A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

From the Assistant Secretary

In the few short months I have been with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), I have come to know the staff and to appreciate all of their efforts in moving forward on the President's agenda for American education. As you are aware, the President, in his State of the Union address, made education his top priority. Secretary Riley in turn expanded on the President's vision for education and the many challenges that lie ahead, suggesting ways to put "standards of excellence into action to improve American education."

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to an agenda that distills the 10 points in the President's message and the Secretary's speech into 7 priorities for the Department. The points are concrete opportunities to improve the overall quality and equality of American education and of achieving the national goals.

These points are:

• to ensure that every child in America is reading independently by the end of the 3rd grade;

• to ensure that every child in America is proficient in mathematics by the end of the 8th grade;

• to ensure that every 18-year-old in America is prepared for and able to afford at least 2 years of college, and to pursue lifelong learning; to have a talented, dedicated, and well-prepared teacher in every classroom;

• to have every classroom connected to the Internet by the year 2000 and every student to be technologically literate;

• to have every school be strong, safe, and drug free; and

• to have every state have challenging and clear standards of achievement and accountability, and clear and coherent strategies for giving all students the opportunity to achieve to the standards.

We at OERI are gearing up to meet these challenges and turn them into reality. Currently, we are involved in and support a variety of activities that contribute to and support the Department's agenda; and these will be expanding to include several new initiatives in the year to come. OERI's research centers, regional laboratories, and the ERIC system already provide support services in each area through their networks of research and dissemination programs. NCES provides comprehensive support for all the initiatives through its surveys and assessments.

Some new efforts we are initiating include the establishment this year of two new research centers, one on early reading and one on professional development. The reading center will emphasize reading readiness, family literacy, and early reading; and the professional development center will provide useful information to policy makers implementing reforms in their states. In addition, OERI will establish an expert panel to identify promising and exemplary programs in early reading. Other initiatives include establishing a Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching to provide various stakeholders information and applied research activities to help them respond to the report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, and continuing work on a fourth-grade national reading test and an eighth-grade national math test by Spring 1999 (see cover story).

In subsequent issues, we'll keep you up to date on progress being made in reaching these goals. The challenge is great, and we at OERI are excited about our part in this national crusade for education. We'll continue to provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions as America becomes a nation of learners. We invite you to join us in this effort, and we also encourage you to share your concerns and suggestions with us. Together, we can ensure that Americans have the best education in the world and that it meets their needs for success in the 21st century.

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