NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH

Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 84.324S

Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking in Special Education Request for Applications

Letter of Intent September 3, 2026 https://iesreview.ed.gov/LOI/LOISubmit

Application Package Available August 6, 2026 https://www.grants.gov

Application Deadline 11:59:59 Eastern Time on October 1, 2026 https://www.grants.gov

Possible Start Dates July 1, 2027 – September 1, 2027

See the companion IES Application Submission Guide (https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide) for guidance on preparing and submitting applications through Grants.gov.

https://iesreview.ed.gov/LOI/LOISubmit https://www.grants.gov/ https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide

Table of Contents Part I: Overview and General Requirements

A. Overview B. General Requirements

1. Eligible Applicants and Project Team

2. Eligible Populations

3. Required Data

4. Required Learner and Educator Outcomes

5. Award Limits

C. Getting Started

1. Technical Assistance for Applicants

2. RFA Organization and the IES Application Submission Guide

3. Ensuring Your Application is Forwarded for Peer Review

Part II: Project Narrative Requirements and Recommendations A. Project Narrative Requirements

1. Significance

2. Research Plan

3. Data

4. Decision Making and Dissemination

B. Recommendations for a Strong Application

1. Significance

2. Research Plan

3. Data

4. Decision Making and Dissemination

Part III: Preparing Your Application A. Overview B. General Formatting

1. Page and Margin Specifications

2. Page Numbering

3. Spacing

4. Font and Type Size

5. Citations

6. Accessibility

C. Required and Optional Appendices

1. Appendix A: Engagement and Dissemination Plan (Not Applicable/Do Not Submit)

2. Appendix B: Response to Reviewers (Required for Resubmissions)

3. Appendix C: Supplemental Materials (Optional)

4. Appendix D: Letters of Agreement (Required)

5. Appendix E: Data Sharing and Management Plan (Required)

6. Appendix F: Alignment with SEER Standards

D. Other Narrative Content

1. Project Summary/Structured Abstract

2. Bibliography and References Cited

3. Human Subjects Narrative

4. Biographical Sketches for Key Personnel

Part IV: Competition Regulations and Review Criteria A. Funding Mechanisms and Restrictions

1. Mechanism of Support

2. Funding Available

3. Special Considerations for Budget Expenses

4. Program Authority

5. Applicable Regulations

6. General Terms and Conditions

7. Continuation Awards

B. Additional Requirements

1. Pre-Award

2. Post-Award

C. Overview of Submission and Scientific Peer Review Process

1. Submitting Your Letter of Intent

2. Resubmissions and Multiple Submissions

3. Application Processing

4. Scientific Peer Review Process

5. Review Criteria

6. Award Decisions

Part V: Compliance and Responsiveness Checklist Part VI: Program Code

Posted August 6, 2026 Institute of Education Sciences | 1

Part I: Overview and General Requirements

A. Overview The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) provides scientific evidence to improve education practice and policy and shares that evidence in ways that can be used by educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public. IES was established by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA – P.L. 107-279), in part to improve academic achievement and attainment, and access to educational opportunities for all learners (ESRA, § 111.b.1.B), with a particular focus on low-performing learners (ESRA, § 115.a.1) and those lacking access to high-quality educational opportunities (ESRA, § 115.a.2.A and 115.a.2.B).

In carrying out its mission, IES must ensure that our work and the work we fund is objective, secular, neutral, and nonideological; free of partisan political influence; and free of racial, cultural, gender, or regional bias (ESRA, § 111.b.2).

Within IES, the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) supports research to:

• Expand knowledge and understanding of the needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities in order to improve the developmental, education, and transition outcomes of such individuals

• Improve services provided under, and support the implementation of, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.)

In this Request for Applications (RFA), NCSER invites applications for projects that will contribute to its Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education Policymaking in Special Education (Using Data for Policymaking in Special Education) grants program (ALN 84.324S). Through this grant program, NCSER supports state agencies’ use of their statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) to provide evidence for their own program and policy decisions, and those of their local education agencies pertaining to learners with or at risk for disabilities. (A separate program, IES’s Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant program, provides grants, resources, and services to support states as they design, develop, implement, and expand their SLDSs. For more information about that program, visit https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/).

State agencies may apply for Using Data for Policymaking in Special Education grants on their own or in collaboration with other organizations.

