# Institute of Education Sciences > [!note] Stub > This is a short entry that hasn't been fully written yet. The research and statistics arm of the Department of Education, established by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. It houses four centres, of which one — the [[National Center for Education Statistics]] — is a recognized federal statistical agency, and it holds the data-collection and hiring authority that centre operates under. In practice that means the statistical agency's capacity is set a level above it. That structure is why the early-2025 cuts landed as hard as they did. A reduction in force and a wave of contract terminations at the Institute took the statistics centre from 102 staff in January 2025 to a handful, and because the contracts rather than the statute carried the surveys, cancelling contracts cancelled collections. The Department published a "Reimagining IES" report in February 2026. ## See also - [[National Center for Education Statistics]] — the statistical agency inside it - [[How a Statistical Agency Is Defunded or Discontinued]] — the routes by which a federal statistic stops, including the capacity route taken here - [[National Assessment of Educational Progress]] — the national test affected by the 2025 reductions - [[Reduction in Force]] — the personnel mechanism used - [[Federal Statistical System Tree]] — where this sits in the wider system