[NLA] Discussion: How will OERI Reauthorization affect NCSALL?

Tue Oct 22 14:39:55 EDT 2002

John and all

does the notion of a new institute or academy then render all of the 
information below moot?

Janet Isserlis

>
>The OERI legislation specifically leaves the existing R&D Center 
>grants in place, and so NCSALL is funded through July 2006 at about 
>$3 million per year. The R&D Centers are in the new legislation, 
>with a specific reference to an Adult Education Center, and so 
>sometime before 2006 OERI should have another open competition for a 
>new adult education R&D Center that will be funded for 5 years with 
>a 5 year non-competitive extension if the Center's work is 
>satisfactory. NCSALL will be one of the bidders for that new Center, 
>but we may decide to make changes in such things as who directs the 
>Center, which institution is the host, which researchers are funded, 
>and, of course, what research we pursue.
>
>OERI will be looking for more experimental or quasi-experimental 
>research in the proposals. NCSALL researchers and staff are 
>discussing how best to move in that direction.  Even without the 
>politics around this issue, this is a difficult discussion, but one 
>that we are finding useful and interesting. Once we have completed 
>our discussion, we will share our proposed plans with the field for 
>feedback and will use NLA as one of the venues for this.  As the 
>first step in this process, we have prepared a report of everything 
>we did in the first five years (1996-2001), which we plan to publish 
>in November.  As soon as this document is on our website, we'll post 
>a notice on NLA.  At the end of that report, we summarize what we 
>have learned in a way that misses
>some of the details but provides, we hope, a useful framework.
>
>For people involved or interested in policy, the new OERI 
>legislation presents three issues that need discussion.  First, the 
>next 10-year grant to an adult education R&D Center should be much 
>larger, at least $5 million per year with a 5% inflation factor. 
>How is our field going to organize itself to argue for these funds? 
>Keep in mind that the funds are not coming from any other adult 
>education pot of money.
>
>Second, what questions should this Center seek to answer and how 
>should it go about doing that. Part of the "how" is a technical 
>question that should be answered by the researchers who take on this 
>task but part of it is a policy issue in that different research 
>methods have different levels of credibility and are open to 
>different limitations on accuracy.  I feel a mix of methodologies 
>that follow a process of exploration and testing leading to more 
>exploration and testing is the way to ensure credibility without 
>walking down a narrow path that may help some, but not all of our 
>students.
>
>Third, OERI now has the evaluation function that funded the Development
>Associates National Evaluation of ABE programs in 1994. As you know, our
>experience in MA of outside evaluations (the Grossman Report and the 
>MassINC report) has been that though they can identify weaknesses 
>they can lead to more resources. I believe our field should be 
>calling for a new national evaluation of the WIA Title II program. 
>Since 1994, NCSALL and other researchers have developed methods for 
>studying our programs that could be employed in this evaluation, and 
>our field has a more sophisticated knowledge base about our work. A 
>well-funded, outside evalution report would be helpful to 
>identifying our weaknesses and our strengths in a way that can 
>inform policy decisions.  Since the NAAL (the second NALS) will 
>probably release its finding in 2005, we would want a national 
>evaluation to release its findings at about the same time. Since the 
>evaluation will probably take at least 2 and may take 3 years, it 
>should start early in 2003.  I feel a $5 million evaluation could 
>give us a good report.  I would urge every state to take on their 
>own evaluations at the same time.  This could provide much richer 
>data
>for the national evaluation but would also provide each state with a 
>document that could be used to argue for greater state support.
>
>I hope that some of NCSALL's work, "Focus on Basics" for example, 
>continues on even if OERI awards the next Center grant to another 
>group of institutions. The field should look at NCSALL's work and 
>argue for continuation of those parts that deserve that support.
>
>John
>
>John Comings, Director
>National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
>Harvard Graduate School of Education
>7 Appian Way
>Cambridge MA 02138
>(617) 496-0516, voice
>(617) 495-4811, fax
>john_comings at harvard.edu
>http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu
>
>
>
> >-------- Original Message --------
> >Subject: Discussion:  How will OERI Reauthorization affect NCSALL?
> >Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 20:10:51 -0400
> >From: "David J. Rosen" <DJRosen at theworld.com>
> >To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
> >
> >NLA Colleagues,
> >
> >An NLA list member called my attention to the article below about the