IES expects all IES-funded research to implement the Standards for Excellence in Education Research, or SEER (https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/standards-excellence-education-research-seer). The 2027 Standards (SEER 27) are organized into 4 domains.

• Domain 1. Objectivity and Scientific Integrity

• Domain 2. Relevance

• Domain 3. Open Science

• Domain 4. Intervention Research

Each application for IES funding is required to describe how their project is aligned with applicable SEER Standards. Appendix F outlines which Standards are applicable to each type of project.

B. General Requirements Applications must meet the requirements set out in this section in order to be sent forward for scientific peer review.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/ https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/standards-excellence-education-research-seer

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1. Eligible Applicants and Project Team

(a) Eligible Applicants Institutions that have the ability and capacity to conduct rigorous research are eligible to apply. Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to, state agencies responsible for education programs and policies, non-profit and for-profit organizations, and public and private agencies and institutions, such as colleges and universities. Eligible state agencies include the state educational agency (SEA) responsible for the state’s K-12 sector as well as state agencies responsible for other specific education sectors such as early intervention, prekindergarten, career and technical education, and postsecondary education. A state postsecondary education system may also serve as the state agency.

(b) Project Team The state agency responsible for the education issue, program, or policy to be examined must be included in the application. The state agency may be the applicant, in which case the principal investigator (PI) must be from the state agency. If the state agency is not the applicant, then a co-principal investigator (co-PI) from the state agency must be included. In Appendix D, you must include a letter from the state agency named on the application describing its responsibility for the education issue, program, or policy to be studied (in addition to letters describing your access to the SLDS data, authority to use the SLDS data for the proposed study, and the expected date the data will be available for use).

The PI has the authority and responsibility for the proper conduct of the research, including the appropriate use of federal funds and the submission of required scientific progress reports. Other personnel sharing the authority and responsibility for leading and directing the research project intellectually and logistically should be designated as co-PIs.

2. Eligible Populations Proposed research must focus on learners with or at risk for disabilities, any age from infancy through postsecondary education, and/or families, educators, or other professionals who support the development and education of these learners.

For research focused on learners with or at risk for disabilities in early childhood and K-12 settings, disability is defined in Public Law 108-446 (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter- I/1401). Risk for a disability is identified on an individual basis. You should clearly identify the disability or disability categories that your sample is at risk of developing and present research-based evidence of an association between risk factors in your proposed sample and the potential identification of specific disabilities. The determination of risk may include, for example, factors used for moving learners to higher tiers in a Response to Intervention model. Evidence consisting only of general population characteristics, such as labeling learners as “at risk for disabilities” because they are from low-income families or are English language learners, is not sufficient for this purpose.

For research focused on students with disabilities in postsecondary settings, disability is described in the qualified students with a disability provision in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 (https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/disability-discrimination/frequently-asked-questions-section-504-free-appropriate-public-education-fape) and the qualified individual with a disability provision in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title- 28/chapter-I/part-35).

Although the focus of your research must be on learners with or at risk for disabilities, learners without disabilities may be included in your sample if appropriate for your research questions. For example, learners without disabilities may be part of the comparison population or part of your research sample for assessment development and validation. If your research is (1) primarily focused on learners without disabilities prekindergarten through postsecondary or (2) primarily focused on adult education (including learners with or without disabilities) you must apply to the separate grant program run by the National Center for Education Research (NCER: https://ies.ed.gov/about/national-center-education-research-https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-I/1401 https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-I/1401 https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/disability-discrimination/frequently-asked-questions-section-504-free-appropriate-public-education-fape https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/disability-discrimination/frequently-asked-questions-section-504-free-appropriate-public-education-fape https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-35 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-35 https://ies.ed.gov/about/national-center-education-research-ncer

Posted August 6, 2026 Institute of Education Sciences | 3 ncer; https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grants/2027/using-longitudinal-data-support-state-education-policymaking-84-305s). Such applications will be deemed nonresponsive to this competition and will not be forwarded for peer review.

3. Required Data Proposed research must use the state's longitudinal data system (SLDS).

The application must include letters of agreement in Appendix D describing your access to the SLDS data, authority to use the SLDS data for the proposed study, and the expected date the data will be available for use.

State agencies are strongly encouraged to collaborate with relevant partners to link SLDS data to other available datasets to better support the research. These other data may have been collected by the state agency (or local education agencies) but not yet incorporated into the SLDS, by other state agencies (e.g., health, social services), or by other sources. Through this linking, additional information can be obtained to better understand and explain learner outcomes.

