H. R. 1804—104
(1) The National Institute on Student Achievement,
Curriculum, and Assessment.
(2) The National Institute on the Education of At-Risk
Students.
(3) The National Institute on Educational Governance,
Finance, Policy-Making, and Management.
(4) The National Institute on Early Childhood Development
and Education.
(5) The National Institute on Postsecondary Education,
Libraries, and Lifelong Education.
(b) DIRECTORS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Institute established by subsection
(a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by
the Assistant Secretary from among individuals who have
significant experience and expertise in the disciplines relevant
to the purposes of such Institute. The Assistant Secretary shall
give due consideration to recommendations made by the Board
of individuals qualified to fill the position.
(2) REPORTING.—Each Director shall report directly to the
Assistant Secretary regarding the activities of the Institute
and shall work with the other directors to promote research
synthesis across the Institutes.
(c) AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is authorized
to conduct research, development, demonstration, and evalua-
tion activities to carry out the purposes for which such Institute
was established—
(A) directly;
(B) through grants, contracts, and cooperative agree-
ments with institutions of higher education, regional edu-
cational laboratories, public and private organizations,
institutions, agencies, and individuals, or a consortium
thereof, which may include—
(i) grants to support research and development
centers which are—
(I) awarded competitively for a period of 5
years and which may be renewed for an additional
5 years;
(II) of sufficient size, scope, and quality, and
funded at not less than $1,500,000 annually in
order to support a full range of basic research,
applied research and dissemination activities,
which may also include development activities; and
(III) established by institutions of higher edu-
cation, by institutions of higher education in
consortium with public agencies or private non-
profit organizations, or by interstate agencies
established by compact which operate subsidiary
bodies established to conduct postsecondary edu-
cational research and development;
(ii) meritorious unsolicited proposals for edu-
cational research and related activities;
(iii) proposals that are specifically invited or
requested by the Assistant Secretary, on a competitive
basis; and
(iv) dissertation grants, awarded for a period of
not more than 2 years and in a total amount not
H. R. 1804—105
to exceed $20,000 to graduate students in the sciences,
humanities, and the arts to support research by such
scholars in the field of education;
(C) through the provision of technical assistance;
(D) through the award of fellowships to support grad-
uate study in educational research by qualified African-
American, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native,
and other individuals from groups which have been
traditionally underrepresented in the field of educational
research which shall—
(i) be awarded on the basis of merit for a period
of 3 years; and
(ii) provide stipends to each fellow in an amount
which shall be set at a level of support comparable
to that provided by the National Science Foundation
Graduate Fellowships, except that such amounts shall
be adjusted as necessary so as not to exceed each
fellow’s demonstrated level of need; and
(E) through the award of fellowships in the Office
for 
scholars, 
researchers, 
policymakers, 
education
practitioners, librarians, and statisticians engaged in the
use, collection, and dissemination of information about edu-
cation and educational research which—
(i) shall be awarded following the biennial publica-
tion in the Federal Register of proposed research prior-
ities and a period of 60 days for public comments
and suggestions with respect to such priorities;
(ii) shall be awarded competitively following the
publication of a notice in the Federal Register inviting
the submission of applications; and
(iii) may include such stipends and allowances,
including travel and subsistence expenses provided
under title 5, United States Code, as the Assistant
Secretary considers appropriate.
(2) SCOPE AND FOCUS OF ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the
purposes for which each Institute is established, the Assistant
Secretary shall—
(A) maintain an appropriate balance between applied
and basic research;
(B) significantly expand the role of field-initiated
research in meeting the education research and develop-
ment needs of the United States by reserving not less
than 20 percent of the amounts available to each Institute
in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 and 25 percent in fiscal
years 1998 and 1999 to support field-initiated research;
(C) provide for and maintain a stable foundation of
long-term research and development on core issues and
concerns conducted through university-based research and
development centers by reserving not less than one-third
of the amounts available to each Institute in any fiscal
year to support such research and development centers;
(D) support and provide research information that
leads to policy formation by State legislatures, State and
local boards of education, schools funded by the Bureau,
and other policy and governing bodies, to assist such enti-
ties in identifying and developing effective policies to pro-
mote student achievement and school improvement;
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(E) promote research that is related to the core content
areas;
(F) plan and coordinate syntheses that provide research
knowledge related to each level of the education system
(from preschool to postsecondary education) to increase
understanding of student performance across different edu-
cational levels;
(G) conduct and support research in early childhood,
elementary and secondary, vocational, adult and post-
secondary education (including the professional develop-
ment of teachers) to the extent that such research is related
to the purposes for which such Institute has been estab-
lished;
(H) conduct sustained research and development on
improving the educational achievement of poor and minor-
ity individuals as an integral part of its work; and
(I) coordinate the Institute’s activities with the activi-
ties of the regional educational laboratories and with other
educational 
service 
organizations 
in 
designing 
the
Institute’s research agenda and projects in order to increase
the responsiveness of such Institute to the needs of teachers
and the educational field and to bring research findings
directly into schools to ensure greatest access at the local
level to the latest research developments.
