The CNA Corporation's Education Center Wins Major Education Contract

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA — Robert Murray, president of CNA (CNA), today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded CNA's Education Center the contract for the Appalachian Regional Education Laboratory (AREL).

"The goal of the laboratory is to provide an effective mechanism for serving the educational research needs of the region's state and local education agencies, school districts, and schools," said Murray. "It's work that we're very proud to be involved in because of what it means to improving the education and the future of thousands of children throughout the Appalachian region and the country as a whole."

The laboratory, one of a network of ten such labs across the country, is an important component of the Department of Education's efforts to conduct rigorous research and disseminate results that will support continuous improvement in student outcomes, help close achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students, and achieve other key goals of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Although the regional education laboratories have been in place for 40 years, leaders of the Department of Education are now shifting their focus, requiring from the labs a new emphasis on long-term, rigorous evaluations of America's public education programs as well as short-term research projects investigating and analyzing education policies and practices.

In operating the AREL, CNA brings an innovative approach to supporting educators and other stakeholders in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Among these planned innovations is the placement of research scientists who would work directly with state and local education agency leaders to identify and solve critical problems that would improve the effectiveness of these organizations. This approach has defined CNA research for over 60 years and is designed to help dramatically improve the quality of education in America.

Partners in CNA's work are: the Universities of Virginia and Kentucky; the Center for Applied Linguistics; Education Innovations; The EdVenture Group; the Collaboration for Teaching and Learning; Insights Policy Research; Tierra Del Oro Consulting; and SymTech Corp.

"Our research must be relevant to the region's needs, and accepted by the region's policymakers, educators, parents, and communities," said Dr. Robert R. (Bud) Spillane, director of CNA's Education Center. "The measure of our success will not only be how much work we do, but how much our research leads to the implementation of new evidence-based programs for improving educational outcomes. We have been awarded this contract through the creativity and leadership of Dr. Donald J. Cymrot and other key staff throughout CNA and our partner organizations. We will now transfer this dedication to the vital mission of the AREL: to ensure it is a key asset to educators in the Appalachian region and across the country."