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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the President's proposed 1997 budget request for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. My statement covers both OERI accounts: the Education Research, Statistics and Improvement account and the Libraries account.
The United States, at the local, State, and Federal levels, invests more than $500 billion a year on public and private schooling. Members of the public, and especially parents, need assurance that this investment is spent productively, that all educators have access to the best knowledge about teaching and learning, and that all students are skillfully taught. Our work involves collaborative efforts across the disciplines and involves collaborative efforts by researchers, teachers, other educators, parents, students, and the business community, and it is dedicated to the goal of ensuring high achievement for all students.
OERI's mission is to provide cutting edge information to ensure that all children learn to high standards. Our request will support research designed to help teachers and parents improve student achievement, collect statistics to monitor educational progress, and ensure information reaches those who need it.
Within a few years, American schools will enroll more students than ever, surpassing by several million the peak "baby boom" years of the late 1960s. Most of the increase will be among those populations that have been least successful in school: the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, and language minorities. Moreover, today's students need to learn more than past generations to be productive members of the workforce, responsible citizens, and successful parents. The least educated in our society are falling further behind. The gaps we have worked so hard to close are becoming wider. Intensifying this division is the explosion of new technologies. Those who have them and can use them have tremendous educational and career advantages over those who do not and can not.
Recognizing these problems, the President has launched a national mission to make all children technologically literate by the dawn of the 21st century, equipped with the technology, communication, math, science, and critical thinking skills essential to success in the Information Age. Our request adds a major new facet to our technology activities called the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, which would provide funding, via States, to schools and districts for technology resources, including training for teachers.
Our 1997 request includes $108 million for our Research activity, which represents approximately level funding with the tentative conference agreement for 1996. Of that total, $43 million would support the work of the National Research Institutes including $29.2 million for the support of research, development, and dissemination through the continuation of ten national research and development centers. Most of the remaining Institute funding, $8.6 million, would support a redesigned field-initiated research program, which will permit practitioners and researchers to identify the most promising research topics and opportunities.
To guide our work, we are developing a research priorities plan that will take stock of the key accomplishments of education research and suggest areas for future investment that would yield the greatest benefit. In developing this plan, we are collaborating with researchers, educators, other agencies and offices, and community members. We work closely with other Department of Education components such as the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. We also coordinate our work closely with the Department of Labor, the Census Bureau, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy, to name a few.
Another $64 million of the Research funds would be used to help support a national education dissemination system of which $51 million would fund the regional educational laboratories and $9 million would fund the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). The regional laboratories are designed to help educators and policymakers implement effective school improvements and solve State and local problems. The ERIC program, through its network of 16 subject-specific clearinghouses and supporting services, is an important, award- winning component of the national education dissemination system. Three million dollars of the dissemination system funds would support INet, the Internet node for OERI, as well as publications and other dissemination activities. The remaining $1 million would go to the National Library of Education for operational support so that it can serve as a central source of information within the Federal government on education issues.
Support for the National Research Policy and Priorities Board would remain level at $1 million, the amount mandated in authorizing legislation.
The 1997 request includes $50 million, an increase of $3.8 million or 8 percent over the tentative conference agreement for 1996 (and an increase of $1.8 million or 3.8 percent over the 1995 level), for the data collection, analysis, and reporting activities of the NCES. The statistics program has evolved over the past decade in response to legislation and in collaboration with other Federal agencies, State and local policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. NCES is striving to meet the increasing demand for reliable statistical data through efficiencies gained from the use of new technologies in collecting and reporting those data. The program was level funded for the past few years and will suffer a $2 million reduction in 1996 under the tentative conference agreement. Real dollar costs of contractors are increasing, so the increase requested, although small, is essential to maintain the content and quality of the current program.
In addition, we are requesting $32.8 million, level funding, for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Assessment Governing Board. NAEP provides the only nationally representative indicator of what our children know and can do.
We are requesting $25 million for the Star Schools program, an increase of $2 million over the tentative conference agreement for 1996, to continue support for ongoing projects as well as for several new demonstrations using distance learning solutions to improve teaching and learning. We are also requesting $7 million for the Ready to Learn Television program.
We are also requesting $10 million for Javits Gifted and Talented Education, thus restoring the program to its pre-1995 funding levels but with an added focus--that the knowledge gained through this program can and should be used as a basis for rich and challenging curricula for all students.
We are requesting $15 million, $3 million less than the tentative conference agreement for 1996, for Eisenhower Professional Development National Activities, which support teacher preparation required to help all students master demanding subject matter in the core academic disciplines. These funds will permit the continuation of activities begun in prior years-- including the National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education Materials and the research and development activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Also, we would make awards to an additional five States to assist in teacher preparation and licensing reform efforts, and we would begin work to assist States in their efforts to develop performance assessments or similar approaches to improving teacher preparation and ongoing professional development.
The ten Eisenhower Regional Math and Science Education Consortia would be continued at level funding, $15 million, as would the $4 million Civics Education program. The International Education Exchange program would be supported at $3 million.
The challenges are great, but I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the teachers, researchers, students, parents, and community members who are committed to working together to ensure a better future. I look forward to working with you and with members of this Committee to ensure that OERI continues to provide them with the supports they need to continue their work.
My colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.
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