Learning by At-Risk Students Tops List of Proposed Research Priorities

Research aimed at improving academic achievement for minority students, those with limited English skills, and other students with disadvantages tops a list of proposed research priorities published by the Department of Education’s primary research branch.

The new wish list, which appeared in the June 16 Federal Register , offers the clearest vision yet of the kinds of studies the department’s Institute of Education Sciences hopes to support in the next few years. The institute is seeking public comments on the proposed list over the next two months.

While national education groups have yet to analyze thoroughly the content of the priorities, some said the fact that the department was able to lay out a succinct, clear hierarchy of the kinds of studies it prefers was...