Calendar No. 285

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 856

AN ACT

To improve education in the United States by proNthe dissemination of information. moting excellence in research, development, and OVEMBER 16 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Reported without amendment
II

Calendar No. 285

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 856

To improve education in the United States by promoting excellence in

research, development, and the dissemination of information.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 4 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human

Resources

NOVEMBER 16 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Reported by Mr. KENNEDY, without amendment

AN ACT

To improve education in the United States by promoting

excellence in research, development, and the dissemination of information.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Educational Research, Development, and Dissemination

6 Excellence Act’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING OFFICE OF

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 101. General provisions.

Sec. 102. Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.

Sec. 103. Savings provision.

Sec. 104. Existing grants and contracts.

TITLE II—NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH POLICY AND

PRIORITIES BOARD

Sec. 201. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

TITLE III—NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES

Sec. 301. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

TITLE IV—NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION SYSTEM

Sec. 401. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

TITLE V—NATIONAL LIBRARY OF EDUCATION

Sec. 501. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds as follows with respect to improv5 ing education in the United States:

6 (1) A majority of public schools in the United

7 States are failing to adequately prepare their stu8 dents. To achieve the national education goals set

9 forth by the President and the governors of the

10 States, an overwhelming campaign for educational

11 improvement must be mounted in order to set in

12 motion many strategies and models designed to en-
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1 courage and support school restructuring. The Fed2 eral Government must support an extensive program

3 of educational research, development, dissemination,

4 replication and assistance to identify and support

5 the best responses for the challenges ahead. A sig6 nificant investment in attaining a deeper under7 standing of the processes of learning and schooling

8 and developing new ideas holds the best hope of

9 making a substantial difference to the lives of every

10 school and student in the United States. The Office

11 of Educational Research and Improvement of the

12 Department of Education should be at the center of

13 this campaign in order to coordinate such efforts.

14 (2) The Federal role in educational research

15 has been closely identified with youths who are

16 socioeconomically disadvantaged, belong to a lan17 guage minority, or are disabled. However, in 1988,

18 the Federal commitment to education was sufficient

19 to serve not more than—

20 (A) 1 out of every 5 low-income children in

21 need of preschool education;

22 (B) 2 out of every 5 children in need of re23 mediation;

24 (C) 1 out of every 4 children in need of bi25 lingual education; and
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1 (D) 1 out of every 20 youths in need of job

2 training.

3 (3) The failure of the Federal Government to

4 adequately invest in educational research and devel5 opment has denied the Nation a sound foundation

6 on which to design school improvements, leading to

7 a history of faddism and failed experimentation re8 sulting in a dearth of research in the area of educa9 tionally at-risk students. This situation is of particu10 lar concern because at least half of the public school

11 students in 25 of the largest cities of the United

12 States are minority children, and demographers

13 project that, by 2005, almost all urban public school

14 students will be minority children or other children

15 in poverty.

16 (4) The investment goal of the Federal re17 search, development, and dissemination function

18 should be at least 1 percent of the total amount of

19 funds spent on education nationally.

20 (5) Nationwide model programs and reliable

21 interventions should be demonstrated and replicated,

22 and for such purposes, programs should be estab23 lished to conduct research and evaluations, and to

24 disseminate information.
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1 (6) The Office of Educational Research and Im2 provement must develop a national dissemination

3 policy that will advance the goal of placing a na4 tional treasure chest of research results, models, and

5 materials at the disposal of the Nation’s education

6 decisionmakers.

7 (7) A National Educational Research Policy

8 and Priorities Board should be established to ensure

9 that an educational research and dissemination

10 agenda is developed and implemented without par11 tisan political interference.

12 (8) Existing research and development entities

13 should adopt expanded, proactive roles and new in14 stitutions must be created to promote knowledge de15 velopment necessary to accelerate the application of

16 research knowledge to high priority areas.

17 (9) Greater use should be made of existing

18 technologies in efforts to improve the Nation’s edu19 cational system, including efforts to disseminate re20 search findings.

21 (10) Minority educational researchers are inad22 equately represented throughout the Department of

23 Education, but particularly in the Office of Edu24 cational Research and Improvement. The Office

25 therefore must assume a leadership position in the
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1 recruitment, retention, and promotion of qualified

2 minority educational researchers.

3 (11) The coordination of the mission of the Of4 fice of Educational Research and Improvement with

5 that of other components of the Department of Edu6 cation is critical. It must improve the coordination

7 of the educational research, development, and dis8 semination function with those of other Federal

9 agencies.

10 TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

11 REGARDING OFFICE OF EDU12 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND

13 IMPROVEMENT

14 SEC. 101. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

15 Section 405 of the General Education Provisions Act

16 (20 U.S.C. 1221e) is amended to read as follows:

17 ‘‘OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND

18 IMPROVEMENT

19 ‘‘SEC. 405. (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY REGARD20 ING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Congress declares it to

22 be the policy of the United States to provide to every

23 individual an equal opportunity to receive an edu24 cation of high quality regardless of race, color, reli25 gion, sex, age, disability, national origin, or social

26 class. Although the American educational system has
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1 pursued this objective, it has not attained the objec2 tive. Inequalities of opportunity to receive high qual3 ity education remain pronounced. To achieve the

4 goal of quality education requires the continued pur5 suit of knowledge about education through research,

6 development, improvement activities, data collection,

7 synthesis, technical assistance, and information dis8 semination. While the direction of American edu9 cation remains primarily the responsibility of State

10 and local governments, the Federal Government has

11 a clear responsibility to provide leadership in the

12 conduct and support of scientific inquiry into the

13 educational process.

14 ‘‘(2) MISSION OF OFFICE.—

15 ‘‘(A) The mission of the Office of Edu16 cational Research and Improvement shall be to

17 provide national leadership in—

18 ‘‘(i) expanding fundamental knowl19 edge and understanding of education;

20 ‘‘(ii) promoting excellence and equity

21 in education; and

22 ‘‘(iii) monitoring the state of edu23 cation.

24 ‘‘(B) The mission of the Office shall be ac25 complished in collaboration with researchers,
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1 teachers, school administrators, parents, stu2 dents, employers, and policymakers.

3 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE OF OFFICE.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting

5 through the Office of Educational Research and Im6 provement, shall carry out the policies set forth in

7 subsection (a). In carrying out such policies, the

8 Secretary shall be guided by the priorities estab9 lished by the Board of Governors established in sec10 tion 405A.

11 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE.—The Of12 fice shall be administered by the Assistant Secretary

13 and shall include—

14 ‘‘(A) the National Educational Research

15 Policy and Priorities Board established by sec16 tion 405A;

17 ‘‘(B) the national research institutes estab18 lished by section 405B;

19 ‘‘(C) the national education dissemination

20 system established by section 405C;

21 ‘‘(D) the National Library of Education

22 established by section 405D;

23 ‘‘(E) the National Center for Education

24 Statistics established by section 406; and
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1 ‘‘(F) such other units as the Secretary

2 deems appropriate to carry out the purposes of

3 the Office.

4 ‘‘(3) PRIORITIES IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOP5 MENT.—The Office shall, in accordance with the

6 provisions of this section, seek to improve education

7 in the United States through concentrating the re8 sources of the Office on the following priority re9 search and development needs:

10 ‘‘(A) The education of at-risk students.

11 ‘‘(B) The education and development of

12 young children.

13 ‘‘(C) Student achievement in elementary

14 and secondary school.

15 ‘‘(D) Postsecondary education, libraries,

16 and lifelong learning for adults.

17 ‘‘(E) The improvement of schools through

18 the restructuring and reform of school govern19 ance, policymaking, finance and management at

20 the State, local, school building, and classroom

21 level.

22 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENT OF EMPLOYEES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

24 may appoint, for terms not to exceed three years

25 (without regard to the provisions of title 5 of the
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1 United States Code governing appointment in the

2 competitive service) and may compensate (without

3 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub4 chapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to

5 classification and General Schedule pay rates) such

6 scientific or technical employees of the Office as the

7 Assistant Secretary considers necessary to accom8 plish its functions, provided that—

9 ‘‘(A) at least 60 days prior to the appoint10 ment of any such employee, public notice is

11 given of the availability of such position and an

12 opportunity is provided for qualified individuals

13 to apply and compete for such position;

14 ‘‘(B) the rate of basic pay for such employ15 ees does not exceed the maximum rate of basic

16 pay payable for positions at GS–15, as deter17 mined in accordance with section 5376 of title

18 5, United States Code;

19 ‘‘(C) the appointment of such employee is

20 necessary to provide the Office with scientific or

21 technical expertise which could not otherwise be

22 obtained by the Office through the competitive

23 service; and

24 ‘‘(D) the total number of such employees

25 does not exceed one-fifth of the number of full-
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1 time, regular scientific or professional employ2 ees of the Office.

3 ‘‘(2) REAPPOINTMENT OF EMPLOYEES.—The

4 Assistant Secretary may reappoint employees de5 scribed in paragraph (1) upon presentation of a

6 clear and convincing justification of need, for one

7 additional term not to exceed 3 years. All such em8 ployees shall work on activities of the Office and

9 shall not be reassigned to other duties outside the

10 Office during their term.

11 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is

13 authorized to prepare and publish such information,

14 reports, and documents as may be of value in carry15 ing out the purposes of sections 405 through 405D

16 without further clearance or approval by the Sec17 retary or any other office of the Department.

18 ‘‘(2) QUALITY ASSURANCE.—In carrying out

19 such authority, the Assistant Secretary shall—

20 ‘‘(A) establish such procedures as may be

21 necessary to assure that all reports and publica22 tions issued by the Office are of the highest

23 quality; and

24 ‘‘(B) provide other offices of the Depart25 ment with an opportunity to comment upon any
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1 report or publication prior to its publication

2 when its contents relate to matters for which

3 such office has responsibility.

4 ‘‘(e) BIENNIAL REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF OF5 FICE.—The Assistant Secretary shall transmit to the

6 President and the Congress by not later than December

7 30 of every other year a biennial report which shall consist

8 of—

9 ‘‘(1) a description of the activities carried out

10 by and through each research institute during the

11 fiscal years for which such report is prepared and

12 any recommendations and comments regarding such

13 activities as the Assistant Secretary considers appro14 priate;

15 ‘‘(2) a description of the activities carried out

16 by and through the national education dissemination

17 system established by section 405C during the fiscal

18 years for which such report is prepared and any rec19 ommendations and comments regarding such activi20 ties as the Assistant Secretary considers appro21 priate;

22 ‘‘(3) such written comments and recommenda23 tions as may be submitted by the Board concerning

24 the activities carried out by and through each of the

25 institutes and the national education dissemination
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1 system during the fiscal years for which such report

2 is prepared and how such activities relate to the Re3 search Policies and Priorities Plan developed by the

4 Board;

5 ‘‘(4) a description of the coordination activities

6 undertaken pursuant to section 405(f) during the

7 fiscal years for which such report is prepared;

8 ‘‘(5) recommendations for legislative and ad9 ministrative changes necessary to improve the co10 ordination of all educational research, development,

11 and dissemination activities carried out within the

12 Federal Government, particularly within the priority

13 research and development needs identified in section

14 405(b)(3); and

15 ‘‘(6) such additional comments, recommenda16 tions, and materials as the Assistant Secretary con17 siders appropriate.

18 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION.—With the advice and assistance

19 of the Board, the Assistant Secretary shall establish and

20 maintain an ongoing program of activities designed to im21 prove the coordination of education research, development,

22 and dissemination and activities within the Department

23 and within the Federal Government, particularly within

24 the priority research and development needs identified in

25 section 405(b)(3), in order to—
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1 ‘‘(1) minimize duplication in education re2 search, development, and dissemination carried out

3 by the Federal Government;

4 ‘‘(2) maximize the value of the total Federal in5 vestment in education research, development, and

6 dissemination; and

7 ‘‘(3) enable all entities engaged in education re8 search, development, and dissemination within the

9 Federal Government to interact effectively as part10 ners and take full advantage of the diverse resources

11 and proficiencies which each entity has available.

12 ‘‘(g) ACTIVITIES REQUIRED WITH RESPECT TO CO13 ORDINATION.—In carrying out such program of coordina14 tion, the Assistant Secretary shall compile (and thereafter

15 regularly maintain) and make available a comprehensive

16 inventory of all education research, development, dissemi17 nation activities, and expenditures being carried out by the

18 Federal Government within the priority research and de19 velopment needs identified in section 405(b)(3).

20 ‘‘(h) STANDARDS FOR CONDUCT AND EVALUATION

21 OF RESEARCH.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the

23 Board, the Assistant Secretary shall develop such

24 standards as may be necessary to govern the con25 duct and evaluation of all research, development,
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1 and dissemination activities carried out by the Office

2 to assure that such activities meet the highest stand3 ards of professional excellence. In developing such

4 standards, the Assistant Secretary shall review the

5 procedures utilized by the National Institutes of

6 Health, the National Science Foundation, and other

7 Federal agencies engaged in research and develop8 ment and shall also actively solicit recommendations

9 from the National Academy of Sciences, the Amer10 ican Educational Research Association and members

11 of the general public.

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF STANDARDS.—Such stand13 ards shall at a minimum—

14 ‘‘(A) require that a system of peer review

15 be utilized by the Office—

16 ‘‘(i) in reviewing and evaluating all

17 applications for grants and cooperative

18 agreements and bids for those contracts

19 which exceed $100,000;

20 ‘‘(ii) in evaluating and assessing the

21 performance of all recipients of grants

22 from and cooperative agreements and con23 tracts with the Office; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) in reviewing and designating ex2 emplary and promising programs in ac3 cordance with section 405C(d);

4 ‘‘(B)(i) specify the composition of peer re5 view panels, the criteria for the selection of

6 members of such panels, and describe the

7 means by which potential members shall be

8 identified so as to assure that such panels are

9 broadly representative of individuals with exper10 tise in matters relevant to the purposes of each

11 such panel;

12 ‘‘(ii) prohibit the consideration of partisan

13 affiliation in the selection of any member of a

14 peer review panel;

15 ‘‘(iii) describe the general procedures which

16 shall be used by each peer review panel in its

17 operations;

18 ‘‘(iv) prohibit the participation by a mem19 ber of a peer review panel in the review of any

20 application in which such member has any fi21 nancial interest; and

22 ‘‘(v) require that transcripts, minutes, and

23 other documents made available to or prepared

24 for or by a peer review panel will be available

25 for public inspection to the extent consistent
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1 with the Freedom of Information Act, the Fed2 eral Advisory Committee Act, the Privacy Act,

3 and other laws;

4 ‘‘(C)(i) describe the procedures which shall

5 be utilized in evaluating applications for grants,

6 proposed cooperative agreements, and contract

7 bids;

8 ‘‘(ii) specify the criteria and factors which

9 shall be considered in making such evaluations;

10 and

11 ‘‘(iii) provide that any decision to fund a

12 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement out of

13 its order of ranking by a peer review panel shall

14 be first fully justified in writing and that copies

15 of such justification shall be transmitted to the

16 Board, unless such action is required by some

17 other provision of law;

18 ‘‘(D)(i) describe the procedures which shall

19 be utilized in reviewing educational programs

20 which have been identified by or submitted to

21 the Secretary for evaluation in accordance with

22 section 405C(d); and

23 ‘‘(ii) specify the criteria which shall be

24 used in recommending programs as exemplary

25 and promising; and
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1 ‘‘(E)(i) require that the performance of all

2 recipients of grants from and contracts and co3 operative agreements with the Office shall be

4 periodically evaluated, both during and at the

5 conclusion of their receipt of assistance;

6 ‘‘(ii) describe the procedures and means by

7 which such evaluations shall be undertaken, in8 cluding—

9 ‘‘(I) the frequency of such evaluations;

10 ‘‘(II) the criteria, outcome measures,

11 and other factors which shall be taken into

12 account; and

13 ‘‘(III) measures to assure that on-site

14 evaluations of performance shall be utilized

15 to the extent appropriate and whenever

16 practicable; and

17 ‘‘(iii) provide that the results of such eval18 uations shall be taken into account prior to any

19 decision to continue, renew, or provide new

20 funding to the entity being reviewed.

21 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION AND PROMULGATION OF

22 STANDARDS.—

23 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary shall publish

24 proposed standards—
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1 ‘‘(i) which meet the requirements of

2 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of para3 graph (2) not later than 1 year after the

4 date of the enactment of the Educational

5 Research, Development, and Dissemination

6 Excellence Act;

7 ‘‘(ii) which meet the requirements of

8 paragraph (2)(D) not later than 2 years

9 after such date; and

10 ‘‘(iii) which meet the requirements of

11 subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) not

12 later than 3 years after such date;

13 ‘‘(B) Following the publication of such

14 proposed standards, the Assistant Secretary

15 shall solicit comments from interested members

16 of the public with respect to such proposed

17 standards for a period of not more than 120

18 days. After giving due consideration to any

19 comments which may have been received, the

20 Assistant Secretary shall transmit such stand21 ards to the Board for its review and approval.

22 ‘‘(C) Upon the approval of the Board, the

23 Assistant Secretary shall transmit final stand24 ards to the Secretary which meet the require25 ments of the particular subparagraphs of para-
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1 graph (2) for which they were developed. Such

2 standards shall be binding upon all activities

3 carried out with funds appropriated under sec4 tion 405.

