Dr. Phill Gagné
(202) 245-7139
Phill.Gagne@ed.gov

The Institute's training programs are intended to help ensure that researchers have the skills to produce research that is rigorous in method as well as relevant and accessible to education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.

Methods Training for Education Researchers (Methods Training) is intended to support training of current education researchers to maintain and upgrade their methodological skills. The focus on improving the rigor of education research has led to an ongoing development and adaptation of methods concerning the design of education studies and analysis of the data collected. The Institute currently supports two such projects which provide summer workshops on cluster randomized trials and quasi-experimental designs for education researchers. These projects also prepared videos of the workshops that are shared online for non-attendees (see http://ies.ed.gov/funding/videos.asp). The Institute is interested in funding additional projects on these and other methodological issues (of similar or smaller scope). Examples of other training topics might include training researchers in (1) the formation and analysis of longitudinal data sets based on State or district administrative data, (2) iterative and design-based processes used in the development and implementation of education interventions, (3) cost and cost-effectiveness analysis for education research, and (4) methods for working with education practitioners and policymakers when conducting research. The Institute is open to the use of other formats in addition to the summer workshop especially those that provide ongoing training over a longer period and can be directly applied to the real-world issues faced by participants.

Note: For FY 2014, the Institute split the Researcher and Policymaker Training Program in the Education Sciences into two separate programs: Methods Training for Education Researchers and Training in Education Research Use and Practice.