education (RiSE) program, which is administered by the Institute of 

Education Science’s (IES) National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), supports

rigorous research that aims to improve a range of education outcomes for students with or at

risk for disabilities, including: developmental outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities; 

school readiness; achievement in core academic content areas (reading, writing, mathematics, 

science); behaviors that support learning in academic contexts for students with disabilities or at 

risk for disabilities; and functional skills that improve education outcomes and transitions to 

employment, independent living, and postsecondary education. Investments in NCSER grants

have led to advances in knowledge and practice that have improved education outcomes for 

students with disabilities. Examples of projects supported with RiSE funding include:

• BEST in CLASS, an intervention that combines evidence-based behavioral strategies with a 

coaching model designed to optimize implementation by preschool teachers. For children, 

BEST in CLASS resulted in fewer problem behaviors, better social skills, and improved 

classroom engagement. Researchers are extending this line of work by developing a webbased version of the intervention, with the goal of increasing the accessibility, flexibility, 

usability, and scalability of the intervention for early childhood teachers working with young 

children at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders.

• An evaluation of a kindergarten mathematics curriculum, ROOTS, which is designed to 

promote number sense and whole number concepts. Findings showed that students who 

received the ROOTS intervention demonstrated significant improvements in math outcomes 

compared to students who received typical services. ROOTS worked equally well with

students with a wide range of mathematics skill and English proficiency levels.

• An examination of school accountability models, which examined eight different models and 

found that school performance can look very different depending on the accountability 

model used. For example, models that do not consider multiple years of student 

performance can penalize schools with higher percentages of students who are 

economically disadvantaged, are ethnic minorities, or have disabilities.
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Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were as follows:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016....................................................................................... $54,000 

2017......................................................................................... 54,000 

2018......................................................................................... 56,000

2019......................................................................................... 56,000

2020......................................................................................... 56,500

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests $56.5 million for Research in Special 

Education, level with the fiscal year 2020 appropriation. RiSE funding supports a 

comprehensive program of special education research designed to expand the knowledge and 

understanding of the developmental and educational needs of infants, toddlers, and children 

with disabilities. Continued investment in NCSER’s long-term programs of research is essential 

to build the research base for evidence-based practices and policies that will result in improved 

developmental outcomes and school readiness, academic achievement, and transition from 

high school to postsecondary education, employment, and independent living for students with 

disabilities.

At the fiscal year 2021 request level, IES would support approximately $3.9 million in new grant 

awards and $51.2 million in grant continuation costs. An additional $1.4 million would support 

peer review, logistical support, and other activities. The Department budgets for peer review 

costs each year; any funds not used for peer review are used for grant awards.

NCSER research activities include the following programs:

• Special Education Research Grants: This program, which accounts for the largest share of 

NCSER grants, makes competitive research grants on topics that are relevant to the needs 

of students with disabilities, their families, educators, and policymakers, spanning from the 

early intervention needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities to transition outcomes for 

students with disabilities leaving secondary education. Grants may last up to 5 years, with 

annual awards of approximately $100,000 to $750,000 per year. Additional information is 

available at https://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncser_progs.asp.

• Research Training Programs in Special Education Competition: These programs prepare 

individuals to conduct rigorous and relevant special education and early intervention 

research that advances knowledge within the field and addresses issues that are critical to 

education policymakers and practitioners. For example, the Postdoctoral Training and Early 

Career competition seeks to build the next generation of researchers. Awards can last up to 

5 years and are funded at about $50,000 to $125,000 per year.

• Low-Cost, Short Duration Evaluation of Special Education Interventions: This program 

supports rigorous evaluations of education interventions that State educational agencies 

(SEAs) or local educational agencies (LEAs) believe will produce meaningful improvements 

in student outcomes within a short period of time; for example, within a single semester or 
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academic year. The evaluations are low cost—up to $250,000 over 2 years—and focus on 

outcomes that can be easily measured using administrative records. Grants are carried out 

by partnerships between research institutions and SEAs or LEAs.

• Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Policy and Practice in Special 

Education: Research Network awards focus on high-priority issues in special education and 

assist researchers who are working on these issues in sharing ideas, building new 

knowledge, and strengthening their research and dissemination capacity. Awards range 

from $300,000 to $1,000,000 per year for up to 5 years.

• Special Education Research and Development (R&D) Centers: Unlike special education 

research grants that support a single research study, R&D centers 

(http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/RandD/) support a focused program of research that may include 

several researchers working on separate studies that are designed to improve our 

understanding of a particular topic.

In order to provide the flexibility IES needs to plan and administer a regular cycle of research 

competitions, the Administration requests that funding continue to be available for 2 years.

PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

NCSER Research Grants1

Special Education R esearch Gr ants: Grant awards (new) $22,591 $23,515 $3,876

Special Education R esearch Gr ants: Grant awards (continuations) 32,303 31,596 51,227

Special Education R esearch Gr ants: Subtotal 54,894 55,111 55,103

Logistical support and Other 166 441 441

Peer review of new award applications 940 948 956

Total 56,000 56,500 56,500

NOTES:

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.

1 The Department made 42 new grant awards in 2019, ranging in size from $95,410 to $1,012,736 for the first year of 

the awards. Applicants for 2020 grant awards could request funding of $100,000 to $2 million, depending on the 

competition; the estimated amount for the first year of the award is $100,000 to $800,000. The number of 2020 and 

2021 new awards will depend on the number of high-quality proposals received in the 2020 and 2021 competitions.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 
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progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the resources 

and efforts invested by those served by the program. The Department established new 

measures for NCSER in fiscal year 2014.

Performance Measures

Goal: Transform education into an evidence-based field.

Objective: Raise the quality of research funded or conducted by the Department.

Measure: The percentage of projects that result in peer-reviewed publications.

Year Target Actual

2016 83% 86%

2017 88 91

2018 90 90

2019 91 87

2020 91

2021 91

Additional information: Peer-reviewed publications are an expected product of all research 

projects. NCSER has been funding research projects since 2006. Given the lag from time of 

award to completion of a study and the publication of results, the denominator for each reporting 

year is the cumulative number of grants that have been funded through the end of the fiscal 

year 3 years prior to the reporting year. The percentage for fiscal year 2019 reflects all projects 

funded from fiscal year 2006 to fiscal year 2016 (the total of which is 334).

Measure: The number of NCSER-supported interventions with evidence of efficacy in improving 

education outcomes for students with or at risk for disabilities.

Year Target Actual

2016 43 43

2017 47 48

2018 51 54

2019 53 56

2020 55

2021 60

Additional information: Since 2006, NCSER has supported efficacy evaluations of fully 

developed interventions to determine whether they produce a beneficial impact on student 

education outcomes. This measure reflects the cumulative number of interventions NCSER has 

funded that have demonstrated efficacy in improving student outcomes. 
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Measure: The number of newly developed or modified interventions with evidence of promise 

for improving education outcomes for students with or at risk for disabilities.

Year Target Actual

2016 43 45

2017 51 51

2018 60 60

2019 64 64

2020 66

2021 68

Additional information: NCSER also examines whether new interventions have promise to 

produce beneficial impacts on student education outcomes. This measure reflects the 

cumulative number of interventions NCSER has funded through Development and Innovation

projects that show promise for improving student outcomes, which is defined as showing a 

statistically significant or substantively important positive association (0.25 standard deviation or 

larger) for at least one student outcome.

The reported data are the cumulative numbers of newly developed or modified interventions 

since 2006 with evidence of promise meeting Education Department General Education 

Regulations standards as determined by NCSER based on grantee final performance reports 

and peer-reviewed publications, if available. 

Efficiency Measures

Measure: The average number of research grants administered per each program officer 

employed in the National Center for Special Education Research.