5 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIST6 ANT SECRETARY.—In carrying out the activities and pro7 grams of the Office, the Assistant Secretary shall—

8 ‘‘(1) be guided by the Research Priorities Plan

9 developed by the Board;

10 ‘‘(2) ensure that there is broad and regular

11 public and professional involvement from the edu12 cational field in the planning and carrying out of the

13 Office’s activities, including establishing teacher ad14 visory boards for any program office, program or

15 project of the Office as the Assistant Secretary

16 deems necessary;

17 ‘‘(3) ensure that the selection of research topics

18 and the administration of the program are free from

19 undue partisan political influence; and

20 ‘‘(4) ensure that all statistics and other data

21 collected and reported by the Office shall be col22 lected, cross-tabulated, analyzed, and reported by

23 sex within race or ethnicity and socioeconomic status

24 whenever feasible (and when such data collection or

25 analysis is not feasible, ensure that the relevant re-
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1 port or document includes an explanation as to why

2 such data collection or analysis is not feasible).

3 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section and

4 sections 405A through 405D:

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Assistant Secretary’ means the

6 Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and

7 Improvement established by section 202 of the De8 partment of Education Organization Act.

9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘at-risk student’ means a student

10 who, because of limited English proficiency, poverty,

11 geographic location, or educational or economic dis12 advantage, faces a greater risk of low educational

13 achievement and has greater potential for dropping

14 out of school.

15 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Board’ means the National

16 Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board.

17 ‘‘(4) The term ‘educational research’ includes

18 basic and applied research, development, planning,

19 surveys, assessments, evaluations, investigations, ex20 periments, and demonstrations in the field of edu21 cation and other fields relating to education.

22 ‘‘(5) The term ‘development’—

23 ‘‘(A) means the systematic use, adaptation,

24 and transformation of knowledge and under25 standing gained from research to create alter-
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1 natives, policies, products, methods, practices,

2 or materials which can contribute to the im3 provement of educational practice; and

4 ‘‘(B) includes the design and development

5 of prototypes and the testing of such prototypes

6 for the purposes of establishing their feasibility,

7 reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

8 ‘‘(6) The term ‘technical assistance’ means the

9 provision of external assistance to facilitate the

10 adoption or application of the knowledge gained

11 from educational research and development and in12 cludes—

13 ‘‘(A) problem analysis and diagnosis;

14 ‘‘(B) assistance in finding, selecting, or de15 signing suitable solutions and approaches to

16 problems;

17 ‘‘(C) training in the installation and imple18 mentation of products, programs, policies, prac19 tices, or technologies; and

20 ‘‘(D) such other assistance as may be nec21 essary to encourage the adoption or application

22 of such knowledge.

23 ‘‘(7) The term ‘dissemination’ means the trans24 fer of knowledge and products gained through re25 search and includes—
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1 ‘‘(A) the use of communication techniques

2 to increase awareness of such knowledge and

3 products;

4 ‘‘(B) the provision of comparative and

5 evaluative information necessary to enable edu6 cators, school administrators, and others to as7 sess and make informed judgments about the

8 relevance and usefulness of such knowledge and

9 products in specific settings; and

10 ‘‘(C) the provision of technical assistance

11 needed to adapt, apply, and utilize such knowl12 edge and products in specific educational set13 tings.

14 ‘‘(8) The term ‘national education dissemina15 tion system’ means the activities carried out by the

16 Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemination es17 tablished by section 405C.

18 ‘‘(9) The term ‘Office’ means the Office of

19 Educational Research and Improvement established

20 in section 209 of the Department of Education Or21 ganization Act.

22 ‘‘(10) The term ‘national research institute’

23 means an institute established in section 405B.
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1 ‘‘(11) The terms ‘United States’ and ‘State’ in2 clude the District of Columbia and the Common3 wealth of Puerto Rico.

4 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL INSTITUTES.—

6 ‘‘(A) For the purpose of carrying out sec7 tion 405B, there is authorized to be appro8 priated $37,000,000 for fiscal year 1994.

9 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of carrying out the

10 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na11 tional Institute for Student Achievement, there

12 are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000

13 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as are nec14 essary for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997.

15 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of carrying out the

16 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na17 tional Institute for the Education of At-Risk

18 Students, there are authorized to be appro19 priated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and

20 such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal

21 years 1996 and 1997.

22 ‘‘(D) For the purpose of carrying out the

23 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na24 tional Institute for Innovation in Educational

25 Governance, Finance, Policy-Making, and Man-
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1 agement, there are authorized to be appro2 priated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and

3 such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal

4 years 1996 and 1997.

5 ‘‘(E) For the purpose of carrying out the

6 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na7 tional Institute for Early Childhood Develop8 ment and Education, there are authorized to be

9 appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995,

10 and such sums as are necessary for each of fis11 cal years 1996 and 1997.

12 ‘‘(F) For the purpose of carrying out the

13 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na14 tional Institute of Postsecondary Education, Li15 braries, and Lifelong Learning, there are au16 thorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fis17 cal year 1995, and such sums as are necessary

18 for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997.

19 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION

20 SYSTEM.—

21 ‘‘(A)(i) For the purpose of carrying out

22 subsections (b)(2) through (g) of section 405C,

23 there are authorized to be appropriated

24 $22,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and such
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1 sums as are necessary for each of the fiscal

2 years 1995 through 1997.

3 ‘‘(ii) Of the amount appropriated under

4 clause (i) for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall

5 make available not less than $7,175,000 to

6 carry out subsection (f) of section 405C (relat7 ing to clearinghouses).

8 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of carrying out sub9 section (h) of section 405C (relating to regional

10 educational laboratories), there are authorized

11 to be appropriated $37,000,000 for fiscal year

12 1994, and such sums as are necessary for each

13 of the fiscal years 1995 through 1997. Of the

14 amounts appropriated under the preceding sen15 tence for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall obli16 gate not less than 25 percent to carry out such

17 purpose with respect to rural areas (including

18 schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

19 which are located in rural areas).

20 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of carrying out sub21 section (j) of section 405C (relating to the

22 teacher research dissemination network) there

23 are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000

24 for fiscal year 1994, and such sums as are nec-
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1 essary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through

2 1997.

3 ‘‘(D) For the purpose of carrying out sub4 section (i) of section 405C (relating to the

5 Goals 2000 Community Partnerships program),

6 there are authorized to be appropriated

7 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, $50,000,000

8 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as are nec9 essary for each of the fiscal years 1996 and

10 1997.

11 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH POL12 ICY AND PRIORITIES BOARD.—Of the amounts ap13 propriated under paragraphs (1) and (2) for any fis14 cal year, the Secretary shall make available 2 per15 cent of such amounts, or $1,000,000, whichever is

16 less, to the Board for the purpose of carrying out

17 section 405A.

18 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS FOR GRANTS, COOPERATIVE

19 AGREEMENTS, AND CONTRACTS.—Of the amounts

20 appropriated under paragraph (1) or (2) for any fis21 cal year, not less than 95 percent shall be expended

22 to carry out the purposes described in such para23 graphs through grants, cooperative agreements, or

24 contracts.
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1 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON APPROPRIATIONS.—No

2 amounts are authorized to be appropriated under

3 paragraph (1) or (2) for fiscal year 1995 or any fis4 cal year thereafter unless the Board has been ap5 pointed in accordance with section 405A.

6 ‘‘(6) GRANT AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts

7 appropriated under paragraph (1) for fiscal year

8 1995, the Secretary is authorized, in accordance

9 with the provisions of this paragraph, to award a

10 grant of not more than $5,000,000 to a public or

11 private institution, agency or organization for a pe12 riod not to exceed five years for the purpose of con13 ducting a State-by-State poll to determine the per14 ceptions of recent graduates of secondary schools,

15 their instructors in institutions of higher education,

16 parents of recent such graduates, and employers of

17 recent such graduates on how well schools have pre18 pared students for further education or employment.

19 The grant shall be awarded on a competitive basis

20 and shall be matched on a two-to-one basis, with the

21 Federal Government contributing one-third of the

22 total costs of the poll.’’.
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1 SEC. 102. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL RE2 SEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

3 Subsection (b) of section 202 of the Department of

4 Education Organization Act is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1)—

6 (A) by striking subparagraph (E); and

7 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F)

8 and (G) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respec9 tively; and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new

11 paragraph:

12 ‘‘(3) There shall be in the Department an Assistant

13 Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement who

14 shall be—

15 ‘‘(A) appointed by the President, by and with

16 the consent of the Senate; and

17 ‘‘(B) selected in consultation with the National

18 Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board

19 from among individuals who—

20 ‘‘(i) are distinguished educational research21 ers;

22 ‘‘(ii) have proven management ability; and

23 ‘‘(iii) have substantial knowledge of edu24 cation within the United States.’’.
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1 SEC. 103. SAVINGS PROVISION.

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, contracts

3 for the regional educational laboratories, education re4 sources information clearinghouses and research and de5 velopment centers assisted under section 405 of the Gen6 eral Education Provisions Act on the date of the enact7 ment of this Act shall remain in effect until the termi8 nation date of such contracts.

9 SEC. 104. EXISTING GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, grants

11 and contracts for the research and development centers

12 assisted under section 405 of the General Education Pro13 visions Act on the date of enactment of this Act shall re14 main in effect until the termination date of such grants

15 or contracts, as the case may be, except that such grants

16 and contracts may be extended to implement the provi17 sions of this Act.

18 TITLE II—NATIONAL EDU19 CATIONAL RESEARCH POLICY

20 AND PRIORITIES BOARD

21 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU22 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

23 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act (20

24 U.S.C. 1221e et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec25 tion 405 the following new section:
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•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH POLICY AND

2 PRIORITIES BOARD

3 ‘‘SEC. 405A. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established

4 within the Office a National Educational Research Policy

5 and Priorities Board (hereafter in this section referred to

6 as the ‘Board’).

7 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—It shall be the responsibility of

8 the Board, acting through the Assistant Secretary—

9 ‘‘(1) to determine priorities that should guide

10 the work of the Office and provide guidance to the

11 Congress in its oversight of the Office;

12 ‘‘(2) to review and approve standards for the

13 conduct and evaluation of all research, development,

14 and dissemination carried out under the auspices of

15 the Office pursuant to sections 405 through 405C;

16 and

17 ‘‘(3) to regularly review, evaluate, and publicly

18 comment upon, the implementation of its rec19 ommended priorities and policies by the Department

20 and the Congress.

21 ‘‘(c) RESEARCH PRIORITIES PLAN.—In cooperation

22 with the Assistant Secretary, the Board shall—

23 ‘‘(1) survey and assess the state of knowledge

24 in education research, development and dissemina25 tion to identify disciplines and areas of inquiry with-
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•HR 856 RS

1 in the priority research, development and dissemina2 tion needs identified in section 405(b)(3) in which

3 the state of knowledge is insufficient and which war4 rant further investigation, taking into account the

5 views of both education researchers and practicing

6 educators;

7 ‘‘(2) consult with the National Education Goals

8 Panel and other authorities on education to identify

9 national priorities for the improvement of education;

10 ‘‘(3) actively solicit recommendations from edu11 cation researchers, teachers, school administrators,

12 cultural leaders, parents, and others throughout the

13 Nation through such means as periodic regional fo14 rums;

15 ‘‘(4) provide recommendations for the develop16 ment, maintenance, and assurance of a strong infra17 structure for education, research, and development

18 in the United States; and

19 ‘‘(5) on the basis of such recommendations, de20 velop a research priorities program which shall rec21 ommend priorities for the investment of the re22 sources of the Office over the next 5-, 10-, and 15-

23 year periods, including as priorities those areas of

24 inquiry in which further research, development and

25 dissemination—
33

•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(A) is necessary to attain the goals for

2 the improvement of education identified in

3 paragraph (2);

4 ‘‘(B) promises to yield the greatest prac5 tical benefits to teachers and other educators in

6 terms of improving education; and

7 ‘‘(C) will not be undertaken in sufficient

8 scope or intensity by the other Federal and

9 non-Federal entities engaged in education re10 search and development.

11 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS OF PLAN—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The research and priorities

13 plan described in subsection (c) shall, at a mini14 mum—

15 ‘‘(A) set forth specific objectives which can

16 be expected to be achieved as a result of a Fed17 eral investment in the priorities set forth in the

18 plan;

19 ‘‘(B) include recommendations with respect

20 to research and development on cross-cutting is21 sues which should be carried out jointly by 2 or

22 more of the research institutes; and

23 ‘‘(C) include an evaluative summary of the

24 educational research and development activities

25 undertaken by the Federal government during
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•HR 856 RS

1 the preceding 2 fiscal years which shall de2 scribe—

3 ‘‘(i) what has been learned as a result

4 of such activities;

5 ‘‘(ii) how such new knowledge or un6 derstanding extends or otherwise relates to

7 what had been previously known or under8 stood;

9 ‘‘(iii) the implications of such new

10 knowledge or understanding for edu11 cational practice and school reform; and

12 ‘‘(iv) any development, reform, and

13 other assistance activities which have uti14 lized such knowledge or understanding and

15 the effects of such efforts.

16 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—

17 ‘‘(A) Not later than 6 months after the

18 first meeting of the Board and October 1 of

19 every second year thereafter, the Assistant Sec20 retary shall publish a report specifying the pro21 posed research priorities of the Office and allow

22 a 60-day period beginning on the date of the

23 publication of the report for public comment

24 and suggestions.
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•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(B) Not later than 90 days after the expi2 ration of the 60-day period referred to in sub3 paragraph (A), the Assistant Secretary shall

4 submit to the President and the Congress a re5 port specifying the research priorities of the Of6 fice and any public comment and suggestions

7 obtained under such subparagraph.

8 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

9 BOARD.—It shall also be the responsibility of the Board

10 to—

11 ‘‘(1) provide advice and assistance to the As12 sistant Secretary in carrying out the coordination

13 activities described in section 405;

14 ‘‘(2) make recommendations to the Assistant

15 Secretary of persons qualified to fulfill the respon16 sibilities of the Director for each research institute

17 established by section 405B after making special ef18 forts to identify qualified women and minorities and

19 soliciting and giving due consideration to rec20 ommendations from professional associations and in21 terested members of the public;

22 ‘‘(3) advise and make recommendations to the

23 President with respect to individuals who are quali24 fied to fulfill the responsibilities of the Assistant
36

•HR 856 RS

1 Secretary for the Office of Educational Research

2 and Improvement; and

3 ‘‘(4) review and approve standards for the con4 duct and evaluation of research developed by the As5 sistant Secretary pursuant to subsection (h) of sec6 tion 405.

7 ‘‘(f) STANDING SUBCOMMITTEES.—

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT; FUNCTIONS.—The

9 Board shall establish a standing subcommittee for

10 each of the Institutes established by subsection (a)

11 of section 405B and for the Office of Reform Assist12 ance and Dissemination established by subsection

13 (b) of section 405C which shall advise, assist, con14 sult with and make recommendations to the Assist15 ant Secretary, the Board, the Director of such entity

16 and the Congress on matters related to the activities

17 carried out by and through such entities.

18 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—

19 ‘‘(A) Each standing subcommittee shall

20 consist of 3 members of the Board and 6 addi21 tional individuals appointed by the Board who

22 have significant experience in and knowledge of

23 the disciplines relevant to the purposes of the

24 entity for which the subcommittee is estab25 lished.
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•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(B) The Board shall assure that the

2 membership of each subcommittee includes both

3 educational researchers and persons who are

4 knowledgeable about the research, development

5 and dissemination needs of practitioners, in6 cluding classroom teachers, school administra7 tors, and members of State or local boards of

8 education.

9 ‘‘(g) POWERS OF THE BOARD.—In carrying out its

10 functions, powers, and responsibilities, the Board—

11 ‘‘(1) shall, without regard to the provisions of

12 title 5, United States Code, relating to the appoint13 ment and compensation of officers or employees of

14 the United States, appoint a director to be paid at

15 a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay payable

16 for level V of the Executive Schedule who shall as17 sist in carrying out and managing the activities of

18 the Board and perform such other functions the

19 Board determines to be necessary and appropriate;

20 ‘‘(2) shall hire its own staff through routine

21 government procedures;

22 ‘‘(3) may arrange for the detail of staff person23 nel and utilize the services and facilities of any agen24 cy of the Federal Government;
38

•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(4) may enter into contracts, or make other

2 arrangements as may be necessary to carry out its

3 functions;

4 ‘‘(5) may review any grant, contract, or cooper5 ative agreement made or entered into by the Office;

6 ‘‘(6) may, to the extent otherwise permitted by

7 law, obtain directly from any department or agency

8 of the United States such information as it deems

9 necessary to carry out its responsibilities;

10 ‘‘(7) may convene workshops and conferences,

11 collect data, and establish subcommittees which may

12 be composed of members of the Board and

13 nonmember consultants (including employees of the

14 Department) with expertise in the particular area

15 addressed by such subcommittees; and

16 ‘‘(8) shall establish such rules and procedures

17 to govern its operations as it considers appropriate,

18 to the extent otherwise permitted by law.

