Section F - Educational Research and Improvement

• Overview
• National Education Research Institutes
• Interagency Education Research Initiative
• Regional Educational Laboratories
• National Dissemination Activities
• Statistics
• Assessment
• Eisenhower Professional Development Federal Activities
• Technology Innovation Challenge Grants
• Regional Technology in Education Consortia
• Technology National Activities
• Star Schools
• Ready to Learn Television
• Telecommunications Demonstration Project for Mathematics
• Fund for the Improvement of Education
• Javits Gifted and Talented Education
• Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers
• National Writing Project
• Civic Education
• International Education Exchange

F. EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT

Overview

The Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) provides essential support for the improvement of American education by building knowledge about teaching and learning and by helping to stimulate improvements in education policy and practice. OERI-supported activities include the research and development programs of the five National Research Institutes; the applied research, development, and technical assistance activities of the 10 Regional Educational Laboratories; dissemination activities and the National Library of Education; and the statistics and assessment programs of the National Center for Education Statistics. OERI also supports a number of direct grant programs designed to advance or demonstrate nationally significant strategies for improving teaching and learning.

The budget request for OERI activities in 1999, including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program and all of the education technology programs except the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, is $935.4 million, an increase of $344.9 million over the 1998 appropriation. In fiscal year 1998, all of the education technology programs were moved from the Education Research, Statistics, and Improvement account to the Education Reform account.

The increase includes $50 million for a major new interagency research initiative--involving the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and other agencies--that would begin to provide the knowledge needed to create classrooms of the 21st century that lead to improved achievement for all students.

Complementing the research program, the statistics and assessment programs would provide the kinds of education-related information that will be needed as States, districts, and schools continue reforms that change what students study, how they are taught, and how their performance is measured.

Direct grant programs would support demonstrations and other activities that serve the OERI mission of building knowledge and sharing successful strategies. Most notable is the investment in educational technology, including support for challenge grants that would engage a variety of partners in designing and demonstrating powerful examples of the effective use of technologies to improve curriculum, teaching, and student learning.

A major expansion in support for after-school programs--part of the President's Child Care Initiative--would increase the supply of before- and after-school programs, offering a range of services including enhanced learning opportunities, growth and development activities, and recreational and art programs in safe, drug-free environments. New capacity-building efforts in professional development would focus on improving mathematics instruction, particularly in the middle grades, and on improving instruction in a variety of subjects by ensuring that teachers are prepared to used advanced technologies and integrate them effectively in instruction.

National Education Research Institutes

The 1999 request would continue at current levels the research and development activities of the five national research institutes: the National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum, and Assessment; the National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students; the National Institute on Educational Governance, Finance, Policymaking, and Management; the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education; and the National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning.

The institutes support university-based, national research and development centers to carry out sustained, long-term research and development to address important education problems; a field-initiated studies program in which the research topics and methods are determined by the investigators; and a limited number of other research and development projects. The 1999 request would support between 35 and 50 new field-initiated studies as well as ongoing studies and the ongoing work of 11 research and development centers.

OERI-supported research has resulted in dramatic gains in knowledge about how children learn and about more effective methods for teaching them. For example, research on the education of disadvantaged students has shown that students who fall behind in their studies should not be removed from the regular classroom and given low-level, remedial instruction, but instead should be provided with an enriched, high-quality program. Current and future OERI research will build upon past accomplishments to expand our knowledge of what works in education.

Interagency Education Research Initiative

The 1999 request includes $50 million for the first year of a five-year interagency initiative centered on education research and involving a partnership between the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation that would bring together researchers from many disciplines. These funds--which respond to the recommendation of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology for increased Federal investment in education research--would support rigorously designed and implemented large-scale research studies focused on classroom-based strategies for improving teaching and enhancing learning and student achievement.

Building on research from cognitive science, including research on how young children's brains develop, the research and education communities and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the National Science Foundation, and other agencies would work together over the next five years to create new frontiers for learning, exploiting advances in technology and tackling difficult problems in education.

