Students work on an e-learning lesson at school. As timing, interest, and need coalesce, education … [+]
Imagine this: An executive wants their company to be a leader in technology or healthcare but invests less than 3 percent of its budget in research and development to achieve that goal. An analyst might point out the misalignment. After all, people invest in what they value, and innovation fuels leadership.
Yet this is exactly what is happening with education in this country. Despite leaders from both parties expressing a need for America to lead the world in innovation, a new analysis from the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI) finds that the federal government’s investment in education R&D is a mere $40 per student – roughly 2.6 percent of its per-student spending.
To give a better sense of where that fits in the world of government R&D investment, the nation spent more than $37,000 per American service member in FY 2022 on defense R&D. Looking at those numbers, one might wonder why a superpower like the U.S. invests so few dollars in supporting education R&D that would help students learn better, innovate faster, and lead the way in an increasingly high-tech future.
This short-sightedness comes as the scores of American students on tests like NAEP and PISA are declining following years of stagnation. Even more alarming is recent research that finds students are not prepared for dynamic, tech-forward careers. In a 2023 poll, almost 40 percent of teachers said schools are not equipping students to succeed in the jobs of the future. This, even though 91 percent of Americans polled said preparing students for STEM-related careers is important and a third believe teaching such skills is vital to national security.
The time to improve student learning is now. Education innovation can address many of the challenges facing American students and teachers. Advancements in artificial intelligence are opening up new possibilities in teaching and learning that were largely unimaginable a few years ago.
As timing, interest, and need coalesce, education in the U.S. is at an inflection point – one where reevaluating federal investment in R&D to further drive education innovation can yield both immediate gains and long-term success.
Funding Possibilities
Greater investment in education R&D acts much like a ripple in a pond with exponentially expanding returns on that investment. Think of all the young minds educated in U.S. schools who created innovations that make everything from smartphones to ChatGPT to advances in food production possible.
One promising federal investment in education innovation is the Institute of Education Sciences’ (IES) Accelerate, Transform, and Scale Initiative. Congress provided a modest increase to IES’ 2023 funds and directed the agency to “support a new funding opportunity for quick turnaround, high-reward scalable solutions intended to significantly improve outcomes for students.” With these funds, IES is assembling a future-facing, DARPA-inspired set of investments, like a modernized version of Transformative Research in the Education Sciences program and the brand new From Seedlings to Scale program, which just started accepting applications.
While IES’ Accelerate, Transform, and Scale Initiative is still in its infancy, its early results are encouraging. Through the Transformative Research in the Education Sciences program, IES funded three cutting-edge projects. Each harnesses the power of AI – particularly large language models (LLMs) – to personalize learning. One is using LLMs to create a mobile platform for college students that offers interactive, customizable learning prompts and immediate feedback. Another is creating a chatbot to help low-income middle school students get up to speed in math after school. The other uses generative AI to help college instructors customize assessments and provide personalized feedback.
All could have a significant impact on learners across the United States. Think of how much more could be achieved if such programs had the funding to support additional groundbreaking projects.
Supporting Education’s R&D Ecosystem
Federal support for the education R&D ecosystem must grow significantly, rather than shifting marginally, to meet today’s challenges in teaching, learning, and workforce preparation. There are many proactive steps the U.S. could take that would benefit students and the economy now and in the long term. Among them, as noted by ALI’s new report, Congress should increase funding for existing education R&D programs at the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation, and make strategic new investments, too. Specifically, Congress should establish and fund a new DARPA-like center for informed-risk, high-reward R&D – a National Center for Advanced Development in Education (NCADE).
Additionally, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget should publish data about education R&D investments across federal agencies. This would provide a clearer picture of the federal government’s support for education R&D, and identify gaps, deficiencies, or opportunities for collaboration and efficiency.
Innovation and leadership often require taking a long hard look at what is not working, identifying steps to change the status quo, and investing in programs and people to move an organization forward. The U.S. cannot be a global innovation leader by allocating 2.6 percent of its federal education funding to education R&D. Support from Congress and assistance from edtech researchers and developers can help the country’s students become the next generation of global leaders.
