Research Update

By Lynn Olson

The federal government has begun soliciting grants for the second round of large-scale, interdisciplinary studies of "what works" in education. The Interagency Education Research Initiative—a joint partnership of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development—announced the request for proposals last month.

Officials of the three agencies hope to support up to $38 million in grants in the current fiscal year, and up to $50 million in fiscal 2001, in two areas: innovative approaches to helping young children acquire math, reading, and science skills; and strategies to help older children understand more complex ideas in math and science.To qualify for grants, projects will have to involve experts from a variety of disciplines; employ rigorous research methodologies; use technology to implement or evaluate the learning approach; and specifically address the issue of how to "scale up" their programs to work in a variety of classrooms with students from diverse backgrounds.

The initiative, which began last year, marks the first time that the three federal agencies have collaborated to provide funds for research into learning. It is based, in part, on the assumption that some of the best ideas lie on the boundaries between disciplines. ( "$30 Million in Grants Will Support Research Across Diverse Fields," ...