NSF's SBE Advisors Meet; Brainstorm Proactive Ideas Agenda

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) 21-member Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) Advisory Committee held its first meeting of 2010 at NSF headquarters in Arlington, VA, on May 20-21.  Chair Michael Goodchild, UC-Santa Barbara, who was congratulated for having just been elected on May 21 to The Royal Society of sciences (www.royalsociety.org/New-Fellows/),  smoothly shepherded the group through a full agenda of the usual administrative tasks, Directorate updates, and a meeting with the NSF Director, Arden Bement, and Deputy Director, Cora Marrett.  This meeting was the last opportunity for Bement to meet with the Committee before he steps down as NSF Director at the end of May to assume the directorship of the Global Policy Research Institute at Purdue University (see Update, February 8, 2010).

At the top of the SBE agenda was a several-hour "Future Directions for SBE" brainstorming session that was barely interrupted by a brief lunch and minimal breaks.  The meeting also focused on a handful of mandatory and invited reports by committee and staff members on the Science of Learning Centers program, which was recently brought under the SBE umbrella, Directorate organizational structure and changes, NSF budget priorities, and international partnering involving SBE.  This was Directorate head Myron Gutmann's second SBE meeting (see Update, July 27, 2009).

NSF Organizational News

Regarding SBE organizational structure, the main news is that a new division-level Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) has been created this year, reporting to the Office of the Assistant Director (i.e., Gutmann) along with the existing three division offices; (Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), Social and Economic Sciences (SES), and Science Resources Statistics (SRS). The OMA will be a focal point for activities that cut across SBE disciplinary boundaries, including the Science of Learning Centers, Science of Science & Innovation Policy (SciSIP), Research Experiences for Undergraduates, and Minority Post-doctoral Research Fellowships. OMA also co-funds interdisciplinary research with other NSF divisions and directorates.

Budget Woes and Means

On the budget front:  SBE has been proposed to receive a 5.3 percent increase over FY 2010 in the President's budget request for FY 2011.  This translates to $268.7 million, up from FY 2010's $255.2 million level.  Grant proposal volume for 2009/2010 is a little more than 2,900 and about 2,700 for SBE's BCS and SES divisions, respectively.  This level continues a steadily increasing amount over the previous five years' levels.  Proposals in the less-than-$20,000 range (i.e., mostly dissertation improvement grants) have been inching upward less dramatically and are about level at 700-800 over the last two years.  Grants above this dollar range are rising in volume more quickly but have a somewhat lower success rate. NSF program officers have the flexibility to counterbalance award size in order to increase success rates (i.e., number of grants awarded).

The group discussed the need to get not only a higher request for SBE but also to get compelling ideas to OMB (Office of Management and Budget) in future budget proposals in order to maintain and increase the SBE line in the President's proposed budgets.  OMB essentially "cherry picks" items of interest-relative to the Administration's policy areas of interest-from among two NSF proposed budgets (a higher- and a lower-dollar proposal) in the annual budget development process.  With the exception of the SRS, the basically flat SBE funding proposed in FY 2011 was partly due to OMB's prioritizing environmental research, in which SBE does have a role.  However, the NSF director, a strong SBE advocate, said Gutmann, gave the SBE a one percent increase over what OMB wanted, due to flexibility within his authority.  Among the positive FY 2011 budget news:  The SRS budget would increase by $2.1 million, SciSIP would increase by $0.5 million, and capacity building would be assisted.  For example, there is a new investment of $4.57 million in the graduate research fellowship program, and an increase of $370 thousand in Faculty Early Career Development awards.

Special Initiatives

Regarding FY 2010 special solicitation developments, NSF has begun requesting proposals for a new competition for an online ethics science resource center, which is part of its effort to assist university researchers and others in meeting the requirements for education and certification in ethics for grant submissions in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).  SBE has "graciously volunteered to manage the competition on behalf of the agency," according to Judy Sunley, Deputy Assistant Director of SBE, (see Update, April 5, 2010). Among other creative new initiatives are some involving SBE and CISE (Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate).  One of the new initiatives in this area is on "Social and Computing Systems," which has just closed its solicitation and award decisions are in process now.

