A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                                Contact:  Jim Bradshaw    May 1, 1995                                        (202) 401-2310

Education, Energy Departments Sign Compact for Laboratory Systems to Work together to Improve Math, Science and Technology Education

The compact, endorsed in a ceremony at the Washington Convention Center, marks the first time that the research labs of the two agencies have joined forces on a major national project.

"This compact will help students across the country to compete with the best in the world and to become, as our national educational goals challenge us, the best in the world in math and science," Riley said.

The secretary added that the "sheer existence of this compact signals a more effective and efficient way of doing business among agencies of the federal government." At stake, Riley said, is America's ability to compete for jobs in the 21st century and in international markets.

In working together, the labs will focus on four areas:

• Improving science and math education and the use of educational technology for urban and rural disadvantaged students;
• Developing a powerful and unique capacity for education reform that in no other way could be realized;
• Providing an example of reinventing government that has a direct impact on teachers, students, and state and local education agencies in helping them to achieve the national education goals; and
• Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of federal investments in science, math, technology and education reform.

To help set priorities, the committee will rely on data gathered by the Committee on Education and Training of the National Science and Technology Council and the State and Rural and Urban Systemic Reform Initiatives of the National Science Foundation.

The compact also encourages the steering panel to draw technical assistance and information from the Education Department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement, as well as the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, ERIC Clearinghouses and National Center for Education Statistics.

Of the 16-member group, five will represent each laboratory system. Three of the five must be lab directors. From the Education Department, other members will include the assistant secretaries for educational research and improvement and for intergovernmental and interagency affairs, as well Secretary Riley's special advisor on educational technology.

From the Energy Department, additional members will be the directors of the Office of Science Education and Technical Information and the Office of Energ Research and the assistant secretary's advisor on congressional and intergovernmental affairs.

The Education Department's 10 labs include: the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands, Andover, Mass.; Research for Better Schools, Philadelphia; Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Charleston, W.Va.; North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, Oak Brook, Ill.; and Southeastern Regional Vision for Education, Greensboro, N.C.

Also, the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory in Austin, Texas; Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Aurora, Colo.; Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory, Honolulu; Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Ore.; and the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, San Francisco.

The Energy Department's laboratories include: Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill.; Brookhaven National Laboratory Associated Universities Inc., Upton, N.Y.; Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif.; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.; and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Also, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.; Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.; Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Wash.; and National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.