First Year Accomplishments: A Message from IES Director Mark Schneider

At the end of his first year as Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Mark Schneider has summarized some IES accomplishments. He emphasized how IES is focusing on its mission “as an applied research agency.” IES will continue to invest in basic research even though that is not its primary function. Instead, the work of IES focuses on “improving the outcomes of learners throughout the life cycle.” This requires an emphasis on “translating research for widespread use to improve outcomes.”

To realize this principle, IES has undertaken several concrete steps. For example, it has imposed a new 15-page limit for its reports, meaning the reports need to be “better thought out and more concisely written.” IES is rethinking the What Works Clearinghouse website and its Practice Guides with the goal of making the WWC website more useable for a wide range of users. IES is also considering how different and more modern data analytic and data visualization tools could help with the examination of its data. 

Read the complete article at First Year Accomplishments

by Mark Schneider, Director of IES, April 23, 2019