The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) got its start in 1966 when the improvement of elementary and secondary education became a national imperative. Russia was the first to send a person into space; the Civil Rights movement shined the spotlight on poor achievement of minority and low economic students; federal responsibility was recognized for meeting special needs, such as educating the handicapped and assuring a skilled and productive workforce.

Education researchers in colleges and universities were beginning to significantly increase the knowledge about effective teaching and learning. Richard Suchman at the University of Illinois identified teacher behavior that enlarges students’ inquiry capabilities. Hilda Taba at San Francisco State College identified teaching techniques that promote students’ higher-order thinking skills. Ned Flanders at the University of Michigan developed a method for observing teachers in the classroom and analyzing their interaction with students. James Gallagher at the University of Illinois identified a theoretical model for teachers to use questioning strategies that help students acquire higher levels of thought processes. Morris Cogan at Harvard identified interpersonal and decisionmaking skills, teaching styles, and classroom processes important for teacher preparation.

But all this new knowledge was having little effect on the nation’s classrooms. What was needed, concluded both education practitioners and policymakers, was to take this research knowledge and use it to develop new techniques that could be easily implemented by practitioners and policymakers, and used in classrooms.

NWREL and other regional educational laboratories across the nation were established in 1966 to meet this need.

From its inception, NWREL planned its work with the region’s local school systems, state education agencies, and colleges and universities. NWREL became an important link in a new approach to educational improvement that is built upon the results of research and emphasizes collaboration among many institutions.

In its early years, NWREL worked almost exclusively on needs within the classrooms of elementary and secondary schools in the Northwest region. That is still a major focus. But very quickly NWREL’s emphasis on applied research and development was expanded to include training and technical assistance to help schools implement and use the new products and processes developed by NWREL and other agencies. As career education, and then school-to-work transition, became nationwide priorities, NWREL broadened involvement to businesses, labor, and other agencies from the private sector. The scope of elementary and secondary education broadened to encompass student needs that schools alone could not meet—drug and violence prevention, early childhood education, comprehensive services to students and their families. And so NWREL’s focus expanded beyond the walls of school buildings to include parents and the entire community.

While NWREL continues to emphasize assisting schools and communities in the Northwest, it has become nationally recognized for the high quality and significance of its work. Education and other agencies across the country increasingly turn to NWREL for help in developing and using new techniques based on research.