A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Policy and Priorities Board: An Update

Charged with helping guide the nation's educational research, development, and dissemination (RD&D) activities, the National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board (NERPPB) has begun its fourth year with an ambitious, threefold agenda. The 15-member panel is focusing its energies in these key areas:

• Refining the research priorities plan;
• Reviewing the standards OERI uses for conducting research; and
• Examining the current education RD&D system in order to make recommendations to the Secretary of Education and to the Congress.

The Board, which was established by Congress in 1994, works collaboratively with the OERI Assistant Secretary to determine research priorities that not only guide the work of the office but, more importantly, provide a framework for knowledge to support better teaching and improved student learning in and beyond America's classrooms. Published last year in Building Knowledge for a Nation of Learners: A Framework for Education Research 1997, the seven priorities are intended not only as the basis for federal investment in education research but as a starting point for a larger national conversation. To that end, the Board is now refining the plan into a focused set of research questions that can more clearly guide education research. The National Academy of Education will assist by convening a series of panels to review the priorities and provide recommendations regarding them.

The second key initiative centers on the standards which currently guide how OERI creates peer review panels and evaluates applications to ensure fair and equitable competitions. The Board is currently focusing on implementation of the peer review standards in the research center and Field-Initiated Studies competitions. It will also review and approve the standards governing evaluation of OERI grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.

Finally, the NERPPB is focusing on the history and context of the education RD&D system in an effort to broaden its understanding of pertinent issues and to develop an informed report to the Congress as part of the OERI reauthorization process which will commence next year. To achieve these goals, the Board has already held several workshops and commissioned a series of papers which analyze both the Department's RD&D system and the overall federal approach to this vital activity.

For additional information about the NERPPB, contact Eve M. Bither at 202-208-0692 or visit its Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/NERPPB/welcome.html.

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