Reimagining the Institute of Education Sciences: Reflections and Perspectives from the Field

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

The February 2026 report, Reimagining the Institute of Education Sciences (IES): A Strategy for Relevance and Renewal, provides cross-cutting “big shifts” and recommendations for each of the IES centers as part of the Department of Education’s intent to reform IES. The report from Department of Education Senior Advisor Amber Northern highlights actions that IES can take to enhance the relevance and timeliness of research and evidence-based resources, updates to collection and reporting of data by the National Center for Education Statistics, and ways to modernize processes to meet the needs of educators, state agencies and school districts, policymakers, and researchers.

This invited panel will feature reflections on the potential implications of these recommendations for the statistics, research, special education research, and practice-oriented activities that IES funding helps support. Presentations will be followed by the opportunity by session attendees to ask questions and share their perspectives.

Sub Unit

• AERA Science and Policy Sessions

Chair

• Michal Kurlaender, University of California - Davis

Participants

• Adam Gamoran, William T. Grant Foundation

• Nicole Patton-Terry, Florida State University

• Kristabel Stark, University of Vermont

• Michelle Crosby, American Statistical Association