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Boston Globe

DOGE cuts $900 million from agency that tracks American students' academic progress

Advocates for students raised alarms the cuts could hurt the accountability of America's education system, leaving the nation in the dark about schools′ effectiveness. Historically, achievement gaps have shown low-income students and students of color falling behind their peers. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The cuts are counterproductive and destructive, said Rachel Dinkes, CEO of the Knowledge Alliance, a coalition of education research firms. Advertisement 'Cutting out at the knees the one independent agency that helps improve student outcomes is ridiculous,' Dinkes said. 'Education is the economic engine that fuels the US economy, and everything they cut is what helps make our education system better.' Biedermann declined to share the names of vendors whose contracts were cut. In response to questions, she referred to a social media post from DOGE that said Musk's team had terminated 89 contracts worth $881 million, including $1.5 million to a contractor hired to 'observe mailing and clerical operations' at a mail center. Another post said 29 grants totaling $101 million for training in diversity, equity, and inclusion had been cut. The Institute of Education Sciences is a central source of information on the health of America's education system. Across the country, it tracks student progress over time and across demographics. It evaluates the effectiveness of federal programs, and colleges and schools rely on its research to improve student outcomes. Among the contracts being cut is a study exploring how to accelerate math learning for students in fourth and fifth grade. Known as ReSolve, the project was led by research group MDRC. A federal notice obtained by the Associated Press ordered MDRC to halt the project immediately 'for the government's convenience.' Advertisement Last month, IES released the latest NAEP results, revealing that America's children have continued to lose ground on reading skills and made little improvement in math in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress gave the institute about $800 million last year, roughly 1 percent of the Education Department's annual budget.