In addition to analyses of existing data, applicants may propose to collect and analyze primary data, if appropriate for the research questions. If applicable, IES encourages using a mixed methods approach that combines complementary quantitative and qualitative methods. Primary data collection and analyses are not required. If they are included, IES expects that most of the time and budget for the research will be spent on the analysis of existing data.

4. Required Learner and Educator Outcomes The applicant must propose to measure one or more education outcomes for learners with or at risk for disabilities. Education outcomes support success in school and afterwards and may include developmental, school readiness, literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics), social/emotional/behavioral, functional, secondary/transition, or postsecondary outcomes.

Outcomes may be at the individual student level or aggregated at the school, district, or state level, as appropriate for the proposed research questions.

If you are examining the role of educators in improving learners’ education outcomes, you must propose to measure educator knowledge, skills, beliefs, behaviors, and/or practices, in addition to the required measures of learners’ education outcomes.

5. Award Limits Applications must conform to the following limits on award duration and cost. The maximum duration of the award is 3 years, and the maximum award is $1.2 million. The requested award should be commensurate with the proposed work. If necessary, IES will adjust the award size or workload as appropriate.

In your application, provide a detailed budget justification that explains how the requested costs are allowable, allocable, and reasonable (see 2 CFR 200, Subpart E; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title- 2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E) and reflect the proposed scope of work.

C. Getting Started

1. Technical Assistance for Applicants IES strongly encourages you to submit a letter of intent on the IES Peer Review website (https://iesreview.ed.gov/LOI/LOISubmit). IES will offer virtual office hours (https://ies.ed.gov/funding/help) for general guidance on grant writing and submitting your application and choosing the appropriate competition and project type.

https://ies.ed.gov/about/national-center-education-research-ncer https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grants/2027/using-longitudinal-data-support-state-education-policymaking-84-305s https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grants/2027/using-longitudinal-data-support-state-education-policymaking-84-305s https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E https://iesreview.ed.gov/LOI/LOISubmit https://ies.ed.gov/funding/help

Posted August 6, 2026 Institute of Education Sciences | 4

The program officer for this competition is Dr. Katherine (Katie) Taylor (Katherine.Taylor@ed.gov).

2. RFA Organization and the IES Application Submission Guide To submit a compliant, responsive, and timely application, you will need to review two documents:

1. This RFA, which provides information on how to prepare an application that is compliant and responsive to the requirements. Part I provides an overview of the Using Data for Policymaking in Special Education grants program and sets out the general requirements. Part II provides detail on the specific requirements and recommendations for the project narrative. Part III provides information on formatting, the appendices, and other narrative content for the application. Part IV provides information on competition regulations and the review process. Part V provides a checklist that you can use to ensure you have included all required application elements to advance to scientific peer review. Part VI provides the program code that you must enter in Item 4b of the SF 424 Application for Federal Assistance form.

2. The IES Application Submission Guide (https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide), which provides important information about how to find, complete, and submit an application package in Grants.gov and IES-specific guidance and recommendations to help you ensure your application is complete and received without errors on time through Grants.gov.

We strongly recommend that both the PI and the authorized organization representative (AOR) read both documents.

3. Ensuring Your Application is Forwarded for Peer Review Only compliant and responsive applications received before the date and time deadline will be peer reviewed for scientific merit and practical significance. The PI and the AOR should work together to ensure that the application meets these criteria. The Compliance and Responsiveness Checklist in Part V will help you make sure you have the minimum necessary components.

(a) On-time submission

• Received and validated by Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 1, 2026.

(b) Compliance

• Includes the required project narrative (see Part II).

• Adheres to all formatting requirements (see Part III.B).

• Adheres to all page limit maximums for the project narrative and appendices. IES will remove any pages above the maximum before forwarding an application for peer review.

• Includes all required appendices (see Part III.C).

o Appendix B: Response to Reviewers (Resubmissions only) o Appendix D: Letters of Agreement o Appendix E: Data Sharing and Management Plan o Appendix F: Alignment with SEER Standards

(c) Responsiveness

• Meets the general requirements (see Part I.B).

• Meets the project narrative requirements (see Part II.A).

mailto:Katherine.Taylor@ed.gov

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Part II: Project Narrative Requirements and Recommendations

A. Project Narrative Requirements The project narrative must include four sections – Significance, Research Plan, Data, and Decision Making and Dissemination. The four sections must include the content described below to be considered responsive to the requirements of this RFA. Applications lacking this specific content will not be forwarded for peer review.

The project narrative must adhere to the formatting guidelines (see Part III.B) and be no more than 15 pages. If the narrative exceeds this page limit, IES will remove any pages after the 15th page of the narrative.

See the Recommendations for a Strong Application for recommendations to improve the quality of your application. The recommendations are included to support (1) applicants in writing proposals and (2) reviewers in evaluating proposals that align with IES’s expectations of high-quality research that has scientific merit and practical significance. IES asks reviewers to use these recommendations, in conjunction with their professional judgment and expertise, to determine application quality.

1. Significance The purpose of this section is to describe the key issues, problems, programs, and/or policies to be examined along with how this research fits with the current priorities of the state agency. This section also includes the research questions to be addressed and explains how addressing them will help guide the state agency’s decision making. In addition, the section describes the substantive expertise of the personnel regarding the key issues to be studied.

You must describe

• The key issues, problems, programs, and/or policies that the state agency wants to examine to support its decision making pertaining to learners with or at risk for disabilities

• The learners with or at risk for disabilities you will focus on

• Your research questions about the issues, problems, programs, and/or policies concerning the learners noted above

• Your project team’s experience and expertise with the issues, problems, programs being examined

2. Research Plan The purpose of this section is to describe your research design and analysis plan, demonstrate how these will address the research questions, and describe the analytical expertise of the personnel.

You must describe

• The research design and methods you will use to address your research questions

• The data analysis plan

• Your project team’s expertise in the design, methods, and analysis proposed

3. Data The purpose of this section is to demonstrate that you have access to the SLDS (and any other) data necessary for the project and describe the data expertise of the personnel.

You must describe

• The SLDS data you will use

• How and when the required data will be made available for the study

Posted August 6, 2026 Institute of Education Sciences | 6

• Your project team’s access to, knowledge of, and expertise working with the data to be used

4. Decision Making and Dissemination The purpose of this section is to discuss how the project’s findings will be used by the state agency in making decisions about ways to improve outcomes for learners with or at risk for disabilities, how the findings will be disseminated to multiple audiences, and the dissemination expertise of the personnel.

You must describe

• How you will present the project’s findings to the state agency leadership

• How you will disseminate the findings to multiple audiences

• Your project team’s dissemination expertise

B. Recommendations for a Strong Application IES provides these recommendations to improve the quality of your application. The recommendations are included to support (1) applicants in writing proposals and (2) reviewers in evaluating proposals that align with IES’s expectations of high-quality research that has scientific merit and practical significance.

IES asks reviewers to use these recommendations, in conjunction with their professional judgment and expertise, to determine application quality.

1. Significance Describe the key issues, problems, programs, and/or policies that the state agency wants to examine and how they are related to improving outcomes for learners with or at risk for disabilities. If you are examining a policy or program, discuss its key components and how it is implemented.

Describe the learners with or at risk for disabilities (and educators) you will focus on and how they are affected by the issues, problems, programs, and/or policies you plan to study.

Present the state agency’s research questions regarding key issues, programs, and/or policies the agency is interested in exploring. Note who provided input into these questions. Characterize the nature of the evidence to be generated to address each research question as descriptive, correlational, predictive, and/or causal. When describing the key issues, problems, programs, and/or policies that the state agency wants to examine, discuss whether the SLDS provides enough high-quality data to answer the key research questions and whether you plan to augment the research with additional data (primary or secondary).

Explain how the evidence will inform agency’s program and policy decisions pertaining to learners with or at risk for disabilities. Provide evidence that the issue is a priority for the state education agency partner and describe any current work on the issue being done by the agency.

Discuss the key personnel from the state agency and any collaborating organizations who have expertise in studying or working with the data regarding the study population(s), and the key issues, problems, programs, and/or policies being examined. Describe key personnel’s responsibilities on the project, the percent of time and calendar months per year (academic plus summer) they will devote to the project, and the adequacy of their time commitment to the project for completing their work. State agencies should include at least two individuals on the project, one with expertise working with the state data, and a second person with decision making authority related to the key issues, programs and/or policies being examined.

2. Research Plan Describe your setting and sample and how these are appropriate for addressing the research questions.

Describe the research design and methods and how they will allow you to address your research questions.

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Describe how you will define and measure the learner (and educator) outcomes used in the project.

