The American Educational Research Association (AERA), with support from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), announces a special one-time competition for the AERA/IES Dissertation Grants Program. Dissertation grant proposals are encouraged from graduate students in education research or other social and behavioral science disciplines that show interest and promise of contributing knowledge related to reading and writing; mathematics and science education; teacher quality; education leadership; education policy, finance, and management; interventions for struggling adolescent and adult readers; cognition and student learning; high school reform; and postsecondary education.

Research may address academic outcomes at different education periods: infancy to preschool, K-12, postsecondary, and adult learners. Studies may focus on the improved academic achievement for all students, and particularly for students whose achievement may be disadvantaged by inadequate services and conditions associated with poverty, race/ethnicity, English language learner status, disability, and family circumstance. Supported studies will cover a wide range of education related issues and will invoke rigorous and sound research methods. These studies may include quantitative, qualitative, or mixed method research techniques. Proposals are encouraged that provide empirical research that contributes to understanding several programmatic areas including:

readiness for schooling,
academic outcomes in reading, writing, mathematics, and science,
student behavior and social interactions within school that affect learning,
skills that support independent living of students with significant disabilities, and
educational attainment.