(B) innovative school design, including lengthening the school day and the school year, reducing class size and building professional development into the weekly school schedule and, as appropriate, conducting such further research as may be recommended or suggested by the report issued by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning pursuant to section 102 of the Education Council Act of 1991 (20 U.S.C. 1221-1 note);

(C) effective approaches to organizing learning;

(D) effective ways of grouping students for learning so that a student is not labeled or stigmatized in ways that may impede such student's achievement;

(E) effective approaches to organizing, structuring, and financing vocational education;

(F) the provision of financial and other rewards and incentives to schools and educators based on performance to improve student achievement;

(G) the use of regulatory flexibility on the State or school district level to promote innovation and school restructuring;

(H) policy decisions at all levels and the impact of such decisions on school achievement and other student outcomes;

(I) the effective use of dollars for classroom construction;

(J) expanding the role of teachers in policymaking and administration at the school and school district-wide level; (K) disparity in school financing among States, school districts, schools, and schools funded by the Bureau;

(L) the use of technology in areas such as assisting in school-based management or ameliorating the effects of disparity in school financing among States, school districts, and schools funded by the Bureau;

(M) the involvement of parents and families in the management and governance of schools and the education of their children;

(N) effective approaches to increasing the representation of women and minorities among leadership and management positions in education;

(O) approaches to systemic reforms involving the coordination of multiple policies of each level of government to promote higher levels of student achievement;

(P) approaches to coordinated services for children;

(Q) teacher certification at the State and tribal levels; (R) school-based management, shared decisionmaking and other innovative school structures, and State and local reforms and educational policies, which show promise for improving student achievement;

(S) policies related to school-to-work transitions and preparing non-college-bound students; and

(T) other topics relevant to the mission of the Institute.

(h) NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, AND LIFELONG LEARNING.

(1) FINDINGS.-The Congress finds as follows:

(A) The American system of postsecondary education is foremost in the world in such system's achievement of both academic excellence and equity in access, but maintaining that preeminence requires renewed efforts to strengthen the quality of postsecondary education. Disappointing student performance on achievement tests and licensure examinations, declining rates of postsecondary education persistence and completion among minorities, and other troubling trends in the quality of postsecondary education should be addressed by the United States as part of its overall drive to improve American education.

(B) The need to improve our economic productivity of the United States to meet the competitive challenges of a new, international economy, coupled with high levels of mobility in the United States labor market and demographic changes in the workforce, now demands more and higher quality programs of learning and training in the American workplace.

(C) The more than 1,000,000 men and women incarcerated in the prisons and jails in the United States are among the most severely educationally disadvantaged in the United States, with high rates of functional illiteracy and extremely low levels of educational attainment. Since an estimated 90 percent of these individuals are expected to be released by the end of the decade, the United States must act to assure that our correctional system has the means to equip these Americans with the knowledge and skills they will need to participate productively in our society.

(D) The development of a "Nation of Students" capable of and committed to the pursuit of formal and informal lifelong learning and literacy is essential to sustain both national and individual economic success and to provide a nurturing environment in which all children and youth can learn and achieve. Historically the most effective community resource for lifelong learning, the public library system of the United States, should expand and restructure its delivery of services to take full advantage of the potential of new information technologies to meet the needs of learning communities.

(2) PURPOSE.-The purpose of the National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning is to promote greater coordination of Federal research and development on issues related to adult learning and to carry out a program of research and development in adult learning to provide nonpartisan, research-based leadership to the United States as it seeks to improve libraries, postsecondary education, literacy, and lifelong learning throughout the United States. Such program

(A) shall only support research and development in those areas of postsecondary education, libraries, literacy, and lifelong learning which are not being addressed by other entities within the Federal Government;

(B) may include basic and applied research, development, replication, and evaluation activities in areas such

as

(i) methods of assessing and evaluating individual, program, and institutional performance;

(ii) the uses and applications of new technologies to improve program effectiveness and enhance student learning;

(iii) the most effective training methods for adults to upgrade education and vocational skills;

(iv) opportunities for adults to continue their education beyond higher education and graduate school, in the context of lifelong learning and informationfinding skills;

(v) adult literacy and effective methods, including technology, to eliminate illiteracy;

(vi) preparing students for a lifetime of work, the ability to adapt through retraining to the changing needs of the work force and the ability to learn new tasks;

(vii) the use of technology to develop and deliver effective training methods for adults to upgrade their education and their vocational skills; and