Describe your data analysis plan, including the following:

• How you will address exclusion from any dataset and missing data.

• For quantitative data, the statistical models to be used, including how they address the multilevel nature of education data and how well they control for selection bias, if necessary.

• For qualitative data, information on the analytical and interpretative processes.

• For mixed methods studies, how qualitative and quantitative data will be integrated.

Include a timeline of study activities in Appendix C.

Describe the management structure and procedures that will be used to keep the research on track and ensure the quality of the work.

Discuss the key personnel who will carry out the research plan, their expertise and experience for this type of work, their specific responsibilities, the percent of time and calendar months per year (academic plus summer) they will devote to the project, and the adequacy of their time commitment to the project for completing their work. If personnel from a collaborating organization will take the lead on the research, describe how state agency personnel will take part in the research and increase their capacity for future research.

Projects that will evaluate a program or policy should describe plans to maintain the objectivity of the research, including but not limited to describing safeguards that will be in place to separate the developer or implementor from tasks such as random assignment and impact analysis.

3. Data Describe the SLDS data to be used in the project, including the following:

• The years of data to be included.

• The key variables that will be examined and whether they are available in the data or will be derived from the data.

• The process for creating variables (if applicable) and the expected amount of work involved.

• The process for linking datasets (if the SLDS data are in separate datasets).

Describe any non-SLDS data (primary or secondary) to be used in the project, including the following:

• How the data will be obtained.

• The key variables that will be examined and the measures used to assess them (a list of variables may be placed in Appendix C).

• The process for creating variables (if applicable) and the expected amount of work involved.

• Whether/how the data will be linked and merged with the SLDS data.

Note whether the SLDS uses a common set of data elements with common data standards to allow interoperability and comparability of data, such as the Common Education Data Standards (http://ceds.ed.gov/).

Identify and discuss data issues that might affect your research, such as a lack of access to different datasets, difficult-to-track data or people, missing data, inadequate measures of a key variable, or cross-district differences in the meaning of a variable. Explain how you propose to address such issues so that the quality and timeliness of your work is not adversely affected.

Discuss whether this will be a new or extended use of the SLDS data by the state agency. Note whether and how the project will build the capacity of the state agency to use the SLDS data.

Discuss both key and any other personnel from the office responsible for the SLDS who will provide the SLDS data, link it to other data (if necessary), address missing or incorrect data found during data http://ceds.ed.gov/

Posted August 6, 2026 Institute of Education Sciences | 8 cleaning, and provide advice on its use. Describe their expertise and experience for this type of work, percent of time and calendar months per year (academic plus summer) they will devote to the project, and the adequacy of their time commitment to the project for completing their work.

Discuss any other personnel (in addition to those from the office responsible for the SLDS) who will be responsible for cleaning SLDS data and linking it to SLDS and/or other data. Describe their expertise and experience for this type of work, and their proposed time commitment to the project.

Include letters of agreement in the required Appendix D describing your access to the SLDS data, authority to use the SLDS data for the proposed study, and the expected date the data will be available for use.

Include the required Appendix E: Data Sharing and Management Plan in which you will describe how you will comply with the IES policy for data sharing (https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research) and who will be responsible for data sharing.

4. Decision Making and Dissemination Identify the decisions the state agency needs to make regarding key issues, problems, programs, and/or policies being studied. Describe how the findings for each research question can inform these decisions.

Describe key decision makers, including (but not limited to) state agency staff, and their role and context.

Discuss how they will receive and consider the project’s findings in their decision making. Describe how they will consider the rigor of the findings (how much confidence to place in them for decision making), given the type of research design used.

If a research institution is taking part in the project, describe the involvement of state agency personnel in the research activities and how consultation and collaboration between the research institution and state agency will ensure that the research will provide findings of use to the agency’s decision making.

Discuss how you can integrate the findings into research-informed tools used by state agency staff.

Describe any potential data-informed applications that will be developed if the research results in substantively important findings. For example, the project could support the development of tools to predict which students might benefit from a program, to track whether participating students are benefiting from a program, or to provide data directly to learners to use in their own decision making.