Year Target Actual

2016 37 37

2017 33 35

2018 30 47

2019 37 56

2020 40

2021 40

Additional information: The principal efficiency measure for IES is the ratio of research staff to 

research grants. These data are collected from the official grant files for NCSER. Given the level 

of technical assistance that is required, IES has determined that 40 is the maximum number of 

grants each program officer should monitor to maintain a high level of quality.
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Statewide longitudinal data systems

(Educational Technical Assistance Act, Section 208)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

$33,000 0 -$33,000

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2009. No reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2021.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Section 208 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act authorizes the Secretary to make 

competitive grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) to enable them to design, develop, and 

implement Statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) to efficiently and accurately manage, 

analyze, disaggregate, and use individual student data, consistent with the Elementary and 

Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The goals of the program are to improve data quality, 

promote data linkages, encourage the accurate and timely generation of data for reporting and 

improving student achievement, and facilitate research to improve student achievement and 

close achievement gaps.

The grants are expected to help SEAs develop, expand, or improve data systems, and may 

support necessary training, technical assistance, and other activities to promote the effective 

use of data. Funds must supplement, not supplant, other State or local funds used for 

developing State data systems and may not be used to support ongoing implementation and 

maintenance of such systems. Administered by the National Center for Education Statistics 

(NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), SLDS grants are awarded 

competitively, based on the technical quality of the proposals.

The first round of grants was awarded in November 2005 and the sixth round in 2015; additional 

new awards will be made in 2020. The focus of the competitions has changed over time: early 

competitions focused on the infrastructure required for SEAs to develop their SLDS and to link 

K-12 data to early childhood, postsecondary, and workforce data, while the more recent 

competitions focused on States using their SLDS data to address high-priority policy issues.

Applicants for 2020 awards could apply for funds to carry out projects in one of three data use 

priorities: (1) Infrastructure, (2) Education Choice, and (3) Equity.
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Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016................................................................................$34,539

2017..................................................................................32,281

2018..................................................................................32,281

2019..................................................................................32,281

2020..................................................................................33,000

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests no funding Statewide Longitudinal Data 

Systems, $33.0 million less than the fiscal year 2020 appropriation. The program, which was 

intended to supplement other State or local funds, has fulfilled its original purpose and is no 

longer necessary, and States would be able to support similar activities through the Elementary 

and Secondary Education for the Disadvantaged Block Grant. This approach is more consistent 

with the spirit of State and local control emphasized in the latest reauthorization of the ESEA 

(the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA) than requiring States to meet Federally determined 

priorities for longitudinal data systems as part of a grant competition.

To date, 47 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American 

Samoa have received awards to develop and implement longitudinal data systems. The only 

three States that have not received an SLDS award over five competition cycles are Alabama, 

New Mexico, and Wyoming. The 16 most recent SLDS grants, which were awarded in 2015 and 

focused on improving the capacity of States to use their data to inform decision-making, 

received their last year of funding from the fiscal year 2018 appropriation. The Department 

published a notice inviting applications for new grants in the Federal Register on June 19, 2019, 

and will make awards in fiscal year 2020 using funds from both the 2019 and 2020 

appropriations. Under our proposal for fiscal year 2021, these awards would be terminated after 

1 year. Under our reauthorization proposal for IES, authority for the program would be repealed.
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PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

Statewide longitudinal data systems grant awards

New Statewi de longitudinal data systems grant awar ds Statewide l ongitudi nal data system aw ar ds $26,123 0 0

Continuations of Statewide l ongitudi nal data systems grant aw ards 0 $26,842 0

Subtotal for Statewi de longitudinal data systems grant awar ds 26,123 26,842 0

Awards to improve data coordination, quality, and use 6,000 6,000 0

Peer review of new award applications 158 158 0

Total for Statewide l ongitudi nal data systems 32,281 33,000 0

NOTES:

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Performance Measures

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the Federal resources provided for this program as well as the resources 

and efforts invested by those served by the program. No targets are provided for 2020 because 

the Administration is not requesting funding for the program.

The Department established three performance measures that assess progress of all States, 

not just the States with grants in the measurement years. The Department believes that 

assessing the progress of all States is appropriate because the goal of the program is to ensure 

that critical information needed to improve student outcomes is available across the Nation.

