Federal Court Allows NCME & NAEd’s Litigation to Move Forward

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has denied the U.S. Department of Education’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought jointly by NCME and the National Academy of Education challenging the Department’s termination of multiple federal education research studies and data programs. This ruling allows the case to proceed to the discovery phase.

In its opinion, the Court found that plaintiffs plausibly alleged concrete harms stemming from the Department’s cancellation of required research studies, peer review processes, and restricted-use data systems. The Court concluded that the organizations and their members rely on these studies and data to fulfill their research missions, and that the alleged harms are both specific and legally cognizable.

With the motion to dismiss denied, the discovery phase of the lawsuit begins. The Department must now produce documents, data, and other materials relevant to its decisions to halt the affected studies and programs, and our counsel will likely get to question key Department decision-makers.

NCME and NAEd believe this development marks an important step toward restoring the federal research infrastructure that supports the advancement of high-quality measurement research and evidence-based educational policy.

The plaintiffs will continue to collaborate with counsel as discovery proceeds. Additional updates will be provided as the case advances.