Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking

Overview

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) provides scientific evidence to improve education practice and policy and shares that evidence in ways that can be used by educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public. 

Within IES, the National Center for Education Research (NCER) supports a program of field-initiated research to build knowledge and understanding of education practice and policy. 

In this Request for Applications (RFA), NCER invites applications for projects that will contribute to its Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking (Using Data for Policymaking) grants program (ALN 84.305S). Through this grant program, IES supports state agencies’ use of their statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) to provide evidence for their own program and policy decisions, and those of their local education agencies regarding increasing learners’ access to high-quality education and increased academic achievement. (A separate program, IES’s Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant program, provides grants, resources, and services to support states as they design, develop, implement, and expand their SLDSs. For more information about that program, visit https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/). 

Project Team: The state agency responsible for the education issue, program, or policy to be examined must be included in the application. The state agency may be the applicant, in which case the principal investigator (PI) must be from the state agency. If the state agency is not the applicant, then a co-principal investigator (co-PI) from the state agency must be included. In Appendix D, you must include a letter from the state agency named on the application describing its responsibility for the education issue, program, or policy to be studied (in addition to letters describing your access to the SLDS data, authority to use the SLDS data for the proposed study, and the expected date the data will be available for use). 

The PI has the authority and responsibility for the proper conduct of the research, including the appropriate use of federal funds and the submission of required scientific progress reports. Other personnel sharing the authority and responsibility for leading and directing the research project intellectually and logistically should be designated as co-PIs. 

Eligible Populations: NCER funds education research that addresses the needs of learners from prekindergarten through postsecondary and adult education. If you are proposing research that is focused solely on learners with or at risk for disabilities, you must apply to the separate grant program run by the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER: https://ies.ed.gov/about/national-center-special-educationresearch-ncser; https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grants/2027/using-longitudinal-data-support-stateeducation-policymaking-special-education-84-324s).

Required Learner and Educator Outcomes: The applicant must propose to measure one or more education outcomes of learners, which can reflect learning and achievement in content domains, as well as learners’ successful progression through education systems. Education outcomes vary by age, and may include school readiness outcomes that prepare young children for school; English language proficiency; academic achievement in one or more disciplinary areas or postsecondary courses; career and technical education (CTE) outcomes; and progression through education systems, as indicated by course and grade completion, retention, high school graduation, and dropout in K-12 settings, and by access to, persistence in, progress through, and completion of postsecondary and adult education. 

Outcomes may be at the individual student level or aggregated at the school, district, or state level, as appropriate for the proposed research questions. 

In addition to including at least one of the education outcomes described above, applicants are encouraged to also include social and behavioral competencies and labor market outcomes when these are of interest to the state agency. 

If you are examining the role of educators in improving learners’ education outcomes, you must propose to measure educator knowledge, skills, beliefs, behaviors, and/or practices, in addition to the required measures of learners’ education outcomes.

Multiple Submissions: You may submit applications to more than one of the FY 2027 research grant programs offered through the U.S. Department of Education (ED), including those offered through IES as well as those offered through other offices and programs within ED. You may submit multiple applications to this grant program as long as they address different key issues, programs, or policies. However, you may submit a given application only once for the IES FY 2027 grant competitions, meaning you may not submit the same application or similar applications to multiple grant programs within IES, to multiple topics within a grant competition, or multiple times within the same topic. If you submit multiple similar applications, IES will determine whether and which applications will be accepted for review and/or will be eligible for funding. [See the sponsor Notice of Funding Opportunity for complete details.]

Eligibility: Eligible Applicants Institutions that have the ability and capacity to conduct rigorous research are eligible to apply. Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to, state agencies responsible for education programs and policies, non-profit and for-profit organizations, and public and private agencies and institutions, such as colleges and universities. Eligible state agencies include the state educational agency (SEA) responsible for the state’s K-12 sector as well as state agencies responsible for other specific education sectors such prekindergarten, career and technical education, postsecondary education, and adult education. A state postsecondary education system may also serve as the state agency.

Award Limits: Applications must conform to the following limits on award duration and cost. The maximum duration of the award is 3 years, and the maximum award is $1.2 million. The requested award should be commensurate with the proposed work. If necessary, IES will adjust the award size or workload as appropriate.

Letter of Intent due: September 3, 2026
The letter of intent is non-binding and optional but strongly recommended.

Possible Start Dates: July 1, 2027 – September 1, 2027