Review calls for major reforms at $700m U.S. education research agency |
An internal report submitted to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has sharply criticized the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), saying the federal education research agency has become slow, fragmented, and disconnected from classroom needs. The 95-page report recommends a major restructuring of the $700m-per-year agency to make its research more relevant and timely for teachers and policymakers. The review found that IES often prioritizes academic rigor over practical impact, spreading funding across hundreds of unrelated projects and producing studies that take years to publish and rarely influence classroom practice. It recommends focusing research on three to five key national challenges, such as early literacy or algebra achievement, with stronger coordination across the agency’s research centers. The report also criticized the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for outdated surveys, fragmented datasets, and cancelled major studies, and said federal education data often takes too long to release. Proposed reforms include automated data systems, standardized reporting, and greater use of APIs and AI tools to deliver faster insights.
