The Education Department recently granted contracts worth a total of $56 million over five years to operate its system of educational-research laboratories. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett revealed the winners of six of the contracts on July 30, but the contracts for the northeastern and western regional labs were postponed due to fierce competition. The winners of the remaining two contracts were set to be announced later that week or early the following week.
The announcement of the six awards by the department marks the final phase of a process that began two years ago when the National Institute of Education decided to open the contracts and grants for its labs and research and development centers to competitive bidding for the first time. The grants for the 11 centers are scheduled to be awarded in November.
Combined, the estimated $135 million in awards for the labs and centers represents the largest procurement in the department’s history and will make up well over half of the nie’s budget until 1990. The laboratories tackle and help resolve education issues specific to different regions, while the centers concentrate on national education concerns. Together, they form the foundation of the government’s educational-research endeavors.
"We still had many legitimate questions after completing the review process," said Emerson J. Elliott, who is currently acting as nie’s director. He referred to the delay in announcing the final two lab awards. Secretary Bennett had instructed Elliott to form a seven-member panel, comprising members of the two panels that had previously narrowed down the field of competitors, to make the final selections.
Five of the six winners in the competition had previously held contracts to operate the labs. The newest contractor is the Southeastern Regional Council for Educational Improvement, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. They will be operating a lab in a newly established region.
The department awarded a $7.5 million contract for a ninth lab, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory in Elmhurst, Illinois, in September of last year. The consortium that won the contract included the chief state school officers from the region, the deans of Big 10 colleges of education, the University of Chicago, and the land-grant colleges and universities in the area.
After the competition officially began in July 1984, a total of 33 applicants submitted planning proposals to nie. The research agency then granted planning grants to 21 potential applicants, out of which 17 submitted final applications. Chester E. Finn Jr., who recently became the department’s assistant secretary for educational research and improvement, expressed disappointment with the quality of the final applications. In a prepared statement announcing the winners, Finn stated that several outside reviewers who assessed the laboratory proposals noticed that they were not as strong as expected. Some lacked a clear understanding of the nature and role of a regional laboratory, some had inconsistencies in their plans and structures, and others lacked precision or clarity of expression. Finn emphasized that his agency would be vigilant and demanding when it comes to monitoring the laboratories’ performance.
The winners of the five-year contracts and the amounts they were awarded are as follows:
– Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania): Research for Better Schools, Philadelphia, $11.6 million.
– Appalachian Region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia): Appalachian Educational Laboratory Inc., Charleston, West Virginia, $7.5 million.
– Southeastern Region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina): Southeastern Regional Council for Educational Improvement, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, $7.6 million.
– Southwestern Region (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas): Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin, Texas, $7.4 million.
– Central Region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming): Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Kansas City, Missouri, $7.2 million.
– Northwestern/Pacific Basin Regions (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands): Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon, $14.8 million.
September 1984 award:
– Midwest Region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin): North Central Regional Education Laboratory, Elmhurst, Illinois, $7.5 million.
