What are Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) and why are they important?
Each federally funded Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) serves one of ten distinct geographic regions in the country. RELs work to develop the best knowledge from research and practice into useful services, tools, and other resources to support those involved in education improvement at the local, state, and regional levels. With support from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (formerly the Office of Educational Research and Improvement or OERI), the laboratories work as vital partners with state and local educators, community members, and policymakers in using research to tackle the difficult issues of education reform and improvement. Congress implemented the concept of Regional Educational Laboratories as a national resource for local and state benefit over three decades ago under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. While each laboratory has distinctive features tailored to meet the special needs of the geographic region it serves, the lab
Each federally funded Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) serves 1 of 10 distinct geographic regions in the country. RELs work to develop the best knowledge from research and practice into useful services, tools, and other resources to support those involved in education improvement at the local, state, and regional levels. With support from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (formerly the Office of Educational Research and Improvement or OERI), the laboratories work as vital partners with state and local educators, community members, and policymakers in using research to tackle the difficult issues of education reform and improvement. Congress implemented the concept of Regional Educational Laboratories as a national resource for local and state benefit over three decades ago under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. While the laboratories have common characteristics, each laboratory has distinctive features tailored to meet the special needs
