Jonathan Jacobson

Under the provisions of the Education Sciences Reform Act (P.L. 107-279), the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is required to provide for continuing review of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The law identifies the issues to be addressed in the reviews, one of which includes the requirement to evaluate whether the NAEP achievement levels, established by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), are "reasonable, valid, reliable and informative to t

The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) are a networked system of 10 organizations that serve the educational needs of ten designated regions across the United States. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) to award contracts to 10 RELs to support applied research, development, wide dissemination, and technical assistance activities. The REL program is administered by the Knowledge Utilization Division of the National Center for Edu

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) is the most recent authorization of a law passed in 1975 to promote a free appropriate public education for children with disabilities. Funded at $12.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2015, IDEA supports early intervention services for infants and toddlers, special education services for children ages 3 through 21, and early intervening services for students not in special education but in need of academic or behavioral sup