Common Standards for Education Research and Development Proposals

Based on recommendations from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish agreed-upon benchmarks across the research and development continuum, staff from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have come together in a joint committee to develop a Framework for Producing and Sharing Knowledge and Evidence Resources (PDF, 25 pages). The standards span different types of research and different focus areas, including proposals that investigate some application of practice (e.g., a new curriculum, a new technology) or that study the impact of an education practice or policy (e.g., what effects are the New Common Core State Standards in mathematics having on instruction?). 

Goals of the work include the following:

• Improving the quality and pace of findings from education research and development proposals
• Developing an education infrastructure that supports more rapid and efficient knowledge development
• Aiding NSF and ED in making informed choices about where to invest scarce research and development dollars
• Providing clarity for the field

The standards described in the Common Standards for Education Research and Development Proposals: NSF and the U.S. Department of Education presentation (PDF, 25 pages) laid the foundation for future cross-agency work including the framework and standards described in the Exploring a Cross-Agency Platform for Judging Evidence: Resources for Federal Agencies presentation.