The way the data are collected changed in 2018. Prior to that date, the figures were based on 

data for active grantees combined with the most recent data NCES had available for nongrantee States. The SLDS program began administering a system capacity survey in 2017; 

starting with 2018, the data are from that system. The survey was developed and administered 

to collect more reliable capacity data for grantees and non-grantees alike by using a more 

systematic collection.
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Measure: Number of States linking K-12 with early childhood data.

Year Target Actual

2016 29 35

2017 31 35

2018 33 32

2019 37

2020 38

2021 34

Additional information: States are determined to have met this measure if they have the ability 

to track all public pre-K students into public kindergarten using the State longitudinal data 

system and include at least one additional source of early childhood data (e.g., Head Start or 

private pre-K) in the State data system. In 2012, 8 States had data systems that met the criteria; 

by 2017, 35 had met the criteria. In 2018, after the new methodology was implemented, the 

number dropped to 32.

Measure: Number of States linking K-12 with postsecondary data.

Year Target Actual

2016 36 44

2017 37 45

2018 45 33

2019 46

2020 46

2021 38

Additional information: States are determined to have met this measure if they have the ability 

to link State K-12 student data to State data from public 2- and 4-year institutions of higher 

education. By 2017, NCES was reporting that 45 States had met the criteria, but in 2018, using 

the revised methodology, NCES determined that only 33 States had done so.

Measure: Number of States linking K-12 and postsecondary data with workforce data.

Year Target Actual

2016 25 28

2017 27 28

2018 29 18

2019 31

2020 31

2021 20

Additional information: States are determined to have met this measure if they have the ability 

to track all public 2- and 4-year postsecondary students to, at a minimum, State employment 

records (e.g., State unemployment insurance systems.) In 2012, the baseline year, 5 States 

were able to link their K-12 and postsecondary data with workforce data; in 2018, using the new 

methodology, the number was 18.
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Special education studies and evaluations

(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 664)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: 01

Budget Authority:

2020

Appropriation

2021

Request

Change from

2020 to 2021

$10,818 $10,818 0

1

 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2011; reauthorizing legislation is sought for FY 2021.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Special Education Studies and Evaluations program awards competitive grants, contracts, 

and cooperative agreements to assess the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act (IDEA) and the effectiveness of State and local efforts to provide special 

education and early intervention programs and services to infants, toddlers, and children with 

disabilities.

The statute authorizes the Department to support studies, evaluations, and assessments that:

• analyze the results achieved by State and local educational agencies to improve services for 

children with disabilities;

• analyze State and local needs for professional development, parent training, and other 

activities that can reduce the need for disciplinary actions involving children with disabilities;

• measure educational and transitional services and outcomes for children with disabilities, 

including those from minority backgrounds; and

• identify and report on the placement of children with disabilities by disability category.

In addition, the Department is required to submit an annual report to Congress summarizing the 

studies and evaluations conducted under this authority; the research conducted under part E of 

the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (which authorizes research on special education); 

and the data on children with disabilities required by section 618 of the IDEA.

The IDEA requires the Secretary to delegate responsibility for most studies and evaluations in 

special education to the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and IES supports 

a range of evaluations that are designed to provide information about which programs and 

practices are effective for improving outcomes for children and youth with disabilities and 

thereby provide concrete guidance to educators and parents. Within IES, the National Center for 

Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) has primary responsibility for managing 

the studies and evaluations under Section 664 of IDEA, although the National Center for 
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Education Statistics has primary responsibility for carrying out longitudinal studies with special 

education components, such as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. NCEE consults with 

staff from the other IES research centers, including the National Center for Special Education 

Research, the Office of Special Education Programs, and other policymakers in the Department 

to identify needs for new studies and the research questions that those studies would address. 

In some cases, NCEE has funded separate design contracts to identify options for new studies 

in particular areas.

Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2016................................................................................$10,818

2017..................................................................................10,818

2018..................................................................................10,818

2019..................................................................................10,818

2020..................................................................................10,818

FY 2021 BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2021, the Administration requests $10.8 million for Special Education Studies 

and Evaluations, level with the fiscal year 2020 appropriation.