19 ‘‘(h) MEMBERSHIP IN GENERAL.—

20 ‘‘(1) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the

21 Board shall be eminent persons who, by virtue of

22 their training, experience, and background, are ex23 ceptionally qualified to appraise the educational re24 search and development effort of the Nation and to

25 establish policies and priorities to govern future Fed-
39

•HR 856 RS

1 eral investment in educational research, develop2 ment, and dissemination.

3 ‘‘(2) BROAD REPRESENTATION.—Due consider4 ation shall be given to the gender, race, and eth5 nicity of appointees to assure that the Board is

6 broadly representative of the diversity of the Nation.

7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—A voting member of the

8 Board may not serve on any other governing or advi9 sory board within the Department of Education.

10 ‘‘(4) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—A voting mem11 ber of the Board shall be considered a special Gov12 ernment employee for the purposes of the Ethics in

13 Government Act of 1978.

14 ‘‘(i) SECRETARIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The Board

15 shall consist of 18 members appointed by the Secretary.

16 Of the members of the Board—

17 ‘‘(1) seven shall be appointed from among re18 searchers in the field of education who have been

19 nominated by the National Academy of Sciences and

20 the National Academy of Education (giving due con21 sideration to recommendations made by the Amer22 ican Educational Research Association), including

23 persons who are among the leading authorities on

24 early childhood education and the education of at25 risk students;
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•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(2) five shall be outstanding field-based pro2 fessional educators;

3 ‘‘(3) one shall be a Chief State School Officer;

4 ‘‘(4) one shall be a local education agency

5 school superintendent or principal;

6 ‘‘(5) one shall be a member of a State or local

7 board of education or Bureau of Indian Affairs8 funded school board;

9 ‘‘(6) one shall be a professional librarian, school

10 library media specialist, library administrator, or li11 brary science educator;

12 ‘‘(7) one shall be a parent with extensive experi13 ence in promoting parental involvement in education;

14 and

15 ‘‘(8) one shall be an individual from business

16 and industry with significant experience in promot17 ing private sector involvement in education.

18 ‘‘(j) REQUIREMENTS FOR NOMINATIONS BY THE NA19 TIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND THE NATIONAL

20 ACADEMY OF EDUCATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In making nominations for

22 the members of the Board described in subsection

23 (i)(1), the National Academy of Sciences and the

24 National Academy of Education—
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•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(A) may not nominate any individual who

2 is an elected officer or employee of such organi3 zations; and

4 ‘‘(B) shall each nominate not less than 5

5 individuals for each of the positions on the

6 Board for which such organization has respon7 sibility for making nominations.

8 ‘‘(2) REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL NOMINA9 TIONS.—In the event that the Secretary determines

10 that none of the individuals nominated by the Na11 tional Academy of Sciences or the National Academy

12 of Education meets the qualifications for member13 ship on the Board specified in subsection (i), the

14 Secretary may request that such organization make

15 additional nominations.

16 ‘‘(k) NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD MEMBERSHIP.—

17 Prior to appointing any member of the Board, the Sec18 retary shall actively solicit and give due consideration to

19 recommendations of persons qualified for membership on

20 the board from the National Education Association, the

21 American Federation of Teachers, the National Parent22 Teachers Association, the American Library Association,

23 the American Association of School Administrators, the

24 National Association of State Boards of Education, the

25 National Indian School Board Association, the Association
42

•HR 856 RS

1 of Community Tribal Schools, the National Indian Edu2 cation Association, and other education-related organiza3 tions and interested members of the public.

4 ‘‘(l) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex officio,

5 nonvoting members of the Board shall include the Assist6 ant Secretary and may also include—

7 ‘‘(1) the Director of Research for the Depart8 ment of Defense;

9 ‘‘(2) the Director of Research for the Depart10 ment of Labor;

11 ‘‘(3) the Director of the National Science Foun12 dation;

13 ‘‘(4) the Director of the National Institutes of

14 Health;

15 ‘‘(5) the chair of the National Endowment for

16 the Arts;

17 ‘‘(6) the chair of the National Endowment for

18 the Humanities;

19 ‘‘(7) the Librarian of Congress; and

20 ‘‘(8) the Director of the Office of Indian Edu21 cation Programs of the Department of the Interior.

22 ‘‘(m) CHAIR.—The Board shall select a Chair from

23 among its appointed members who shall serve for a renew24 able term of 2 years.

25 ‘‘(n) TERMS OF OFFICE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graphs (2) and (3), the term of office of each voting

3 member of the Board shall be 5 years.

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—

5 ‘‘(A) Any individual appointed to fill a va6 cancy occurring on the Board prior to the expi7 ration of the term for which the predecessor of

8 the individual was appointed shall be appointed

9 for the remainder of the term. A vacancy shall

10 be filled in the same manner in which the origi11 nal appointment was made.

12 ‘‘(B) The terms of office of the members

13 of the Board who first take office after the date

14 of the enactment of the Educational Research,

15 Development, and Dissemination Excellence Act

16 shall, as designated by a random selection proc17 ess at the time of appointment, be as follows:

18 ‘‘(i) 2 years for each of 6 members of

19 the Board.

20 ‘‘(ii) 3 years for each of 6 members of

21 the Board.

22 ‘‘(iii) 5 years for each of 6 members

23 of the Board.

24 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN CONSECUTIVE

25 TERMS.—An individual who has been a member of
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1 the Board for 10 consecutive years shall thereafter

2 be ineligible for appointment during the 5-year pe3 riod beginning on the date of the expiration of the

4 10th year.

5 ‘‘(o) MEETINGS OF BOARD.—

6 ‘‘(1) INITIAL MEETING.—The Secretary shall

7 ensure that the first meeting of the Board is held

8 not later than May 15, 1994.

9 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—The Board

10 shall meet quarterly, at the call of the Chair, and

11 when at least one-third of the members of the Board

12 make a written request to meet.

13 ‘‘(3) QUORUM.—A majority of the Board shall

14 constitute a quorum.

15 ‘‘(4) OPEN MEETINGS.—The Government in the

16 Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b) shall apply to meet17 ings of the Board.’’.

18 TITLE III—NATIONAL RESEARCH

19 INSTITUTES

20 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU21 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

22 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act, as

23 amended by section 201 of this Act, is amended by insert24 ing after section 405A the following new section:
45

•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES

2 ‘‘SEC. 405B. (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTES.—

3 In order to fulfill the research and development purposes

4 of the Office, and to carry out, in accordance with the

5 standards established by the Board, a program of high6 quality and rigorously evaluated research and development

7 that is capable of improving Federal, State, Indian tribal,

8 and local education policies and practices, there are estab9 lished within the Office the following institutes:

10 ‘‘(1) The National Institute for the Education

11 of At-Risk Students.

12 ‘‘(2) The National Institute for Innovation in

13 Educational Governance, Finance, Policy-Making,

14 and Management.

15 ‘‘(3) The National Institute for Early Childhood

16 Development and Education.

17 ‘‘(4) The National Institute on Student

18 Achievement.

19 ‘‘(5) The National Institute on Postsecondary

20 Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Education.

21 ‘‘(b) DIRECTORS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Institute established

23 by subsection (a) shall be headed by a Director who

24 shall be appointed by the Assistant Secretary from

25 among persons who have significant experience and
46

•HR 856 RS

1 expertise in the disciplines relevant to the purposes

2 of such Institute. Prior to making such appointment,

3 the Assistant Secretary shall solicit and give due

4 consideration to recommendations made by the

5 Board of persons qualified to fulfill the position.

6 ‘‘(2) TERM OF OFFICE.—The Director of each

7 Institute shall serve for a renewable term of 3 years.

8 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—Each Director shall report

9 directly to the Assistant Secretary regarding the ac10 tivities of the Institute and shall work with the other

11 directors to promote research syntheses across the

12 Institutes.

13 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is

15 authorized to conduct research, development, dem16 onstration, and evaluation activities to carry out the

17 purposes for which such Institute was established—

18 ‘‘(A) directly;

19 ‘‘(B) through grants, contracts, and coop20 erative agreements with institutions of higher

21 education, regional educational laboratories,

22 public and private organizations, institutions,

23 agencies, and individuals, which may include—

24 ‘‘(i) grants to support research and

25 development centers which are—
47

•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(I) awarded competitively for a

2 period of not less than 6 and not

3 more than 10 years;

4 ‘‘(II) funded at not less than

5 $2,000,000 annually in order to sup6 port a full range of basic research, ap7 plied research and dissemination ac8 tivities, which may also include devel9 opment activities; and

10 ‘‘(III) established by institutions

11 of higher education, by institutions of

12 higher education in consortium with

13 public agencies or private nonprofit

14 organizations, or by interstate agen15 cies established by compact which op16 erate subsidiary bodies established to

17 conduct postsecondary educational re18 search and development;

19 ‘‘(ii) public-private research partner20 ships established by a State or local edu21 cation agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs22 funded school, or tribal department of edu23 cation, in concert with a private organiza24 tion and a team of educational researchers,

25 for which the Federal share shall be lim-
48

•HR 856 RS

1 ited to not more than 50 percent of the

2 total costs of the project;

3 ‘‘(iii) meritorious unsolicited proposals

4 for educational research and related activi5 ties;

6 ‘‘(iv) proposals that are specifically in7 vited or requested by the Assistant Sec8 retary, on a competitive basis; and

9 ‘‘(v) dissertation grants, awarded for

10 a period of not more than 2 years and in

11 a total amount not to exceed $20,000 to

12 graduate students in the sciences, human13 ities, and the arts to support research by

14 such scholars in the field of education;

15 ‘‘(C) through the provision of technical as16 sistance; and

17 ‘‘(D) through the award of fellowships to

18 support graduate study in educational research

19 by qualified African-American, Hispanic, Amer20 ican Indian and Alaska Native, and other indi21 viduals from groups which have been tradition22 ally underrepresented in the field of educational

23 research which shall—

24 ‘‘(i) be awarded on the basis of merit

25 for a period of 3 years; and
49

•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(ii) provide stipends to each fellow in

2 an amount which shall be set at a level of

3 support comparable to that provided by the

4 National Science Foundation Graduate

5 Fellowships, except that such amounts

6 shall be adjusted as necessary so as not to

7 exceed each fellow’s demonstrated level of

8 need.

9 ‘‘(2) SCOPE AND FOCUS OF ACTIVITIES.—In

10 carrying out the purposes for which each Institute is

11 established, the Assistant Secretary shall—

12 ‘‘(A) maintain an appropriate balance be13 tween applied and basic research;

14 ‘‘(B) significantly expand the role of field15 initiated research in meeting the Nation’s edu16 cation research and development needs by re17 serving not less than 15 percent of the amounts

18 available to each Institute in any fiscal year to

19 support field-initiated research described in

20 clauses (iii) through (v) of paragraph (1);

21 ‘‘(C) provide for and maintain a stable

22 foundation of long-term research and develop23 ment on core issues and concerns conducted

24 through university-based research and develop25 ment centers by reserving not less than one-
50

•HR 856 RS

1 third of the amounts available to each Institute

2 in any fiscal year to support such research and

3 development centers;

4 ‘‘(D) support and provide research infor5 mation that leads to policy formation for State

6 legislatures, State and local boards of education

7 and other policy and governing bodies, to assist

8 such entities in identifying and developing effec9 tive policies to promote student achievement

10 and school improvement; and

11 ‘‘(E) coordinate the Institute’s activities

12 with the activities of the regional educational

13 laboratories and with other educational service

14 organizations in designing the Institute’s re15 search agenda and projects in order to increase

16 the responsiveness of such Institute to the

17 needs of teachers and the educational field and

18 to bring research findings directly into schools

19 to ensure greatest access at the local level to

20 the latest research developments.

21 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FINANCIAL

22 ASSISTANCE.—No grant, contract, or cooperative

23 agreement may be made under this section unless—

24 ‘‘(A) sufficient notice of the availability of,

25 and opportunity to compete for, assistance has
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•HR 856 RS

1 first been provided to potential applicants

2 through notice published in the Federal Reg3 ister or other appropriate means;

4 ‘‘(B) it has been evaluated through peer

5 review in accordance with the standards devel6 oped pursuant to subsection (h) of section 405;

7 ‘‘(C) it will be evaluated in accordance with

8 the standards developed pursuant to subsection

9 (h) of section 405;

10 ‘‘(D) in the case of a grant, contract, or

11 cooperative agreement which exceeds $500,000

12 for a single fiscal year or $1,000,000 for more

13 than one fiscal year, the Secretary has complied

14 with the requirements of paragraph (4); and

15 ‘‘(E) in the case of a grant, contract, or

16 cooperative agreement to support a research

17 and development center, all applications for

18 such assistance have been evaluated by inde19 pendent experts according to standards and cri20 teria which include—

21 ‘‘(i) whether applicants have assem22 bled a critical mass of high quality re23 searchers sufficient to achieve the mission

24 of the center;
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•HR 856 RS

1 ‘‘(ii) whether the proposed organiza2 tional structure and arrangements will fa3 cilitate achievement of the mission of the

4 center;

5 ‘‘(iii) whether there is a substantial

6 staff commitment to the work of the cen7 ter;

8 ‘‘(iv) whether the directors and staff

9 will devote adequate time to center activi10 ties; and

11 ‘‘(v) review of the contributions of pri12 mary researchers (other than researchers

13 at the proposed center) to evaluate the ap14 propriateness of such primary researcher’s

15 experiences and expertise in the context of

16 the proposed center activities, and the ade17 quacy of such primary researcher’s time

18 commitment to achievement of the mission

19 of the center.

20 ‘‘(4) BOARD REVIEW OF CERTAIN PROPOSED

21 GRANT AND CONTRACT ACTIONS.—The Assistant

22 Secretary may not solicit any contract bid or issue

23 a request for proposals or applications for any grant

24 or cooperative agreement the amount of which ex25 ceeds $500,000 in any single fiscal year or which ex-
53

•HR 856 RS

1 ceeds an aggregate amount of $1,000,000 for more

2 than one fiscal year unless the Board has had an op3 portunity to review such proposed grant, contract, or

4 cooperative agreement action and to provide written

5 comments to the Assistant Secretary with respect to

6 whether—

7 ‘‘(A) the purposes and scope of the pro8 posed action are consistent with the Research

9 Priorities Plan; and

10 ‘‘(B) the methodology and approach of the

11 proposed action are sound and adequate to

12 achieve its stated objectives.

13 ‘‘(5) HISTORICALLY UNDERUTILIZED RE14 SEARCHERS AND INSTITUTIONS.—The Assistant

15 Secretary shall establish and maintain initiatives and

16 programs to increase the participation in the activi17 ties of each Institute of groups of researchers and

18 institutions that have been historically underutilized

19 in Federal educational research activities, includ20 ing—

21 ‘‘(A) researchers who are women, African22 American, Hispanic, American Indian and Alas23 ka Native, or other ethnic minorities;

24 ‘‘(B) promising young or new researchers

25 in the field, such as postdoctoral students and
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1 recently appointed assistant or associate profes2 sors;

3 ‘‘(C) historically black colleges and univer4 sities, tribally controlled community colleges,

5 and other institutions of higher education with

6 large numbers of minority students;

7 ‘‘(D) institutions of higher education lo8 cated in rural areas; and

9 ‘‘(E) institutions and researchers located

10 in States and regions of the Nation which have

11 historically received the least Federal support

12 for educational research and development.

13 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—The Assist14 ant Secretary—

15 ‘‘(A) may obtain (in accordance with sec16 tion 3109 of title 5 but without regard to the

17 limitation in such section on the period of serv18 ice) the services of experts or consultants with

19 scientific or professional qualifications in the

20 disciplines relevant to the purposes of such In21 stitute;

22 ‘‘(B) may use, with their consent, the serv23 ices, equipment, personnel, information, and fa24 cilities of other Federal, State, or local public
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1 agencies, with or without reimbursement there2 for;

3 ‘‘(C) may accept voluntary and uncompen4 sated services; and

5 ‘‘(D) may accept unconditional gifts made

6 to the Office to support its activities.

7 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE EDUCATION OF

8 AT-RISK STUDENTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol10 lows:

11 ‘‘(A) The rate of decline in our urban

12 schools is escalating at a rapid pace. Student

13 performance in most inner city schools grows

14 worse each year. At least half of all students

15 entering ninth grade fail to graduate 4 years

16 later and many more students from high-pov17 erty backgrounds leave school with skills that

18 are inadequate for today’s workplace. In 1988

19 the average National Assessment of Edu20 cational Progress (NAEP) reading score of

21 white 17 year-olds was approximately 20 points

22 higher than that of African-American 17 year23 olds and 25 points higher than that of Hispanic

24 17 year-olds. None of the existing Federal edu25 cational research and development programs
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1 are adequately addressing this obvious emer2 gency.