Describe a dissemination plan that discusses the different ways in which you intend to reach multiple audiences through the publications, presentations, and products you expect to produce. These may include:

• Discussion of findings with regional and local education agencies and schools

• Discussion of findings with state leaders

• Presentations and workshops at meetings of professional associations of teachers and leaders

• Presentations and publications to share information with interested students, parents, organizations, and the public

• Publications in practitioner journals

• Publications in researcher journals

• Activities with relevant IES-funded research and development (R&D) centers, research networks, or regional educational laboratories (RELs)

• The development and deployment of tools based on the research

Discuss the key personnel from the state agency and any collaborating organizations who have expertise in dissemination. Describe the work each person will do regarding informing decision making and dissemination with the findings, their expertise and experience for this type of work, percent of time and calendar months per year (academic plus summer) they will devote to the project, and the adequacy of their time commitment to the project for dissemination.

https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research

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Part III: Preparing Your Application

A. Overview The application contents—individual forms and their PDF attachments—represent the body of an application to IES. Read the IES Application Submission Guide (https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide) for additional information about how to find, complete, and submit an application package through Grants.gov (https://grants.gov).

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the development of grant applications is allowable. Applicants submitting a grant application must certify on the standard application form to the “true, complete, and accurate” nature of all of the contents of their grant application, regardless of whether it is generated by AI (https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-16571).

B. General Formatting To ensure that reviewers can read your applications and that all applicants have similar expectations for length and space, IES specifies the following formatting conventions. Adherence to type size and line spacing requirements is necessary so that no applicant will have an unfair advantage by using small type or by providing more text in their applications. These requirements apply to the PDF file as submitted, unless otherwise specified. For an application to be compliant and sent forward for review, the applicant should ensure that each narrative section follows both the page limit maximums and the formatting guidelines below unless otherwise specified.

1. Page and Margin Specifications For all IES grant applications, a “page” is 8.5 in. x 11 in. on one side only with 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.

2. Page Numbering Add page numbers using the header or footer function and place them at the bottom or upper right corner for ease of reading.

3. Spacing Text must be single spaced.

4. Font and Type Size Use a font that is 12-point.

Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New, or Arial.

5. Citations Use the parenthetical author-date style for citations (for example, the American Psychological Association, 2009) rather than numeric citations that correspond to the reference list.

6. Accessibility Meet or exceed standards for accessibility (including alternative texts for charts, figures, and graphs) in compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For assistance with 508 compliance, please visit https://www.section508.gov/create/.

https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide https://grants.gov/ https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-16571 https://www.section508.gov/create/

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C. Required and Optional Appendices The required project narrative (Significance, Research Plan, Data, Decision Making and Dissemination) is followed by several appendices. Some of these appendices are required and some are optional. When you submit your application through Grants.gov, you will create a single PDF file that contains the project narrative and all appendices and include it as an attachment in the application package. Include appendices in alphabetical order and simply skip an appendix if it is not required for your application or if you choose not to include an optional appendix. See the IES Application Submission Guide (https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide) for more information about preparing and submitting your application using the required application package for this competition through Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/).

The project narrative and appendices are critical parts of the IES application because they include the substantive content that peer reviewers will evaluate for practical significance and scientific merit.

1. Appendix A: Engagement and Dissemination Plan (Not Applicable/Do Not Submit)

Appendix A is not applicable to this RFA. Information related to planned engagement and dissemination should be discussed in the project narrative under the section titled “Decision Making and Dissemination”. Any content included will be removed prior to review.

2. Appendix B: Response to Reviewers (Required for Resubmissions) If your application is a resubmission, you must include Appendix B. If your application is one that you consider to be new but that is similar to a previous application, you should include Appendix B. Appendix B must meet the general formatting guidelines and be no more than three pages. If Appendix B exceeds this page limit, IES will remove any pages after the third page of the appendix before it is forwarded for scientific peer review. Note that an application that was previously submitted to another IES grant competition is still considered a resubmission.

Use Appendix B to describe how the revised application is responsive to prior reviewer comments. If you have submitted a somewhat similar application in the past but are submitting the current application as a new application, you should use Appendix A to provide a rationale explaining why the current application should be considered a “new” application rather than a “resubmitted” application.

This response to the reviewers is the only information that may be included in Appendix B; all other material will be removed prior to review of the application.

3. Appendix C: Supplemental Materials (Optional) Appendix C must meet the general formatting guidelines and be no more than five pages. If Appendix C exceeds this page limit, IES will remove any pages after the fifth page of the appendix before it is forwarded for peer review.

In Appendix C, you may include figures, charts, or tables with supplementary information for your proposed study. For example, you may include data tables on the population or sample, a timeline for your research project, the variables in the SLDS that you will be using in your research, an organizational chart of who is responsible for the key issue, program or policy you are researching, or a diagram of the management structure of your project.

