Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the President's fiscal year 2003 budget request for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) and how it supports the goal of ensuring that students complete high school prepared for the workforce and for higher education. The President has requested a total of $432.9 million for OERI research, development, dissemination, statistics, and assessment activities in 2003. Both research and statistics have significant increases in 2003—nearly 44 percent in the case of research, and nearly 12 percent for statistics.

You have already heard how our work will strengthen foundations for learning. Many of the research activities that focus on improving student learning and achievement in younger children will be helpful in ensuring that students are prepared for middle and high school. Other research projects are specifically targeted on older students and on adults. Today, I will focus on our activities related to ensuring that students are able to make a successful transition from high school to the workplace and postsecondary education.

Reasons for Concern

Policymakers, teachers, and parents have been concerned by studies, such as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, that indicate that U.S. students are less likely to be taught or to master complex and conceptually difficult material during their middle and high school years, resulting in lower achievement relative to students from other countries. The National Assessment of Educational Progress also provides information, for a broader range of academic subjects, related to the readiness of 12th grade students for postsecondary education and the workforce. The most recent NAEP shows us that far too many students are not ready for postsecondary education or for challenging employment: about one-third of 12th grade students score below the basic level in mathematics, and nearly a quarter perform poorly in reading.

Factors Affecting Student Achievement in High School

Before education researchers can develop methods to improve education at the secondary level, they must have reliable measures of student achievement and information on factors related to academic performance. For this reason, the work of the National Center for Education Statistics is central to the research mission of OERI. NCES collects data through several surveys that provide important information related to the achievement of young people as they progress through middle and high school and move into the workplace or on to further education.

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) provides key information on the programs offered in secondary schools and on teacher qualifications. Through SASS we can, for example, examine whether secondary school physics or chemistry teachers majored or minored in those fields, as well as look at differences in qualifications between teachers in urban and rural areas, or in low- and high-poverty schools. The differences are often stark: the 1993-94 SASS found that nearly 39 percent of teachers in high-poverty schools had neither a major or a minor in their main teaching field, compared to about 21 percent of teachers in low-poverty schools. Our 2003 request, which provides support for analysis of the 1999-2000 SASS as well as support for the 2003-2004 SASS, will allow us to examine changes in program offerings, school staffing, and teacher qualifications and salary over time.

The NCES secondary school longitudinal studies, which are designed to collect in-depth information on the same students as they progress over time, provide analysts with an invaluable tool for understanding the processes by which education leads individuals to develop their abilities, and can ultimately provide parents, educators, and policymakers with information to improve the quality of education. Our 2003 request includes support for the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002), which will follow a nationally representative sample of high school students as they progress through school and enter the workforce. ELS:2002 is the fourth in a series of major secondary school longitudinal studies sponsored by the Department (i.e., one each in the decades of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and, now, in the first decade of the 21st century). Data from this study will be used to examine cognitive growth; high school completion; and postsecondary education choice, access, and persistence.

Comparisons with Other Countries

International assessments allow us to compare American curriculum and teaching practices and the achievement of American young people with practices and achievement in other nations. Our 2003 request includes support for the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment of 15-year-olds that examines reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy; the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R) video analysis and reporting; and a variety of other international projects. Additional funding for this program would allow the United States to continue its leadership role with other countries as part of an International Consortium on Education and would allow continued support for surveys and teaching comparisons that produce valuable data on teaching methods and student outcomes.

Transforming High Schools into Instruments of Achievement

The Comprehensive School Reform model design program, for which we have requested nearly $20 million in research funding in 2003, aims to raise student achievement by helping public schools across the country implement successful, comprehensive school reforms that are based on reliable research and effective practices, and include an emphasis on basic academics and parental involvement. Fiscal year 2003 funds would support the final year of funding for one portion of the program, the design, development, evaluation, and scaling-up of models for middle and high schools that incorporate the best research-based components and practices available. Funds also will support research on the effectiveness of externally developed comprehensive school reform models, various model characteristics, and supporting conditions and strategies.

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), an OERI-funded national research center, developed a comprehensive multi-phased reform model, the Talent Development High School Model with Career Academies, for large high schools that have serious problems of student attendance, discipline, achievement scores, and dropout rates. The model, which is firmly grounded in research on effective practice, contains specific school organization and curriculum changes but also enables schools to adapt the model to local conditions. The first phase of Talent Development High School reforms involves changes in school organization and management to establish a safe and serious climate for learning and to motivate regular attendance by students and staff. The second phase includes improvements in curriculum and classroom instruction to engage students better in their own learning and to produce greater growth in student achievement of higher-order learning goals.

Strengthening Math and Science Education in Middle and High School

The United States has achieved remarkable scientific and technological advances over the last century. If future generations are to succeed in college and in the workplace, effective mathematics and science instruction at the middle and high school level is critical to equip students with technological and problem-solving skills. As we develop our research agenda in this area, we will be guided by the work of the RAND Math Study Panel, a multidisciplinary team of scholars that is developing a framework for mathematics education research. A key focus area of the report is the teaching and learning of algebra, and we anticipate translating the recommendations into a research agenda on algebra that will have a clear impact on high school achievement.

In 2003, OERI will contribute $20 million to the Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI), a joint activity of the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. IERI is designed to accelerate the translation of research findings into concrete lessons and tools for raising pre-K through 12 student achievement. IERI operates on the assumption that decisions to implement educational interventions on a large scale should in all instances be supported by empirically validated research that has rigorously tested the broad applicability and theoretical validity of interventions and implementations. At the same time, the research should bear in mind the practical complexities of large-scale implementation of effective instructional practices. The 2002 and 2003 IERI competitions will solicit projects that focus on the transition to increasingly complex science and mathematics learning. Our Reading Comprehension Initiative, for which we have requested $20 million in 2003, also supports high school achievement. This program will expand scientific knowledge of how students develop proficient levels of reading comprehension, how reading comprehension can be taught most optimally, and how reading comprehension can be assessed in ways that reflect as well as advance our current understanding of reading comprehension and its development. The goal of this program is to establish a scientific foundation for educational practice by supporting research on reading comprehension that is likely to produce substantial gains in academic achievement across a range of subjects.

Beyond High School

Two postsecondary surveys conducted by NCES, the Beginning Postsecondary Student Longitudinal Survey (BPS) and the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B), will provide information on the progress of postsecondary students. BPS follows first-time postsecondary students through their postsecondary education and into the labor force. B&B follows bachelor's degree students and provides information on their education and employment experiences after graduation. Fiscal year 2003 funds will provide support for the B&B; funding for the next BPS, scheduled for 2004, will be requested in FY 2004.

Adult Educational Needs

The request for Statistics also includes support for the National Assessments of Adult Literacy (NAAL), a nationally representative assessment of English language literacy skills of American adults. Data from NAAL will provide accurate estimates of national literacy skills and will help policymakers target resources to address literacy-related issues. In addition, our request for Statistics includes funds for a household survey on work-related adult education.

Finally, OERI research funding supports the work of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), which conducts research, development, evaluation, and dissemination needed to build effective, cost-efficient adult learning and literacy programs in the areas of adult basic education (ABE), English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), and adult secondary education (ASE). NCSALL's research priorities are guided by its focus on improving practice, ensuring that its efforts and products will be immediately useful to teachers, program directors, counselors, volunteers, staff developers, and policy makers working in or with educational programs that serve adults who have limited literacy skills, have limited English language proficiency, or do not have a high school diploma.

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, my colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have about the President's request for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Thank you.

This page last modified—August 2, 2006.