3 ‘‘(B) Rural schools enroll a disproportion4 ately large share of the Nation’s poor and at5 risk students and yet often lack the means to

6 address effectively the needs of these children.

7 Intensive efforts must be made to overcome the

8 problems of geographic isolation, declining pop9 ulation, inadequate financial resources and

10 other impediments to the educational success of

11 children residing in rural areas.

12 ‘‘(C) By the year 2000, an estimated 3.4

13 million school age children with limited English

14 language proficiency will be entering the school

15 system. The Federal Government must develop

16 effective policies and programs to address the

17 educational needs of this growing population of

18 children who are at increased risk for edu19 cational failure.

20 ‘‘(D) An educational emergency exists in

21 those urban and rural areas where there are

22 large concentrations of children who live in pov23 erty. The numbers of educationally disadvan24 taged children will substantially increase by the

25 year 2020, when the number of impoverished
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1 children alone will be 16.5 million, a 33 percent

2 increase over the 12.4 million children in pov3 erty in 1987.

4 ‘‘(E) American Indian and Alaska Native

5 students are keenly at-risk of educational fail6 ure, with demonstrated high dropout, illiteracy

7 and poverty rates, and cultural, linguistic, social

8 and geographic isolation. The estimated

9 400,000 Indian and Alaska Native student pop10 ulation from over 500 Indian and Alaska Native

11 tribes, is small and scattered throughout remote

12 reservations and villages in 32 States, and in

13 off-reservation rural and urban communities

14 where Indians constitute but a small percentage

15 of public school student bodies. To meaningfully

16 address the special educational needs of this

17 historically under-served population, the exist18 ing research and development system must be

19 opened to Indian and Alaska Native people to

20 identify needs and design ways to address such

21 needs.

22 ‘‘(F) Minority scholars as well as institu23 tions and groups that have been historically

24 committed to the improvement of the education

25 of at-risk students need to be more fully mobi-
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1 lized in the effort to develop a new generation

2 of programs, models, practices, and schools ca3 pable of responding to the urgent needs of stu4 dents who are educationally at-risk.

5 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—It shall be the purpose of the

6 Institute for the Education of At-Risk Students to

7 carry out a coordinated and comprehensive program

8 of research and development to provide nonpartisan,

9 research-based leadership to the Nation as it seeks

10 to improve educational opportunities for students

11 who are at-risk for educational failure, particularly

12 children who reside in inner city and rural areas,

13 and on Indian reservations, and children of limited

14 English proficiency. Such program shall—

15 ‘‘(A) undertake research necessary to pro16 vide a sound basis from which to identify, de17 velop, evaluate, and assist others to replicate

18 and adapt interventions, programs, and models

19 which promote greater achievement and edu20 cational success by at-risk students, such as—

21 ‘‘(i) methods of instruction and edu22 cational practices (including community

23 services) which improve the achievement

24 and retention of at-risk students;
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1 ‘‘(ii) means by which parents and

2 community resources and institutions (in3 cluding cultural institutions) can be uti4 lized to support and improve the achieve5 ment of at-risk students;

6 ‘‘(iii) the training of teachers and

7 other educational professionals and para8 professionals to work more effectively with

9 at-risk students;

10 ‘‘(iv) the most effective uses of tech11 nology in the education of at-risk students;

12 ‘‘(v) programs designed to promote

13 gender equity in schools that serve at-risk

14 students; and

15 ‘‘(vi) methods of assessing the

16 achievement of students which are sensitive

17 to cultural differences, provide multiple

18 methods of assessing student learning,

19 support student acquisition of higher order

20 capabilities, and enable identification of

21 the effects of inequalities in the resources

22 available to support the learning of chil23 dren throughout the Nation; and

24 ‘‘(B) maximize the participation of those

25 schools and institutions of higher education
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1 that serve the greatest number of at-risk stu2 dents in inner city and rural areas, and on In3 dian reservations, including model collaborative

4 programs between schools and school systems,

5 institutions of higher education, cultural insti6 tutions, and community organizations.

7 ‘‘(3) COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.—

8 The Institute shall support a diverse and com9 prehensive program of research and development

10 which shall include research related to the edu11 cational needs of—

12 ‘‘(A) at-risk students who reside in urban

13 areas;

14 ‘‘(B) at-risk students who reside in rural

15 areas;

16 ‘‘(C) children with limited English lan17 guage proficiency; and

18 ‘‘(D) Indian and Alaska Native students.

19 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN AND ALASKA

20 NATIVE EDUCATORS.—All research and development

21 activities supported by the Institute which relate to

22 the education of Indian and Alaska Native students

23 shall be developed in close consultation with Indian

24 and Alaska Native researchers and educators, trib25 ally controlled community colleges, tribal depart-
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1 ments of education, and others with expertise in the

2 needs of Indian and Native Alaska students.

3 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION IN

4 EDUCATIONAL GOVERNANCE, FINANCE, POLICY-MAKING,

5 AND MANAGEMENT.—

6 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol7 lows:

8 ‘‘(A) Many elementary and secondary

9 schools in the United States—

10 ‘‘(i) are structured according to mod11 els that are ineffective and rely on notions

12 of management and governance that may

13 be outdated or insufficient for the chal14 lenges of the next century; and

15 ‘‘(ii) are unsuccessful in equipping all

16 students with the knowledge and skills

17 needed to succeed as citizens and in the

18 working world.

19 ‘‘(B) New approaches are needed in the

20 governance and management of elementary and

21 secondary education with the United States at

22 the State, local, school building and classroom

23 level.

24 ‘‘(C) Not enough is known about the ef25 fects of various systems of school governance
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1 and management on student achievement to

2 provide sound guidance to policymakers as they

3 pursue school restructuring and reform.

4 ‘‘(D) A concentrated Federal effort is

5 needed to support research, development, dem6 onstration, and evaluation of approaches to

7 school governance, finance and management

8 which promise to improve education equity and

9 excellence throughout the Nation.

10 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—It shall be the purpose of the

11 National Institute on Innovation in Educational

12 Governance, Finance, Policy-Making, and Manage13 ment to carry out a coordinated and comprehensive

14 program of research and development to provide

15 nonpartisan, research-based leadership to the Nation

16 as it seeks to improve student achievement through

17 school restructuring and reform. Such program

18 shall—

19 ‘‘(A) undertake research necessary to pro20 vide a sound basis from which to identify, de21 velop and evaluate approaches in governance, fi22 nance, policy-making, and management at the

23 State, local, tribal, school building and class24 room level which promise to improve edu25 cational equity and excellence, such as—
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1 ‘‘(i) open enrollment programs, mag2 net schools and other systems through

3 which parents may select the public schools

4 and educational programs in which their

5 children are enrolled;

6 ‘‘(ii) innovative school design, includ7 ing lengthening the school day and the

8 school year, reducing class size and build9 ing professional development into the

10 weekly school schedule;

11 ‘‘(iii) effective approaches to organiz12 ing learning;

13 ‘‘(iv) effective ways of grouping stu14 dents for learning so that a student is not

15 labeled or stigmatized in ways that may

16 impede such student’s achievement;

17 ‘‘(v) effective approaches to organiz18 ing, structuring, and financing vocational

19 education;

20 ‘‘(vi) the provision of financial and

21 other rewards and incentives based on per22 formance to improve student achievement;

23 ‘‘(vii) the use of regulatory flexibility

24 on the State or district level to promote in25 novation and school restructuring;
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1 ‘‘(viii) school-based management;

2 ‘‘(ix) the restructuring of school fi3 nance systems at the State and local level

4 to promote greater equity in the distribu5 tion of resources for education and to

6 maximize the allocation of such resources

7 to support direct learning;

8 ‘‘(x) expanding the role of teachers in

9 policymaking and administration at the

10 school and district-wide level;

11 ‘‘(xi) programs designed to increase

12 the involvement of parents and families in

13 the management and governance of schools

14 and the education of their children;

15 ‘‘(xii) effective approaches to increas16 ing the representation of women and mi17 norities among leadership and management

18 positions in education;

19 ‘‘(xiii) approaches to systemic reforms

20 involving the coordination of multiple poli21 cies of each level of government to promote

22 higher levels of student achievement;

23 ‘‘(xiv) approaches to coordinated serv24 ices for children; and
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1 ‘‘(xv) policies related to school to work

2 transitions and preparing noncollege-bound

3 students; and

4 ‘‘(B) undertake research and development

5 activities necessary to provide information on

6 the skills required for successful educational

7 leadership at the State, tribal, and local level

8 and to enhance the ability of school leaders and

9 administrators to improve the educational envi10 ronment for all students.

11 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.—In

12 carrying out the duties of the Institute, the Assist13 ant Secretary shall conduct or support research on

14 whether and to what extent the quality of education

15 in the United States would be improved by providing

16 public funds to parents for the costs of attendance

17 of their children at the elementary and secondary

18 schools of the parents’ choice.

19 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD

20 DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol22 lows:

23 ‘‘(A) The Nation has set as a goal that all

24 children should arrive at school ready to learn.
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1 ‘‘(B) Despite efforts to expand and im2 prove preschool programs, many children still

3 reach school age unprepared to benefit from

4 formal education programs.

5 ‘‘(C) Early intervention for disadvantaged

6 children from conception to age five has been

7 shown to be a highly cost-effective strategy for

8 reducing later expenditures on a wide variety of

9 health, developmental, and educational prob10 lems that often interfere with learning. Long11 term studies of the benefits of preschool edu12 cation have a demonstrated return on invest13 ment ranging from three to six dollars for every

14 one dollar spent.

15 ‘‘(D) The Federal government should play

16 a central role in providing research-based infor17 mation on early childhood education models

18 which enhance children’s development and ulti19 mately their success in school.

20 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National

21 Institute for Early Childhood Development and Edu22 cation is to carry out a comprehensive program of

23 research and development to provide nonpartisan,

24 research-based leadership to the Nation as it seeks

25 to improve early childhood development and edu-
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1 cation. Such program shall identify, develop, evalu2 ate, and assist others to replicate sound policies and

3 practices that may include—

4 ‘‘(A) social and educational development of

5 all infants, toddlers, and preschool children;

6 ‘‘(B) the role of parents and the commu7 nity in promoting the successful social and edu8 cational development of children from birth to

9 age five;

10 ‘‘(C) training and preparation of teachers

11 and other professional and paraprofessional

12 preschool and child care workers;

13 ‘‘(D) the structure and environment of

14 early childhood education and child care set15 tings which lead to improved social and edu16 cational development;

17 ‘‘(E) practices and approaches which sus18 tain the benefits of effective preschool and child

19 care programs;

20 ‘‘(F) effective learning methods and cur21 riculum for early childhood learning, including

22 access to current materials in libraries;

23 ‘‘(G) the importance of family literacy and

24 parental involvement in student learning;
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1 ‘‘(H) the impact that outside influences

2 have on learning, including television, and drug

3 and alcohol abuse; and

4 ‘‘(I) methods for integrating learning in

5 settings other than the classroom, such as with6 in families and communities, with a special em7 phasis on character development and the value

8 of hard work.

9 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying

10 out the activities of the Institute, the Assistant Sec11 retary shall—

12 ‘‘(A) place special emphasis on the special

13 early childhood education needs of at-risk chil14 dren, children with disabilities, and girls; and

15 ‘‘(B) ensure that its research and develop16 ment program provides information that can be

17 utilized in improving the major Federal early

18 childhood education programs, including Head

19 Start, Even Start, chapter 1 preschool pro20 grams, and part H of the Individuals with Dis21 abilities Education Act, and Bureau of Indian

22 Affairs early childhood development programs.

23 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON STUDENT ACHIEVE24 MENT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol2 lows:

3 ‘‘(A) The current achievement levels of

4 students in the Nation are far below those that

5 might indicate competency in challenging sub6 ject matter in English, mathematics, science,

7 history, and geography and other areas, or

8 across the subject areas.

9 ‘‘(B) Very few students demonstrate that

10 they can use their minds well. In recent assess11 ments, more students are gaining basic skills,

12 yet fewer are demonstrating a grasp of higher13 level applications of those skills.

14 ‘‘(C) During the past 20 years, relatively

15 little has changed in how students are taught.

16 Despite much research suggesting better alter17 natives, classrooms are still dominated by text18 books, teacher lectures, and short-answer activ19 ity sheets and unequal patterns of student at20 tention.

21 ‘‘(D) Despite progress in narrowing the

22 gaps, the differences in performance between

23 white students and their minority counterparts

24 remain unacceptably large. While progress has

25 been made in reducing the gender gap in math-
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•HR 856 RS

1 ematics, it still remains at higher levels of prob2 lem solving. Too little progress has been made

3 in reducing gender performance gaps favoring

4 males in science and females in writing.

5 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National

6 Institute on Student Achievement is to carry out a

7 coordinated and comprehensive program of research

8 and development to provide research-based leader9 ship to the Nation as it seeks to improve student

10 achievement in English, mathematics, science, his11 tory, geography, and other subject areas and across

12 the boundaries of the subject areas. Such program

13 shall—

14 ‘‘(A) identify, develop, and evaluate inno15 vative and exemplary methods to improve stu16 dent knowledge at all levels in English, mathe17 matics, science, history, geography, civics and

18 government, foreign languages, arts and hu19 manities, economics, and other subject areas,

20 such as—

21 ‘‘(i) student learning and assessment

22 in various subject matters;

23 ‘‘(ii) the effects of organizational pat24 terns on the delivery of instruction, includ25 ing issues of grouping and tracking,
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1 ungraded classrooms, and on the effects of

2 various pedagogies, including the issues of

3 technology in education;

4 ‘‘(iii) the best methods of teacher

5 preparation;

6 ‘‘(iv) methods to improve the process

7 of reading, the craft of writing, the growth

8 of reasoning skills, and the development of

9 information-finding skills;

10 ‘‘(v) enabling students to develop

11 higher order thinking skills;

12 ‘‘(vi) methods to teach effectively all

13 students in mixed-ability classrooms;

14 ‘‘(vii) curriculum, instruction, and as15 sessment, in vocational education;

16 ‘‘(viii) the impact and effectiveness of

17 Federal, State, and local efforts to provide

18 gender-fair educational opportunities to el19 ementary and secondary students; and

20 ‘‘(ix) programs, policies, approaches

21 which promote gender equity in elementary

22 and secondary education;

23 ‘‘(B) conduct basic and applied research in

24 the areas of human learning, cognition, and

25 performance, including research and develop-
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1 ment on the education contexts which promote

2 excellence in learning and instruction, and moti3 vational issues which provide a key to learning;

4 ‘‘(C) identify, develop, and evaluate pro5 grams designed to enhance academic achieve6 ment and narrow racial and gender perform7 ance gaps in a variety of subject areas, includ8 ing research and development on methods of in9 volving parents in their children’s education and

10 ways to involve business, industry and other

11 community partners in promoting excellence in

12 schools; and

13 ‘‘(D) include a comprehensive, coordinated

14 program of research and development in the

15 area of assessment which—

16 ‘‘(i) addresses such issues as—

17 ‘‘(I) the validity, reliability, gen18 eralizability, fairness, costs, relative

19 merits, and most appropriate uses of

20 various approaches and methods of

21 assessing student learning and

22 achievement;

23 ‘‘(II) methods and approaches to

24 assessing student opportunities to

25 learn (including the quality of instruc-
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1 tion and the availability of resources

2 necessary to support learning) and

3 evaluating the quality of school envi4 ronment;

5 ‘‘(III) the design, development,

6 evaluation, and validation of model

7 performance-based and other alter8 native or innovative formats or uses of

9 assessments;

10 ‘‘(IV) the impact of high-stakes

11 uses of assessment on student per12 formance and motivation, narrowing

13 of curriculum, teaching practices, and

14 test integrity;

15 ‘‘(V) the fairness and impact of

16 various methods of assessment on

17 children of different races, ethnicities,

18 gender, socioeconomic status, English

19 language proficiencies, and children

20 with other special needs;

21 ‘‘(VI) standards of performance,

22 quality, and validity for various meth23 ods of assessment and the means by

24 which such standards should be devel25 oped;
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1 ‘‘(VII) current and emerging

2 testing practices of State and local

3 education agencies within the United

4 States, as well as other nations;

5 ‘‘(VIII) the diverse effects, both

6 intended and unintended, of assess7 ments as actually used in the schools,

8 including effects on curriculum and

9 instruction, effects on equity in the al10 location of resources and opportuni11 ties, effects on equity of outcomes, ef12 fects on other procedures and stand13 ards for judging students and practi14 tioners and possible inflation of test

15 scores;

16 ‘‘(IX) identifying and evaluating

17 how students with limited English

18 language proficiency and students

19 with disabilities are included and ac20 commodated in the various assess21 ment programs of State and local edu22 cation agencies; and

23 ‘‘(X) the feasibility and validity

24 of comparing or equating the results

25 of different assessments;
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1 ‘‘(ii) reflects recommendations made

2 by the National Education Goals Panel

3 (provided such panel has been authorized

4 by law);

5 ‘‘(iii) complies with the ‘Standards for

6 Educational and Psychological Tests’ de7 veloped by the American Psychological As8 sociation, the National Council on Meas9 urement in Education, and the American

10 Educational Research Association;

11 ‘‘(iv) is consistent with the ‘Criteria

12 for Evaluation of Student Assessment Sys13 tems’ developed by the National Forum on

14 Assessment; and

15 ‘‘(v) complies with the ‘Code of Fair

16 Testing Practices in Education’ developed

17 by the Joint Committee on Testing Prac18 tices.

