The Trump Administration is aimed at the research hand of education in the latest cuts – Boise State Public Radio

Updated on February 10, 2025 at 10:38 pm ET

An independent research hand at the US Department of Education is almost excluded, according to the staff of the department. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is responsible for the collection and dissemination of data on a wide range of topics, including research -backed teaching practices and the state of students’ achievements in the United States.

Many contracts have already been canceled, according to two employees informed of the moves. They shared screenshots with an NPR of emails sent on Monday, notifying them of terminated contracts.

Employees said they had learned about the abbreviations of an emergency meeting called on Monday afternoon by IES leaders, a non -party department of the Education Division, which includes the National Education Statistics Center (NCES).

Employees asked for their names not to be used because they were afraid of their work.

Studies collected by IES are used by teachers, state and local departments for education, school districts, colleges and other researchers for a better understanding of students’ achievements, enrollment and many other important functions that shape the education system in this country.

At the Monday meeting, it was said that the Ministry of Government Efficiency (Doge), a unit in the Trump administration Ruled by Elon Muskplans to cancel most IES contracts. Two employees shared screenshots of emails calling them at this meeting.

The employees described a gloomy mood, with some struggling with tears and others raised questions about the future of IES.

One of the employees who talked to NPR said that all contracts they control were terminated. “So what does this mean to our jobs?”

Another employee was skeptical of the idea that these abbreviations would lead to more efficiency. “If they do this to save government money, today they lose millions. All the money we have spent working on these products down into the sewer.”

NPR reached for the Ministry of Education and the White House for comment. The White House did not answer. A spokesman for the education department replied by sharing a link to a Monday evening publication of X Account for Dogi.

The publication states that “the Ministry of Education terminated 89 contracts worth $ 881 million” and that “one contractor was paid 1.5 mm for” Match and clerical operations “at a postal center”.

But a third source with extensive knowledge of many of these canceled education contracts that would not speak publicly out of fear of retribution, told the NPR that a closed program was already underway in classrooms – to study ways to help students in students in The whole country should make a reason for the reason they have lost mathematics.

According to this source, students in many states have already worked with high quality, adaptive digital instruments. Now, with the cancellation of this contract, the study will be interrupted and training tools can soon be removed from classrooms.

The canceled contracts also include research and data collection on a number of issues, including private schools, home schools and career and technical education programs.

“This is decimation,” the source told NPR, “Destroying Knowledge of what works for children.”

“It’s shocking, it’s pointless,” said Thomas Weco, a former NPS commissioner, citing an important research work.

He added that the creation of IES was “an attempt to make our understanding of scientific education with other fields of knowledge such as medicine.”

If contracts linked to IES and NCES have indeed been terminated and its research has become inaccessible online for many decades for many decades about the state of education in the United States, it can become difficult to access. It is unclear what these terminations of the contract for future data collection would mean.

According to the employees with whom NPR talks, the national assessment of educational progress (NAEP) will be preserved, at least for now. NAEP, also known as the Nation’s reporting card, is The gold standard in students’ assessmentsAnd it releases widely used data on how K-12 students strive for basic subjects, including mathematics and reading.

President Trump repeatedly says he plans to close the education department that work more than 4,000 people And there is an annual budget of $ 79 billion.

He In front of Fox NewsIn an interview that aired on Sunday: “I’ll tell [Elon Musk] Very soon, as maybe, after 24 hours, I check the Ministry of Education. He will find the same. Then I’ll go, I’m going to the military. Let’s check the military. We will find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars fraud and abuse. ”

In recent days, administration employees have also set dozens of employees of the education department on paid administrative leave With a little explanation. At that time, the White House confirmed the president’s plans to close programs within the department that were not protected by law and his plans to call on the congress to close the department completely.

Trump’s choice to be the Minister of Education, Linda McMahon, will appear before Congress Thursday for her hearing for confirmation.

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