> >reform of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement which, as
> >was recently pointed out here, funds the National Center for the Study
> >of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL).  I cannot tell from this
> >article whether the "lamb-ing" of this Lion means that a separate
> >national adult literacy research center is no longer at risk.  Anyone know?
> >
> >David J. Rosen
> >NLA List Moderator
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Article from the Progressive Policy Institute's 21st Century Schools
> >Project Bi-Monthly Bulletin
> >
> >The entire PPI newsletter is available at
> >http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=900001& 
>contentID=
>250950
> >
> >
> ><http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=900001 
>&contentID
>=250950>.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >OERI Reauthorization:  In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
> >
> >Last week the House passed a conference-approved version of
> >the bill to reauthorize the federal Office of Educational Research
> >and Improvement; the Senate is expected to do the same later
> >this week, and the President is expected to sign off on the
> >legislation, bringing an end to a process that has languished on
> >Capital Hill in a peculiar paradox of obscurity and political import.
> >The Bush Administration had grand plans for overhauling the
> >federal government's role in education research as an
> >accompaniment to the No Child Left Behind Act. But in the end
> >it looks as if federal education research will continue to be a faint
> >cymbal clang on the tail end of the policy cacophony.
> >
> >At face value there are some changes to be sure: a new name,
> >some new offices created, more "independence" for federal
> >research and statistics. At the end of the day, however, it's
> >unclear how much of a difference any of these changes will
> >make in the primary operations of federal education research.
> >This is truly unfortunate because research should be a priority
> >of federal education policy. As opposed to the private sector,
> >where the lure of enormous profits drives a robust R&D industry,
> >for the most part education research offers only intrinsic rewards.
> >It's shocking to consider that the Department of Education
> >spends almost as much on its own overhead and administration
> >as research functions for American education. Even in flush
> >times, let alone the current fiscal climate, states do not have
> >education research capability or resources; this is a job
> >for Washington.
> >
> >The bill also aims to improve evaluation functions for federal
> >education programs by moving them from the program offices
> >into the new research office. This is an improvement, but it's
> >unclear how program evaluation will actually be any more
> >independent or isolated from politics. Apparently independence
> >in research and program evaluation looked a lot better to the
> >Bush campaign than the Bush Administration.
> >
> >Perhaps none of this matters that much. Education research is
> >only as useful as its consumers are savvy, and there is still
> >plenty of evidence that too many people involved with education
> >fail to differentiate among different kinds of research, both in
> >terms of what sorts of questions it can help to answer and more
> >importantly in terms of whether specific findings can be
> >generalized and applied through public policy. The Bush
> >Administration does deserve credit for putting the issue of
> >what constitutes research front and center. But in too many
> >cases that conversation is far ahead of practice in the field.
> >
> >Further Reading:
> >
> >Education and the Workforce Committee Press Release
> >on House Passage of Final Agreement (10/11/02):
> >http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press107/edresearch101102.htm
> >
> >"Senate Panel Passes Federal Research Bill,"
> >Lisa Fine Goldstein, Education Week (10/02/02):
> >http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=05oeri.h22&keywords=research
> ><http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=05oeri.h22&keywords=research>
> >
> >"Research of Education:
> >On the leading Edge of School Improvement,"
> >PPI-NEKIA-EQI Conference Transcript (03/26/02):
> >http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=181&con 
>tentID=250
>346
> >
> >
> ><http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=181&co 
>ntentID=25
>0346>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Scientific Research In Education
> >Committee on Scientific Principles for Education Research,
> >Richard J. Shavelson and Lisa Towne, Editors,
> >National Research Council (2002):
> >http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10236.html
> >
> >ABOUT THE 21st CENTURY SCHOOLS PROJECT
> >
> >The Progressive Policy Institute's 21st Century Schools Project
> >develops public policy to ensure that American schools help all
> >students develop the skills and knowledge they need to be
> >successful in the knowledge economy.
> >More about us:
> >http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ka.cfm?knlgAreaID=110
>
>
>
>
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