Newsgroups: bit.listserv.erl-l
Date:         Fri, 24 Jul 1992 23:18:00 CDT
From:         P30JWP1@NIU.BITNET
Subject:      OERI: President's FY'93 budget request (420 lines)

The following is provided by The Office of Educational Research
and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education.  Please feel
welcome to distribute.


                         THE PRESIDENT'S
                     FISCAL YEAR 1993 BUDGET
                             FOR THE
         OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH  AND IMPROVEMENT

                  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Research, Statistics, and Improvement.........    $415.4 million

Library Programs..............................      35.0 million

 Total........................................    $450.4 million


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview
Research, Statistics, and Improvement
Raising Achievement Levels for All Students
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Office of Research (OR)
Programs for the Improvement of Practice (PIP)
Fund for the Improvement and Reform of Schools and Teaching
Office (FIRST)
Access to Research
Library Programs

Exhibits

OERI (Table)
Research, Statistics, and Improvement (Table)11
Library Programs (Table)

OVERVIEW

Educational research demonstrates that students who are in
schools with high expectations and challenging curricula learn
more than those who are tracked into low level courses.  The
Department of Education has been supporting efforts to help the
nation achieve the implementation of the six National Education
Goals designed to enhance school readiness and to increase
achievement at all levels.

The Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) is the
agency within the Department of Education that has a unique role
in this endeavor, the role outlined 125 years ago in the statute
that created the first Department of Education.  OERI is
responsible for reporting on "the condition and progress of
education" and sponsors research on "the organization and
management of schools and school systems and methods of
teaching."  OERI is also expected to diffuse information about
educational improvements that will "promote the cause of
education throughout the country."

The request for the Education Research, Statistics, and
Improvement account of OERI for FY 1993 is an essential part of
the Department of Education's efforts to work toward the national
goals and to raise the achievement of American students.  The FY
1993 OERI request calls for an increase in order to strengthen
the overall effort by providing support for efforts to raise
education standards.  This is to be accomplished by providing
assistance to States engaged in systemic reform, by supporting
research, by expanding data collection and assessment, by
increasing education opportunities for teachers of mathematics
and science, and by using technology to make the results of
research more accessible.

Although OERI is one of the smaller components in the Department
of Education, its activities are vital to the progress of
education.  Currently, the Education Research, Statistics, and
Improvement account represents only 0.91 percent of the
Department of Education's budget.  Although the FY 1993 request
would increase the account by 53.9 percent, the account total
would still represent only 1.28 percent of the Department's total
budget.  The work of OERI in collecting and interpreting data,
assessing student achievement, supporting basic and applied
research, promoting the use of technology in education, and
disseminating information about research and practice is critical
to educational progress.  Economists agree that improvements in
education are necessary to produce a knowledgeable, skilled
workforce, and that better education is key to maintaining our
nation's standard of living in a competitive global economy.
Education in the United States is a major industry.  Last year
approximately $400 billion was spent to educate students from
elementary school through university level.  It is well known
that large businesses must invest in research and development in
order to remain strong and competitive.  Similarly, the nation
cannot expect to improve its educational systems without
investing in high-quality research and development.

Our investment in education has done much for American society
and can do even more.  With this investment, we have addressed
the legacy of racism and discrimination that has disadvantaged a
large minority of our people.  With this investment, we have
provided opportunities for self-improvement and advancement to
men and women of all social backgrounds and conditions.  With
this investment, we have developed our nation's scientific and
technological base.  With this investment, we have created a
system of higher education that is widely regarded as the finest
in the world.  In every instance, these socially beneficial
changes have been based on and guided by research.

We have reached a point in our national life, however, when it is
now broadly acknowledged that our investment in education must be
managed more thoughtfully, wisely, and strategically.  The money
spent on education at every level must be spent with greater
promise of results.  Some areas-like higher education-have
flourished, while others-specifically precollegiate
education-suffer significant dysfunctions.  A generation of
national and international assessments has documented the need
for strengthening the quality of elementary and secondary
education.  In the absence of such surveys, we would very likely
continue to believe in the inevitability of progress and would
have no way to gauge the success or limitations of current
educational programs.

