Friday, February 19, 2010

IES Autism Spectrum Disorders Research

The purpose of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Research (ASD) program is to contribute to the improvement of developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes of students identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from preschool through Grade 12 by (1) exploring malleable factors relevant to comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions (e.g., intervention practices) that are associated with better developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes for students identified with ASD, as well as mediators or moderators of the relations between these factors and student outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention; (2) developing innovative comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions or modifying existing interventions to make them comprehensive to address the developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional needs of students identified with ASD; (3) establishing the efficacy of fully developed comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions for students identified with ASD; (4) evaluating the effectiveness of comprehensive preschool and school-based interventions for student with ASD when implemented at scale; and (5) developing and validating measures of developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes that can be used by practitioners to monitor progress and evaluate outcomes for students identified with ASD.

The long-term outcome of this program will be an array of comprehensive programs and assessments that have been documented to be effective for improving the developmental, cognitive, communicative, academic, social, behavioral, and functional outcomes of students identified with ASD from preschool through Grade 12.

Amount: $100,000 - $1.2m (3 years)

Date due: September 16, 2010

For more information, click here.

IES Related Services Research Program

The purpose of the Related Services (Related Services) research program is to contribute to the improvement of reading, writing, language, mathematics, science, social, or behavioral outcomes, as well as functional skills that improve educational and transitional results of students with disabilities by: (1) exploring malleable factors (e.g., related services practices and delivery systems) that are associated with better child outcomes for children with disabilities, as well as mediators or moderators of the relations between these factors and child outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention; (2) developing innovative related services interventions — practices, programs, and delivery systems — that are intended to improve outcomes for students with disabilities; (3) determining the efficacy of related services practices, programs, and delivery systems for students with disabilities; (4) providing evidence on the effectiveness of related services practices, programs, and delivery systems for students with disabilities when implemented at scale; and (5) developing assessments that can be used to evaluate the performance of related service providers and validating these or existing assessments against child outcomes.

The long-term outcome of this program will be an array of tools and strategies (e.g., assessments, services, curricula, programs, practices, interventions) that have been documented to be effective for improving the reading, writing, mathematics, science, social and behavioral outcomes, as well as functional skills that improve educational and transitional outcomes of students with disabilities who receive related services from kindergarten through Grade 12.

Amount: $100,000 - $1.2m (3 years)

Date due: September 16, 2010

For more information, click here.

IES Teacher Quality Research (Special Education)

The purpose of the Institute's Teacher Quality Research (Teacher Quality) program is to identify effective strategies for improving the performance of current teachers and other instructional personnel in ways that increase reading, writing, language, mathematics, science, or secondary transitional outcomes for students with disabilities from kindergarten through Grade 12. The Institute intends for the Teacher Quality research program to fulfill five goals: (1) exploring the relations between malleable factors (e.g., practices of teachers and other instructional personnel; professional development experiences) and student outcomes, as well as mediators or moderators of the relations between these factors and student outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention; (2) developing innovative programs and practices for professional development of teachers and/or other instructional personnel that are intended to improve instructional practices and through them student outcomes; (3) evaluating the efficacy of fully-developed programs and practices for professional development of teachers and/or other instructional personnel; (4) evaluating the effectiveness of programs and practices for professional development of teachers and/or other instructional personnel that are implemented at scale and intended for improving instructional practices and through them student outcomes; and (5) developing and validating new assessments of teacher quality for current classroom teachers or other instructional personnel, or validating existing assessments for teachers or other instructional personnel at any grade level from kindergarten through grade 12 against measures of student outcomes.

Long-term outcomes of the Teacher Quality program will be an array of tools and strategies (e.g., in-service programs, teacher supports, assessments) that have been demonstrated to be effective for improving and assessing performance of teachers and other instructional personnel in ways that are linked to improvements in student outcomes.

By "professional development," the Institute refers to in-service training and supports (e.g., information resources) for current personnel. By "teachers and other instructional personnel," the Institute refers to special education teachers, general education teachers, paraprofessionals, teacher consultants and specialists, and other personnel involved in the instruction of students with disabilities. Personnel involved in providing related services are not included under the Teacher Quality topic but can be included under the Related Services research topic.

Amount: $100,000 - $1,200,000 (3 years)

Date due: September 16, 2010

For more information, click here.

Friday, February 5, 2010

NIH Research Conference Grant (Interdisciplinary Teams)

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages Research Conference Grant (R13) applications from institutions and organizations that propose to develop interdisciplinary research teams. Teams must include investigators from the social and/or behavioral sciences, and may include the life and/or physical sciences. The goal is to broaden the scope of investigation into scientific problems, yield fresh and possibly unexpected insights, and increase the sophistication of theoretical, methodological, and analytical approaches by integrating the analytical strengths of two or more disparate scientific disciplines while addressing gaps in terminology, approach, and methodology. This program will allow investigators from multiple disciplines to hold meetings in order to provide the foundation for developing interdisciplinary research projects.

Amount: Varies

Date due: April 12, 2010; August 12, 2010

For more information, click here.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Technology & Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities

The purposes of the Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilitiesprogram are to: (1) Improve results for children with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology; (2) support educational media services activities designed to be of educational value in the classroom setting to children with disabilities; and (3) provide support for captioning and video description that are appropriate for use in the classroom setting. Phase 1 projects must develop, refine, and test the feasibility of specific technology-based approaches. Phase 2 projects must subject technology-based approaches to rigorous field-based research to determine their effectiveness.

Amount: Phase 1 ($200,000/year for 2 years); Phase 2 ($300,000/year for 3 years)

Due date: March 19, 2010

For more information, click here.