(viii) institutional and classroom policies and practices at the postsecondary level necessary to improve matriculation, persistence, achievement and graduation by students who are economically disadvantaged, ethnic and racial minorities, women, older, working, and who have children;

(ix) instructional practices and programs which are effective in correctional settings;

(x) new models of service delivery for public library systems which expand opportunities for lifelong learning;

(xi) effective programs and approaches which promote greater access to and success by minorities in postsecondary programs which prepare such minorities for scientific, technical, teaching, and health career fields;

(xii) effective teaching for the preparation and continuing education of teachers;

(xiii) the development and evaluation of curricular materials for the initial and continuing education of teachers and teacher educators;

(xiv) the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Indian Community Colleges, women's colleges, and other special mission institutions in providing access, excellence, and equal opportunity in higher education;

(xv) methods for evaluating the quality of education at different types of institutions of higher education at all levels and the roles and responsibilities of regional and national accrediting agencies;

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(xvi) methods for evaluating the productivity of different types of institutions of higher education; (xvii) financial barriers to postsecondary educational opportunity, including

(1) the role of Federal programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and State grant and work programs in mitigating such barriers;

(II) the impact of the rising total cost of postsecondary education on access to higher education; and

(III) the extent and impact of student reliance on loans to meet the costs of higher education; (xviii) opportunities for adults to continue their education beyond higher education and graduate school, in the context of lifelong learning and information-finding skills;

(xix) preparing students for a lifetime of work, the ability to adapt through retraining to the changing needs of the work force and the ability to learn new tasks; and

(xx) other topics relevant to the mission of the Institute.

(3) INVOLVEMENT OF CERTAIN AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS.-In promoting coordination and collaboration on research and development on issues related to postsecondary education, literacy, libraries, and lifelong learning, the Institute shall, as appropriate, seek the involvement

(A) within the Department of Education of—

(i) the Office of Library Programs;

(ii) the Office of Correctional Education;

(iii) the Office of Vocational and Adult Education; (iv) the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; and

(v) the Office of Postsecondary Education;

(B) of the National Institute for Literacy;

(C) of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards;

(D) of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor;

(E) of the Administration for Children and Families
within the Department of Health and Human Services;
(F) of the National Institutes of Health;

(G) of the National Endowment for the Humanities;
(H) of the National Endowment for the Arts;

(I) of the Bureau of Prisons of the Department of Justice;

(J) of the Department of Commerce;

(K) of the Department of Defense; and

(L) of the Office of Indian Education Programs of the Department of the Interior.

(4) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.-In addition to the responsibilities described in paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall ensure that the activities of the National Center

on Literacy are fully coordinated with those of the National Institute for Literacy.

(i) COORDINATION AND RESEARCH SYNTHESIS.-The Assistant Secretary shall promote and provide for research syntheses and the coordination of research and development activities among the Institutes established by this section to investigate those cross-cutting disciplines and areas of inquiry which are relevant to the missions of more than one of the Institutes. Such activities

(1) may be carried out jointly by any one of the Institutes and

(A) one (or more) of the Institutes;

(B) the National Center for Education Statistics; or (C) any research and development entity administered by other offices of the Department of Education or by any other Federal agency or department; and

(2) shall meet all the standards developed by the Assistant Secretary and approved by the Board for other research and development conducted by the Office.

(j) DATES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTES.-The National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students, the National Institute on Educational Governance, Finance, Policy-Making, and Management, the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, the National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum, and Assessment and the National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning shall each be established on October 1, 1995.

PART D-NATIONAL EDUCATION
DISSEMINATION SYSTEM

SEC. 941. [20 U.S.C. 6041] ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

(a) IN GENERAL.

(1) FINDINGS.-The Congress finds as follows:

(A) In order to improve the American educational system for all students, achieve the National Education Goals, and provide for greater educational equity, policymakers, administrators, teachers, and parents must have ready access to the best information and methods available as a result of educational research and development.

(B) The Office of Educational Research and Improvement should have as one of its primary purposes the dissemination of such information and methods in order to assist the national education reform effort.

(C) All current resources within the Office, the Department of Education, and other agencies that can help accomplish the purposes described in subparagraph (B) should be coordinated by the Assistant Secretary, to the extent practicable, so as to form a systematic process to accomplish such purposes.

(D) Education research has the capacity to improve teaching and learning in our Nation's schools, however, teachers need training in the skills necessary to translate research into practice and to allow teachers to become