The goal of the research would be to enhance learning in basic areas that continue to challenge our Nation's schools, such as reading, mathematics, and learning English as a second language. Leading experts agree that now is the time to invest in research and development aimed at accelerating learning to advance the performance of at-risk students and create new opportunities for all students. An initiative of this magnitude requires cooperative efforts from many disciplines and agencies.

Regional Educational Laboratories

The 1999 request maintains current funding levels for the 10 regional educational laboratories. These laboratories help States, districts, and schools in their efforts to implement effective education reforms through applied research, development of materials and strategies, and training and technical assistance activities. To assist in carrying out its responsibilities, each regional laboratory is advised by a governing board of policymakers, including Chief State School Officers, researchers, and teachers who represent the concerns and interests across its region.

In addition to providing services to meet regional needs, each laboratory provides leadership, acts as an expert resource, and conducts basic and applied research, dissemination, and technical assistance in a designated specialty area. Specialty areas include curriculum, learning, and instruction; assessment and accountability; educational technology; rural education; urban education; language and cultural diversity; early childhood education; and school change process. In 1999, the laboratories would continue to provide assistance to schools in the identification and implementation of research-based, comprehensive school reform models.

National Dissemination Activities

Level funding would provide continued support for the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and the National Library of Education (NLE). ERIC offers ready access to an extensive body of education-related literature and materials, while NLE serves as the central location within the Federal Government for information about education, provides comprehensive reference services on matters related to education, and promotes a greater sharing of resources among libraries and archives with significant education collections.

The request also would continue funding for the Department's award-winning INet and World Wide Web services, which provide quick and easy Internet access to Department programs, publications, statistics, and related resources (www.ed.gov), and for the National Research Policy and Priorities Board, which will assist OERI in designing and implementing the new interagency research initiative.

Statistics

The 1999 request includes a $9.0 million or 15 percent increase to support the data collection, analysis, and reporting activities of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NCES data are used by local, State, and Federal policymakers to gauge the effects of reforms and the return of investments in education, and to make decisions about educational policy and planning. In addition, NCES databases and publications are widely used by educators, researchers, and others interested in education.

The request includes funds for a program of statistics that has evolved over the past 10 years in response to legislation, evaluation, and particular data needs and in consultation with education researchers, data providers, and data users. The statistics programs provide general statistics about the condition of, and trends in, education; collect data to monitor reform and progress toward the National Education Goals; and support the research agenda of OERI. NCES also is planning to meet the statistical needs of the future with new technologies, training, data development and analysis, and methodological studies that will make it an even more efficient organization and its data more useful for parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers.

Increased funding in 1999 would support the addition of a birth cohort to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, the launching of a new National Adult Literacy Survey, the development of an on-going teacher quality survey, additional data collections in postsecondary and vocational education, and a one-time special analysis project leading to a Year 2000 report on education.

Assessment

The 1999 request includes a $4.5 million or 13 percent increase for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Data on student achievement are essential for providing the public with reliable information about the condition of American education, and NAEP is the only source of nationally representative data. NAEP is used widely to judge the overall effectiveness of national education improvement efforts and is the primary source of information for assessing and reporting progress toward the National Education Goal of ensuring student competency over challenging subject matter.

In 1998, national assessments will be conducted in reading, writing, and civics at grades four, eight, and twelve, and State assessments will be conducted in reading at grades four and eight and writing at grade eight. In 2000, national assessments will be conducted in mathematics and science at grades four, eight, and twelve and in reading at grade four, and State assessments will be conducted in mathematics at grades four and eight and in reading at grade four.

Eisenhower Professional Development Federal Activities

This program supports nationally significant activities that promote long-term improvement in professional development. The 1999 request includes an increase to begin implementing the Education/NSF Action Strategy for mobilizing a national effort to improve mathematics instruction and achievement. The request will support grants to develop leadership at both the administrative and teaching levels, and to develop technology-based materials and training models that are designed to help teachers emphasize conceptual understanding of mathematics while at the same time ensuring mastery of the basics. The request includes a $1.4 million increase for the Mathematics and Science Education Clearinghouse for dissemination activities related to the Action Strategy.

