Updated: 28 Sep 2026
Research and datasets Illinois relies on are in flux.
Over the past year, the federal government has significantly changed the research landscape by implementing large reductions in force across the Department of Education (USED), including the Institution of Education Sciences (IES), disrupting funding, cancelling long-standing longitudinal studies, and eliminating federal datasets.
40%
Reduction in USED workforce in 2025, with staffing changes across 16 of 17 offices
97
IES contracts terminated in 2025, totaling $1.1 billion
Impact
The reductions in force and research grant terminations have resulted in a loss of the critical education research infrastructure that Illinois and other states depend on. Illinois relies on federal data and research to understand the many factors that drive student success and benchmark progress across other states. When datasets get delayed, dropped, or reduced, advocates and policymakers are unable to measure the effectiveness and landscape of our education system.
The Office for Civil Rights has released the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for SY23-24. The data collection process contained data on nonbinary students—including experiences of gender-identity based harassment and applicable district policies around harassment—but the published dataset omitted those submissions in accordance with an Executive Order from January 2025 recognizing sex as exclusively male or female. The retraction of this data makes it difficult (if not impossible) for advocates and researchers to identify disparities in harassment by gender identity. Historically, nonbinary students have experienced high rates of harassment.
Illinois Response:
- Illinois has been involved in several lawsuits around the unlawful withholding of federal education funding.
Possible Federal Action:
- Congress might request the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and/or the Office of the Inspector General investigate how and why federally-mandated datasets are not being released and ensure OCR’s and IES’ actions are legally compliant with federal law.
- Congress should ensure OCR and IES release full datasets and continue to collect this critical data.
Possible State Action:
- The Illinois General Assembly should strengthen the Illinois Longitudinal Data System (ILDS), providing greater stability and analytic capacity at the state level. Legislation would include providing the ILDS with an agency home, a dedicated budget line, and clear governance and authority.
- Illinois state agencies could take a leading role in developing a statewide data agenda by identifying the key questions about students that Illinois needs answered and determining the data required to address those questions.
Learn how federal changes are impacting Illinois school communities
How have you seen federal changes impact data and research in your community?
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