Research Grants
Call for Proposals
Next deadline September 1, 2010
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the AERA
Grants Program announces its Research Grants competition. The
program seeks to
stimulate research on U.S. education issues using data from the large-scale,
national and international data sets supported by the National Center
for
Education Statistics (NCES), NSF, and other federal agencies, and to
increase the number of education researchers using these data sets.
The program supports research projects that are quantitative in
nature, include the analysis of existing data from NCES, NSF or other
federal agencies,
and have U.S. education policy relevance.
Description
AERA invites education-related research proposals using
NCES, NSF, and other federal
data bases. Research Grants are available for faculty at
institutions
of higher education, postdoctoral researchers, and other
doctoral-level scholars. Applications are encouraged from a variety of
disciplines, such as but not limited to, education, sociology,
economics, psychology, demography, statistics, and psychometrics.
The Governing Board for the AERA Grants Program has established the
following four strands of emphasis for proposals. Applicants are
encouraged to submit
proposals that:
- develop or benefit from new quantitative measures or
methodological approaches for addressing education issues
- include interdisciplinary teams with subject matter expertise,
especially when studying science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) learning
- analyze TIMSS, PISA, or other international data resources
- include the integration and analysis of more than one data set
Research projects related to at least one of the strands above and to science
and/or mathematics education are especially encouraged. Other topics
of interest include
policies and practices related to student achievement in STEM,
contextual factors in education, educational participation
and persistence (kindergarten through graduate school), early
childhood education, and postsecondary education.
The research project must include the analysis of data from at least
one of the large-scale, nationally or internationally representative
data sets
supported by NCES, NSF, or other federal agency, such as the U.S.
Department of Labor, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the National
Institutes of Health. Additional
data sets may be used in conjunction with the obligatory federal data
set. If international data sets are used, the study must include
U.S. education.
Eligibility
Applicants for Research Grants may be U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent
residents, or non-U.S. citizens and
must be working at a U.S. institution. Applicants must have received
the doctoral
degree by the start date of the grant. Underrepresented minority
researchers are strongly encouraged to apply.
Please note that researchers who have previously received a major
award through the AERA Grants Program
(i.e., AERA Research Grant as a PI or Co-PI, AERA Postdoctoral
Fellowship, or AERA Fellowship) may not apply for a Research Grant.
However,
applicants who have received an AERA Dissertation Grant are
eligible to apply for a Research Grant. Dissertation Grant
recipients must complete
the Dissertation Grant before applying for a Research Grant.
Awards
Awards for Research Grants are up to $20,000 for 1-year projects, or
up to $35,000 for 2-year projects. In accordance with AERA's agreement
with the funding agencies, institutions may not charge indirect costs
or overhead on these awards. Approximately 15 Research Grants will be
awarded
per year.
Application Requirements
All applications for Research Grants must include:
- Information on the PI (contact and background information,
current curriculum vitae) and Co-PI(s), if applicable.
- Abstract of the proposed research project
- Statement of how this research advances the current state of
knowledge in the field, substantively or methodologically.
- Research proposal (limited to 7 single-spaced pages) that
addresses the following:
- Problem statement/policy issue and its importance
- Theoretical or conceptual framework for the research
- Brief review of relevant research/policy literature
- Research questions, hypotheses to be tested
- Description of methodology including proposed data set and
criteria for selecting data file, sample (e.g., groups used,
exclusions to sample, and
estimated sample sizes), selection of variables and rationale for
using them, and analytic techniques
- Connections between the potential findings and the policy issue
- Brief dissemination plan for this research
- Conceptual or figural model outlining the framework or design of
the study
- Statistical model or formulas, appropriately defined, that are
connected to the conceptual model
- Categorized list of variables from the NSF, NCES, or other
federal data set(s) to be used
- References cited in the proposal narrative and models
- Proposed budget
- Brief list of current other support (grants, awards, etc.)
Application Deadlines
Proposals for Research Grants will be reviewed three times a year,
with funding decisions made
within a month of the review date. Upcoming deadlines for proposals are:
September 1, 2010 to be reviewed in October
January 6, 2011 to be reviewed in February
March 9, 2011 to be reviewed in April
Application Submission
Proposals must be submitted electronically. Applicants should read
carefully the entire Call for Proposals and the
Submission
Instructions
prior to starting the online submission process. Applicants will be asked to
enter specific information in text boxes and upload documents that
have been saved in PDF. The deadline for submission is
11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, September 1, 2010. Applicants are
encouraged to submit proposals in advance of the deadline. Submission
must be made electronically on the AERA Research
Grant
submission web page.
Contact Jeanie Murdock (phone 805-964-5264 or email jmurdock@aera.net)
if you have questions regarding the application or submission
process. All awards are contingent upon AERA's
receiving continued federal funding.
Important Additional Information Regarding
Research Grants
Considerations in the development of the proposal
Applicants are strongly encouraged to read
Estimating Causal Effects: Using Experimental and Observational
Designs, by B. Schneider, et.al. prior to
submitting a research grant proposal.
