[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20721-20722]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EDUCATION SCIENCES REFORM ACT OF 2002

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP 
committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3801, the 
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, and that the Senate proceed to 
its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3801) to provide for improvement of Federal 
     education research, statistics, evaluation, information, and 
     dissemination, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I welcome this bipartisan agreement on 
the reauthorization of the Office of Education Research. The new 
Institute of Education Sciences created by this legislation will 
improve the capacity of the Department to conduct high quality research 
to improve educational opportunities for all students.
  We know that research can make a difference in teaching and learning 
by providing high quality technical assistance and professional 
development, reliable data, and wide dissemination of research and best 
practices.
  We all agree that education research has to be high quality. It also 
needs to be directly related to the needs of the professionals in the 
field. Schools, teachers, principals and child care providers all must 
have access to the best practices in education if our schools are to be 
the best they can be.
  States, schools and teachers have to face the challenge of preparing 
students for assessments and dealing with schools that fail to make 
adequate progress. Regional technical assistance providers can help 
them meet this challenge. Our bill reauthorizes the regional education 
laboratories, and provides a smooth transition from the current system 
of technical assistance providers to a new, streamlined system of 
comprehensive centers. We know that our teachers need this support and 
we intend to provide it.
  The Federal Government has a distinguished history of investment in 
education research. What began many years ago as data collection has 
evolved into a current approach that collects, analyzes and 
disseminates important information. It enables researchers to bring 
their analyses to the people who need this information and can use it 
best. Our bill also maintains the autonomy of the National Center on 
Statistics, and makes sure that the National Assessment of Education 
Progress stays out of the political arena.
  Our goals are to raise the quality of research conducted at the new 
Institute, to link its research with other research, and to make it 
available to the teachers who use it.
  We want to be able to look to this Institute when we have education 
questions in the same way that we look to the NIH when we have medical 
questions. This bill provides a sound foundation to do so.
  I commend the Committee staff who worked long and hard and 
effectively on this bill: Alex Nock, Denise Forte, Doug Mesecar, Bob 
Sweet and Sally Lovejoy of the House Committee; Lloyd Horwich with 
Senator Dodd, Elyse Wasch and Kathleen Fitzgerald with Senator Reed, 
Bethany Little with Senator Murray, Carmel Martin with Senator 
Bingaman, Rebecca Litt with Senator Mikulski, Eric Fatemi with Senator 
Harkin, David Sewell with Senator Edwards, Jill Morningstar with 
Senator Wellstone, Katherine Brown with Senator Clinton and Sherry 
Kaiman with Senator Jeffords, Tracy Locklin with Senator Gregg, Amanda 
Farris with Senator Enzi, Kristin Bannerman with Senator DeWine, 
Jennifer Swenson with Senator Roberts, Andrea Becker with Senator Frist 
and Jane Oates and Emma Vadehra of my own staff. I thank Amy Gaynor of 
Legislative Counsel and the floor staff for working with us to complete 
the process.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, first let me say that I believe that this 
Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3801, The Education Sciences Reform Act of 
2002, represents a significant step toward achieving our common goal of 
improving the quality of education research. I thank Assistant 
Secretary Whitehurst and his staff for the assistance they provided in 
crafting this legislation. I am especially gratified to see this bill 
come together in the same spirit of bipartisanship in which we crafted 
the No Child Left Behind Act.
  Though significant Federal involvement in education research dates 
back to the 1950's, we are still without a strong body of high quality 
education research to guide education policymaking. Yet the need for 
sound, rigorous education research that is free of political bias and 
useful to educators has never been more important. With passage of the 
bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act, we have made it our mission as a 
Nation to make sure every student is well-educated. By renewing our 
efforts to master the science of how children learn best, this bill 
will help tremendously in achieving that mission.
  Specifically, the bill:
  No. 1, reconstitutes the Office of Education Research and Improvement 
as the ``Institute of Education Sciences'' to provide a more rational, 
streamlined infrastructure for the Department of Education's research, 
development, statistics, evaluation, and dissemination functions;
  No. 2, establishes more rigorous research standards, which all 
Institute-funded education research will have to meet. Education fads 
that masquerade as science will no longer be acceptable;
  No. 3, establishes Research and Development Centers to cover such 
important topics as standards, assessment and accountability, improving 
low achieving schools, innovation in education reform, rural education, 
teacher quality, and postsecondary education;
  No. 4, contributes to the creation of a ``culture of science'' within 
the new Institute by giving the Director the hiring flexibility 
necessary to attract and retain the best researchers, evaluators, and 
statisticians to the Institute;
  No. 5, makes technical assistance to schools, school districts, and 
states more efficient and user-friendly, particularly the assistance 
needed in order to effectively implement the No Child Left Behind Act. 
The current patchwork of regional technical assistance entities will be 
replaced by a single set of technical assistance providers;
  No. 6, increases the independence of the research and evaluation 
functions of the Department, while preserving the independence and 
quality of the current National Center for Education Statistics;
  No. 7, further insulates the National Assessment of Educational 
Progress from political interference by giving the independent National 
Assessment Governing Board the authority to release NAEP results to the 
public; and
  No 8, requires that grants and contracts with regional education 
laboratories, national research and development centers, and technical 
assistance providers are awarded on the basis of open competition.
  It is my hope that the significant reforms made by this legislation 
will mark the beginning of a new era in the field of education 
research--an era in which policymaking will be based on sound science, 
to the benefit of our Nation's students.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I support the Education Sciences Reform Act 
of 2002.
  This legislation reauthorizes and renames the current Office of 
Educational Research and Improvement at the Department of Education, 
now to be called the Institute of Education Sciences. The bill will 
increase the quality of educational research and statistics, improve 
dissemination, technical assistance, educational product development, 
evaluation, and other research efforts, and minimize the effect of 
politics on education research.

[[Page 20722]]

  As States begin to implement the No Child Left Behind Act, the need 
for a responsive, relevant, high quality, and rigorous education 
knowledge enterprise is greater than ever.
  Mr. President, I am particularly pleased about the bill's provisions 
to retain and strengthen the regional educational laboratories. The 
regional educational laboratories, like the Northeast and Islands 
Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, conduct applied 
research, develop educational products and materials, provide technical 
assistance, and disseminate information in order to improve teaching, 
increase student achievement, and promote effective school reform. The 
Education Sciences Reform Act enhances the regional educational 
laboratories work to put research into practice and focuses their 
efforts on helping states and districts meet their specific educational 
needs.
  I thank Chairman Kennedy, Senator Gregg, Senator Enzi, and members of 
the House Education and the Workforce Committee for working closely 
with me on many aspects of this legislation. This is important 
legislation, and I am pleased to support it.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I understand Senators Kennedy, Gregg, and others have a 
substitute amendment at the desk, and I ask the amendment be considered 
and agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; 
that the bill, as amended, be read three times, passed, and the motion 
to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements related 
thereto be printed in the Record, without intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4885) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The bill (H.R. 3801), as amended, was read the third time and passed.

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