This week, the bipartisan New Essential Education Discoveries (NEED) Act was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and John Cornyn (R-TX).
Key details
- The NEED Act would create a new national center called the National Center for Advanced Development in Education (NCADE) to advance high-risk, high-reward education research projects. NCADE would be modeled after similar centers in other federal agencies, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the Department of Defense and ARPA-H in the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The proposed legislation would also provide funds and guidance to improve the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program which is used to track student outcomes from Pre-K to the workforce.
Why it matters: Education research has been top of mind on the Hill the past few months, with the Senate introduction of the Advancing Research in Education Act (AREA), a reauthorization of the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) that is 20 years overdue. As we wait to see if the House can pass AREA before the end of the 117th Congress, bills like the NEED Act provide valuable momentum to the conversation and flag important policies that may need to be incorporated into AREA.
What the experts are saying: “The Senate introduction of the NEED Act is a significant step toward developing a more robust education research and development (R&D) infrastructure to improve student outcomes across the country.” said Sara Schapiro, Executive Director of the Alliance of Learning Innovation. “This introduction underscores the bipartisan, bicameral call to enhance our education R&D ecosystem and improve our nation’s competitiveness.”
The Alliance for Learning Innovation is one of the nearly 70 organizations and individuals to endorse the bill.
