By Tabbye Chavous, Executive Director, American Educational Research Association
Wearing my hats as a social science scholar and academic leader, I have studied trends in the development of science over the past 150 years. Over that time, scholarly science has focused on the continual advancement of knowledge. As such, the science produced has become more precise—theoretically and empirically—more sophisticated in its methods, more interdisciplinary, and more connected to practice and policy. To the last point, in this century science, including education research, has demonstrated a growing capacity for refining evidence-based approaches to address important issues and concerns in our schools, communities, and broader society.
Education scholars are deeply committed to making a tangible impact on classrooms and communities across the country. Their work offers not just knowledge, but actionable solutions. It informs classroom practice, shapes district and state policies, and enhances community well-being. It ensures accountability, stimulates and guides innovation, and allows for careful assessment of which interventions truly move the needle for students. And for many years, a strong partnership among the federal government, universities, and philanthropic organizations sustained this work, fostering a national ecosystem in which research could thrive and be applied.
That partnership is now in grave danger. The Trump administration’s dismantling of federal education research investments across the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institutes of Health threatens to bring research and innovation to a grinding halt. These cuts would not only undermine critical research efforts—they would leave educators and decision-makers without the evidence they need to make sound, effective choices and to make wise use of finite resources.