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

An Education Research Initiative

James Griffin
National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education
U.S. Department of Education

Advances in computers, communication, and other information technologies have the potential to transform how teachers teach and students learn. Coupled with an improved understanding of brain development in the early years and learning, technology has the potential to improve the quality of education and training available to Americans of all ages. But how can educators best use advances in technology to improve children's learning? What do researchers and practitioners need to know about children's development and learning, and how to best use technology in order to improve student outcomes? To answer these questions, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has proposed an Education Research Initiative (ERI) that will focus expertise in research, evaluation, and educational technology on achieving two important education goals:

• ensuring that all children have acquired the foundations of mathematics and reading by the end of grade three, and

• ensuring that all mathematics, science, and reading teachers have the high-level content knowledge and the pedagogical skills required to perform effectively.

The initiative derives from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K?12 Education in the United States (March 1997). ERI will build on the substantial research base gained through research centers and field-initiated programs that the partnership agencies sponsor. The Initiatives' planning process will bring together teams of cognitive scientists and educational researchers, technologists, content area specialists, practitioners, and psychometricians to develop and study large-scale approaches to solving pressing national educational problems. Educational technology will be a central focus in the search for approaches that are effective, scalable, and sustainable. Problem-oriented management teams will be formed by the participating agencies to direct the research and development (R&D) programs, and to ensure that:

• R&D efforts converge on a knowledge base for designing and implementing improvements in educational practice and systems that achieve significant gains for those most in need of increased learning, pedagogical skills and content knowledge;

• Such improvements are sustainable and can be scaled up to metropolitan and rural areas;

• The mechanisms that make such changes work are understood, as are the results to be expected from using them in different contexts and with different populations; and

• Educational technologies are embedded in improved instructional practices, in innovative and cost-effective ways, with classroom and school expertise and supports available to sustain their use.

Although this initiative builds on previous work sponsored by the participating agencies, it differs from previous R&D programs in significant ways. First, teachers, other practitioners, and researchers in multiple disciplines will be brought together to designate R&D issues and to plan experimental methods, implementation strategies, and evaluation techniques. Second, both qualitative and quantitative indicators of progress will be specified for each major program and monitored throughout the life of the initiative. Next, all R&D programs will be closely monitored, with periodic engagement of outside researchers and practitioners to reflect on outcomes and progress toward goals.

Finally, large-scale efforts in cities and rural areas will be studied, using a range of research methodologies and evaluation techniques.

Workshops for defining R&D issues and methodologies were held in September of 1998. A joint solicitation is currently being prepared for release in early 1999.

For more information, contact James Griffin (202) 219?2168.

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