Regional Education Laboratories

  • Hasselbring, Ted (PI)
  • Ma, Xin (CoI)
  • Zydney, Janet (CoI)

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

IV. Scope of Work/Requirements A regional educational laboratory contractor shall prepare a five-year plan setting forth applied research, development, dissemination, and training and technical assistance activities that shall be carried out to meet the educational needs of a region. The plan shall also establish how the laboratory contractor shall ensure that the research base used or developed for these endeavors is consistent with IES standards for scientifically valid research. (See Sections 134, 173 and 174 of the IES authorizing legislation.) The five-year plan for a laboratory shall follow the organization of tasks stated in this statement of work that incorporates the following activities: 1. Provision of training (which may include supporting internships and fellowships and providing stipends) and technical assistance to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, school boards, schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as appropriate, and State boards of education. The training and technical assistance shall, at a minimum, be concerned with the administration and implementation of programs under the recently reauthorized ESEA. The contractor shall include scientifically valid research on teaching methods, assessment tools, and high quality, challenging curriculums (at a minimum covering math, science, and reading); English language acquisition; education technology; promising practices and new educational methods, including professional development and educational technology. The contractor shall improve communication between educational experts, school officials, teachers, parents, and librarians, to help schools plan to meet State education goals. The contractor shall provide training and technical assistance activities in coordination with the Comprehensive Centers and other technical assistance providers funded by ED (See Appendix B). These training and technical assistance activities shall be primarily conducted under Task Subtask 1.1 (Regional Education Needs Analysis Training and Technical Assistance Response Unit) and Subtask 1.2 (Fast Response Applied Research and Development Projects), and reflected in the coordinated dissemination activities under Task 3 (National Laboratory Network) and Task 4 (Regional Dissemination). 2. Dissemination shall be broad and the contractor shall incorporate scientifically valid research findings into reports and publications that infonn schools, districts, institutions of higher education, educators (including early childhood educators and librarians), parents, policymakers, and others about research findings pertinent to improving academic achievement, closing achievement gaps, and encouraging and sustaining school improvement. The contractor shall consider disseminating successful educational programs, as determined by scientifically valid research that may have been developed or used by others within the region served by the contractor. Dissemination shall be both regional (Task 4) and national through the National Laboratory Network (Task 3 and Task 6). 3. Assessment of regional education needs shall be conducted through continuing surveys ofthe education needs, strengths, and weaknesses within the region. The contractor shall conduct an assessment of regional needs using a process of open hearings, and other solicitations of the views of schools, teachers, administrators, parents, librarians, local educational agencies, and State educational agencies within the region. As required by the authorizing legislation, the contractor shall obligate not less than 25 percent of their budget to carry out such purpose with respect to rural areas, including schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which are located in rural areas. The findings shall be compiled into the regional education needs assessment analysis that shall be conducted under Subtask 1.1 (Regional Education Needs Analysis and Training and Technical Assistance Response Unit). 4. Applied research and development projects shall be conducted by the contractor to address needs that lack answers from scientifically valid research. The contractor shall carry out these projects under Task 1.2 (Fast Response Applied Research and Development Projects) and Task 2 (Rigorous Applied Research and Development). The applied research and development projects shall be determined by the needs of the region from pre-kindergarten through grade 16. Among the topics the contractor shall consider are those that address the national priority of improving academic achievement through overall school improvement; including closing achievement gaps; examining enduring problems in elementary and secondary education; high school reform; increasing access to postsecondary education; improving professional development; identifying effective parental involvement strategies; and revamping school finance systems to promote improved access to educational opportunities. The contractor shall consider as well, projects that address ways to better serve all public school students; that examine alternative administrative structures to support school reform and improve academic achievement; that provide expert advice for low-performing or high poverty schools in urban and rural areas; projects that highlight strategies to utilize schools as critical components in reforming education and revitalizing rural communities; and innovative projects on applications of technology in education that are unlikely to originate from within the private sector. These projects shall consider research conducted through the Institute of Education Sciences National Centers (See Appendix C). Projects conducted under Subtask 1.2 (Fast Response Applied Research and Development Projects) shall rely primarily on existing data, studies, or smallscale investigations using a variety of sources. Planned surveys under Subtask 1.2 shall comply with Federal data requirements in Subtask 2.3 (Forms Clearance). Projects conducted under Task 2 (Rigorous Applied Research and Development) shall be based on original data collection or administrative records, and therefore require compliance with Federal data collection requirements. 5. Coordination to prevent unnecessary duplication of activities among the regions shall be accomplished through the activities of the National Laboratory Network and the activities listed in Task 6. The coordinating contractor (See Task 6) shall establish procedures with the ten laboratories in the Network to communicate and identify plans across RELs, and ensure discussions on joint-projects and collaborations. The coordinating contractor shall design and update a website for all ten laboratories to ensure national and cross-region dissemination and efficient access by education users. In addition, to ensure effective laboratory communication, the contractor shall design and maintain an intranet site. This activity shall be conducted under Tasks 3 and 6 (National Laboratory Network and Coordination ofREL Network, Website and Intranet). 6. A regional educational laboratory governing board shall be established by the contractor to reflect a balanced representation of States in the region, in addition to addressing interests and concerns of regional constituencies. The establishment and on-going activities of the governing board shall be carried out under Subtask 5.2. 7. Planning, Management, and Reporting. The contractor shall develop a five-year plan describing all activities to be undertaken under each task including development, management, and reporting of the activities and a five-year projection of costs associated with each task, with project-specific projections under Subtask 1.2 and Task 2. The contractor shall take into account regional assessments of the activities. The contractor shall take into account regional assessments conducted under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Section 206 and other relevant needs assessments as required under Section 207 of the legislation. The contractor shall submit an Updated Annual Plan that includes a report of activities undertaken during the current year and reports on projects in process in both fast response applied research and development and rigorous studies. The contractor shall also include draft plans for work to be conducted under each task during the succeeding year of the contract. These activities shall follow the requirements listed under Subtask 5.1
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date4/1/063/15/07

Funding

  • CNA Corp: $10,000.00

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