The budget includes funding for the Department's five-year plan to support the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), which administers a voluntary assessment and certification process for teachers based on national standards of excellence. Teachers benefit from the opportunity to test and compare their skills against objective, peer-developed criteria for advanced practice, and many States and school districts provide monetary and employment rewards for certification. The request includes $16 million to speed the development of assessments in up to 30 specialty areas; only seven areas of certification are currently available. Support designed to enable more teachers to take the assessments would double to $5 million in 1999, in order to help reach the target--set by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future--of certifying 105,000 teachers by the year 2006.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grants

The Department requests level funding for Technology Innovation Challenge Grants, which support the development of high-quality uses of technology for schools through local partnerships among educators, business, and industry. With recent gains in the number of computers per student and the number of classrooms with Internet access, professional development in technology has been recognized as a critical need. In 1998, approximately 20 new grants will be awarded to consortia that have developed or adopted innovative strategies to help teachers and administrators use advanced technology to improve teaching. The 1999 request will support a second competition for projects focusing on professional development and quality course content, while continuing the grants awarded in the previous four years.

Regional Technology in Education Consortia

The Department requests level funding for this program, which supports six regional consortia that help States, districts, and schools integrate technology with teaching and learning. Each consortium develops a program of professional development, technical assistance, and dissemination of information that addresses the particular needs of educators and learners in its service area. As more States and schools develop strategic plans and make substantial investments in technology, the consortia provide reliable information on long-term costs, compatibility among systems, hardware, and software, as well as on teacher needs and effective instructional uses of technology.

Technology National Activities

The Department is requesting $87 million for Educational Technology National Activities in 1999 for initiatives in three areas. First, a $75 million Teacher Training in Technology program would help ensure that all new teachers are prepared to use technology effectively in the classroom. While many of today's college students are more technology-literate, incoming teachers require focused training on how to use new technologies to enhance student learning. These funds will provide competitive grants to consortia of State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other public and private entities for projects providing intensive training and support to new teachers.

Second, a $10 million Community-Based Technology Centers program would establish computer learning centers in low-income communities that would provide access to technology for disadvantaged students and adults unable to purchase computers for use at home.

Finally, the request includes $2 million for activities to promote leadership in the field of educational technology and to strengthen the network of the Department's technology initiatives. Such activities would include promoting the use of advanced technologies to improve teaching and learning; establishing a network that links federal technology programs through effective collaboration and dissemination strategies; and supporting evaluation efforts that contribute to the knowledge base about the role of technology in school reform, teaching practices, and student learning.

Star Schools

The Department requests level funding to continue demonstration projects that use technology and telecommunications equipment to provide instructional programs for students and professional development activities for teachers who otherwise would not have access to such programs and activities. The request will support a new grant competition and continuation of the 1997 general education awards, the adult learning and high school completion awards made in 1996, and dissemination, leadership and evaluation activities.

Ready to Learn Television

The request includes level funding to continue support for the development of educational programming centered on school readiness, as well as grants for local educational and community outreach activities related to school readiness, such as materials, workshops, distribution of children's books, and collaboration with local organizations. The four series scheduled to begin airing in 1999 and 2000 will help children attain the early literacy and other skills necessary for successful learning.

Telecommunications Demonstration Project for Mathematics

The budget maintains support for PBS Mathline, a year-long course of professional development in mathematics based on the standards developed by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics. The findings of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study showed that U.S. teachers need assistance in developing instructional strategies that teach students challenging math content beyond basic skills. The project delivers professional development through videos and on-line communications, allowing teachers opportunities to learn at times and locations they find convenient and to share ideas and strategies for effective mathematics instruction. Since 1995, Mathline has served 5,500 K-8 math teachers in 41 States and the District of Columbia.