Another FY 2010 SBE activity is an interagency partnership called STAR Metrics ("Science and Technology in America's Reinvestment: Measuring the Effect of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science"), which intends to develop measures related to outcomes of science and technology investments.  Leadership from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Institutes of Health, and NSF are involved, along with universities and researchers involved in the $14 million Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program. The participants are making use of administrative data from the agencies and schools and public datasets (e.g., on publications, patents). They will make the data enclave available to all partners.  They plan to make use of new mechanisms for describing and assessing research investment portfolios.  An important outcome will be a joint SBE-CISE advisory committee reviewing the new mechanisms.

Doing Science of Learning Research under the Center Funding Model

The SBE Committee heard a fascinating rapid-paced set of presentations from each of the directors of the six Science of Learning Centers (SLCs), which do cutting-edge work on how children and adults learn and how some of the involved processes (behavioral, neurological, social, language, spatial, visual/auditory) relate to learning science and mathematics.  The presentation led to the familiar discussion pitting the unique value of collaborative center-mode science such as SLCs against the relative value of grants to individual scientists, in terms of the best mode for advancing basic science.  While SLCs will be included in NSF's FY 2012 budget proposal to OMB, it is not clear what their future is within SBE. They are viewed as a natural fit in SBE as a source of basic science as opposed to the more translational work by, for example, the Department of Education, which might be viewed as having a role in learning.

Brainstorming for SBE's Future

A significant portion of the SBE meeting was devoted to brainstorming by the group for "big ideas," in the spirit of the "Grand Challenges" initiative that stemmed from President Obama's fall 2009 release of the Strategy for American Innovation. The strategy outlines the Administration's plans to foster innovation for sustainable growth and the creation of high-quality jobs.  One of the goals is to harness science and technology to address the "grand challenges" of the 21^st century.

The SBE Committee thus wanted to identify ideas that have the potential to advance the SBE Directorate's contribution to significant research-based discovery and to national policy.  The impetus for the effort was in part the Committee's expressed desire to be proactive about SBE's future and to avoid a passive role in promoting the potential contribution of SBE disciplines to advancing national well-being.  Using the 2009 report of the NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education, Transitions and Tipping Points in Complex Environmental Systems (www.nsf.gov/geo/ere/ereweb/advisory.cfm), as a guide, the group launched into a fun, wide-ranging, and highly engaging session of idea generation that all were enthusiastic to continue into lunch and after the visit by the NSF director and assistant director that afternoon.  The discussion also received inspiration from the European Science Foundation's November 2009 Science Position Paper, titled Vital Questions: The Contribution of European Social Science (www.esf.org) of the Standing Committee of the Social Sciences.  This report was brought to the attention of the SBE group by its chair, Sir Roderick Floud, who sits on the SBE Advisory Committee.

The Committee also drew inspiration from the January 2009 report, Social, Behavioral and Economic Research in the Federal Context, published by the President's National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Subcommittee on Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.  Also fresh on their mind was NSF's new Proposed Strategic Goals, which include the following concepts: Transform the Frontier; Innovate for Society; Perform as a Model Agency with a new Emphasis on setting measurable performance goals; and Assessment and Evaluation.

The Committee's brainstorming session was wide-ranging and touched on several interesting topics.  A handful of initial and very broad themes that emerged include:  The general question of information technology's impact on:  society and social networks, new ways and contexts of learning, and human attention multitasking limitations (e.g., texting during driving) that technological capabilities are far surpassing.  Another theme is the economy in relation to electronic trading and the role of government regulation and the implications for "innovating the United States out of debt."  Does the current economic crisis represent the leading edge of a paradigm shift in how companies produce and distribute goods and services?  A third theme related to measurement and has to do with our knowledge of tracking societies around the world. 

