In 2002 Congress passed the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA), authorizing the creation of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) as the research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment arm of the Department of Education, and crystallizing the federal government's commitment to providing national leadership in expanding fundamental…

Over the past few decades, there have been federal and state investments in innovative education programs, policies, and tools. Many private organizations--both corporate and philanthropic--also have fueled the development and piloting of novel education ideas. Yet major gaps and challenges remain to develop and scale the impact of ground-breaking…

The federal government pays for a wide range of goods and services that are expected to contribute to the economy for some years in the future. Those purchases, called investment, fall into three categories: physical capital, research and development (R&D), and education and training. There are several economic rationales for federal…

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology have opened up new markets and new opportunities for progress in critical areas such as health, education, energy, and the environment. In recent years, machines have surpassed humans in the performance of certain specific tasks, such as some aspects of image recognition. Experts forecast that…

The partnership between the government and American research universities lies at the heart of the U.S. scientific and higher educational enterprise. This unique and historic partnership has advanced human health, enhanced national security, and produced human capital that has fueled technological innovation and economic growth, created entire new…

In fiscal year 2007, the majority of the Department of Defense's (DOD) basic research obligations were provided to higher education institutions. DOD reimburses these institutions for both direct and indirect costs for research. Two federal agencies, DOD and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), negotiate indirect cost rates used to…

The federal government's role in PreK-12 education has long been contentious and continues to evolve. Many have written about education governance, but few have attempted to define an appropriate role for the federal government. That is the core purpose of this essay. The authors articulate a set of principles to guide the federal role in…

The federal government pays for a wide range of goods and services that are expected to be useful some years in the future. Those purchases, called investment, fall into three categories: physical capital, research and development (R&D), and education and training. There are several economic rationales for federal investment. It can provide…

Despite constraints on federal resources and authority in education policy, the federal government has a pivotal role to play in identifying a compelling, high-impact focal point that aligns policy priorities at the federal, state, and local levels. The federal government could play a critical role in expanding students' access to excellent…

The United States has long thrived as a result of its ability to manufacture goods and sell them to global markets. Manufacturing activity has supported its economic growth, leading the Nation's exports and employing millions of Americans. The manufacturing sector has also driven knowledge production and innovation in the United States, by…

The National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) presents a model of 21st century learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The plan also identifies far-reaching "grand challenge problems" that should be funded and coordinated at a…

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 expressly gave colleges, universities, and other nonprofit entities the right, which had previously been presumptively held by the federal government itself, to patent inventions resulting from federally funded research and development (R&D) activities they conduct. In the nearly three decades since the Bayh-Dole Act…

This joint report by the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) is based on a survey of 20 U.S. research universities that conduct significant amounts of federal research. It follows up on a 2003/2004 survey of the same institutions. The new report shows that, despite the concerns and…

The data contained in the tables of this publication were derived from the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development and cover Fiscal Years 1996-1998. The data reflects research and development (R&D) funding levels as reported by 31 federal agencies from February through August 1997. All agencies that were identified as conducting R&D…

This report presents the Administration's National Education Technology Plan. This plan calls for applying the advanced technologies used in everyone's daily personal and professional lives to the entire education system to improve student learning, accelerate and scale up the adoption of effective practices, and use data and information for…