Washington Update, June 17, 2024
Dear Colleagues:
It was a great week on Capitol Hill as TED attended the Alliance for Learning Innovation’s briefing on the importance of education research funding. The briefing was attended by policy makers, advocates, lobbyists, and researchers and had a specific emphasis on cross agency collaboration and artificial intelligence. The briefing comes on the heels of TED, as a co-chair for the Coalition for Teaching Quality, sponsoring a Day on the Hill. During the Hill Day the Coalition advocated for education funding across the continuum with an emphasis on high quality preparation via personnel and leadership development, and special education research.
1.Alliance for Learning Innovation hosts briefing on Capitol Hill on the importance of Education Funding
Last week, the Alliance for Learning Innovation hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill, stressing the critical importance of education research funding. As you will recall, lawmakers will soon consider an FY25 spending bill that has the potential to pose significant cuts to education programs across the board. As artificial intelligence (AI) technology becomes more common in classrooms and with elections around the corner, the focus on education is critical. At the briefing, Daniel Correa, CEO of the Federation of American Scientists, stressed the low federal investment in education research to a gathering of officials, researchers, and advocates on Capitol Hill. The Alliance, made up of scientific, educational, and philanthropic groups, is pushing for government support to modernize K-12 education. Richard Culatta, a former education official, argued that the AI revolution in education needs more than just AI tutors. "Putting a basic AI tutor in front of kids won't solve our problems," he said.
The Alliance, formed just last year, supports the "NEED Act," which proposes $500 million for an education R&D program similar to DARPA. Companion legislation is expected from Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).
In his final remarks, Correa emphasized the bipartisan nature of an education research agenda, especially with the upcoming elections on the horizon and the continued polarization across America. "This is a time when many are focused on November's elections, but it's important to highlight how bipartisan this effort is and can be…”
2. IES Releases Series of FY25 Requests for Applications for Grant Opportunities within NCER and NCSER
In recent weeks, IES has released a series of FY 2025 Requests for Applications (RFAs) for grant opportunities within NCER and NCSER. All announced FY 2025 funding opportunities can be found on the IES website. NCSER Commissioner Nate Jones recently posted a blog about the FY 2025 Special Education Research Grants RFA, which is limited to applications focusing on education systems.
Today, the Federal Register features a notice about the upcoming RFA for Phase One of From Seedlings to Scale (S2S). This funding opportunity will support innovative products, policies, and processes within a specified focus area through three phases of increasing funding and duration, helping ideas develop from seedlings to scalable solutions.
• You can find the complete list of current IES funding opportunities for NCSER and NCER here.
• You can find NCSER Commission Nate Jones’ blog post on FY25 funding opportunities here.
• You can find additional background from former IES Director Mark Schneider here.
3. The Office of Early Childhood Development in the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) announces new policy guidance for its Early Childhood Programs
The Office of Early Childhood Development in the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) has announced new policy guidance for its early childhood programs: the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Head Start, Preschool Development Grants Birth through Five, and the Tribal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program. This guidance, in the form of Informational Memoranda (IMs), aims to support mental health and well-being for children, families, and the early care and education workforce. Each IM is tailored to the specific needs of each program, offering actionable recommendations, resources, and strategies within a unified framework for comprehensive early childhood mental health care.
You can view the guidance in its entirety here.
4.OSEP’s June 2024 Dose of Data
In school year (SY) 2022–23, 67.08% of children with disabilities who received special education and related services, aged 5 (in kindergarten) through 21, were educated inside the regular classroom 80% or more of the day. These percentages varied by racial/ ethnic group from 57.95% for Asian children with disabilities to 70.29% for white children with disabilities. Read more in the June 2024 Dose of Data.
Until next time, see you on X!
Kait
@brennan_kait
Do you have a question about Washington Update? Want to talk education policy? Good story in your state? Email me, let’s have virtual coffee: kbrennan@kbstrategies.org
