The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. We are independent and non-partisan. Our mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public. Thomas W. Brock, commissioner of the National Center for Education Research, has been delegated the duties of IES director. Learn more about Dr. Brock
IES conducts six broad types of work that addresses school readiness and education from infancy through adulthood and includes special populations such as English Learners and students with disabilities.
Explore our website to learn more about how IES serves the nation by providing education data and research. Here you’ll find education data sets, data tools, reports, educator’s practice guides, summaries of completed and in-progress research and evaluation projects, videos, infographics, and more.
Biennial Report
Under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, IES must report on each grant, contract, and cooperative agreement in excess of $100,000 awarded through its four national education centers. This report, which covers Fiscal Years 2013 through 2016, summarizes activities by center, type of award, fiscal year, and by the unit or program under which the activity is supported. The report also provides the award number, recipient, and amount of award. You can search for additional information and descriptions of awarded grants on the IES website.
Previous Biennial Reports (PDFs)
Other Reports and Documents
Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development
This August 2013 report from the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation explains how the two agencies hope to realize the full potential of their education research and development investments—including obtaining meaningful findings and actionable results—through a more systematic development of knowledge. The report describes six types of research studies that can generate evidence about how to increase student learning. Research types include those that generate the most fundamental understandings related to education and learning; examinations of associations between variables; iterative design and testing of strategies or interventions; and assessments of the impact of a fully-developed intervention on an education outcome. For each research type, the report describes the purpose and the expected empirical and/or theoretical justifications, types of project outcomes, and quality of evidence.
IES Mission, Functions, and Organization
See the legislation that guides the work of IES—the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002
IES Performance Compared to Other Federal Programs
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) gave IES an effective rating, the highest a program can receive. OMB concluded: "IES has transformed the quality and rigor of education research within the Department of Education and increased the demand for scientifically based evidence of effectiveness in the education field as a whole."