19 For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘devel20 opment’ means the development of prototypes for

21 the purposes of research and evaluation.

22 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POSTSECONDARY

23 EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, AND LIFELONG LEARNING.—

24 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol25 lows:
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1 ‘‘(A) The American system of postsecond2 ary education is foremost in the world in its

3 achievement of both academic excellence and

4 equity in access, but maintaining that pre5 eminence requires renewed efforts to strengthen

6 the quality of postsecondary education. Dis7 appointing student performance on achievement

8 tests and licensure examinations, declining rates

9 of persistence and completion among minorities,

10 and other troubling trends in the quality of

11 postsecondary education must be addressed by

12 the Nation as part of its overall drive to im13 prove American education.

14 ‘‘(B) The need to improve our Nation’s

15 economic productivity to meet the competitive

16 challenges of a new, international economy, cou17 pled with high levels of mobility in the United

18 States labor market and demographic changes

19 in the workforce, now demands more and higher

20 quality programs of learning and training in the

21 American workplace.

22 ‘‘(C) The more than 1,000,000 men and

23 women incarcerated in the Nation’s prisons and

24 jails are among the most severely educationally

25 disadvantaged in the United States, with high
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1 rates of functional illiteracy and extremely low

2 levels of educational attainment. Since an esti3 mated 90 percent of these individuals are ex4 pected to be released by the end of the decade,

5 the Nation must act to assure that our correc6 tional system has the means to equip these

7 Americans with the knowledge and skills they

8 will need to participate productively in our

9 society.

10 ‘‘(D) The development of a ‘Nation of Stu11 dents’ capable of and committed to the pursuit

12 of formal and informal lifelong learning is es13 sential to sustain both national and individual

14 economic success and to provide a nurturing en15 vironment in which all children and youth can

16 learn and achieve. Historically the most effec17 tive community resource for lifelong learning,

18 the Nation’s public library system must expand

19 and restructure its delivery of services to take

20 full advantage of the potential of new informa21 tion technologies to meet the needs of learning

22 communities.

23 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National

24 Institute for Postsecondary Education, Libraries,

25 and Lifelong Learning is to promote greater coordi-
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1 nation of Federal research and development on is2 sues related to adult learning and to carry out a

3 program of research and development in adult learn4 ing to provide nonpartisan, research-based leader5 ship to the Nation as it seeks to improve libraries,

6 postsecondary education, and lifelong learning

7 throughout the United States. Such program—

8 ‘‘(A) shall promote greater coordination,

9 cooperation, and interaction among entities

10 within the Federal Government which support

11 research and development related to postsecond12 ary education, libraries, and lifelong learning;

13 ‘‘(B) shall enable greater collaboration

14 among entities within the Federal Government

15 which support research and development related

16 to postsecondary education, libraries, and life17 long learning by supporting research and devel18 opment projects which are carried out jointly by

19 such entities;

20 ‘‘(C) shall support research and develop21 ment in those areas of postsecondary education,

22 libraries, and lifelong learning which are not

23 being addressed sufficiently by other entities

24 within the Federal Government;
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1 ‘‘(D) may include basic and applied re2 search, development, replication, and evaluation

3 activities in such areas as—

4 ‘‘(i) methods of assessing and evaluat5 ing individual, program, and institutional

6 performance;

7 ‘‘(ii) the uses and applications of new

8 technologies to improve program effective9 ness and enhance student learning;

10 ‘‘(iii) practices, policies, and programs

11 which address the unique needs of adult

12 learners, including—

13 ‘‘(I) institutional and classroom

14 policies and practices at the post15 secondary level necessary to improve

16 matriculation, persistence, achieve17 ment and graduation by students who

18 are economically disadvantaged, ethnic

19 and racial minorities, women, older,

20 working, and who have children;

21 ‘‘(II) instructional practices and

22 programs which are effective in cor23 rectional settings;

24 ‘‘(III) new models of service de25 livery for public library systems which
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1 expand opportunities for lifelong

2 learning;

3 ‘‘(IV) effective programs and ap4 proaches which promote greater ac5 cess to and success by minorities in

6 postsecondary programs which pre7 pare them for scientific, technical,

8 teaching, and health career fields;

9 ‘‘(V) effective approaches to

10 work-based learning; and

11 ‘‘(VI) the most effective training

12 methods for adults to upgrade edu13 cation and vocational skills;

14 ‘‘(iv) the effectiveness of Historically

15 Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally16 Controlled Indian Community Colleges,

17 women’s colleges, and other special mission

18 institutions in fulfilling their mission of

19 providing access and equal opportunity in

20 higher education;

21 ‘‘(v) the quality of higher education at

22 all levels and the roles and responsibilities

23 of regional and national accrediting agen24 cies in assuring the quality and relevance
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1 of academic goals and objectives estab2 lished by institutions of higher education;

3 ‘‘(vi) approaches to improving the pro4 ductivity of colleges, community colleges,

5 universities, and other postsecondary insti6 tutions;

7 ‘‘(vii) financial barriers to postsecond8 ary educational opportunity, including—

9 ‘‘(I) the role of Federal programs

10 authorized under title IV of the High11 er Education Act and State grant and

12 work programs in mitigating such

13 barriers;

14 ‘‘(II) the impact of the rising

15 total cost of postsecondary education

16 on access to higher education; and

17 ‘‘(III) the extent and impact of

18 student reliance on loans to meet the

19 costs of higher education;

20 ‘‘(viii) opportunities for adults to con21 tinue their education beyond higher edu22 cation and graduate school, in the context

23 of lifelong learning and information-finding

24 skills; and
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1 ‘‘(ix) preparing students for a lifetime

2 of work, the ability to adapt through re3 training to the changing needs of the work

4 force and the ability to learn new tasks.

5 ‘‘(3) INVOLVEMENT OF CERTAIN AGENCIES AND

6 ORGANIZATIONS.—In promoting coordination and

7 collaboration on research and development on issues

8 related to postsecondary education, libraries, and

9 lifelong learning, the Institute shall, as appropriate,

10 seek the involvement of—

11 ‘‘(A) within the Department of Edu12 cation—

13 ‘‘(i) the Office of Library Programs;

14 ‘‘(ii) the Office of Correctional Edu15 cation;

16 ‘‘(iii) the Office of Vocational and

17 Adult Education;

18 ‘‘(iv) the National Institute on Dis19 ability and Rehabilitation Research; and

20 ‘‘(v) the Office of Postsecondary Edu21 cation;

22 ‘‘(B) the National Institute for Literacy;

23 ‘‘(C) the National Board for Professional

24 Teaching Standards;
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1 ‘‘(D) the Employment and Training Ad2 ministration of the Department of Labor;

3 ‘‘(E) the Administration for Children and

4 Families within the Department of Health and

5 Human Services;

6 ‘‘(F) the National Institutes of Health;

7 ‘‘(G) the National Endowment for Human8 ities;

9 ‘‘(H) the National Endowment for the

10 Arts;

11 ‘‘(I) the Bureau of Prisons of the Depart12 ment of Justice;

13 ‘‘(J) the Department of Commerce;

14 ‘‘(K) the Department of Defense; and

15 ‘‘(L) the Office of Indian Education Pro16 grams of the Department of the Interior.

17 ‘‘(4) In addition to the responsibilities described

18 in paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall en19 sure that the activities of the existing National Cen20 ter on Literacy are fully coordinated with those of

21 the National Institute for Literacy.

22 ‘‘(i) COORDINATION OF RESEARCH ON CROSS-CUT23 TING ISSUES.—The Assistant Secretary shall promote the

24 coordination of research and development activities among

25 the Institutes established by subsection (a) to investigate
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1 those cross-cutting disciplines and areas of inquiry, such

2 as assessment, the use of technology and the training of

3 teachers and school administrators, which are relevant to

4 the missions of more than one of the Institutes. Such ac5 tivities shall—

6 ‘‘(1) address cross-cutting disciplines and areas

7 of inquiry which have been proposed by the Assist8 ant Secretary and are consistent with the research

9 priorities identified by the Board;

10 ‘‘(2) be carried out jointly (1) by any one of the

11 Institutes and—

12 ‘‘(A) one (or more) of the Institutes;

13 ‘‘(B) the National Center for Education

14 Statistics; or

15 ‘‘(C) any research and development entity

16 administered by other offices of the Department

17 of Education or by any other Federal agency or

18 Department; and

19 ‘‘(3) meet all the standards set by the Assistant

20 Secretary and the Board for other research and de21 velopment conducted by the Office.

22 ‘‘(j) PROGRAM ON TEACHING AND TEACHER EDU23 CATION.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary, in

25 accordance with the requirements of this subsection,
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1 shall undertake a comprehensive, coordinated pro2 gram of research in the area of teaching, teacher

3 education, and professional development.

4 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—In

5 carrying out the program established under para6 graph (1), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct, di7 rectly or through grants and contracts, basic and ap8 plied research and analytical activities to further

9 knowledge about, make recommendations, and im10 prove—

11 ‘‘(A) the ability of classroom teachers and

12 schools to assist new and diverse populations of

13 students in successfully assimilating into the

14 classroom environment;

15 ‘‘(B) the working conditions of teachers

16 and other educational practitioners, which may

17 include such topics as—

18 ‘‘(i) teacher isolation;

19 ‘‘(ii) professional resources available

20 to teachers;

21 ‘‘(iii) continuing educational and pro22 fessional opportunities available to teach23 ers;

24 ‘‘(iv) physical facilities and equipment,

25 such as office space, telephone, computer
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1 access, and fax machines and television

2 cable access available to teachers in the

3 work environment;

4 ‘‘(v) opportunities for teachers to

5 share information and resources with other

6 teachers and education professionals;

7 ‘‘(vi) opportunities for advanced learn8 ing experience; and

9 ‘‘(vii) the reduction of stress in the

10 teaching profession;

11 ‘‘(C) institutional program renewal and in12 struction;

13 ‘‘(D) restructuring of State certification of

14 teachers and teacher education standards; and

15 ‘‘(E) assisting in the development of teach16 er certification standards by Indian tribal de17 partments of education.

18 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the

19 program established under paragraph (1), the As20 sistant Secretary—

21 ‘‘(A) shall work with institutions of higher

22 education engaged in the preparation of teach23 ers and professional organizations of teacher

24 educators and practitioners to encourage insti25 tutional program renewal and restructuring;
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1 ‘‘(B) may conduct, directly or through

2 grants and contracts research on—

3 ‘‘(i) effective and reflective teaching

4 for the preparation and continuing edu5 cation of teachers;

6 ‘‘(ii) the use of computing and multi7 made technology to advance the under8 standing and abilities of teacher educators

9 and classroom teachers;

10 ‘‘(iii) the development and appraisal

11 of curriculum and curriculum materials for

12 the initial and continuing education of

13 teachers and teacher educators; and

14 ‘‘(iv) strengthening the evaluation and

15 dissemination of information on programs

16 for continuing professional education and

17 renewal of those who educate teachers for

18 initial or advanced licensure or certifi19 cation; and

20 ‘‘(C) shall work with the national regional

21 education laboratories, the ERIC clearing22 houses, national education research library, and

23 the National Center for Education Statistics to

24 maximize information available, to prevent un25 necessary duplication of efforts and resources,
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1 and to ensure the results of the centers work

2 are widely available.

3 ‘‘(k) RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.—

4 The Assistant Secretary shall undertake a comprehensive,

5 coordinated program of research and development in the

6 area of the uses and applications of technology in edu7 cation. Such program—

8 ‘‘(1) may support basic and applied research

9 and development, analysis, evaluation in the area of

10 the uses and applications of technology to education,

11 including—

12 ‘‘(A) the capabilities of current and emerg13 ing technologies and their possible uses in edu14 cation;

15 ‘‘(B) the uses and applications of tech16 nology—

17 ‘‘(i) to improve instruction within all

18 content areas in the school curriculum;

19 ‘‘(ii) to educate more effectively at20 risk students and other students with spe21 cial needs;

22 ‘‘(iii) to improve education in rural

23 communities and other remote areas;

24 ‘‘(iv) to improve the assessment of

25 student learning and achievement;
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1 ‘‘(v) to deliver preservice and inservice

2 training for teachers, librarians, and school

3 administrators; and

4 ‘‘(vi) to deliver and improve profes5 sional development and continuing edu6 cation programs;

7 ‘‘(C) the cost and educational effectiveness

8 of technologies used in education;

9 ‘‘(D) effective models and approaches for

10 providing the preservice and inservice training

11 and technical assistance necessary to enable

12 teachers, librarians, and school administrators,

13 cultural organizations, and others to use tech14 nology effectively in education;

15 ‘‘(E) the identification of barriers to great16 er use of technologies in education and poten17 tial approaches to eradicating or mitigating

18 such barriers;

19 ‘‘(F) methods and approaches which can

20 be utilized by teachers, school administrators,

21 and education policymakers, and educational

22 programs in cultural institutions to evaluate the

23 quality and most appropriate uses of software

24 and other technologies designed for use in edu25 cation; and
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1 ‘‘(G) approaches to organizing and manag2 ing schools and classrooms to make the most

3 effective use of technology in education; and

4 ‘‘(2) shall be coordinated with related research

5 and development activities undertaken by the Office

6 of Special Education Programs, the National

7 Science Foundation, the Department of Defense,

8 and other Federal agencies.

9 ‘‘(l) TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) TEMPORARY REORGANIZATIONS.—Upon

11 the enactment of the Educational Research, Devel12 opment and Dissemination Excellence Act, the Sec13 retary shall reorganize the research and development

14 functions and activities of the Office into adminis15 trative units the purposes of which shall be the same

16 as those for each of the national research institutes

17 established in subsection (a). Such administrative

18 units shall be responsible for planning and providing

19 for the establishment of such institutes and shall

20 cease to exist on the dates upon which each of the

21 relevant institutes is established. The provisions of

22 subsection (c) (relating to authorities and duties)

23 shall apply to all activities undertaken by each such

24 administrative unit.
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1 ‘‘(2) DATES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTI2 TUTES.—The National Institute for the Education

3 of At-Risk Students, the National Institute for Inno4 vation in Educational Governance, Finance, Policy5 Making, and Management, the National Institute for

6 Early Childhood Development and Education, the

7 National Institute on Student Achievement, and the

8 National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Li9 braries, and Lifelong Learning shall each be estab10 lished effective October 1, 1994.’’.

11 TITLE IV—NATIONAL EDU12 CATION DISSEMINATION SYS13 TEM

14 SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU15 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

16 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act, as

17 amended by section 301 of this Act, is amended by insert18 ing after section 405B the following new section:

19 ‘‘NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION SYSTEM

20 ‘‘SEC. 405C. (a) IN GENERAL.—

21 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol22 lows:

23 ‘‘(A) In order to improve the American

24 educational system for all students, achieve the

25 national education goals, and provide for great26 er educational equity, policymakers, administra-
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1 tors, teachers, and parents must have ready ac2 cess to the best information and methods avail3 able as a result of educational research and de4 velopment.

5 ‘‘(B) The Office of Educational Research

6 and Improvement should have as one of its pri7 mary purposes the dissemination of such infor8 mation and methods in order to assist the na9 tional education reform effort.

10 ‘‘(C) All current resources within the Of11 fice, the Department, and other agencies that

12 can help accomplish this goal should be coordi13 nated by the Assistant Secretary so as to form

14 a systematic process to accomplish these objec15 tives.

16 ‘‘(D) Education research has the capacity

17 to improve teaching and learning in our Na18 tion’s schools, however, teachers need training

19 in the developmental skills necessary to trans20 late research into practice and to allow them to

21 become a cadre of knowledgeable practitioners

22 and leaders in educational improvement.

23 ‘‘(E) Adequate linkages between research

24 and development providers and practitioners are

25 essential to ensuring that research on effective
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1 practice is useful, disseminated and supported

2 with technical assistance to all educators, and

3 that all educators are partners in the research

4 and development process.

5 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is

6 to—

7 ‘‘(A) create a national system of dissemi8 nation, development, and educational improve9 ment in order to create, adapt, identify, vali10 date, and disseminate to educators, parents,

11 and policymakers those educational programs

12 that have potential or have been shown to im13 prove educational opportunities for all students;

14 and

15 ‘‘(B) empower and increase the capacity of

16 teachers to participate in the research and de17 velopment process.