Research, assessment, and data collection have enabled us to
identify educational problems and to evaluate the effectiveness
of efforts to improve the schools.  Additional research,
assessment, and data collection are required to enable OERI to
report to the Congress and the American people on the "condition
and progress" of American education and to "promote the cause of
education throughout the country."

For 1993, the Administration seeks an increase of 54 percent for
Research, Statistics, and Improvement.  The bulk of the increase
will be to support a coordinated strategy to assist the States in
implementing educational reform grounded in solid research, and
to support continuing improvements in statistics and assessment.
The key features of this strategy are discussed below.  OERI will
also continue to support the valuable work of the National
Education Research and Development Centers, the Regional
Educational Laboratories, the National Diffusion Network, the
ERIC Clearinghouses, individual researchers, Star Schools,
Educational Partnerships, the Fund for the Improvement and Reform
of Schools and Teaching, the Fund for Innovation in Education,
the Javits Program for Gifted and Talented Students, and the
Eisenhower National Program in Mathematics and Science.

RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT:  A STRATEGY FOR CHANGE

The 1993 request is based on a coordinated strategy of
educational reform, consistent with its mission to use research
on behalf of improvement.  The research-grounded principles that
will guide improvement activities in the years ahead are these:

That research and development activities must support improvement
for all children; that school reforms must be systemic, not
piecemeal; that systemic reform begins with a clear understanding
of what children are expected to learn; that decisions about what
children are to learn provide the foundation for decisions about
instruction, materials, teacher education, and assessment; and
that the primary agencies of school reform are the States.

In support of these principles, OERI plans to help States and
communities improve their schools by raising expectations for all
children and providing support for systemic reform.  The nation's
investment in education research and data collection  has
demonstrated that student performance will improve under certain
conditions: when expectations for students are high and clear;
when those expectations are consistently reinforced; when
students are challenged and motivated to meet high expectations,
not merely through exhortation but through curricular demands
that provide all students with opportunity to learn; and when
parents are actively involved in supporting their children's
academic progress. These effects hold true not only for the most
able and advantaged students, but also for those children whose
personal and social circumstances place them at high risk of
academic failure. In schools and classrooms that embody these
principles and practices, disadvantaged students succeed in
mastering challenging subject matter and are enabled to prepare
for higher education, work, or both.

OERI's work on behalf of systemic reform reflects the
recommendations of the National Council on Education Standards
and Testing, which was created by Congress in 1991.  This panel
urged the nation to adopt higher standards for all children and
to begin to develop a national system of assessments.  In keeping
with these recommendations, OERI will continue to fund the
development of national standards by major non-governmental
professional organizations.

PROPOSED INCREASE FOR  RESEARCH AND NEW TECHNOLOGY

The budget request for the research program is an increase from
$71 million in 1992 to $115 in 1993. The increase will support
systemic reform initiatives and the development of electronic
means to make the results of research accessible to States and
communities.

    FY 1993 Budget Request for OERI Programs ($ in millions)

                                        FY 1993   Change
                                        Request   from
                                                  Appropriation



Research, Statistics and Improvement..... 415.4.......+145.5
Library Programs.........................  35.0.......-107.2
Total, OERI Programs..................... 450.4.......+ 38.3

Twenty-five million ($25 million) of the $44 million augmentation
would support State-level activities and research to raise
standards and improve achievement in schools.  Funds will be
provided through a grants program in order to support the
development by States of new curriculum frameworks, based on
research about what children can learn. The curriculum frameworks
in each State will become the starting point for comprehensive,
coordinated school improvement and systemic reform.  In each
State, the State's own frameworks, shaped by its own teachers and
scholars and reviewed by the public, become the basis for
improving instruction, classroom materials, teacher education,
teacher certification, and assessments. These funds will also
sponsor research on new forms of assessment; research that
analyzes how schools can improve the achievement of "at-risk"
children; and research that examines how other major
industrialized nations shape world-class standards. In addition,
OERI will provide technical assistance and access to research on
standards and assessments to States and communities.

