view of proposals by groups of highly capa- 

 ble investigators (with multidisciplinary and 

 cross-disciplinary membership), including 

 investigators close to educational practice. 



B. As part of the continuing external review of 

 NIE, the scholarly quality and balance of its 

 fundamental research programs shall be 

 evaluated by outside investigators. 



C The Director shall seek to work with all ma- 

 jor research associations and organizations 

 whose members may be engaged in funda- 

 mental research related to education, to ac- 

 cumulate knowledge about such research and 

 to coordinate the Institute's programs with 

 such research. 



IV. COORDINATION 



The Director shall seek through the Federal 

 Council on Educational Research and Develop- 

 ment and other means to coordinate fundamen- 

 tal research relevant to education supported by 

 Federal agencies, to identify areas of funda- 

 mental research which should have greater sup- 

 port by NIE or another Federal agency, and to 

 stimulate fundamental research in such areas. 



V. USE OF RESEARCH RESULTS 



In concert with the Institute's support for fun- 

 damental research work, and the Institute's 

 efforts to involve the research community in 

 this work and to coordinate its work with other 

 agencies, NIE shall seek to report effectively to 

 researchers, educators and educational policy- 

 makers the results of fundamental research, 

 and to help them utilize such results in formu- 

 lating research plans, educational programs and 

 educational policies. 



VI. STAFF RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUNDA- 

 MENTAL RESEARCH 



Because the NIE staff is essential to the imple- 

 mentation of this policy and the support by 

 NIE of high quality research, the Director shall 

 insure that within NIE there is a substantial 

 number and proportion of staff members who 

 are very knowledgeable about fundamental re- 

 search, have ready access to the research 

 community, and are respected by its members. 

 These staff members shall be consistently in- 

 volved in decisions about the overall NIE pro- 

 grams and in the management of fundamental 

 research programs. 



VII. REPORTS 



Initial plans for implementation of this policy 

 shall be conveyed within 60 days, including 



112 HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE 



resource allocations and management strate- 

 gies. Similarly, by January 1, 1978, the Director 

 shall present to the Council for its concurrence 

 a general plan for implementation of this policy 

 through 1985. 



The Director shall include in each annual report 

 to the Council a review of the Institute's funda- 

 mental research work and efforts to improve it, 

 and shall present to the Council as part of the 

 budget planning process an analysis of options 

 for support of fundamental research under this 

 policy, including targets for the amount and 

 proportion of funds which might be thus allo- 

 cated." 



Role of Basic Research 



From the time of its creation in 1972, NIE has 

 regarded basic research as the essential means of 

 carrying out its legislative charge to strengthen 

 the scientific foundations of education and as an 

 important element in the pursuit of its other 

 objectives. Concern about the best means of 

 carrying out this part of the NIE mission led the 

 Director of NIE, at the suggestion of the National 

 Council on Educational Research, to commission 

 a study by the National Academy of Sciences in 

 1976. This study led to a report. Fundamental 

 Research and The Process of Education. The re- 

 port formed the basis for discussions involving 

 the National Council, NIE staff, and members of 

 the research and educational communities that led 

 to the adoption of the policy given above. 



Examples of Basic Research 



It is expected that in carrying out this policy, 

 NIE will continue to associate support of funda- 

 mental research with the major program groups. 

 Since 1974, NIE has been organized into six such 

 program groups: 



• Basic skills 



• Finance and productivity 



• School capacity for problem solving 



• Educational equity 



• Education and work 



• Dissemination and resources. 



Research priorities within each group will be 

 discussed, and examples will be given of signifi- 

 cant projects. In the grants competitions men- 

 tioned there is usually a range of projects support- 

 ed, from applied to basic research. 