18 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF EDUCATIONAL PRO19 GRAM.—For the purposes of this section, the term

20 ‘educational program’ includes educational policies,

21 research findings, practices, and products.

22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within

24 the Office an Office of Reform Assistance and Dis25 semination (in this section referred to as the ‘Dis-
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1 semination Office’) through which the Secretary

2 shall carry out all functions and activities described

3 in this section.

4 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN DUTIES.—The Dissemination Of5 fice shall—

6 ‘‘(A) identify educational programs that

7 may merit being designated as exemplary or

8 promising educational programs;

9 ‘‘(B) based solely on the educational merits

10 and promise of such programs, select those to

11 be designated as exemplary or promising;

12 ‘‘(C) provide technical and financial assist13 ance to individuals and organizations in the

14 process of developing promising educational

15 programs in the priority areas identified in sec16 tion 405(b)(3), but who might not, without

17 such assistance, be able to complete necessary

18 development and assessment activities;

19 ‘‘(D) nationally disseminate information

20 regarding the exemplary and promising pro21 grams to educators, parents, and policymakers

22 through a variety of means, including existing

23 Department activities, education associations

24 and networks, and communication technologies;
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1 ‘‘(E) provide training and technical assist2 ance regarding the implementation and adop3 tion of such exemplary and promising programs

4 by interested entities; and

5 ‘‘(F) carry out a program of research on

6 models for successful knowledge dissemination,

7 and utilization, and strategies for reaching edu8 cation policymakers, practitioners, and others

9 interested in education.

10 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—The Dissemination

11 Office shall carry out and contain the following func12 tions and activities:

13 ‘‘(A) A process for the identification of

14 educational programs that work.

15 ‘‘(B) The educational resources informa16 tion clearinghouses.

17 ‘‘(C) Dissemination through new tech18 nologies.

19 ‘‘(D) Smartline.

20 ‘‘(E) The regional educational laboratories.

21 ‘‘(F) Teacher Research Dissemination Net22 work.

23 ‘‘(G) The Goals 2000 Community Partner24 ships Program.
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1 ‘‘(H) The existing National Diffusion Net2 work and its Developer-Demonstrator and State

3 Facilitator projects.

4 ‘‘(I) Such other programs or entities the

5 Secretary determines are consistent with the

6 purposes for which the Dissemination Office is

7 established.

8 ‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION OF PROGRAMS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

10 shall establish a process through which successful

11 educational programs are actively sought out for

12 possible dissemination through the national edu13 cational dissemination system. Such process shall, at

14 a minimum, have the capability to—

15 ‘‘(A) work closely with the research insti16 tutes, centers, regional educational laboratories,

17 the National Diffusion Network and its Devel18 oper-Demonstrator and State Facilitator

19 projects, learning grant institutions established

20 under the Goals 2000 Community Partnerships

21 Program, department-supported technical as22 sistance providers, and other entities to identify

23 successful educational programs at the regional,

24 State, local, or classroom level;
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1 ‘‘(B) review successful educational pro2 grams supported by the Department through all

3 of its programs, including Chapter 1, Even

4 Start, Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act

5 of 1986, the Individuals With Disabilities Edu6 cation Act, Bilingual Education, Indian Edu7 cation, the Women’s Educational Equity Act,

8 and Adult and Vocational Education;

9 ‘‘(C) through cooperative agreements, re10 view for possible inclusion in the system edu11 cational programs administered by the Depart12 ments of Health and Human Services (particu13 larly the Head Start program), Labor and De14 fense, the National Science Foundation, the De15 partment of the Interior (particularly the Office

16 of Indian Education Programs), and any other

17 appropriate Federal agency; and

18 ‘‘(D) provide for an active outreach effort

19 to identify successful educational programs

20 through cooperative arrangements with State

21 and local education agencies, teachers and

22 teacher organizations, curriculum associations,

23 foundations, private schools, institutions of

24 higher education, and other entities that could

25 enhance the ability of the Secretary to identify
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1 programs for possible inclusion in the dissemi2 nation system.

3 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY PROGRAMS.—In carrying out

4 this subsection, the Secretary shall place a priority

5 on identifying programs, products, and practices re6 lated to the priority research and development needs

7 identified in section 405(b)(3).

8 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF EXEMPLARY AND PROMISING

9 PROGRAMS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary, in

11 consultation with the Board, shall establish 1 or

12 more panels of appropriately qualified experts and

13 practitioners to—

14 ‘‘(A) evaluate educational programs that

15 have been identified by the Secretary under

16 subsection (c) or that have been submitted to

17 the Secretary for such evaluation by some other

18 individual or organization; and

19 ‘‘(B) recommend to the Secretary pro20 grams that should be designated as exemplary

21 or promising educational programs.

22 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS IN MAKING REC23 OMMENDATIONS.—In determining whether an edu24 cational program should receive a recommendation
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1 under paragraph (1), a panel established under such

2 paragraph shall consider—

3 ‘‘(A) whether, based on empirical data,

4 which may include but shall not be limited to

5 test results, the program is effective and should

6 thus be designated as exemplary and dissemi7 nated through the national dissemination sys8 tem; or

9 ‘‘(B) whether there is sufficient evidence to

10 lead a panel of experts and practitioners to be11 lieve that the program shows promise for im12 proving student achievement and should thus be

13 designated as promising and disseminated

14 through the national dissemination system while

15 it continues to be evaluated.

16 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT REGARDING APPROVAL OF

17 PROGRAMS.—In seeking out programs for approval

18 under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall

19 seek programs that may be implemented at the

20 State, local, and classroom level.

21 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING PANELS.—

22 ‘‘(A) A panel shall not eliminate a program

23 from consideration under this subsection based

24 solely on the fact that it does not have one spe-
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1 cific type of supporting data, such as test

2 scores.

3 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary may not des4 ignate a program as exemplary or promising

5 unless a panel established under paragraph (1)

6 has recommended that the program be so des7 ignated.

8 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall establish such

9 panels under paragraph (1) as may be nec10 essary to ensure that each program identified

11 or submitted for evaluation is evaluated.

‘‘(D) Not less than 2 12 ⁄3 of the membership

13 of a panel established under paragraph (1) shall

14 consist of individuals who are not officers or

15 employees of the United States. Members of

16 panels under paragraph (1) who are not em17 ployees of the United States shall receive com18 pensation for each day engaged in carrying out

19 the duties of the panel as well as compensation

20 for their expenses.

21 ‘‘(e) DISSEMINATION OF EXEMPLARY AND PROMIS22 ING PROGRAMS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to ensure that

24 programs identified as exemplary or promising are

25 available for adoption by the greatest number of
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1 teachers, schools, local and State education agencies,

2 and Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded schools, the

3 Assistant Secretary shall utilize the capabilities of—

4 ‘‘(A) the education resources information

5 clearinghouses;

6 ‘‘(B) Smartline;

7 ‘‘(C) the regional educational laboratories;

8 ‘‘(D) the National Diffusion Network;

9 ‘‘(E) entities established under the Goals

10 2000 Community Partnerships Program;

11 ‘‘(F) department-supported technical as12 sistance providers;

13 ‘‘(G) the National Library of Education;

14 and

15 ‘‘(H) other public and private nonprofit en16 tities, including existing education associations

17 and networks, that have the capability to assist

18 educators in adopting exemplary and promising

19 programs.

20 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSISTANT SEC21 RETARY.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Assist22 ant Secretary shall ensure that all such entities

23 are—

24 ‘‘(A) kept apprised of the availability of

25 specific programs for dissemination;
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1 ‘‘(B) provided technical assistance, if nec2 essary, to carry out this dissemination function;

3 and

4 ‘‘(C) involved in the national education dis5 semination system as specified by law.

6 ‘‘(f) EDUCATION RESOURCES INFORMATION CLEAR7 INGHOUSES.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

9 shall establish a system of 16 education resource in10 formation clearinghouses having, at a minimum, the

11 functions and scope of work as the clearinghouses

12 had on the date of the enactment of the Educational

13 Research, Development, and Dissemination Excel14 lence Act.

15 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—In addition to

16 those functions already being carried out by the

17 clearinghouses, such clearinghouses may—

18 ‘‘(A) periodically produce interpretive sum19 maries, digests, and syntheses of the results

20 and findings of education-related research and

21 development; and

22 ‘‘(B) contain and make available to users

23 information concerning those programs des24 ignated as exemplary and promising under sub25 section (c).
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1 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The As2 sistant Secretary shall assure that the functions and

3 activities of such clearinghouses are coordinated with

4 the activities of the research institutes, the regional

5 educational laboratories, learning grant institutions,

6 other clearinghouses supported by the Department,

7 the National Diffusion Network, and other appro8 priate entities within the Office and the Department.

9 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEC10 RETARY.—To assure that the information provided

11 through such clearinghouses is fully comprehensive,

12 the Secretary shall—

13 ‘‘(A) require that all reports, studies, and

14 other resources produced directly or by grant or

15 contract with the Department of Education are

16 made available to clearinghouses;

17 ‘‘(B) establish cooperative agreements with

18 the Departments of Defense, Health and

19 Human Services, Interior, and other Federal

20 agencies to assure that all education-related re21 ports, studies, and other resources produced di22 rectly or by grant or contract with the Federal

23 Government are made available to such clear24 inghouses; and
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1 ‘‘(C) devise an effective system for maxi2 mizing the identification, synthesis, and dis3 semination of information related to the needs

4 of Indian and Alaska Native children.

5 ‘‘(5) COPYRIGHT PROHIBITED.—

6 ‘‘(A) No clearinghouse or other entity re7 ceiving assistance under this subsection may

8 copyright or otherwise charge a royalty or other

9 fee that—

10 ‘‘(i) is for the use or redissemination

11 of any database, index, abstract, report, or

12 other information produced with assistance

13 under this subsection; and

14 ‘‘(ii) exceeds the incremental cost of

15 disseminating such information.

16 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A),

17 the incremental cost of dissemination does not

18 include any portion of the cost of collecting, or19 ganizing, or processing the information which is

20 disseminated.

21 ‘‘(g) DISSEMINATION THROUGH NEW TECH22 NOLOGIES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is

24 authorized to award grants or contracts in accord25 ance with this subsection to support the development
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1 of materials, programs, and resources which utilize

2 new technologies and techniques to synthesize and

3 disseminate research and development findings and

4 other information which can be used to support edu5 cational improvement.

6 ‘‘(2) SOURCES OF MATERIALS AND RESEARCH

7 ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR IMPROVING

8 NATIONWIDE EDUCATION (SMARTLINE).—

9 ‘‘(A) ELECTRONIC NETWORK.—The Assist10 ant Secretary, acting through the Office of Re11 form Assistance and Dissemination, shall estab12 lish and maintain an electronic network which

13 shall, at a minimum, link—

14 ‘‘(i) each office of the Department of

15 Education;

16 ‘‘(ii) the research institutes estab17 lished by section 405B;

18 ‘‘(iii) the National Center for Edu19 cation Statistics;

20 ‘‘(iv) the National Library of Edu21 cation; and

22 ‘‘(v) entities engaged in research, de23 velopment, dissemination, and technical as24 sistance under grant, contract, or coopera-
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1 tive agreement with the Department of

2 Education.

3 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR NET4 WORK.—The network described in subpara5 graph (A) shall—

6 ‘‘(i) to the extent feasible, build upon

7 existing national, regional, and State elec8 tronic networks and support video,

9 telecomputing, and interactive communica10 tions;

11 ‘‘(ii) at a minimum, have the capabil12 ity to support electronic mail and file

13 transfer services;

14 ‘‘(iii) be linked to and accessible to

15 other users, including State and local edu16 cation agencies, institutions of higher edu17 cation, museums, libraries, and others

18 through the Internet and the National Re19 search and Education Network; and

20 ‘‘(iv) be provided at no cost (excluding

21 the costs of necessary hardware) to the

22 contractors and grantees described in

23 clause (v) of subparagraph (A) and to edu24 cational institutions accessing such net-
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1 work through the Internet and the Na2 tional Research and Education Network.

3 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION RESOURCES.—The As4 sistant Secretary, acting through the Office of

5 Reform Assistance and Dissemination, may

6 make available through the network described

7 in subparagraph (A)—

8 ‘‘(i) information about grant and con9 tract assistance available through the de10 partment;

11 ‘‘(ii) an annotated directory of current

12 research and development activities and

13 projects being undertaken with the assist14 ance of the Department;

15 ‘‘(iii) information about publications

16 published by the Department and, to the

17 extent feasible, the full text of such publi18 cations;

19 ‘‘(iv) statistics and data published by

20 the National Center for Education Statis21 tics;

22 ‘‘(v) syntheses of research and devel23 opment findings;

24 ‘‘(vi) a directory of other education-re25 lated electronic networks and databases,
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1 including information about the means by

2 which they may be accessed;

3 ‘‘(vii) a descriptive listing of materials

4 and courses of instruction provided by tele5 communications partnerships assisted

6 under the Star Schools program;

7 ‘‘(viii) resources developed by the

8 ERIC Clearinghouses;

9 ‘‘(ix) education-related software (in10 cluding video) which is in the public do11 main;

12 ‘‘(x) a listing of instructional mate13 rials available through telecommunications

14 to local education agencies through the

15 Public Broadcasting Service and State

16 educational television networks; and

17 ‘‘(xi) such other information and re18 sources the Assistant Secretary considers

19 useful and appropriate.

20 ‘‘(D) EVALUATIONS REGARDING OTHER

21 FUNCTIONS OF NETWORK.—The Assistant Sec22 retary shall also undertake projects to test and

23 evaluate the feasibility of using the network de24 scribed in subparagraph (A) for—
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1 ‘‘(i) the submission of applications for

2 assistance to the Department; and

3 ‘‘(ii) the collection of data and other

4 statistics through the National Center for

5 Education Statistics.

6 ‘‘(E) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST7 ANCE.—The Assistant Secretary, acting

8 through the Office of Reform Assistance and

9 Dissemination, shall—

10 ‘‘(i) provide such training and tech11 nical assistance as may be necessary to en12 able the contractors and grantees described

13 in clause (v) of subparagraph (A) to par14 ticipate in the electronic network described

15 in such subparagraph; and

16 ‘‘(ii) work with the National Science

17 Foundation to provide, upon request, as18 sistance to State and local education agen19 cies, the Department of the Interior’s Of20 fice of Indian Education Programs, tribal

21 departments of education, State library

22 agencies, libraries, museums, and other

23 educational institutions in obtaining access

24 to the Internet and the National Research

25 and Education Network.
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1 ‘‘(h) REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORIES.—

2 ‘‘(1) REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORA3 TORIES.—The Assistant Secretary shall enter into

4 contracts with public or private nonprofit entities to

5 establish a networked system of 10 regional edu6 cational laboratories which serve the needs of each

7 region of the Nation in accordance with the provi8 sions of this subsection. For the purposes of this

9 subsection, the term ‘region’ means 1 of the 10 geo10 graphic regions set forth in section 2(a) of part 707

11 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (34 CFR

12 707.2(a)), as published in number 157 of volume 53

13 of the Federal Register on August 15, 1988.

14 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—Each regional educational lab15 oratory receiving assistance under this subsection

16 shall, with such assistance, assist State education

17 agencies, intermediate education agencies, local

18 school districts, and schools funded by the Bureau of

19 Indian Affairs in implementing broad-based, sys20 temic school improvement strategies through the use

21 of applied research and development activities. The

22 regional educational laboratories shall support such

23 system-wide reform efforts through—

24 ‘‘(A) the development of a plan for identi25 fying needs and for serving the needs of the re-
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1 gion by conducting a continuing survey of the

2 educational needs, strengths and weaknesses

3 within the region, including a process of open

4 hearings to solicit the views of schools, teachers,

5 administrators, parents, local educational agen6 cies, librarians, and State educational agencies

7 within the region;

8 ‘‘(B) the dissemination of information

9 about programs designated as exemplary and

10 promising under subsection (c) and other ap11 propriate programs and practices;

12 ‘‘(C) the provision of support and technical

13 assistance in—

14 ‘‘(i) replicating and adapting such ex15 emplary and promising practices;

16 ‘‘(ii) the development of high-quality,

17 challenging curriculum frameworks;

18 ‘‘(iii) the development of valid, reli19 able, fair systems of assessment which are

20 based upon State, local, or Bureau of In21 dian Affairs-funded school curriculum

22 frameworks and reflect recent advances in

23 the field of educational assessment;

24 ‘‘(iv) the improvement of professional

25 development strategies to assure that all
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1 teachers are prepared to teach a challeng2 ing curriculum;

3 ‘‘(v) expanding and improving the use

4 of technology in education to improve

5 teaching and learning;

6 ‘‘(vi) the development of alternatives

7 for restructuring school finance systems to

8 promote greater equity in the distribution

9 of resources; and

10 ‘‘(vii) the development of alternative

11 administrative structures which are more

12 conducive to planning, implementing, and

13 sustaining school reform and improved

14 educational outcomes;

15 ‘‘(D) the development of educational pro16 grams and practices that address State, re17 gional, or Indian tribal needs in relating to

18 their school reform efforts;

19 ‘‘(E) facilitating communication between

20 educational experts, school officials, and teach21 ers, parents, and librarians, to enable such indi22 viduals to assist schools to develop a plan to

23 meet the national education goals;
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1 ‘‘(F) bringing teams of experts together to

2 develop and implement school improvement

3 plans and strategies;

4 ‘‘(G) the provision of training in—

5 ‘‘(i) the field of education research

6 and related areas;

7 ‘‘(ii) the use of new educational meth8 ods; and

9 ‘‘(iii) the use of information-finding

10 methods, practices, techniques, and prod11 ucts developed in connection with such

12 training for which the regional educational

13 laboratory shall be authorized to support

14 internships and fellowships and to provide

15 stipends; and

16 ‘‘(H) the provision of support and tech17 nical assistance (upon their request) to State

18 facilitators funded through the National Diffu19 sion Network.

