CEC Leaders Participate in IES Conversations to Elevate Educator Voice in the National Research Agenda

The Council for Exceptional Children participated in a day-long meeting on November 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The event brought together leaders from more than 50 of the nation’s educator associations to discuss their members’ research needs. CEC was represented by Mary Lynn Boscardin, CEC President, David Lee, Division for Research President, and Luann Purcell, Executive Director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education. “This initiative was born from the need to support and promote research that is informed by educators themselves,” said Mark Schneider, Director of the Institute of Education Sciences. “Direct and frequent engagement is critical to ensure that our work reflects the challenges and priorities of students, teachers, and administrators across the country, as well as policymakers and others who rely on robust education research.”

This initiative was designed to expand the role of educators in helping shape the national education research agenda.  Association leaders were asked how associations can better understand and support their members’ research needs; and, how associations and IES could potentially collaborate to ensure that research is best meeting the needs of educators and their students. CEC surveyed its members prior to the meeting to inform the conversations. CEC is excited to participate in the creation of new opportunities for educators around the country to further engage with existing research and help shape our national education research agenda through direct engagement with IES. One of the goals was to identify ways associations can better participate by providing perspectives that should be central when creating national research priorities. A second goal was to identify effective pathways for disseminating important research findings that promote research that supports education programs, policies, technologies, and pedagogies and educators who deliver these innovations to improve student learning. A third goal of this meeting was to take an important first step to foster more transparent, effective dialogue between the research community and educators around the country.