Profiles of the Regional Educational Laboratories

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory

Mission

To improve the performance of all parts and levels of the K-12 educational system from the classroom to the state by:

• making research-based knowledge useful to and usable by educators, policymakers, and the wider community;
• integrating research, policy, and practice around issues of transforming schools into high-performing learning communities; and
• providing regional and national leadership in applying technology to improve student learning.

Regional Problem Areas to be Addressed

Working with its constituents to synthesize and assess the needs of the region has enabled NCREL to identify three areas of critical and enduring concern:

1. Educational technology: Too many educators lack the procedural knowledge or support required to integrate technology effectively into teaching and learning.

2. Literacy: Too many students, especially those in high-poverty and minority groups, are poor readers and writers.

3. The use of data in making decisions: Educators lack access to and the capacity to use high-quality, well-organized data to inform their professional decisions.

NCREL's programmatic work to address these problems is distributed across two centers: the Center for Curriculum and Technology and the Center for Data Systems and Development. Designed to support the efforts of constituents, NCREL's activities are integrated across research, policy, and practice and are intended to advance and promote the procedural knowledge about high-performing learning communities.

Educational technology (staff contact: Gilbert Valdez). With the integration of technology into every aspect of the workplace, the integration of technology into teaching and learning is essential. However, educators have insufficient professional development opportunities in technology use; there are inadequate or misaligned technology policy and governance structures in place; there is a clear need for systemic integration into school practice and reform; and access to educational technology resources is too often inequitable.

NCREL's Center for Curriculum and Technology provides school leaders with more and better access to the procedural knowledge necessary to apply technology to learning across the educational system. NCREL's research-driven publications and Web-based tools provide educators, especially those in high-need urban and rural areas, with high-quality professional development resources related to the application of technology to learning. In addition, policy staff members work directly with policymakers and administrators to align governance and administration around technology integration with the goal of promoting the development of high-performing learning communities. Valuable intensive sites and partners include the region's state departments of education, Mahnomen Public Schools on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota, National School Boards Association, Metiri Group, North Central Mathematics and Science Consortium, and North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium.

Literacy (staff contact: Gilbert Valdez). Literacy truly is the gateway skill to all other academic achievement, yet assessment results continue to show that too many students have inadequate skills. K-12 teachers are not prepared to teach all students to be successful readers. They do not have easy access to tools and resources that can support their knowledge and skill development. In addition, national, regional, and state literacy initiatives have not been effectively coordinated to leverage resources, share research and best practice data, support the development of knowledge-based tools and services for teachers, or inform policy and practice.

NCREL's Center for Curriculum and Technology provides teachers and administrators--through preservice and in-service professional development opportunities--with the knowledge, instructional tools, and resources to help them understand how students learn to read and develop literacy skills. NCREL staff help teachers choose and use resources--including technology--that are appropriate for the specific needs of the students in their classrooms. NCREL provides teachers with mechanisms to measure student progress and results in order to improve instruction and individual student literacy development. Another critical part of NCREL's literacy work is the synthesis and dissemination of literacy education research and best practice across the region--as well as the nation--via the Internet and other outreach vehicles. Partnerships include the state education agencies; Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement; Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence; Council of Chief State School Officers; and National Center for Adult Literacy.

Use of data (staff contact: Scott Jones). As the gap between low- and high-achieving students continues to grow and the implementation of high-stakes, performance-based accountability systems becomes the norm, more informed educational decisionmaking has become increasingly important. At the same time, educators lack access to and the capacity to use high-quality, well-organized data to inform their professional decisions, particularly around the issues of content, capacity, culture, and consequences.

The Center for Data Systems and Development strives to understand how improved data and better decisions can help schools close achievement gaps between groups of students. NCREL's focus is not just on data, but also on how data are being used by decisionmakers. NCREL is developing repositories of these important data, providing analyses of trends, and bringing together various stakeholders to discuss solutions to this challenge. NCREL's research work investigates the impact of current preservice training and professional development opportunities on the capacity for data use and continuous improvement in schools. NCREL also works closely with policymakers and educators to provide more accessible data and the capacity for analysis. Partnerships and intensive sites include the Minority Student Achievement Network, Council of Chief State School Officers, TIMSS-R Benchmarking Study states and districts, Illinois Institute of Technology Center for Research and Service, Education Commission of the States, Michigan State University, and state education agencies.

National Leadership Area

Educational technology (staff contact: Gilbert Valdez). Educators are not yet effectively integrating technology into teaching and learning, and still struggle with evaluating its effectiveness for students is a national problem. Although technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, the heart of NCREL's work and vision remains the same: Integrating technology into instructional approaches will increase student achievement by improving the quality of curricula and instruction.

NCREL provides leadership to educators through:

• Applied research and development, including research syntheses and studies, Web-based knowledge resources and tools, and technology-based professional development tools.

• Networking and dissemination activities, including establishing an expert panel on emerging technologies in education, sponsoring an annual invitational conference on educational technology, and disseminating information and resources from research and development activities through NCREL's Web Site and publications, REL system outlets (e.g., Gateway to Educational Material, Knowledge Loom, REL Web Site) and other appropriate national vehicles (e.g., journal articles, newspaper editorials).

NCREL is fortunate to host and work closely with the North Central Mathematics and Science Consortium to provide direct technical assistance to state education agencies, intermediate educational units, and school districts; and the North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium to help schools and districts integrate technology into teaching and learning.

Key Accomplishments

Technology. NCREL will continue to extend the breadth and depth of its work in the field of educational technology. One key focus of the Lab's work is the impact of technology on student learning, an issue that continues to grow in national importance. EnGauge is a Web-based framework for effective technology use developed in a partnership with the Metiri Group. The enGauge Web Site offers technology improvement teams a one-stop resource for studying, measuring, and improving the effective use of technology in the educational system. The development process for enGauge was guided by frequent focus groups and external reviews. Based on these reviews, the parameters of an online survey were established, as well as guidelines for database design and functionality, user interface design, and reporting structures. Constituents in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa are currently using the Web site, and NCREL continues its development.

Data retreats. NCREL also is scaling up the practice of hosting Data Retreats for school improvement teams throughout the North Central region and the nation. Working closely with Judy Sargent, Ph.D., of the Cooperative Educational Service Agency No. 7 (CESA 7) in Green Bay, Wisconsin, NCREL brings district and school-level leadership teams together to analyze and discuss student data, and to develop a databased improvement plan. During these 2- to 3-day retreats, participants define problems and goals, develop strategies, and make a commitment to using data. District and school staff analyze patterns of data and develop a plan that has true meaning for school change.

Upcoming Products and Events

NCREL's National Invitational Educational Technology Conference. This year's conference is entitled "High-Performance, High-Technology Learning Communities: Preparing Our Students for the Future" (Summer 2001).

ETCNet (Educational Technology Center Network) Web Site will pull together NCREL's growing wealth of educational technology resources and provide a single entry point for easy access (Winter 2001).

First Annual Regional Literacy Network Meeting will be hosted by NCREL for teams from all seven states. The goal of the event is to facilitate collaboration and information sharing, identify problems related to low reading performance, and plan intervention strategies for staff development (2001).

NCREL's Learning Point Magazine will take an in-depth look at closing the achievement gaps. The cover story will address the dimensions of the gaps, demonstrate their link to the accountability movement, and explore barriers as well as opportunities for closing the gaps (Fall 2001).

[Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning] [Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory]

This page last modified August 29, 2001 (jer)