20 ‘‘(3) NETWORKING.—In order to improve the

21 efficiency and effectiveness of the regional labora22 tories, the governing boards of the ten regional lab23 oratories shall establish and maintain a network

24 to—
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1 ‘‘(A) share information about the activities

2 each is carrying out;

3 ‘‘(B) plan joint activities that would meet

4 the needs of multiple regions;

5 ‘‘(C) create a strategic plan for the devel6 opment of activities undertaken by the labora7 tories to reduce redundancy and increase col8 laboration and resource-sharing in such activi9 ties; and

10 ‘‘(D) otherwise devise means by which the

11 work of the individual laboratories could serve

12 national, as well as regional, needs.

13 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—Each regional edu14 cation laboratory receiving assistance under this sub15 section shall carry out the following activities:

16 ‘‘(A) Collaborate with the Institutes estab17 lished under section 405B in order to—

18 ‘‘(i) maximize the use of research con19 ducted through the Institutes in the work

20 of such laboratory;

21 ‘‘(ii) keep the Institutes apprised of

22 the work of the regional educational lab23 oratories in the field; and

24 ‘‘(iii) inform the Institutes about addi25 tional research needs identified in the field.
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1 ‘‘(B) Consult with the State educational

2 agencies and library agencies in the region in

3 developing the plan for serving the region.

4 ‘‘(C) Develop strategies to utilize schools

5 as critical components in reforming education

6 and revitalizing rural communities in the

7 United States.

8 ‘‘(D) Report and disseminate information

9 on overcoming the obstacles faced by rural edu10 cators and rural schools.

11 ‘‘(E) Identify successful educational pro12 grams that have either been developed by such

13 laboratory in carrying out its functions or that

14 have been developed or used by others within

15 the region served by the laboratory and make

16 such information available to the Secretary and

17 the network of regional laboratories so that

18 they may be considered for inclusion in the na19 tional education development and dissemination

20 system.

21 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying

22 out its responsibilities, each regional educational lab23 oratory shall—

24 ‘‘(A) establish a governing board that—

25 ‘‘(i) is the sole entity that—
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1 ‘‘(I) guides and directs the lab2 oratory in carrying out the provisions

3 of this subsection and satisfying the

4 terms and conditions of the contract

5 award; and

6 ‘‘(II) determines the regional

7 agenda of the laboratory, consistent

8 with the priority research and devel9 opment needs identified in section

10 405(b)(3); and

11 ‘‘(ii) reflects a balanced representation

12 of the States in the region, as well as the

13 interests and concerns of regional constitu14 encies;

15 ‘‘(B) comply with the standards established

16 by the Assistant Secretary and the Board under

17 section 405A;

18 ‘‘(C) coordinate its activities, collaborate,

19 and regularly exchange information with the in20 stitutes established under section 405C, the Na21 tional Diffusion Network, and its Developer

22 Demonstrator and State Facilitator projects,

23 learning grant institutions and district edu24 cation agents assisted under subsection (i), the

25 ERIC Clearinghouses, and other entities en-
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1 gages in technical assistance and dissemination

2 activities which are supported by other Offices

3 of the Department of Education; and

4 ‘‘(D) allocate its resources to and within

5 each State in a manner which reflects the need

6 for assistance, taking into account such factors

7 as the proportion of economically disadvantaged

8 students, the increased cost burden of service

9 delivery in areas of sparse populations, and any

10 special initiatives being undertaken by State,

11 intermediate, local education agencies, or Bu12 reau of Indian Affairs-funded schools which

13 may require special assistance from the labora14 tory.

15 ‘‘(6) EVALUATIONS.—The Assistant Secretary

16 shall provide for periodic, independent evaluations of

17 each of the laboratories in carrying out the duties

18 described in paragraph (1) in accordance with the

19 standards developed by the Assistant Secretary and

20 the Board and transmit the results of such evalua21 tions to the relevant committees of the Congress, the

22 Board, and the appropriate regional educational lab23 oratory board.

24 ‘‘(7) INVITATION REGARDING COMPETITION

25 FOR AWARDS OF ASSISTANCE.—Prior to awarding a
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1 grant or entering into a contract under this section,

2 the Secretary shall invite applicants, including the

3 existing regional educational laboratories, to compete

4 for such award through notice in the Federal Reg5 ister and in the publication of the Department of

6 Commerce known as the Commerce Business Daily.

7 ‘‘(8) APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—Each ap8 plication for assistance under this subsection shall—

9 ‘‘(A) cover not less than a 5-year period;

10 ‘‘(B) describe how the applicant would

11 carry out the activities required by this sub12 section; and

13 ‘‘(C) contain such additional information

14 as the Secretary may reasonably require.

15 ‘‘(9) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No regional

16 educational laboratory receiving assistance under

17 this subsection shall, by reason of the receipt of that

18 assistance, be ineligible to receive any other assist19 ance from the Department as authorized by law.

20 ‘‘(10) ADVANCE PAYMENT SYSTEM.—Each re21 gional educational laboratory shall participate in the

22 advance payment system at the Department of Edu23 cation.

24 ‘‘(i) GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PRO25 GRAM.—
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1 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Goals

2 2000 Community Partnerships program is to im3 prove the quality of learning and teaching in the Na4 tion’s most impoverished urban and rural commu5 nities by supporting sustained collaborations between

6 universities, schools, businesses, and communities

7 which apply and utilize the results of educational re8 search and development.

9 ‘‘(2) GRANTS FOR GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY

10 PARTNERSHIPS.—The Assistant Secretary is author11 ized to make grants to eligible entities to support

12 the establishment of Learning Grant Institutions

13 and District Education Agents and the activities au14 thorized under this subsection within eligible com15 munities.

16 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY AND EL17 IGIBLE COMMUNITY.—For the purposes of this sub18 section:

19 ‘‘(A) The term ‘eligible entity’ includes any

20 institution of higher education, regional edu21 cation laboratory, National Diffusion Network

22 project, national research and development cen23 ter, public or private nonprofit corporation, or

24 any consortium thereof that—
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1 ‘‘(i) has demonstrated experience, ex2 pertise and commitment in serving the

3 educational needs of at-risk students; and

4 ‘‘(ii) is, by virtue of its previous activi5 ties, knowledgeable about the unique needs

6 and characteristics of the community to be

7 served.

8 ‘‘(B) The term ‘eligible community’ means

9 a unit of general purpose local government

10 (such as a city, township, or village), a

11 nonmetropolitan county, tribal village, or a geo12 graphically distinct area (such as a school dis13 trict, school attendance area, ward, precinct or

14 neighborhood), or any group of such entities

15 that—

16 ‘‘(i) has a population of not less than

17 200,000 and not more than 300,000; and

18 ‘‘(ii) in which not less than one-half of

19 the school-age children have family in20 comes which are below the poverty line, as

21 determined by the 1990 United States

22 Census, participation in the National

23 School Lunch program, or other current,

24 reliable data concerning family income.
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1 ‘‘(4) GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.—

2 Each learning grant institution receiving assistance

3 under this subsection shall establish a Goals 2000

4 community partnership to carry out the activities

5 authorized under this subsection. Such partner6 ship—

7 ‘‘(A) shall include the participation of one

8 or more local educational agencies, institutions

9 of higher education, community-based organiza10 tions, parents, teachers, and the business com11 munity;

12 ‘‘(B) may include the participation of

13 human, social service and health care agencies,

14 Head Start and child care agencies, libraries,

15 museums, employment and training agencies,

16 and the State educational agency or tribal de17 partment of education; and

18 ‘‘(C) shall be broadly representative of all

19 segments of the community in which the activi20 ties will be carried out.

21 ‘‘(5) COMPREHENSIVE GOALS 2000 PLAN.—

22 Each Goals 2000 Community Partnership shall de23 velop a comprehensive plan for assuring educational

24 success and high achievement for all students in the

25 community. Each such plan shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) adopt the 6 national educational

2 goals;

3 ‘‘(B) identify additional needs and goals

4 for educational improvement within the commu5 nity;

6 ‘‘(C) focus on helping all students reach

7 challenging content and student performance

8 standards;

9 ‘‘(D) be consistent with the State and local

10 plan for system-wide education improvement de11 veloped pursuant to the Goals 2000: Educate

12 America Act;

13 ‘‘(E) establish a comprehensive commu14 nity-wide plan for achieving such goals; and

15 ‘‘(F) develop a means for measuring the

16 progress of the community in meeting such

17 goals for improvement.

18 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY-WIDE

19 PLAN.—Each Goals 2000 Community Partnership

20 shall, utilizing the District Education Agent, provide

21 assistance in implementing the community-wide plan

22 for educational improvement by—

23 ‘‘(A) supporting innovation, restructuring,

24 and continuous improvement in educational

25 practice by—
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1 ‘‘(i) disseminating information

2 throughout the community about exem3 plary and promising educational programs,

4 practices, products, and policies;

5 ‘‘(ii) evaluating the effectiveness of

6 federally funded educational programs

7 within the community and identifying

8 changes in such programs which are likely

9 to improve student achievement;

10 ‘‘(iii) identifying, selecting and rep11 licating exemplary and promising edu12 cational programs, practices, products, and

13 policies in both in and out-of-school set14 tings;

15 ‘‘(iv) applying educational research to

16 solve specific problems in the classroom,

17 home and community which impede learn18 ing and student achievement; and

19 ‘‘(v) supporting research and develop20 ment by teachers, school administrators,

21 and other practitioners which promise to

22 improve teaching and learning and the

23 organization of schools;

24 ‘‘(B) improving the capacity of educators,

25 school administrators, child care providers and
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1 other practitioners to prepare all students to

2 reach challenging standards and to attain the

3 goals set out in the comprehensive community4 wide plan through such means as—

5 ‘‘(i) the training of prospective and

6 novice teachers (including preschool and

7 early childhood educators) in a school set8 ting under the guidance of master teachers

9 and teacher educators;

10 ‘‘(ii) training and other activities to

11 promote the continued learning and profes12 sional development of experienced teachers,

13 related services personnel, school adminis14 trators to assure that they develop the

15 subject matter and pedagogical expertise

16 needed to prepare all students to reach

17 challenging standards;

18 ‘‘(iii) training and other activities to

19 increase the ability of prospective, novice,

20 and experienced teachers to teach effec21 tively at-risk students, students with dis22 abilities, students with limited English lan23 guage proficiency, and students from di24 verse cultural backgrounds; and
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1 ‘‘(iv) programs to enhance teaching

2 and classroom management skills, includ3 ing school-based management skills, of

4 novice, prospective, and experienced teach5 ers;

6 ‘‘(C) promoting the development of an in7 tegrated system of service delivery to children

8 from birth through age 18 and their families by

9 facilitating linkages and cooperation among—

10 ‘‘(i) local education agencies;

11 ‘‘(ii) health and social services agen12 cies and providers;

13 ‘‘(iii) juvenile justice and criminal jus14 tice agencies;

15 ‘‘(iv) providers of employment train16 ing; and

17 ‘‘(v) child care, Head Start, and other

18 early childhood agencies; and

19 ‘‘(D) mobilizing the resources of the com20 munity in support of student learning and high

21 achievement by facilitating effective partner22 ships and collaboration among—

23 ‘‘(i) local education agencies;

24 ‘‘(ii) postsecondary educational insti25 tutions;
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1 ‘‘(iii) public libraries;

2 ‘‘(iv) parents;

3 ‘‘(v) community-based organizations,

4 neighborhood associations, and other civic

5 and community organizations;

6 ‘‘(vi) child care, Head Start, and

7 other early childhood agencies;

8 ‘‘(vii) churches, synagogues and other

9 religious institutions;

10 ‘‘(viii) labor organizations; and

11 ‘‘(ix) business and industry.

12 ‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In carry13 ing out its responsibilities under this subsection,

14 each partnership receiving assistance under this sub15 section shall—

16 ‘‘(A) appoint a District Education Agent

17 who shall be responsible, on a full-time basis,

18 for directing the implementation of the commu19 nity-wide plan. Such individual shall have sig20 nificant experience and expertise in the field of

21 education in—

22 ‘‘(i) addressing the needs of at-risk

23 students; and

24 ‘‘(ii) conducting educational research

25 and promoting the application of the re-
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1 sults of such research to educational prac2 tice;

3 ‘‘(B) provide for such other professional

4 and support personnel as may be necessary to

5 implement the community-wide plan under the

6 direction of the District Education Agent; and

7 ‘‘(C) coordinate its activities and work co8 operatively with the National Diffusion Network

9 State facilitators, regional laboratories, and

10 other components of the Office to utilize most

11 effectively Federal research, development, and

12 dissemination resources in implementing the

13 community-wide plan.

14 ‘‘(8) APPLICATION FOR GRANTS.—Any eligible

15 entity desiring a grant under this subsection shall

16 submit an application to the Assistant Secretary at

17 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

18 such information as the Assistant Secretary may

19 reasonably require. Each such application shall—

20 ‘‘(A) include a comprehensive plan for

21 meeting the objectives and requirements of this

22 subsection; and

23 ‘‘(B) provide evidence of support for the

24 application from local elected officials, the State

25 education agency, the local education agency,
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1 parents, local community leaders, businesses,

2 and other appropriate organizations.

3 ‘‘(9) PRIORITY IN MAKING GRANTS; DURATION

4 AND AMOUNT OF GRANT.—Each grant made under

5 this subsection shall be—

6 ‘‘(A) awarded on a competitive basis, with

7 first priority given to those applications from

8 communities with the greatest percentage of

9 school-age children in families with poverty-level

10 incomes;

11 ‘‘(B) made for a 5-year period, with fund12 ing for the second and each successive year in

13 this period conditioned upon a determination by

14 the Assistant Secretary that the grant recipient

15 has complied with the conditions of the grants

16 during the previous year; and

17 ‘‘(C) an amount equal to not less than

18 $1,000,000 per year.

19 ‘‘(10) LIMITATION OF ONE GRANT PER CON20 GRESSIONAL DISTRICT.—Not more than one grant

21 shall be awarded within a single congressional dis22 trict.

23 ‘‘(11) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; EVALUA24 TIONS.—In administering the program authorized

25 under this subsection, the Assistant Secretary shall,
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1 either directly or through grant or contract with an

2 eligible nonprofit agency—

3 ‘‘(A) upon request, provide technical assist4 ance to eligible entities to assist in the develop5 ment of a comprehensive plan to meet the re6 quirements of this subsection and in the prepa7 ration of applications for assistance;

8 ‘‘(B) regularly provide technical assistance

9 to learning grant institutions receiving assist10 ance under this subsection to assist with the de11 velopment and implementation of the commu12 nity-wide plan for educational improvement;

13 ‘‘(C) provide for an independent evaluation

14 of the activities assisted under this subsection,

15 including—

16 ‘‘(i) the impact of the Goals 2000

17 Community Partnerships program on chil18 dren and families within each community,

19 including (but not limited to) effects on the

20 extent of educational achievement, rates of

21 school retention and completion, and en22 rollment in program postsecondary edu23 cational programs; and

24 ‘‘(ii) whether an intensified effort to

25 apply and utilize educational research
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1 within a limited geographic area signifi2 cantly improves student learning and

3 achievement; and

4 ‘‘(D) plan for the expansion of the Goals

5 2000 Community Partnerships program

6 throughout the remainder of the Nation begin7 ning in fiscal year 1998.

8 ‘‘(j) TEACHER RESEARCH DISSEMINATION NET9 WORK.—

10 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

11 ‘‘(A) education research, including re12 search funded by the Office, is not having the

13 impact on the Nation’s schools that such re14 search should;

15 ‘‘(B) relevant education research and re16 sulting solutions are not being adequately dis17 seminated to the teachers that need such re18 search and solutions;

19 ‘‘(C) there are not enough linkages be20 tween the research and development centers as21 sisted under this section, the regional edu22 cational laboratories described in subsection (k),

23 the National Diffusion Network State

24 facilitators, the Education Resources Informa25 tion Clearinghouses, and the public schools, to
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1 ensure that research on effective practice is dis2 seminated and technical assistance provided to

3 all teachers;

4 ‘‘(D) the average teacher has almost no

5 time to plan or engage in a professional dia6 logue with such teacher’s peers about strategies

7 for improving learning;

8 ‘‘(E) teachers do not have direct access to

9 information systems or networks;

10 ‘‘(F) teachers have little control over what

11 in-service education teachers will be offered;

12 and

13 ‘‘(G) individual teachers are not encour14 aged to move beyond the walls of their class15 rooms to identify and use outside resources.