These are the only materials that may be included in Appendix C; all other material will be removed prior to review of the application.

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4. Appendix D: Letters of Agreement (Required) You must include Appendix D. Appendix D must meet the general formatting guidelines. There is no maximum page length for Appendix D.

In Appendix D, you must include a letter from the state agency named on the application, describing its responsibility for the education issue, program, or policy to be studied; its access to the SLDS data; its authority to use the SLDS data for the proposed study; and the expected date the data will be available for use.

• If the state agency named on the application does not have access to the SLDS data, the state agencies or organizations that can provide access to the SLDS data must provide a letter of agreement stating they will provide the data for use in the proposed study and should also include the expected date the data will be available for use.

• If the state agency named on the application does not have the authority to use the SLDS data for the proposed study, the state agencies or organizations that can authorize the use of the SLDS data must provide a letter of agreement stating they will authorize its use for the proposed study.

You may also include letters of agreement from any organization who will participate in or provide data for the proposed research, from any organization carrying out the data analysis or other research activities, take part in the dissemination of the findings, and from persons who will serve as consultants.

Such letters of agreement should make it clear that the author of the letter understands the nature of the time commitment and timing of participation, required space and personnel, resources that the organization is prepared to contribute to the research project, and the ways that the organization personnel will be expected to coordinate with the project team (e.g., quarterly meetings with administrative staff) if the application is funded.

Ensure that the letters reproduce well so that reviewers can easily read them. Do not reduce the size of the letters. See the IES Application Submission Guide (https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide) for guidance regarding the size of file attachments.

These are the only materials that may be included in Appendix D; all other material will be removed prior to review of the application.

5. Appendix E: Data Sharing and Management Plan (Required) You must include your Data Sharing and Management Plan (DSMP) in Appendix E. Appendix E must meet the general formatting guidelines and be no more than five pages. If Appendix E exceeds this page limit, IES will remove any pages after the fifth page of the appendix before it is forwarded for scientific peer review.

See the IES Public Access Guidance (https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research) for additional tools and materials to assist with developing a Data Sharing and Management Plan (DSMP) and adherence with existing policies.

The costs associated with implementation of the DSMP may be covered by the grant and should be included in the budget and explained in the budget narrative.

IES program officers will be responsible for reviewing the completeness of the proposed DSMP. The scientific peer reviewers do not evaluate the DSMP in their review of applications. If your application is being considered for funding based on the scores received during the scientific review process but your DSMP is determined incomplete or insufficient, you will be required to provide additional detail regarding your DSMP.

When you, the PI, and authorized organization representative (AOR) sign the cover page of the grant application, they will be assuring compliance with the IES Policy Regarding Public Access to Research https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research

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(https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research) as well as other policies and regulations governing research awards. This entails immediately uploading full text of accepted or published manuscripts to ERIC that are based on IES-funded data, as well as the sharing of data no later than either immediately upon publication or five years after the end date of the grant, whichever occurs first.

Once the DSMP is approved by IES, you and your institution are required to carry it out and to report progress and problems and requests to amend through the regular reporting channels. Compliance with IES data sharing requirements is expected even if the final dataset may not be completed and prepared for data sharing until after the grant has been completed. In cases of noncompliance, subsequent awards to individuals or institutions may be affected. By addressing the items identified below, your DSMP describes how you will meet the requirements of the IES policy for data sharing and adopt best practices for adherence to open science principles.

The DSMP should include the following:

• Sharing Platforms o The pre-registration repository where you will pre-register your study, and the timeline for preregistering (within the first year of the project).

o The data repository where you plan to share your data, and an indication of the selected repository’s adherence with the National Science and Technology Council document entitled “Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories for Federally Funded Research” (https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/113528). IES discourages sharing on a personal/institutional website or by request.

o If there are data that cannot be shared, the repository or location where you will share information about how you obtained or accessed the data source(s), along with codes and analytic approach utilized.

• Data Description o The type of data to be shared.

o Any data that will not be shared, and grounds for exclusions which may include privacy protections, proprietary data, and/or indigenous data sovereignty. See section 7.2 of the ED Public Access Plan (https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research) for additional information regarding potential restrictions on data sharing.

o Procedures for managing and for maintaining the confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information.

o How the data set will be formatted and configured and your approach to curating, cleaning, and preparing data for sharing, taking into consideration guidance from IES’s Sharing Study Data: A Guide for Education Researchers (https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/resource/tooltoolkit/sharing-study-data-guide-education-researchers).

o Your dataset documentation including code books and any decisions made about the data that would be important for replicating the results.

o Your intentions to share statistical/analysis code to support reproducibility, including format and location.

