His main message to his fellow researchers: They are not doing enough.
The reconstruction of IES will not take place, he warned, without extensive public pressure. The administration, he said, responds to parents, but parents do not protest the loss of education data and research. She added that she was “dismayed” that more people in the field have not written op-eds explaining what is at stake.
The room receded. Many researchers were still smarting from the loss of federal research funds and the inability to seek new grants. (The grant process is at a virtual standstill and the Department of Education has millions of dollars of unspent congressionally appropriated funds.)
Jason Grissom, an education professor at Vanderbilt University, said he had just received an email informing him that federal funding for his graduate students was ending. He said he had not realized that the field had not presented “a strong enough case.”
But Vivian Wong, a research methodologist at the University of Virginia, disputed the idea that it would be realistic to build a broad coalition. “You can’t put the responsibility on parents to save the education system,” he said, noting that families are more focused on immediate concerns, such as services for their children with disabilities. Producing evidence for effective instruction, he argued, is the task of good government and should not depend on parental advocacy.
Others raised a more personal risk: Speaking openly could backfire. One researcher worried that public criticism could jeopardize current grants, future funding decisions, or even lead to retaliation against her university at a time when the administration has shown a willingness to lash out. He asked Northern directly if he could guarantee that the promotion of education research would be without consequences.
“I can’t say for sure,” Northern responded.
And that’s the tie. Researchers are being asked to speak out to save their field, but doing so could put their jobs and their institutions at risk.
Another possible lever is Congress. Some researchers have begun to put pressure on their representatives, but even there the path is unclear. One congressional office recommended contacting the Office of Management and Budget (not the Department of Education) to release funds already allocated.
Meanwhile, schools are struggling with absenteeism and falling reading and math scores. And the main national source of evidence and guidance on what works to correct these problems is in limbo.
The researchers received an answer. Despite inflation, the Association for Education Policy and Finance said it did not increase the registration fee for this year’s conference “in response to the challenges facing our community.”
This story about federal educational research was produced by The Hechinger Reportan independent, nonprofit news organization covering education. Enroll in Test points and others Hechinger Newsletters.