Also included in the requested increase for the research program
is $15 million to bring the Department of Education into the
technological age.  OERI will be creating an electronic
dissemination system that will eventually link schools,
libraries, workplaces, and homes. The first step in this
developmental process is an information system that will bring
information about best research and best practices to every
school library and public library in the nation. This system is
called SMARTLINE (Sources for Materials And Research about
Teaching and Learning for the Improvement of Nationwide
Education). The developmental work on SMARTLINE will begin this
spring, with funds allocated to create a prototype. When this
system is completed, it will be easily accessible to teachers,
parents, students, administrators, and policymakers with
up-to-date information about education based on the best research
and practice. Eventually the electronic system will be capable of
directly transmitting instructional programs, using the
technology that is now part of the Star Schools Program.

To be effective, the results of educational R&D must be
disseminated to teachers, parents and the general public. OERI
plans to do this in a variety of ways. In the coming fiscal year,
OERI will improve coordination of dissemination activities by the
research centers, the regional laboratories, the National
Diffusion Network, and the Star Schools Program. OERI has planned
a vigorous effort to use all means possible-publications,
conferences, videos, data tapes, electronic networks, technical
assistance, and direct communication-to bring knowledge of what
works in education to those who need it most. One of the agency's
most successful programs-the series called "Helping Your Child
Learn. . . ." will be significantly expanded. The most successful
booklet in the series, "Helping Your Child Learn To Use the
Library," has been requested by more than 500,000 people; the
latest addition, "Helping Your Child Learn Science," was ordered
by more than 200,000 people in the first two months after it was
issued. OERI plans to add several new topics such as "Helping
Your Child Learn Mathematics" to this popular series of
publications.  The remaining $4 million of the proposed increase
will be used to fund the continuation of the Evaluation of
Education Reform, which Congress first funded in FY 1991, and the
proposed increase in Field-Initiated Studies.

PROPOSED INCREASE FOR  STATISTICS AND ASSESSMENT
The budget request for the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) is $128 million, an increase of $51 million
over 1992. The work of NCES is essential for educational
progress. As one cannot imagine making decisions about the
economy in the absence of economic data, one cannot make
decisions about educational policy and planning without reliable,
timely educational data.

The budget for statistics reflects data expansion and quality
improvements called for in the 1988 Hawkins-Stafford legislation.
Most NCES data collections are mandated by law; those that are
not are carried out to fill gaps in NCES' responsibility to
report on the condition of education. With each new data
collection, there are increasing costs for analysis and
reporting. As demands for improvement rise, so do demands for
better data. NCES, for example, was the primary supplier of data
to the National Education Goals Panel.

The budget for assessment reflects the costs of moving to
State-by-State assessments of several subjects on a regular
basis. Most of the 1993 funds are necessary to conclude analysis
and reporting of 1992 assessments and to complete development,
pilot-testing and initial implementation of 1994 assessments. The
Hawkins-Stafford Amendments of 1988 call for testing in five
subjects at the national level in 1994 (reading, mathematics,
science, history, and geography), a large expansion over the
three subjects tested in 1992. Pending legislation introduced by
Congressman Kildee requires that reading, mathematics, and
science be tested at the State level in 1994 in grades 4, 8, and
12. This is a three-fold expansion over the 1992 State pilot
test. The increased costs reflect payments to compensate States
for participating as provided for in the Administration's OERI
reauthorization proposal; preparation for the 1995 assessment,
also proposed in the Administration's bill; test development in
geography and history for 1994; and comparisons of NAEP results
with those of other testing programs.

PROPOSED INCREASE FOR TEACHER DEVELOPMENT IN  MATH AND SCIENCE

The Eisenhower National Mathematics and Science Program requests
an increase from $16 million in FY 1992 to $56 million in FY
1993.  The recent report of the Task Force on Education of the
Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government
commended this program for its ability to stimulate needed
reforms in mathematics and science education through competitive
awards. Thirty-six million dollars ($36 million) of the increase
requested is for an innovative teacher-development program in
local school districts. The remainder is for continuing and
expanding on-going projects. The new program is one of the key
FCCSET Committees on Education and Human Resources initiatives to
improve pre-college math and science education.

