Review Process for U.S. Education Research Approved

Washington

A national research-advisory board last week approved guidelines to govern the outside review processes that the Department of Education uses to screen and approve the studies and reports that it funds.

Taking a cue from federal science agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Agency, the guidelines call for standing panels of reviewers to screen many of the research proposals funded by the Education Department’s primary research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences.

They also formalize a special office within the institute that functions almost like the editor of a professional, peer-reviewed journal and coordinates reviews for most of the reports published with...