(3) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—No
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement may be made under
this title unless—
(A) sufficient notice of the availability of, and oppor-
tunity to compete for, assistance has first been provided
to potential applicants through notice published in the
Federal Register or other appropriate means;
(B) such grant, contract, or agreement has been evalu-
ated through peer review in accordance with the standards
developed pursuant to section 912(i);
(C) such grant, contract, or agreement will be evaluated
in accordance with the standards developed pursuant to
section 912(i);
(D) in the case of a grant, contract, or cooperative
agreement which exceeds $500,000 for a single fiscal year
or $1,000,000 for more than one fiscal year, the Secretary
has complied with the requirements of paragraph (4); and
(E) in the case of a grant, contract, or cooperative
agreement to support a research and development center,
all applications for such assistance have been evaluated
by independent experts according to standards and criteria
which include—
(i) whether applicants have assembled a group
of high quality researchers sufficient to achieve the
mission of the center;
(ii) whether the proposed organizational structure
and arrangements will facilitate achievement of the
mission of the center;
(iii) whether there is a substantial staff commit-
ment to the work of the center;
(iv) whether the directors and support staff will
devote a majority of their time to the activities of
the center;
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(v) review of the contributions of primary research-
ers (other than researchers at the proposed center)
to evaluate the appropriateness of such primary
researcher’s experiences and expertise in the context
of the proposed center activities, and the adequacy
of such primary researcher’s time commitment to
achievement of the mission of the center; and
(vi) the manner in which the results of education
research will be disseminated for further use, including
how the center will work with the Office of Reform
Assistance and Dissemination.
(4) BOARD REVIEW OF CERTAIN PROPOSED GRANT AND CON-
TRACT ACTIONS.—The Assistant Secretary may not solicit any
contract bid or issue a request for proposals or applications
for any grant or cooperative agreement the amount of which
exceeds $500,000 in any single fiscal year or which exceeds
an aggregate amount of $1,000,000 for more than one fiscal
year unless the Board has had an opportunity to review such
proposed grant, contract, or cooperative agreement and to pro-
vide written comments to the Assistant Secretary with respect
to whether—
(A) the purposes and scope of the proposed action are
consistent with the Research Priorities Plan; and
(B) the methodology and approach of the proposed
action are sound and adequate to achieve the objectives
of such grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.
(5) 
HISTORICALLY
UNDERUTILIZED
RESEARCHERS
AND
INSTITUTIONS.—The Assistant Secretary shall establish and
maintain initiatives and programs to increase the participation
in the activities of each Institute of groups of researchers and
institutions that have been historically underutilized in Federal
educational research activities, including—
(A) researchers who are women, African-American,
Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, or other
ethnic minorities;
(B) promising young or new researchers in the field,
such as postdoctoral students and recently appointed assist-
ant or associate professors;
(C) Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Trib-
ally Controlled Community Colleges, and other institutions
of higher education with large numbers of minority stu-
dents;
(D) institutions of higher education located in rural
areas; and
(E) institutions and researchers located in States and
regions of the United States which have historically
received the least Federal support for educational research
and development.
(6) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—The Assistant Secretary—
(A) may obtain (in accordance with section 3109 of
title 5 but without regard to the limitation in such section
on the period of service) the services of experts or consult-
ants with scientific or professional qualifications in the
disciplines relevant to the purposes of such Institute;
(B) may use, with their consent, the services, equip-
ment, personnel, information, and facilities of other Fed-