Fund for the Improvement of Education

The request supports a wide variety of activities aimed at stimulating reform and improving teaching and learning. FIE would continue to fund (through the States) a portion of the Title I Demonstrations of Comprehensive School Reform (see Elementary and Secondary Education), which provide resources and incentives to apply research findings and strategies help turn around failing schools.

Funds also are included for the further development and evaluation of tests in fourth grade reading and eighth grade mathematics that could be used in subsequent years by States or districts to assess the achievement of students against challenging standards of performance. The National Assessment Governing Board would continue to oversee the use of these funds and set all policy and direction for the development and implementation of the tests.

Other activities include support for a reform initiative with the DC Public Schools, the continued expansion of character education programs, and the continuation of the Blue Ribbon Schools program, Christa McAuliffe Fellowships for excellence in teaching, and several demonstration programs aimed at improving teaching and learning.

Javits Gifted and Talented Education

The request includes level funding for this program, which helps demonstrate effective strategies for developing and implementing programs that both challenge gifted and talented students and can be used to create rich and challenging curricula for all students. A small number of new grant awards in 1999 will place priority on projects serving schools with high concentrations of low-income students and those students who may not be identified and served through traditional methods. A recent study of Javits projects reveals positive outcomes in student achievement and self-esteem, parental involvement, classroom practices, and identification of disadvantaged students as gifted. Funds will also support the National Center for Research and Development in the Education of Gifted and Talented Children and Youth.

Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia

The request would significantly expand support for the Eisenhower Regional Consortia as part of the Education/NSF Action Strategy to improve instruction in mathematics. Each consortium would receive additional funds to (1) expand the capacity of the consortia to provide technical assistance in mathematics and science education; (2) implement key strategies outlined in the Action Strategy, including support and technical assistance for recipients of Eisenhower Federal Activities grants; and (3) support collaborative efforts with the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse to disseminate information and resources on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), including the results of the 12^th grade assessment and the TIMSS Resource Kit.

21st Century Community Learning Centers

The 1999 request would further expand this program--as part of the President's Child Care Initiative--to support approximately 4,000 after-school programs that will expand learning opportunities for up to half a million children. These funds will help public schools to stay open before and after school hours and provide extended learning activities in safe and constructive environments, under adult supervision. To maximize the impact of this new investment, the Administration is proposing legislative amendments to target services to expand learning opportunities for youth, to require matching funds to help make sure programs become self-sustaining, and to reserve up to 10 percent of funds for community-based organizations working collaboratively with public schools.

Despite the growing numbers of school-aged children--an estimated 23.5 million in 1995--with parents in the workforce, most public elementary schools do not operate before- or after-school programs. In addition, the majority of extended-day programs are aimed at kindergarten and early elementary school students and focus on supervised care rather than academic instruction. This initiative will bring much-needed attention to the need for school-based academic services and enrichment opportunities for disadvantaged students.

National Writing Project

This program supports a grant to the National Writing Project, a nonprofit educational organization that offers training programs in the effective teaching of writing. Workshops are provided for teachers in all disciplines, as the ability to write well is important for student achievement in many subject areas. Federal funding supports the development of teacher leaders through grants to local sites, ensures the consistency and quality of the NWP model across these sites, and leverages large amounts of State and local funding.

Civic Education

The request would provide an increase of $800,000 or 15 percent for the Civic Education program, which fosters good citizenship and civic responsibility for significant numbers of students while helping them develop an in-depth understanding of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the program supports activities that further the National Education Goals and promotes high standards for what students should know and be able to do in civics. The request will provide increased support for training teachers and State and district coordinators, and enable the program to reach greater numbers of students.

International Education Exchange

This program helps support democracy and free market economies in Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and other countries that formerly were part of the Soviet Union, by providing educators and other leaders from those countries curricula and teacher training programs in civics and economic education, as well as the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with teachers in the U.S. and other participating countries. The 1999 request would support continuation of grants awarded in 1997 to two independent non-profit organizations with significant expertise in civics education and economic education, respectively.

[Postsecondary Education] [Departmental Management]

Direct any questions to Martha Jacobs, Budget Service