At the Administration’s request level, the following five activities would receive fiscal year

2021 funding:

• Impact Evaluation of Training in Transition Supports for Students with Disabilities: Funds will 

be used for an impact study that will focus on the effectiveness of a promising strategy to 

support the transition of students with disabilities beyond high school, which is a national 

priority emphasized by the IDEA.

• Study of State and Local Implementation of IDEA 2019: In 2017, the Department awarded a

contract to update a 2009 study on state and district implementation of IDEA through data 

collected in 2019 from State educational agencies and a nationally representative sample of 

local educational agencies. The study also will describe policies and supports provided at 

the school level. The first report from the study is expected in 2021.

• National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS 2012): NLTS 2012, which is part of the 

congressionally mandated National Assessment of the IDEA, is the third longitudinal study 

in a series examining the characteristics, experiences, and post-high school outcomes of a 

nationally representative sample of youth with disabilities. NLTS 2012 focuses on students 

ages 13 to 21 (in December 2011) but also includes a small sample of students without 

disabilities to enable, for the first time, direct comparisons of students with and without 

individualized education programs (IEPs). The study is scheduled to end in 

September 2022. Initial findings are that high school youth with an IEP are more 

socioeconomically disadvantaged and less likely to have experiences and expectations 

associated with success after high school, and that youth with intellectual disability, autism, 

deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, and orthopedic impairments were found to be most at 

risk for not transitioning successfully beyond high school.
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• What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Reports: The WWC reviews existing research on 

different programs, products, practices, and policies in education to provide educators with 

the information they need to make evidence-based decisions. Data on website use shows 

that there is a demand for WWC products focused on students with disabilities. For 

example, the most popular WWC practice guide in terms of page views between October 

2016 and June 2018 was the guide “Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: 

Response to Intervention for Elementary and Middle Schools.”

• IDEA Design Contract: This contract will develop options for policy relevant studies that 

could improve services for students with disabilities. Priority areas for study include 

strategies for tailoring instruction and providing better supports for students with disabilities, 

including students with autism and emotional disturbance; better use of technology; and 

effective practices for providing information to parents and students on available schools 

and services.

In addition to the studies above, IES is supporting two additional ongoing evaluations that are 

slated to receive fiscal year 2019 or 2020 funds:

• Evaluation of Preschool Special Education Practices: IDEA provides funding to States to 

support special education and related services for children and youth with disabilities, 

including young children ages 3 to 5 years old. Limited information is available on these

special education services and the supports that young children are receiving, including the 

preschool practices and interventions being used in programs across States. Findings from 

the Phase I descriptive study will be released in 2020. Data come from surveys of the 

programs, curricula, and interventions available to children ages 3 through 5 who are 

identified for special education services. An impact report from Phase II of the study is 

expected to be published in 2022.

• Multi-tiered Systems of Support for Reading (MTSS-R) in Early Elementary School: This 

6-year study, which began in 2018, is examining the impact of training school staff in the 

implementation of MTSS-R in grades 1 and 2 on school staff practice and student literacy 

outcomes. Although policy and implementation support for MTSS-R is prevalent, fidelity of 

implementation remains a common challenge, and the study will measure the effectiveness 

of training in the implementation of a comprehensive MTSS-R model. The first study report 

is expected in 2024.
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PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

(dollars in thousands)

Output Measures 2019 2020 2021

Impact Evaluation of Training in Transition Supports $982 $2,339 $5,042

Study of State and Local Implementation of IDEA 2019 0 0 2,706

National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012, Phase 2 1,681 70 1,672

What Works Clearinghouse Special Education Reports 931 0 1,116

Impact Evaluation of Training in Multi-Tiered Systems 

of Support for Reading in Early Elementary School 3,878 7,947 0

IDEA Design Contract 456 462 282

Evaluation of Preschool Special Education Practices 2,890 0 0

 Total 10,818 10,818 10,818

NOTE: 

Funds from any single fiscal year’s appropriation may be used for 2 years. The table provides estimates of the 

amounts from each year’s appropriation that will be used for each area, not the amount obligated in each of those 

years.