§9516 National Board for Education Sciences

Summary

Creates a 15-member National Board for Education Sciences to advise and check the work of the Institute of Education Sciences. The Board must help set Institute policies and priorities, approve peer-review procedures, advise on what research and activities to fund, review and evaluate the Institute’s work for scientific quality, and make recommendations on strengthening research, funding, partnerships, and nominations for National Education Centers. It must also advise on keeping work objective and free of political or social bias, seek advice from educators and researchers, and recommend ways to increase participation by women, minorities, and people with disabilities. The President appoints the 15 voting members after getting advice from the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Board, and the National Science Advisor. There are also nonvoting members from named federal offices: the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences; the Commissioners of the National Education Centers; the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the Director of the Census; the Commissioner of Labor Statistics; and the Director of the National Science Foundation. Appointed members serve 4-year terms, with the first 15 staggered as 5 members for 4 years, 5 for 3 years, and 5 for 2 years; no one may serve more than two consecutive terms. The Board elects its chair, hires an Executive Director, may use federal staff and contracts, meets at least 3 times a year, and must have a majority of voting members for a quorum. The Board files an annual report by July 1 to the Director, the Secretary, and Congress, and must send recommendation reports including an interim report no later than 3 years after November 5, 2002, and a final report no later than 5 years after that date.