Selection bias is a recurring issue during the review process and
should be addressed in the proposal.
All proposals must include the analysis of data from at least one of
the large-scale, national or international
data sets supported by NCES,
NSF, or other federal agencies such as the U.S.
Department of Labor, the U.S. Census Bureau, or the National
Institutes of Health. Additional large-scale
data sets may be used in conjunction with the obligatory federal data
set. If international data
sets are used, the study must include U.S. education.
Applicants should choose research
topics that can be supported by the samples and variables contained
in the proposed data set(s). Applicants should
also be familiar with the specific data set's User Guides and/or
Manuals (e.g., use of design weights and design effects).
Applicants should be familiar with statistical methods and available
computer programs that allow for sophisticated analyses of
the selected data.
The proposed topic must have education policy relevance, and models
to be tested must include predictor
variables that are manipulable (e.g., course work in mathematics,
instructional practices used by teachers, parental involvement).
Applicants who plan to model achievement test data should define the
achievement construct and identify the kinds of items to be
used to operationalize the research project. Also, when planning to
use existing subscales, the applicant should describe why these
subscales are appropriate and how they will be applied. Existing
subscales provided by NCES may not be appropriate for the proposed
construct.
Applicants should adequately deal with the curricular content when it applies.
Applicants are encouraged to capitalize on the capacity of
large-scale data sets to look at diverse populations.
The AERA Grants Program has funded more than 400 grant proposals to
date. Applicants are encouraged to review the lists of
Funded Research
Grants and
Funded Dissertation Grants to ensure that their proposed project
has not already been done.
A researcher may submit only one proposal to the AERA Grants Program
for review at any one time.
Proposal narrative
The proposal narrative should be no more than seven pages in length,
single-spaced, in 12 point type with 1" margins. Approximately three
pages
should be devoted to the problem statement/policy issue, theoretical
framework, current literature, and research questions. The remaining
four pages should
include the methodology, connection to policy, and dissemination plan.
The methodology section is very important and should describe the
proposed data set and criteria for selecting the data file,
the sample (e.g., groups used, exclusions to sample, and estimated
sample sizes), the variables to be used and rationale for using them,
and the analytic techniques. Applicants must present a clear and well
thought out model that identifies variables and specifies the
analysis to be done.
The brief dissemination plan should include an indication of the
audience for whom the research findings would be suited (federal,
state, or local
government officials, school superintendents, parents, etc.), plus
the relevant journals where the findings might be submitted for
publication and
professional meetings where the findings might be presented.
Conceptual model
The conceptual or figural model is usually a boxes and arrows diagram
of the framework or design of the study.
Statistical model
The statistical model will include the formulas, appropriately
defined, that are connected to the conceptual model and will be used
in the proposed study.
Variables list
Provide a one to two page, categorized list of the variables from the
NCES, NSF, or other federal data set(s) that will be used in this
research project. The variables should be
generally discussed in the proposal narrative, including the
selection criteria and rationale for using them. The specific
variables should be included in the variables list.
Budget
There is no specific format for the budget section. Funds may be used
for summer salary, release time, RA support, equipment, professional
travel,
supplies, computing time, etc.
Institutions may not charge overhead or indirect costs on AERA Research Grants.
Proposal dates
AERA is flexible on research project dates, depending on what is
best for the applicant. The earliest date a grant may start is
approximately
2 months following the application submission. Alternatively, an
award start date of several months after the review date may be
requested.
Funding restrictions
Research Grantees may not accept additional grant or fellowship
awards from another agency, foundation, institution or the like for
the same research project that is funded by the AERA Grants Program.
If the awardee receives more than one grant or fellowship for the
same project, in order to accept the AERA Grants Program Research
Grant, the other award(s) must be declined.
Evaluation criteria
Evaluation criteria will include the importance of the proposed
policy issue, the strength of the methodological model and proposed
statistical analysis of the study, and relevant experience and
research record of the applicant. Additionally, the review criteria
will include the following: Is the policy issue clearly defined? What
is already known on the issue? How does the methodology relate
specifically to the policy question? Does the applicant know the data
set? Does the analytic plan fit the question and the data? Is
the applicant qualified to carry out the proposed study? Reviewers
will be members of the AERA Grants Program
Governing Board.
Reporting requirements
All Research Grantees will be required to submit a brief (3-6 pages)
progress report mid-way through the grant period. A final report will
be submitted at the end of the grant period. The final report should
be an article based on the proposed research and of the quality and
in the format for submission to a journal for publication.
Funding disbursement
Funding will be linked to the approval of the progress report and
final report. Grantees will receive two-thirds of the total award at
the
beginning of the grant period, one-sixth upon acceptance of the
progress report, and one-sixth upon acceptance of the final report.
In most
cases awardees may choose whether to have funds sent directly to them
or have the funds channeled through their institutions. If the award
is chenneled through the PI's institution, no overhead or indirect
costs are allowed on AERA grant funds
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AERA
Research Grant submission instructions
AERA
Research Grant submission web page
Updated Jun-22-2010
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