NSF Director Arden Bement liked the direction the Committee appeared to be taking and added a few of ideas of his own to the list of themes including:  The extent to which societies can adapt to change (e.g, climate change).  The extent can we better negotiate the payoff conflict between short-term investments and long-term investments.  A second theme he mentioned relates to the scarcity of natural resources and the demand for those resources (e.g., rare materials) and in the implications for agriculture, clean water, etc.

(Lee Herring of the American Sociological Association contributed this report to Update.)

Education Committee Examines 'Research and Best Practices on Successful School Turnaround'

On Wednesday, May 19, the House Labor and Education Committee held the eighth in a series of hearings, Research and Best Practices on Successful School Turnaround, on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). 

Committee Chair Representative George Miller (D-CA) opened the hearing by pointing out the daunting challenges the education system faces in addressing this crisis, noting that there are currently 5,000 chronically low performing schools, two thousand of which produce 70 percent of the nation's dropouts. "Turning around our lowest performing schools is critical for our economy, for our communities and for our students. Our global competitiveness is relying on the actions we're taking today," said Miller.  He observed, however, that "there is extensive research and real world examples that can show us the elements that lead to school success."

David Silver, principal of the Think College Now Elementary school in Oakland, California, testified that "less than one in 20 students from the Oakland public school system are eligible to attend a school" in the University of California system.  Silver's school reflects the challenges many urban, poor, and predominately minority schools face: 95 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunch; two-thirds are English Language Learners; and more than 90 percent are minorities.  

Responding to Representative Mazie Hirono's (D-HI) question regarding the federal government's role in helping these failing schools, Silver answered he believes that what is needed is an increase in federal funds to Title I schools.  For schools to be effective states and districts need to create conditions that support schools and allow them to achieve success.  These conditions include providing administrators with more autonomy over personnel decisions, budgets, curriculum and assessments, said Silver.  

Jessica Johnson, chief program officer at Learning Point Associates in Naperville, Illinois, replied that the federal government should help schools with data collection and putting tools in place that would allow schools more flexibility in addressing problems.  Johnson also testified school turnarounds require change not just by the schools and district, but also by the whole community.  The focus on change must extend beyond the school to the broader community: social services, community based organizations, and youth organizations.  She pointed to research that shows efforts to improve a school's poor performance work best when school leaders and teachers work together to bring about change, and those results are sustained when a more comprehensive approach  that includes parent and community involvement as part of the solution.  "We must build capacity in a system from the state to the classroom in order to provide every student access to and opportunity for a world-class education. Our children deserve this, the complexities of society demand it, and we have a moral responsibility to make sure it happens," Johnson asserted.

Former NIH Director Harold Varmus to Lead National Cancer Institute

On May 17, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint former National Institutes of Health (NIH) director and Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).  He replaces current NCI director John Niederhuber appointed by President Bush.

Varmus served as NIH director under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1999.  He is co-chair of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), effective until July 9, 2010.  He is the President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.  He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine and recipient of the National Medal of Science. 

In a joint statement with NIH director Francis Collins, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, noted Varmus's "vast wealth of expertise:" "Today, cancer research is poised to move forward at an unprecedented speed and Harold is ideally qualified to lead the revolution to fight this formidable disease." 

Collins observed that: "It is exhilarating and gratifying to have my good friend and colleague Harold Varmus back at NIH."  "I look forward to working together with him as we move forward on the development of new and powerful approaches to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer." 

The Institute for Education Sciences released its annual report on The Condition of Education on  May 27.  The congressionally-mandated report is designed to ensure reliable, accurate, and timely data necessary to monitor the progress of education.  The 2010 report features a special section that focuses on high poverty schools.  The section provides a descriptive profile of high-poverty public schools in the United States, drawing upon data from various National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey collections presented in the report. The characteristics of students who attend these schools, as well as the principals, teachers, and support staff who work in these schools are also examined.  Forty-nine indicators of developments and trends in U.S. education are presented. The indicators focus on participation and persistence in education, student performance and other measures of achievement, the environment for learning, and resources for education.