The purpose of the program is to encourage master teachers in the
high schools to train K-8 teachers in their own school district
in mathematics and science.  The program will feature intensive
training of at least 20 days duration in each participating
school system.  It is intended to build on strengths in the
schools, as well as on the good work already done by the National
Science Foundation, which has trained thousands of secondary
school teachers in mathematics and science. Unless we drastically
improve math and science education at the elementary and middle
school levels, we shall never succeed in reversing the low level
of math and science achievement among American students. Coupled
with the work of the National Science Foundation and the
Eisenhower State Grant Program, this new teacher development
program will help address the critical national need to improve
math and science education.

AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE

To meet the demands of the twenty-first century, our nation's
schools need dramatic improvement. Reform, to be effective, must
be based on experience and sound research. Change, to be
intelligent, must be based on solid information. Improvement, to
be lasting, must be based on a thoughtful understanding of where
we stand today and where we hope to be in the decades ahead. Our
nation's investment in educational research and improvement is a
wise and necessary investment in our children and our future.

Diane S. Ravitch
Assistant Secretary and
Counselor to the Secretary


                         THE PRESIDENT'S
                     FISCAL YEAR 1993 BUDGET
                             FOR THE
         OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH  AND IMPROVEMENT

                  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

              RESEARCH, STATISTICS, AND IMPROVEMENT

 Research, Statistics, and Improvement ($ in millions; rounded)


                              FY 1993             Change from

                              Request             FY 1992
Raising Achievement Levels
For All Students............. $25.0 ............. + $25.0
National Center for
Education Statistics......... 128.4 .............  + 51.2
 NAEP........................  64.8 .............  + 34.9
 Statistics..................  63.6 .............  + 16.3

Office of Research...........  63.8 .............  + 20.0
 Centers.....................  27.7 .............   + 2.4
 Partnerships in Innovative
 Teacher Education...........  20.0 .............  + 20.0
 ERIC........................   7.2 .............     0.0
 Evaluation of Reform........   3.0 .............   + 3.0
 Field-Initiated Research....   2.0 .............   + 1.0
 Javits Gifted &
 Talented Center.............   1.7 .............   + 0.3
 Other.......................   2.2 .............   + 0.7
 National Board for Professional
 Teaching Standards..........   0.0 .............   - 4.9
 National Writing Project....   0.0 .............   - 2.5

Programs for the Improvement
of Practice..................  80.5 ..............  - 2.8
 Laboratories................  31.9 ..............  - 3.2
 Other.......................   0.6 ..............  + 0.1
 National Diffusion Network..  14.7 ..............    0.0
 Blue Ribbon Schools.........   0.9 .............. *+ 0.9
 Javits Gifted & Talented
 Program.....................   8.0 ..............  - 0.3
 Star Schools................  18.4 ..............    0.0
 Educational Partnerships....   4.2 ..............    0.0
 Territorial Teacher
 Training....................   1.8 ..............    0.0
 Leadership in Educational Administration-
 LEAD........................   0.0 ..............  - 0.4
Fund for the Improvement and Reform of
Schools and Teaching Office.. 102.2 .............. + 37.2
 FIRST.......................   9.2 ..............    0.0
 FIE.........................  25.0 ..............  + 1.0
 FIE-Civic Education.........   0.0 ..............  - 3.8
 Eisenhower Math & Science:
  National Programs..........  56.0 ..............   40.0
  Regional Consortia.........  12.0 ..............    0.0

Access to Research...........  15.5 .............. + 15.0
 Access to Research Through
 Technology..................  15.0 .............. + 14.8
 Printing....................   0.5 ..............  + 0.2

TOTAL, Research, Statistics,
& Improvement................$415.4 .............+ $145.5

---------
* Blue Ribbon Schools funding was eventually approved in FY 1992
under a different account for $885.000.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU