Education research often feels abstract until you see its impact in the decisions school leaders make, the resources teachers rely on and the opportunities students gain. Researchers from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development brought those real-world stakes to Capitol Hill, showing how federal investment shapes classroom outcomes across Tennessee.
Erin Henrick, co-director of Nashville PEER, Jason Grissom, faculty director of Tennessee Education Research Alliance and Naomi Tyler, director of the IRIS Center, traveled to Washington, D.C. in November to advocate for education research funding on Capitol Hill.
Organized and led by Vanderbilt’s Office of Federal Relations, they spoke of the vital research being done at each of their centers and how funding from the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences and Office of Special Education Programs, as well as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, is crucial to their success.
The directors met with policymakers to urge continued, sustained and steady funding for these agencies. Throughout the day, they outlined how their work informs decisions in schools and districts across the state.
In meetings with the offices of Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., BA’81, JD’84, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., BA’71, and Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., the directors emphasized that sustained, reliable support for programs such as IES, OSEP, NIH and NSF is critical to ensuring Tennessee educators and policymakers have the research-driven evidence they need to strengthen student outcomes.
Impact across Tennessee
In the meetings, Henrick shared Nashville PEER’s work collaborating with educators, families, students and the community to inform education decisions that expand opportunity and foster innovation in Metro Nashville Public Schools.
“Nashville PEER generates research and actionable insights to guide education policy and practice that expand opportunities for Nashville students,” Henrick explained. “Federal funding from IES, OSEP, NIH and NSF can support our ability to investigate longstanding educational challenges and make a difference in our local community.”
Grissom advocated for the high-quality, practical research that informs state-level policy and contributes to national conversations on K-12 education being done at TERA, while stressing that current funding cuts are limiting opportunities for groundbreaking research.
"The Tennessee Education Research Alliance has had important impacts on state and local education decisions for more than 9 years because of our close collaboration with policymakers and practitioners across Tennessee,” said Grissom. “Constraints on funding or processing of funding hinders the research we produce on teacher labor markets, school leadership and other issues that are important to our state."
The IRIS Center, led by Naomi Tyler, dedicates its work to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities from birth through age twenty-one, through free online modules and professional development resources made available to all education practitioners.
Tyler advocated for the positive impact federal funding has on the IRIS Center.
“In 2024, IRIS resources were accessed by approximately 46,000 people across Tennessee and accessed by nearly 2 million others in 226 countries and territories worldwide,” Tyler explained. “IRIS is solely supported by federal funding. If these kinds of national awards are returned to the States and divided evenly, Tennessee’s share wouldn’t be able to support the most basic website costs, much less develop even a single resource like those that IRIS currently provides for free.”
Vanderbilt's continued advocacy
By engaging congressional staff on Capitol Hill and bringing campus partners into the conversation, Vanderbilt champions the importance of federal funding in education research. Through the Office of Federal Relations’ ongoing engagement with lawmakers, the university advocates for Peabody’s long history of responding to the needs of Tennessee and other states, working with Tennessee to improve education and translating research into practice for the benefit of teachers, school leaders and others.
Learn more about Vanderbilt’s research advocacy priorities on the Office of Federal Relations website.