Functional Statements > Institute of Education Sciences Office of the Director (ER) 
The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary on education research, statistics, and evaluation activities. The Director: 
- Administers, oversees, and coordinates the activities carried out by the Institute, including the activities of the National Education Centers (National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center for Education Research, the National Center for Special Education Research, and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance); 
- Coordinates and approves budgets and operating plans for each of the National Education Centers; 
- Proposes to the National Board for Education Sciences priorities for the Institute; 
- Ensures that the methodology applied in conducting research, development, evaluation, and statistical analysis is consistent with standards required by the Education Sciences Reform Act; 
- Coordinates education research and related activities carried out by the Institute with such activities carried out by other offices within the Department and other agencies within the Federal Government; 
- Advises the Secretary on research, evaluation, and statistics activities relevant to the activities of the Department; 
- Establishes necessary procedures for scientific peer review; 
- Ensures that participants in research conducted or supported by the Institute are afforded their privacy rights and other relevant protections as research subjects; 
- Ensures that the activities conducted or supported by the Institute are objective, secular, neutral, and nonideological and free of partisan influence and racial, cultural, gender, or regional bias; 
- Undertakes activities to increase the participation of researchers and institutions that have been historically underutilized in Federal education research activities; 
- Works with other Officers of the Department to promote the coordination of research, development, and technical assistance activities; 
- Provides for broad and regular public and professional input into the planning and carrying out of Institute activities; 
- Coordinates the wide dissemination of information on scientifically valid research; and 
- Carries out other activities consistent with the mission of the Institute. 

Staff in the Office of the Director assist in carrying out these responsibilities. The Deputy Director for Administration and Policy, Data Sciences, Science, and Communications Management report to the Director. 

Within the Education Sciences Reform Act Sec. 117 (d) the Commissioner for Education Statistics is exempt from performing assigned responsibilities (within Part C of ESRA) "*under the supervision and subject to the approval of the IES Director.*" However, it is important to note that the Commissioner for Education Statistics is subject to the supervision and approval of the IES Director on all matters relates to NCES spending, since budgetary authority is delegated solely to the IES Director by law. This distribution of authorities within ESRA between IES and NCES requires on-going communication and collaboration between the Commissioner for Education Statistics and the IES Director on all matters related to spending and budgetary approval necessary for the use of appropriated funds in the Statistics, Assessment, and Statewide Longitudinal Data accounts, along with use of administrative account spending that supports hiring, training, travel, and other related activities. 
 Science (ERA) 
The Deputy Director for Science is responsible, on behalf of the Director, for liaison with the National Board for Education Sciences. The Deputy Director for Science is responsible for guidance and leadership related to the scientific quality of Institute activities, for special projects and analyses, and for performance evaluation related to the Government Performance and Results Act. The Deputy Director for Science also oversees the following unit: 
- Standards and Review Staff, which is responsible for managing the review of Institute reports and other products to ensure that they meet the standards required by the Education Sciences Reform Act and for managing the scientific peer review activities of the Institute.  
 Administration and Policy (ERB) 
The Deputy Director for Administration and Policy is responsible for guidance and leadership related to policy and to budget and legislative development. The Deputy Director for Administration and Policy serves as liaison with other offices of the Department regarding legislation, budget, and management operations affecting the Institute. The Deputy Director for Administration and Policy also oversees the following units: 
- Management Operations Staff (ERB1) which is responsible for managing and coordinating personnel activities; administrative functions related to grants, budget execution, financial administration, small purchase procurements, and facilities and equipment; information systems; and the Institute's Executive Secretariat; 
- Acquisitions Management (ERB2) which is responsible for supporting proper tracking, governance, planning, oversight, and coordination of contracting and acquisition activities across IES. The staff will: 
Develop acquisition plans in conjunction with IES program officers and advise IES staff on the preparation of requirement descriptions (statements of work), contractor performance measures and evaluation criteria, cost estimates and other aspects of the procurement process. 
Advise the Deputy Director for Administration and Policy on leading, managing, and supporting the implementation of a central IES-wide acquisition strategy that aligns with and supports work to related statistical, assessment, research, and evaluation needs and goals in each Center. 
Lead and manage on-going interactions with CAM, to ensure that CAM and IES are working and communicating effectively around IES's overall acquisition strategy and goals. 
In alignment with the FAR and other contracting best practices across government, this IES-wide acquisition strategy must also support and advance best practices in the field of acquisition generally, in areas such as effective industry engagement, competition, use of flexible contracting vehicles, and supporting a pool of vendors across industry (including small business) who are qualified to support IES's mission. 
In consultation with the IES Director and Deputy Director for Administration and Policy, lead, manage, and support the implementation of IES-wide acquisition governance (including policies, procedures, performance goals, and other tools and strategies to support effective on-going acquisition management) tools and frameworks. 
 