• Administrative Plan o Management plan designating roles and responsibilities of project or institutional staff in the management and retention of research data, including a discussion of any changes that will occur should you and/or others with key responsibilities for data sharing and management leave the project or their institution.

o Expected schedule for data sharing (no later than immediately upon publication or 5 years after the award end date, whichever is sooner), how long the data will remain accessible (available for at least 10 years), and acknowledgement that the timeframe of https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/113528 https://ies.ed.gov/about/public-access-research https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/resource/tooltoolkit/sharing-study-data-guide-education-researchers https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/resource/tooltoolkit/sharing-study-data-guide-education-researchers https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/resource/tooltoolkit/sharing-study-data-guide-education-researchers

Posted August 6, 2026 Institute of Education Sciences | 13 data accessibility will be reviewed at the annual progress reviews and revised as necessary.

o Anticipated costs associated with implementing the DSMP (including resource and labor costs) that are reflected in the application’s budget and budget justification.

o Whether re-use of data will require a data use agreement and, if so, what conditions users must meet to access the data.

o Approaches to disseminating the availability and location of data to support discoverability for reuse purposes.

This is the only material that may be included in Appendix E; all other material will be removed prior to review of the application.

6. Appendix F: Alignment with SEER Standards In Appendix F, you must include a table describing the alignment of your application with the current SEER Standards (https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/standards-excellence-education-research-seer). Appendix F must meet the general formatting guidelines and be no more than three pages including the required table. If Appendix F exceeds this page limit, IES will remove any pages after the third page of the appendix before it is forwarded for scientific peer review.

Fill in the table below with a high-level summary of how your proposed project aligns with each SEER domain/standard and refer back to the location in the narrative where additional details about project alignment are included.

SEER Domain/ Standard

High-level summary of how your proposed project meets these standards

Pages in Narrative and/or Appendix

Domain 1 Objectivity and Scientific Integrity

Theory and Hypotheses

Research Design

Communication of Uncertainty

Integrity

Conflicts of Interest

Domain 2 Relevance

Relevant and Student- Outcomes Focused

Engagement

Generalizability https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/standards-excellence-education-research-seer

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Design for Scale Note: Only complete this row if you are conducting a development study or impact evaluation.

Domain 3 Open Science

Pre-registration

Open Data

Open Methods

Open Access

Domain 4 Intervention Research

Note: Only complete Domain 4 if you are conducting an impact evaluation.

Core Components

Implementation and Treatment Contrast

High Quality Measures

Distal Outcomes

Cost and Cost- Effectiveness Analysis

This appendix will not be part of scientific peer review. IES program officers will be responsible for reviewing the information in this appendix.

This is the only material that may be included in Appendix F; all other material will be removed prior to review of the application.

D. Other Narrative Content In addition to the project narrative and required and optional appendices (see above), you will also prepare a project summary/abstract, a bibliography and references cited, an exempt or non-exempt research on human subjects narrative, and biosketches for key personnel and consultants to include as file attachments in your application. See the IES Application Submission Guide (https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide) for more information about preparing and submitting your application using the required application package for this competition on Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/).

1. Project Summary/Structured Abstract You must submit the project summary/structured abstract as a separate PDF attachment in the application package. If your project is recommended for funding, IES will use this abstract as the basis for the online abstracts that we post when new awards are announced (https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/special-education-research-grants). We recommend that the project summary/structured abstract be two pages long and include the following information.

https://ies.ed.gov/application-submission-guide http://www.grants.gov/) https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/special-education-research-grants

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(a) Title

• Title: Distinct, descriptive title of the project

• Competition: The grant competition (Using Longitudinal Data to Support State Education

Policymaking in Special Education) to which you are applying

(b) Project Summary The purpose of the project summary is to provide a high-level overview that is accessible to a range of audiences, such as policymakers, practitioners, and the public. This section should use short, active sentences to briefly describe the significance of the project, project activities, and the intended outcomes.

• Purpose: A brief description of the purpose of the project, the state or district policy, program or practice that is the focus of the research, and its significance

• Project Activities: An overview of the sample, research design, and…