WASHINGTON, D.C. - Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Michael Castle (R-DE) and Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), the ranking member, today said they look forward to working with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, to enact legislation this year to overhaul federal education research programs. The House last week overwhelmingly passed the Education Sciences Reform Act (H.R. 3801), widely viewed as an essential counterpart to the recently enacted No Child Left Behind law.

     “High quality education research is critical to the educators and the school administrators who must now fulfill the vision” of the No Child Left Behind law, said Reps. Castle and Kildee in a letter to Kennedy.

     Unanimously approved by the House on April 30, H.R. 3801 would replace the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) with an Academy of Education Sciences. The new panel would oversee and coordinate high quality education research.

     “Without reliable information on what works in education, we are concerned that early stumbles will undermine our shared goals of improving academic achievement for all students and narrowing the gap between our highest and lowest performing students,” Castle and Kildee said.

     “Unfortunately, too much of what we recognize as education research is simply opinion buttressed by anecdotes,” Castle said during House consideration of the bill.

     In their letter to Kennedy, Castle and Kildee noted the bipartisan nature of past OERI reform efforts. “These efforts, and extensive negotiations with the field, have proved yet again that good things can happen when both parties work together,” they said.

     “To that end,” the letter concluded, “we look forward to working with you to enact reform legislation this year.”

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