Gather data about IES contracts and produce reports, develop, and enforce standards and processes, and manage contracting resources. 
 

 Data Sciences (ERC) 
The Deputy Director for Data Sciences is responsible, on behalf of the Director, for providing overall leadership (and guidance to the IES Director) on the collection, analysis, presentation, and communication of data in all IES-sponsored research, evaluation, and statistical data collection activities. In performing these responsibilities, the Deputy Director for Data Sciences is responsible for: 
- Advancing and implementing the IES mission and goals of the IES Director, NCES Commissioner, and the National Board for Education Sciences related to the use of data science and data science methodologies – with a focus on technologies, tools and standards, as appropriate, to support overall efficiency, effectiveness, and return on investment in IES data collection and analysis activities.
- Advise IES leadership (including IES Director, NCES Commissioner, IES Centers, and National Board for Education Sciences) on the design, support, and implementation of data science and machine learning technologies that may be used to achieve specific goals (in areas such as efficiency, cost reduction, privacy, and transparency) for IES's core statutory mission.  
- Establishing and implementing policies and procures that align with IES Statistical Standards and Office of Science best practices, as appropriate, that may serve as a framework for the consistent and predictable use of data science tools and strategies within IES.  
- Establishing and maintaining meaningful and substantive collaboration with all components and sub-components across IES on all aspects of applied data science tools and technologies across IES. Such collaboration shall include supporting the design of individual projects to be implemented in partnership with other IES Centers that draw on the use, knowledge, and expertise of the data science team – including advanced techniques in areas such as: analyzing business results; setting-up and managing new studies; transferring data into formats to make it more appropriate for analysis; creating new and experimental frameworks to collect and share data; building tools to automate data collections; and searching through large IES-sponsored data sets for usable information to create reports, present business use, and correlate similar data to find actionable results. 
 Communications Management (ERD) 
The Communications Management team is responsible, on behalf of the Director, for providing overall leadership (and guidance to the IES Director) on communications and outreach strategies and goals to support the widespread publication of reports and publications for all IES-sponsored research, evaluation, and statistical data collection activities. In performing these responsibilities, the Deputy Director for Communications Management is responsible for managing and coordinating communications and outreach for all four Centers within IES, which includes: 
- Managing IES's communications goals, strategies, standards, and performance. This responsibility includes establishing and implementing policies and procedures that support a cohesive IES-wide approach to communications and outreach business functions, as appropriate, and that may serve as a framework for the consistent and predictable use of communications strategies within IES. 
- Using external communications to promote IES products and services in a way that is relevant to and usable by external stakeholders. 
- Defining IES's brand and promoting consistent application of the brand across the Institute. 
- Communicating and connecting with IES audiences in a targeted manner. 
- Facilitating collaborative approaches to information-sharing and stakeholder engagement across IES, while establishing and maintaining meaningful and substantive collaboration with all components and sub-components across IES on the overall strategy for communications and outreach. Such collaborations shall include providing communications and outreach for all individual IES projects that require or will benefit from a coordinated communications approach. 
- Managing print and electronic publications of Institute products and reports. 
- Facilitating collaborative approaches to information-sharing and stakeholder engagement across IES.

TOP  Last Modified: 11/14/2023