High poverty schools are defined as schools with 75 percent or more of their students eligible for free or reduced lunch.  In 2007-2008, more than 16,000 or 17 percent of all public schools were categorized as being high poverty, reflecting an increase in the number of high poverty schools within the last decade.  In the 2007-2008 school year, 20 percent of all public elementary schools and nine percent of public secondary schools were considered high poverty, compared with 1999-2000 when 15 percent and five percent, respectively, were considered high poverty schools. 

In 2007-2008, approximately 40 percent of Black and Hispanic elementary school students attended high poverty schools, compared with only five percent of white students.  The states with the highest percentage of high poverty elementary public schools were Mississippi (53 percent), Louisiana (52 percent) and New Mexico (46 percent).  Not surprisingly, these schools are also had the highest rate of secondary schools with high poverty at 43 percent, 27 percent, and 34 percent, respectively.

Despite what some are calling a dropout crisis, the report shows that the percentages of 16-24 year olds without a high school degree and who are not enrolled in school have declined since 1980 for whites, blacks and Hispanics.

The report also showed an increase in undergraduate enrollment in the last four decades.  From 1970 to 2008, undergraduate enrollment in college increased from 7.4 million students to 16.4 million.  By 2019 college enrollment is projected to reach 19 million, with women making up the majority of students with 59 percent.

For more information and to view the full report is available on the NCES website at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe

Greenstein Wins AAPSS' Third Moynihan Prize; Other Social Scientists Honored

The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) conferred its 2010 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize on Robert Greenstein, founder and director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at a dinner in Washington, DC on May 13.  The Center is a much cited non-partisan research and policy organization focusing on the impact of federal policy and budget proposals on low- and moderate-income families.  Previous winners of the Moynihan Prize are Alice Rivlin and David Ellwood.

While directing the Center, Greenstein has been named a MacArthur Fellow, won the Heinz Award in Public Policy, and the John W. Gardner leadership award.  He was also a member of President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform.  Prior to founding the Center, Greenstein served as Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Carter where he helped to design the Food Stamp Act of 1977.

In addition to the Moynihan prize, AAPSS honored seven other distinguished social scientists.   Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank was named an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow for her work focusing on the interaction among the macro economy, social policy programs, and the well-being of low-income families.  She has also spent many years working to improve the measurement of poverty in the U.S. culminating in the recently announced decision to provide a supplemental poverty measure in addition to the "official" poverty measure.

Former COSSA Board Member Kitty Calavita of the University of California, Irvine, was named the Thorsten Sellin Fellow for her research focusing on immigration and immigration lawmaking in the U.S. and other countries. Sheldon Danziger of the University of Michigan and a former COSSA congressional seminar speaker became a John Kenneth Galbraith Fellow for his research on social welfare policies and the effects of economic, demographic, and public policy changes on trends in poverty and inequality.

Princeton Political Scientist Larry Bartels was named the Robert Dahl Fellow for his extensive research and writing on American electoral politics, public opinion, and political economy to explain, in Bartel's words, "whether democracy works as advertised."  Mark Granovetter of Stanford University was honored as the James Coleman Fellow for his work on how social structure, especially in the form of social networks, affects economic outcomes.

Stanford University Psychologist Carol Dweck became a Hebert Simon Fellow for her work in the dynamics of motivation that examines the self-conceptions people use to structure the self and guide their behavior in achievement and interpersonal processes.   Her Stanford colleague, sociologist Paula England, was named the Frances Perkins Fellow for her work on women in the labor market, especially the gender gap in pay and how it flows from sex segregation of occupations.

The American Academy of Political and Social Science, a COSSA Member, was founded in Philadelphia in December 1889 to promote the progress of the social sciences and to create a forum in which the widespread interest in contemporary political, economic, and social issues could find expression.  The Annals, the Academy's bimonthly journal, was launched in 1890.  Phyllis Kaniss is the AAPSS' Executive Director and Princeton Sociologist Douglas Massey is its current President.  For more information go to: www.aapss.org.