16 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

17 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary shall enter

18 into contracts with regional educational labora19 tories, in partnership with 1 or more institu20 tions of higher education in each State of its re21 gion, the National Diffusion Network, and

22 other entities with demonstrated experience, ex23 pertise, and commitment in the areas of teacher

24 research or teacher professional development,

25 such as the national research and development
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1 centers, professional teacher organizations, and

2 other qualified organizations and associations,

3 in the region to carry out activities described in

4 paragraph (3).

5 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary shall enter

6 into contracts under this subsection in an equi7 table manner and shall provide assistance on

8 the basis of the number of schools, teachers,

9 and students in each regional educational lab10 oratory region with attention given to popu11 lations with special needs and the increased cost

12 burden of service delivery in regions of sparse

13 population.

14 ‘‘(C) Contracts under this subsection shall

15 be awarded for a period of not less than 3

16 years.

17 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—

18 ‘‘(A) Each regional partnership described

19 in paragraph (2)(A) entering into a contract

20 under this subsection shall carry out programs

21 of providing training to teachers relevant to the

22 needs and problems of the schools and school

23 districts where teachers, who participate in the

24 programs, serve. The purpose of such programs

25 shall be to—
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1 ‘‘(i) educate teachers on how to ac2 quire information about education research

3 findings and best practices;

4 ‘‘(ii) provide teachers with current

5 education research and development the6 ory, skills, and practice as shall enable

7 them to modify, design, develop, and adapt

8 such findings and practices to effect local

9 district and classroom outcomes that im10 prove education;

11 ‘‘(iii) enable teachers to become ac12 tively involved in the applied research and

13 development process;

14 ‘‘(iv) provide teachers the ability to

15 become leaders in the utilization of applied

16 research and to become active participants

17 in the Federal research and development

18 partnership;

19 ‘‘(v) enhance the ability of teachers to

20 evaluate and choose effective education

21 programs and curricula; and

22 ‘‘(vi) facilitate collaboration between

23 the teacher change agent and the National

24 Diffusion Network State facilitator.
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1 ‘‘(B) Teachers that participate in training

2 assisted under this subsection shall be known as

3 ‘teacher change agents’.

4 ‘‘(C) The program described in subpara5 graph (A) shall provide teacher change agents

6 with training during the summer and at such

7 other times as agreed to by the district, which

8 shall—

9 ‘‘(i) give teacher change agents knowl10 edge and guidance in using the existing

11 educational improvement services and re12 sources funded by the United States De13 partment of Education and other major re14 search organizations, including the prod15 ucts and work of the regional educational

16 laboratories, professional teacher organiza17 tions, the National Diffusion Network, in18 stitutions of higher education, the Edu19 cational Research Information Centers,

20 National Research Centers, National Re21 search Institutes, State Departments of

22 Education, local education agencies, and

23 other nonprofit organizations participating

24 in the improvement of education;
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1 ‘‘(ii) provide teacher change agents

2 with indepth knowledge about a number of

3 products, programs, and processes devel4 oped by entities described in clause (i) that

5 the teacher change agents judge most rel6 evant to the needs of the district or dis7 tricts they will serve;

8 ‘‘(iii) inform teacher change agents

9 about government programs, including, but

10 not limited to, programs in government

11 agencies other than the Department of

12 Education, which offer research opportuni13 ties, fellowships, and funding; and

14 ‘‘(iv) provide teacher change agents

15 with instruction in technical assistance

16 skills in order to increase their capacity to

17 aid district and school site teacher teams

18 responsible for leading school improvement

19 activities at the district and school site

20 level.

21 ‘‘(D) The school year activities described

22 in subparagraph (A) shall provide teacher

23 change agents participating in such program

24 during the school year with—
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1 ‘‘(i) opportunities to meet with other

2 teacher change agents to exchange experi3 ences;

4 ‘‘(ii) additional training or assistance

5 as needed or requested;

6 ‘‘(iii) updates in education research,

7 application, and findings; and

8 ‘‘(iv) opportunities to provide feedback

9 into the educational research infrastruc10 ture regarding needed research and ways

11 to improve the development and dissemina12 tion of information.

13 ‘‘(E) The regional partnership program

14 may support educational improvement and re15 form activities such as—

16 ‘‘(i) training in applied research meth17 odologies;

18 ‘‘(ii) assistance in conducting applied

19 research;

20 ‘‘(iii) teacher research sabbaticals;

21 ‘‘(iv) video conferencing for additional

22 training in order to reduce travel time and

23 expenses;
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1 ‘‘(v) training in developing and imple2 menting effective teacher in-service train3 ing;

4 ‘‘(vi) training in change management,

5 including strategies for restructuring

6 schools, building local capacity, and gen7 erally strengthening the culture of schools

8 so that schools are conducive and support9 ive of change, including training in inter10 personal and leadership skills; and

11 ‘‘(vii) training in the appropriate use

12 of technology to assist classroom teachers.

13 ‘‘(F) TEACHER RESPONSIBILITIES.—

14 Teacher change agents shall, during the school

15 year—

16 ‘‘(i) meet with other teachers and dis17 trict or school site teacher teams to provide

18 other teachers with knowledge about how

19 to acquire information regarding education

20 research findings and best practices, in21 cluding what resources are available from

22 the Department of Education and how to

23 obtain products and technical services from

24 the Department;
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1 ‘‘(ii) meet with the National Diffusion

2 Network State Facilitator to coordinate

3 and not duplicate efforts in the dissemina4 tion of exemplary educational programs;

5 ‘‘(iii) help interested schools identify

6 resources needed to address the school’s

7 needs and act as liaison between the school

8 and the appropriate resource entities, such

9 as regional educational laboratories, cen10 ters, national institutes, institutions of

11 higher education, professional teacher or12 ganizations, scholars, consultants, and

13 other schools and school districts that may

14 be of assistance;

15 ‘‘(iv) teach other teachers how to use

16 the products, programs, and processes in

17 which the teacher was trained pursuant to

18 paragraph (2)(C)(II);

19 ‘‘(v) work with other teachers and

20 teacher teams to adapt identified exem21 plary practices, programs, and research re22 sults to implement school site or classroom

23 improvements as desired, and provide fol24 low-up activities throughout a 2-year pe25 riod to ensure the successful adaptation
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1 and implementation of such programs in

2 local schools; and

3 ‘‘(vi) inform teachers about how they

4 can obtain Federal research funding, fel5 lowships, and sabbaticals.

6 ‘‘(G) APPLICATION.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each regional

8 partnership desiring a contract under this

9 subsection shall submit to the Secretary an

10 application at such time, in such manner,

11 and accompanied by such information as

12 the Assistant Secretary may reasonably re13 quire.

14 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—Each application

15 described in clause (i) shall—

16 ‘‘(I) contain a plan acceptable to

17 affected States and local education

18 agencies for conducting the program

19 to be assisted under this section;

20 ‘‘(II) contain assurances that the

21 partnership requirements are fulfilled;

22 ‘‘(III) contain assurances that

23 both district and school site teacher

24 teams will be established to work in
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1 conjunction with the teacher change

2 agent;

3 ‘‘(IV) contain a plan for the se4 lection of district and school site

5 teacher team participants and others

6 as deemed appropriate by the teacher

7 change agent and the regional part8 nership;

9 ‘‘(V) contain assurances that the

10 regional partnership, in conjunction

11 with the participating school districts,

12 shall provide each teacher change

13 agent with a stipend for the entire

14 calendar year commensurate with

15 such teacher’s salary and travel ex16 penses, to permit a teacher to partici17 pate in such program without incur18 ring loss of income;

19 ‘‘(VI) contain assurances that

20 each teacher change agent participat21 ing in the program shall receive an

22 award of not more than $10,000 to be

23 used by such teacher during the

24 school year of such teacher’s partici25 pation to purchase materials, support,
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1 and coordinate with other teachers or

2 site teacher teams in the school dis3 trict;

4 ‘‘(VII) contain assurances that

5 such regional partnerships shall pro6 vide not more than $5,000 to each

7 school district or group of school dis8 tricts having an individual from such

9 district or districts participating in

10 the program assisted under this sec11 tion for each of the 2 years following

12 such participation to enable such

13 school district or districts to continue

14 efforts to improve dissemination of ef15 fective practices and programs within

16 the district or districts;

17 ‘‘(VIII) contain assurances that

18 representatives of State educational

19 agencies, intermediate educational

20 agencies, teacher centers, teacher edu21 cators at institutions of higher edu22 cation, and school district in-service or

23 curriculum specialists will be eligible

24 to participate in the program assisted

25 under this section if such individuals
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1 pay the cost of their participation;

2 and

3 ‘‘(IX) contain an assurance that

4 such regional partnership shall permit

5 a teacher to participate in the pro6 gram only after such partnership de7 termines that the teacher will be af8 forded a full opportunity by the dis9 trict to perform such teacher’s respon10 sibilities described in paragraph

11 (3)(F).

12 ‘‘(4) TEACHER SELECTION AND ELIGIBILITY.—

13 ‘‘(A) NOMINATION.—Teacher participants

14 in the program assisted under this subsection

15 shall be nominated by their peers at the school

16 district level.

17 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—Each school district

18 or group of school districts desiring to have

19 teachers from such district or districts partici20 pate in the program assisted under this sub21 section shall provide the regional partnership

22 with the names of such teachers, and an indica23 tion of the type of issues or problems on which

24 each such teacher would like to receive informa25 tion and training.
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1 ‘‘(C) SELECTION.—

2 ‘‘(i) Teacher participants shall be se3 lected by the regional partnerships in con4 sultation with the State educational agen5 cies in the region. Teacher participants

6 shall be selected in such a manner so as to

7 ensure an equitable representation of such

8 teachers by State and school enrollment

9 within the region.

10 ‘‘(ii) The number of teachers selected

11 each year shall be determined in accord12 ance with the amount of funding received

13 by the regional partnership.

14 ‘‘(5) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec16 retary shall provide for an independent evalua17 tion of the program assisted under this sub18 section to determine the net impact and cost ef19 fectiveness of the program and the reactions of

20 teachers and school districts participating in

21 such program, including any career plan

22 changes of participating teachers.

23 ‘‘(B) DATE.—The evaluation described in

24 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted to the
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1 Congress within 6 months after the completion

2 of the third year of the program.

3 ‘‘(C) FUNDING.—The Assistant Secretary

4 may reserve not more than $250,000 of the

5 amount appropriated under section

6 405(i)(2)(E) to carry out the evaluation de7 scribed in this paragraph.’’.

8 TITLE V—NATIONAL LIBRARY OF

9 EDUCATION

10 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU11 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

12 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act, as

13 amended by section 401 of this Act, is amended by insert14 ing after section 405C the following new section:

15 ‘‘NATIONAL LIBRARY OF EDUCATION

16 ‘‘SEC. 405D. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established

17 within the Office a National Library of Education (here18 after in this section referred to as the ‘Library’), which

19 shall be maintained as a governmental activity.

20 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF LIBRARY.—The functions of the

21 Library are—

22 ‘‘(1) to provide a central location within the

23 Federal Government for information about edu24 cation;

25 ‘‘(2) to provide comprehensive reference services

26 on matters related to education to employees of the
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1 Department of Education and its contractors and

2 grantees, other Federal employees, and members of

3 the public; and

4 ‘‘(3) to promote greater cooperation and re5 source sharing among providers and repositories of

6 education information in the United States.

7 ‘‘(c) ONE-STOP INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERV8 ICE.—The Library shall establish and maintain a central

9 information and referral service to respond to telephonic,

10 mail and electronic and other inquiries from the public

11 concerning—

12 ‘‘(1) programs and activities of the Department

13 of Education;

14 ‘‘(2) publications produced by the Department

15 of Education and, to the extent feasible, education

16 related publications produced by the Departments of

17 Labor, Health and Human Services, and other Fed18 eral agencies;

19 ‘‘(3) services and resources available to the pub20 lic through the Office, including the ERIC Clearing21 houses, the research institutes, and the national edu22 cation dissemination system;

23 ‘‘(4) statistics and other information produced

24 by the National Center for Education Statistics; and
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1 ‘‘(5) referrals to additional sources of informa2 tion and expertise about educational issues which

3 may be available through educational associations

4 and foundations, the private sector, colleges and uni5 versities, libraries and bibliographic databases.

6 The Library shall maintain and actively publicize a toll7 free telephone number through which public inquiries to

8 the Library may be made.

9 ‘‘(d) COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE SERVICES.—The

10 Library shall, to the extent feasible, provide for the deliv11 ery of a full range of reference services on subjects related

12 to education to employees of the Department and its con13 tractors and grantees, other Federal employees, and mem14 bers of the general public. Such services may include—

15 ‘‘(1) specialized subject searches;

16 ‘‘(2) search and retrieval of electronic

17 databases;

18 ‘‘(3) document delivery by mail and facsimile

19 transmission;

20 ‘‘(4) research counseling, bibliographic instruc21 tion, and other training services;

22 ‘‘(5) interlibrary loan services; and

23 ‘‘(6) selective dissemination of information serv24 ices.
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1 The Library shall first give priority in the provision of

2 reference services to requests made by employees of the

3 Department.

4 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION AND RESOURCE SHARING.—The

5 Library shall promote greater cooperation and resource

6 sharing among libraries and archives with significant col7 lections in the area of education through such means as—

8 ‘‘(1) the establishment of information and re9 source sharing networks among such entities;

10 ‘‘(2) the development of a national union list of

11 education journals held by education libraries

12 throughout the United States;

13 ‘‘(3) the development of directories and indexes

14 to textbook and other specialized collections held by

15 education libraries throughout the United States;

16 and

17 ‘‘(4) cooperative efforts to preserve, maintain

18 and promote access to items of special historical

19 value or interest.

20 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION.—The Library shall be admin21 istered by an Executive Director who shall—

22 ‘‘(1) be appointed by the Assistant Secretary

23 from among persons with significant training or ex24 perience in library and information science;

25 ‘‘(2) serve for a renewable term of 5 years; and
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1 ‘‘(3) be paid at not less than the minimum rate

2 of basic pay payable for GS–15 of the General

3 Schedule.

4 ‘‘(g) TASK FORCE.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

6 shall appoint a task force of librarians, scholars,

7 teachers, parents, and school leaders (hereafter in

8 this paragraph referred to as the ‘Task Force’) to

9 provide advice on the establishment of the Library.

10 ‘‘(2) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—The Task Force

11 shall prepare a workable plan to establish the Li12 brary and to implement the requirements of this sec13 tion.

14 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN AUTHORITIES.—The Task Force

15 may identify other activities and functions for the

16 Library to carry out, except that such functions

17 shall not be carried out until the Library is estab18 lished and has implemented the requirements of this

19 section.

20 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Task Force shall prepare

21 and submit to the Assistant Secretary not later than

22 6 months after the first meeting of the Task Force

23 a report on the activities of the Library.

24 ‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are hereby

25 transferred to the Library all functions of—
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1 ‘‘(1) the Department of Education Research Li2 brary;

3 ‘‘(2) the Department of Education Reference

4 Section; and

5 ‘‘(3) the Department of Education Information

6 Branch.

7 ‘‘(i) COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY.—Not later

8 than 180 days after the enactment of the Educational Re9 search, Development, and Dissemination Excellence Act,

10 the Assistant Secretary shall promulgate a comprehensive

11 collection development policy to govern the Library’s oper12 ations, acquisitions, and services to users. Such collection

13 development policy shall—

14 ‘‘(1) be consistent with the functions of the Li15 brary set out in subsection (b);

16 ‘‘(2) emphasize the acquisition and maintenance

17 of a comprehensive collection of reference materials;

18 and

19 ‘‘(3) avoid unnecessary duplication by putting a

20 priority on meeting the information needs of the Li21 brary’s users through cooperation and resource-shar22 ing with other entities with significant collections in

23 the field of education.

24 ‘‘(j) ARREARAGE AND PRESERVATION.—On the basis

25 of the collection development policy promulgated under
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1 subsection (h), the Executive Director shall develop a

2 multiyear plan which shall set forth goals and priorities

3 for actions needed to—

4 ‘‘(1) eliminate within 3 years the arrearage of

5 uncataloged books and other materials in the Li6 brary’s collections; and

7 ‘‘(2) respond effectively and systematically to

8 the preservation needs of the Library’s collections,

9 relying, whenever possible, upon cooperative efforts

10 with other institutions to preserve and maintain the

11 usability of books and materials in the Library’s col12 lections.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives August 2,

1993.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.

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