Central Region Educational Laboratory to be Located at McREL
March 10, 2006
Denver, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Education has announced that Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) will continue to serve as the educational laboratory for the Central Region states of Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Through the five-year, $26 million competitive contract, the laboratory will conduct and disseminate research to help schools in this region meet the challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act. "We are very pleased to have been awarded this contract so that we can continue to advance the field of education in our region and across the nation through carefully designed and executed research," commented Dr. Lou Cicchinelli, McREL's Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the Central Region educational laboratory at McREL.
The laboratory at McREL will be one of 10 regional educational laboratories that form a nationwide network for research and dissemination designed to provide educators with proven guidance on how to improve student achievement.
In the first year of the contract, the regional educational laboratory at McREL will examine the existing body of research on several topics identified to be of critical concern to educators in the region. These will include how schools should allocate their resources, which instructional strategies are most effective for at-risk high school students, and how schools can better engage American Indian parents.
In addition, the laboratory plans to conduct the following large, multi-year, scientifically based research studies:
an examination of the impact of professional development, utilizing the Assessment Training Institute's Classroom Assessment for Student Learning program, on teacher knowledge and student achievement;
a study of the impact of Harcourt's context-rich vocabulary instruction program, Elements of Reading: Vocabulary, on student achievement;
a comparison study of the impact of a comprehensive program for English language learner (ELL) students (On Our Way to English) versus professional development for teachers (Responsive Instruction for Success in English - RISE), or a combination of the two programs;
a study of the impact of McREL's school improvement program, Success in Sight: A Comprehensive Approach to School Improvement, on student achievement in participating schools
"For 40 years McREL has been making a difference for educators and policymakers through our work as a regional educational laboratory," said Dr. Tim Waters, McREL's President and CEO. "We look forward to continuing this mission in the years ahead by providing educators and policymakers with research-based guidance to help all students succeed."
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McREL is a nationally recognized, private, nonprofit organization located in Denver, Colo., dedicated to improving education for all students through applied research, product development and service. In 2005, McREL provided research-based guidance to educators and policymakers in 45 states in the U.S. and 3 foreign countries.
