The National Board for Education Sciences consists of 15 voting members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The following serve as nonvoting ex officio members: The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), each of the four Commissioners of the National Education Centers, the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Director of the Census, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, and the Director of the National Science Foundation.

The duties of the National Board for Education Sciences are to:

• Advise and consult with the Director on the policies of the Institute;
• Consider and approve priorities proposed by the Director to guide the work of the Institute;
• Review and approve procedures for technical and scientific peer review of the activities of the Institute;
• Advise the Director on activities to be supported by the Institute, including the general areas of research to be carried out by the National Center for Education Research;
• Present the Director with recommendations for strengthening education research and the funding of the Institute;
• Advise the Director on the funding of applications after the completion of peer review;
• Review and regularly evaluate the work of the Institute to ensure that its research, development, evaluation, and statistical analyses are consistent with the standards set out in the Education Sciences Reform Act;
• Advise the Director on ensuring that activities of the Institute are objective, secular, neutral, and nonideological and free of partisan influence and racial, cultural, gender, or regional bias;
• Solicit advice and information from the field regarding priorities for the Institute;
• Advise the Director on opportunities for the participation in, and the advancement of, women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in education research, statistics, and evaluation activities of the Institute;
• Recommend to the Director ways to enhance strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts among other federal and state research agencies; and
• Recommend to the Director individuals to serve as Commissioners of the National Education Centers.

The Executive Director of the National Board for Education Sciences, Norma Garza, was appointed by the Board. Any additional staff are appointed or assigned by the Director of the Institute, in consultation with the Chair and the Executive Director of the Board.

The National Board for Education Sciences also approves research priorities for the Institute of Education Sciences.

For further information about the Board, please contact Mary Grace Lucier.