Toward A Learning Society Directors Biennial Report To Congress Ies 2007 6004

Download or read book Toward a Learning Society. Director's Biennial Report to Congress. IES 2007-6004 written by Institute of Education Sciences (ED), Washington, DC. and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mission of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is to provide rigorous evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to encourage its use. The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) requires that the Director of IES, on a biennial basis, transmit to the President, the National Board for Education Sciences, and the appropriate congressional committees, and make widely available to the public, a report containing: (1) a description of the activities carried out by and through the National Education Centers during the prior fiscal years; (2) a summary of each grant, contract, and cooperative agreement in excess of $100,000 funded through the National Education Centers during the prior fiscal years, including, at a minimum, the amount, duration, recipient, purpose of the award, and the relationship, if any, to the priorities and mission of IES; (3) a description of how the activities of the National Education Centers are consistent with the principles of scientifically valid research and the priorities and mission of IES; and (4) such additional comments, recommendations, and materials as the Director considers appropriate. The 2005 report focused on the goals of IES and the progress that had been made in establishing the organizational capacity to further those goals. The current report provides further information along those lines as IES marks its transition from an organization under construction to one that is fully formed and operational. However, the emphasis in this report is on accomplishments as the grants and contracts made by IES begin to bear fruit. To that end, this report begins with highlights of accomplishments and findings from each of the four National Education Centers of IES: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance; National Center for Education Statistics; National Center for Special Education Research; and National Center for Education Research. The report then describes the functioning of IES as a whole, examining: its organization, staffing, and budget; scientific peer review process; priorities; web-based dissemination; annual research conference; Urban Education Research Task Force; National Conference of State Legislatures; Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness; and the National Board for Education Sciences. Also profiled in this report are ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), the world's largest digital library of education research and information, and the What Works Clearinghouse, which synthesizes the best evidence of the effectiveness of education programs, policies, and practices and reports these findings through its website. IES carries out its programs through grants and contracts. The appendices include all awards made since the last biennial report to Congress. (Contains 2 tables and 7 figures.) [For the 2005 edition of this report, see ED494713.].