On Dec. 11, 2023, the bipartisan 2023 New Essential Education Discoveries (NEED) Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). This bill will go a long way to make the nation’s education system more effective for all students.
To explain, the NEED Act will establish a National Center for Advanced Development in Education (NCADE) as a fifth center at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). NCADE is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Department’s renowned R&D incubator, and would adopt a nimble, multidisciplinary approach to advance informed-risk, high-reward research and development projects. The NEED Act would also strengthen and modernize the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program, helping states better track students’ progress through K-12 and into the workforce.
There is tremendous support for the NEED Act with 53 organizations and individuals endorsing the bill, including the Alliance for Learning Innovation, American Federation of Teachers, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and Coalition for Community Schools.
There is tremendous support for the NEED Act with 53 organizations and individuals endorsing the bill, including the Alliance for Learning Innovation, American Federation of Teachers, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and Coalition for Community Schools.
While the bill is an important step, there are issues in the Senate. Specifically, the Senate will be marking up the Advancing Research in Education Act (AREA), a bipartisan bill set to reauthorize the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) on Dec. 12, 2023. However, this Senate legislation does not include language to authorize NCADE or an NCADE-like program. The introduction of the NEED Act in the House lays a marker if ESRA is taken up in that chamber.
There is a pressing need for NCADE. It would produce translational and use-driven research, spurring meaningful and measurable benefits to our nation’s classrooms. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores for 9-year-olds revealed the largest drop in reading scores since 1990 and a 7-point decline in mathematics, American students’ first-ever decline in this subject. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows similarly dismal results with a decline of 13 points in average American math scores. About a third of students in 4th and 8th grades cannot read at even the “basic” achievement level. Our education system, coupled with the unprecedented learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, is seeing students falling farther behind.
The United States is also losing ground as a technologically competitive nation. In the semiconductor workforce, 58 percent of jobs that will be created in the field by 2030 run the risk of not being filled because we don’t have the technical talent in the U.S. right now. And the semiconductor industry isn’t alone. Other industries like clean energy, AI, cybersecurity, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing are also facing a workforce crisis. An investment in informed-risk, high-reward education R&D will cultivate future generations of talent in the STEM field and lead to innovations that strengthen national security.
This new center would spur the development of teaching and learning innovations, such as scalable tools like automated tutoring that would make up for lost learning time or voice recognition software that could assess students’ literacy readiness.
NCADE will fund projects to develop cutting-edge practices, breakthrough technologies, and pedagogical approaches based on their potential to transform education. This new center would spur the development of teaching and learning innovations, such as scalable tools like automated tutoring that would make up for lost learning time or voice recognition software that could assess students’ literacy readiness.
This is the time for bold, new educational approaches like NCADE which will academically support students, prepare a strong workforce for the jobs of the future, and strengthen the country’s national security through transformative education R&D innovation.
– This article was written by Avani Chhaya, Tasha Hensley, and Ulrich Boser
