PROVEN TOOLS FOR
SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS

"Research-based" ranks among the most visible phrases in current education policy. Phrases like "scientifically based research" and "evidence-based decisions" occur 111 times in the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and are the predominant focus of the 2002 Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) that funds many of NWREL's programs. The language insists that tools offered to educators and communities for improving schools must be proven effective—be those tools chalkboard strategies or comprehensive reform models. NWREL has long been looked to in the Northwest region as a source for such tools and for training and assistance to support their implementation.

NWREL succeeds best when we are able to meld the rigors of research with the rigors of practice to produce and share proven tools for successful schools. The recent legislation, however, spotlights the empirical side of our work. NCLB and ESRA levy strong expectations for schools and for organizations that serve them. Schools and districts not able to meet accountability requirements face sanctions and loss of funds, while the education service providers that can help them also face increased scrutiny of the quality and impact of their work in return for their funding.

Increasingly, NWREL must show that its research and development work will achieve successful results in educator practice and student learning. Schools designated for improvement assistance under annual yearly progress provisions of NCLB must receive technical assistance based on solid research evidence that is relevant to local circumstances. Our research and evaluation practices must be examined to ensure that they are routinely rigorous and that they are a focus for our own continuous organizational learning.

We believe such expectations are necessary and reasonable.

In this Annual Report we celebrate our 36th year as a nonprofit institution dedicated to educational research, development, and dissemination, and we take the opportunity to examine how NWREL shoulders responsibility for providing proven tools for successful schools.

Dr. Carol Thomas
NWREL Chief Executive Officer