Our colleague Betsy T. alerted me that the US Department of Education will issue a formal request that people provide input about redesigning the Institute of Education Sciences on 25 September 2025. This sounds like a call for the public—including educators of diverse interests (policy, research, practice, etc.)—to contribute to discussions about how IES might be restructured and its functions refocused.
Regular readers of Special Education Today and the mass media news will likely remember that changes in IES were topics of intense concern in the winter of 2025. For example, SET covered those times on 11 February 2025 (“US ED research contracts cancelled”) and 12 February 2025 (“Cuts to US education research: update”). That storm is no longer raining on special education…but it is, and this call for public input may be an opportunity for us to open our umbrellas (put plywood on our windows, batten down the hatches, make sure we have oil for the hurricane lanterns…).
I think members of the Special Education Community should be alert and monitor this discussion. Sometimes these requests for information are ritualistic theater that agencies conduct to provide cover for implementing some policy plans that have already been determined. But, sometimes they are serious. The government must not only follow up on its request for comment, but it may actually consider the comments and modify the proposed rules, regulations, or plans. I am not sure how ED will be using this request for information.
Regardless of whether the feds are serious or simply performing a charade, I think we should respond. If we “flood the zone,” the feds may have to listen.
Regardless, it appears that the organization and function of IES may be “on the table.” It would behoove those of us who care about the activities of IES—in particular, of the National Center for Special Education Research—to contribute to the input that the government receives. Let’s tell ‘em what we think.
NICSER has done good. Don't kill it! If it’s doing good, support it…don’t kill it.
So, what would I—and I like to think “we”—include in the information that ED (et alia!) receives? Here are a few “talking points”:
Ensure that kids with disabilities have a seat at the table. Sustain NCSER. Make sure that NCSER has independent and well-funded resources to pursue improvements in special education for students with disabilities.
Ensure that IES’s representation of education includes individuals with disabilities in general. Require that the diverse array of educational participants (gender, ethnic background, and—for us, especially—disabilities) are represented in IES’s efforts.
Integrate IES’s special and regular education efforts so that education in general is more accommodating of kids with disabilities.
Ensure that IES research examines questions of relevance to individuals with disabilities. Promote applied research.
Okay. This is a preliminary talking point. Once we learn what the actual Federal Register request includes, we can organize our replies.