The National Board for Education Sciences (NBES) met on Friday, March 29. NBES helps set research priorities for and advises the Director of the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). After a six-year hiatus, NBES met in the fall of 2023. With a fully constituted and engaged board, NBES is working to hire an executive director and awaiting a permanent director after Dr. Mark Schneider’s term concluded at the end of March.
[See March Meeting agenda here]
Dr. Matthew Soldner, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) is serving as Acting Secretary until a replacement is appointed by President Biden and approved by the Senate. NBES Board members thanked Dr. Schneider for his hard work, innovative mind, and dedication to improving learning outcomes. In a final blogpost, Dr. Schneider recounted his efforts to modernize career and technical education (CTE). Under Dr. Schneider’s tenure, IES co-sponsored a national research network to investigate the effectiveness of CTE programs.
First on the agenda, the NBES policy subcommittee reviewed the budget cuts to IES in fiscal year 2024 (FY24) and articulated the need for additional IES funding in FY25.
The Board discussed the process and timeline for hiring an executive director, with hopes to fill the role by early summer. NBES also discussed a recent National Academy of Sciences (NASEM) report about the future of education research at IES. The Board identified several areas for improvement: enhancing engagement and dissemination of data, building a strategic plan, and empowering the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
The Board had a lengthy conversation about Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) report, titled “Preventing a Lost Generation: Facing a Critical Moment for Students’ Literacy.” According to the report, a large portion of America’s students are not proficient in reading – fourth grade reading scores are the lowest they have been in 20 years, for example. The Board expressed concern about the widening gap between what we know about the science of learning and how we implement such lessons in the classroom.
Recognizing the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) to support literacy, the Board heard from several experts. Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, University of Southern California, gave a talk at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) that was broadcast to the NBES meeting about SEL. Dr. Immordino-Yang noted that many scientists used to believe that students should be as “clear headed as possible,” taking emotions out of the learning process entirely. Research has shown, however, that when the human brain expresses emotion during learning, students make valuable connections. She referred to a picture of a brain with significantly increased neural activity when the subject was in an “inspired learning state.” In a 2018 article, Dr. Immordino Yang said “Emotions are, in essence, the rudder that steers thinking,” illustrating the overarching theme of the meeting’s SEL presentations.
Dr. Robert Jagers, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, also discussed the positive impacts that social and emotional factors have on learning how to read. Dr. Jagers explained that SEL includes five important properties: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. Dr. Jagers revealed that well designed SEL programs that take these competencies into account, result in prosocial behaviors and academic achievement. The benefits for students from these methods include: having less work-related stress; having more productive peer relationships; and having better relationships with their teachers.
Dr. P. David Pearson, University of California, Berkeley, noted the importance of diversifying the curriculum. If students can see themselves in the stories that they read, they will “find hooks on which to hang new knowledge.” Using cultural differences as an asset will make reading more interesting for students. Other factors that instructors should consider to improve literacy include teaching writing skills and tailoring lessons to fit the age group being taught.
Dr. Leslie Fenwick, of Howard University, recommended that a new National Reading Panel seek to address the following research gaps:
- Facilitate a comprehensive study of students who achieve positive outcomes on reading assessments from school districts in communities with lower socioeconomic levels.
- Mine data from assessments to find reading skills subsets where students from lower socioeconomic are scoring comparable to their peers.
Dr. Fenwick also had recommendations for preparing school systems to foster good reading strategies:
- Make sure that teachers understand the types of lessons that translate well to student learning.
- Ensure library access to all students, particularly in urban schools.
