knowledgeable practitioners and leaders in educational improvement. (E) Adequate linkages between research and development providers and practitioners are essential to ensuring that research on effective practice is useful, disseminated to and supported with technical assistance for all educators, and that all educators are partners in the research and development process. (2) PURPOSE.-The purpose of this section is to (A) create a national system of dissemination, development, and educational improvement in order to create, adapt, identify, validate, and disseminate to educators, parents, and policymakers those educational programs that have potential or have been shown to improve educational opportunities for all students; and (B) empower and increase the capacity of teachers to participate in the research and development process. (3) DEFINITION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM. For the purposes of this section, the term "educational program" includes educational policies, research findings, practices, and products. (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.— (1) IN GENERAL.-There is established within the Office an Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemination (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Dissemination Office") through which the Secretary shall carry out all functions and activities described in this section. Such office shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the Assistant Secretary and have demonstrated expertise and experience in dissemination, including promoting the effective use of research in the class room. (2) CERTAIN DUTIES.-The Dissemination Office shall— (A) disseminate relevant and useful research, information, products, and publications developed through or supported by the Department of Education to schools, educators, parents, and policymakers throughout the United States; (B) operate a depository for all Department of Education publications and products and make available for reproduction such publications and products; (C) provide technical and financial assistance to individuals and organizations in the process of developing promising educational programs but who might not, without such assistance, be able to complete necessary development and assessment activities; (D) coordinate the dissemination efforts of the Office, the regional educational laboratories, the research institutes, the National Diffusion Network, and the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses; (E) provide training and technical assistance regarding the implementation and adoption of exemplary and promising programs by interested entities; (F) carry out a program of research on models for successful knowledge dissemination, and utilization, and strategies for reaching education policymakers, practitioners, and others interested in education; (G) develop the capacity to connect schools and teachers seeking information with the relevant regional educational laboratories assisted under subsection (h), the National Diffusion Network, the Institutes assisted under this section, and the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses; and (H) provide a biennial report to the Secretary regarding the types of information, products, and services that teachers, schools, and school districts have requested and have determined to be most useful, and describe future plans to adapt Department of Education products and services to address the needs of the users of such information, products, and services. (3) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.-The Dissemination Office shall carry out a process for the identification of educational programs that work, dissemination through electronic networking and new technologies and the functions and activities performed by the following: (A) The Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses. (B) The regional educational laboratories. (C) The Teacher Research Dissemination Demonstration Program. (D) The Goals 2000 Community Partnerships Program. (E) The existing National Diffusion Network and its Developer-Demonstrator and State Facilitator projects. (F) Such other programs, activities, or entities the Secretary determines are consistent with purposes for which the Dissemination Office is established. (c) IDENTIFICATION OF PROGRAMS.-The Assistant Secretary shall coordinate a process through which successful educational programs are actively sought out for possible dissemination through the national educational dissemination system. Such process shall, at a minimum, have the capability to (1) work closely with the Institutes, research and development centers, regional educational laboratories, the National Diffusion Network and its Developer-Demonstrator and State Facilitator projects, learning grant institutions established under the Goals 2000 Community Partnerships Program, Department of Education-supported technical assistance providers, and other entities to identify successful educational programs at the regional, State, local, or classroom level; (2) review successful educational programs supported by the Department of Education through all of its programs; (3) through cooperative agreements, review for possible inclusion in the system educational programs administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services (particularly the Head Start program), Labor, and Defense, the National Science Foundation, the Department of the Interior (particularly the Office of Indian Education Programs), and any other appropriate Federal agency; and (4) provide for an active outreach effort to identify successful educational programs through cooperative arrangements with State and local education agencies, teachers and teacher organizations, curriculum associations, foundations, private schools, institutions of higher education, and other entities that could enhance the ability of the Secretary to identify programs for possible inclusion in the dissemination system. (d) DESIGNATION OF EXEMPLARY AND PROMISING PROGRAMS. (1) IN GENERAL.-The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Board, shall establish 1 or more panels of appropriately qualified experts and practitioners to (A) evaluate educational programs that have been identified by the Secretary under subsection (c) or that have been submitted to the Secretary for such evaluation by some other individual or organization; and (B) recommend to the Secretary programs that should be designated as exemplary or promising educational programs. (2) CONSIDERATIONS IN MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS.—In determining whether an educational program should receive a recommendation under paragraph (1), a panel established under such paragraph shall consider (A) whether, based on empirical data, which may include test results, the program is effective and should be designated as exemplary and disseminated through the national dissemination system; or (B) whether there is sufficient evidence to lead a panel of experts and practitioners to believe that the program shows promise for improving student achievement and should be designated as promising and disseminated through the national dissemination system while the program continues to be evaluated. (3) REQUIREMENT REGARDING APPROVAL OF PROGRAMS.-In seeking out programs for approval under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall seek programs that may be implemented at the State, local, and classroom level. (4) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING PANELS.— (A) A panel shall not eliminate a program from consideration under this subsection based solely on the fact that the program does not have one specific type of supporting data, such as test scores. (B) The Assistant Secretary may not designate a program as exemplary or promising unless a panel established under paragraph (1) has recommended that the program be so designated. (C) The Secretary shall establish such panels under paragraph (1) as may be necessary to ensure that each program identified or submitted for evaluation is evaluated. (D) Not less than 3 of the membership of a panel established under paragraph (1) shall consist of individuals who are not officers or employees of the United States. Members of panels under paragraph (1) who are not employees of the United States shall receive compensation for each day they are engaged in carrying out the duties of the panel as well as compensation for their expenses. (e) DISSEMINATION OF EXEMPLARY AND PROMISING PROGRAMS.-In order to ensure that programs identified as exemplary or promising are available for adoption by the greatest number of teachers, schools, local and State education agencies, and Bureaufunded schools, the Assistant Secretary shall utilize the capabilities of (1) the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses; (2) electronic networking; (3) the regional educational laboratories; (4) the National Diffusion Network; (5) entities established under the Goals 2000 Community Partnerships Program; (6) department-supported technical assistance providers; (7) the National Library of Education; and (8) other public and private nonprofit entities, including existing education associations and networks, that have the capability to assist educators in adopting exemplary and promising programs. (f) EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER CLEARING HOUSES. (1) IN GENERAL.-The Assistant Secretary shall establish a system of 16 clearinghouses having, at a minimum, the functions and scope of work as the clearinghouses had on the day preceding the date of the enactment of this title. The Assistant Secretary shall establish for the clearinghouses a policy for the abstraction from, and inclusion in, the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses system for books, periodicals, reports, and other materials related to education. (2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.-In addition to those functions carried out by the clearinghouses on the day preceding the date of the enactment of this title, such clearinghouses may (A) periodically produce interpretive summaries, digests, and syntheses of the results and findings of education-related research and development; and (B) contain and make available to users information concerning those programs designated as exemplary and promising under subsection (d). (3) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.-The Assistant Secretary shall assure that the functions and activities of such clearinghouses are coordinated with the activities of the Institutes, the regional educational laboratories, learning grant institutions, other clearinghouses supported by the Department of Education, the National Diffusion Network, and other appropriate entities within the Office and such Department. (4) SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY.-To assure that the information provided through such clearinghouses is fully comprehensive, the Secretary shall (A) require that all reports, studies, and other resources produced directly or by grant or contract with the Department of Education are made available to clearinghouses; (B) establish cooperative agreements with the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Interior, and other Federal departments and agencies to assure that all education-related reports, studies, and other resources produced directly or by grant from or contract with the Federal Government are made available to such clearinghouses; and (C) devise an effective system for maximizing the identification, synthesis, and dissemination of information related to the needs of Indian and Alaska Native children. (5) COPYRIGHT PROHIBITED. (A) No clearinghouse or other entity receiving assistance under this subsection may copyright or otherwise charge a royalty or other fee that (i) is for the use or redissemination of any database, index, abstract, report, or other information produced with assistance under this subsection; and (ii) exceeds the incremental cost of disseminating such information. (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the incremental cost of dissemination does not include any portion of the cost of collecting, organizing, or processing the information which is disseminated. (g) DISSEMINATION THROUGH NEW TECHNOLOGIES.— (1) IN GENERAL.-The Assistant Secretary is authorized to award grants or contracts in accordance with this subsection to support the development of materials, programs, and resources which utilize new technologies and techniques to synthesize and disseminate research and development findings and other information which can be used to support educational improvement. (2) ELECTRONIC NETWORKING. (A) ELECTRONIC NETWORK.-The Assistant Secretary, acting through the Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemination, shall establish and maintain an electronic network which shall, at a minimum, link— (i) each office of the Department of Education; (v) entities engaged in research, development, dissemination, and technical assistance under grant from, or contract, or cooperative agreement with, the Department of Education. (B) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR NETWORK.-The network described in subparagraph (A) shall— (i) to the extent feasible, build upon existing national, regional, and State electronic networks and support video, telecomputing, and interactive communications; (ii) at a minimum, have the capability to support electronic mail and file transfer services; (iii) be linked to and accessible to other users, including State and local education agencies, institutions |