Sec. 137. Research, demonstrations, and evaluation
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The Secretary shall carry out a continuing program of research, demonstration, and evaluation activities, in order to— focus national research efforts to attain a fuller understanding of the processes of child development and early learning outcomes and the effects of programs on those processes and outcomes; foster continuous improvement in the quality of the child care and early learning programs carried out under this title and in their effectiveness in enabling participating children and their families to succeed in school and otherwise; ensure that the results of research and related development efforts are reflected in the conduct of programs affecting children through the improvement and expansion of child care and early learning programs; and develop, test, and disseminate information on new ideas for addressing the needs of low-income and underserved children (including children with disabilities, homeless children, children who have been abused or neglected, and children in foster care) and their families and communities, and furthering in other ways the purposes of this title.
The research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under this title shall include components designed to— permit ongoing assessment of the quality and effectiveness of the child care and early learning programs under this title; contribute to developing knowledge concerning factors associated with the quality and effectiveness of child care and early learning programs and in identifying ways in which services provided under this title may be improved; assist in developing knowledge concerning the factors that promote or inhibit healthy development and effective functioning of children and their families, including physical, mental, vision, and oral health, both during and following participation in a child care and early learning program; permit comparisons of children and families participating in child care and early learning programs— with children and families receiving other child care, or early childhood education and development, services or programs; and with other appropriate control groups; contribute to understanding the characteristics and needs of population groups eligible for services provided under this title and the impact of such services on the individuals served and the service areas in which such services are provided; provide for disseminating and promoting the use of the findings from such research, demonstration, and evaluation activities; promote exploration of areas in which knowledge is insufficient, and that will otherwise contribute to fulfilling the purposes of this title; contribute to understanding the impact of child care and early learning services delivered in classrooms that include both children with disabilities and children who are not children with disabilities, on both types of children; and disseminate promising practices for increasing the availability and quality of child care and early learning services that are so delivered and classrooms described in subparagraph (A); contribute to understanding the impact of different child care and early learning models, including those with varying teacher compensation, preparation, and workplace supports, in addressing educational disparities and inequalities, including disparities and inequalities based on income, and disparities and inequalities based on culture, and race and ethnicity; contribute to the understanding of providing effective child care and early learning programs to dual language learner children, children with disabilities, culturally diverse families, racially and ethnically diverse families, children belonging to an Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian children, and children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and to service areas with many low-income children; and carry out— research to determine the nature of child development processes and the impact of various influences upon those processes, including workplace conditions and supports, to develop techniques to measure and evaluate child development, to develop standards to evaluate professional and paraprofessional child development personnel, and to determine how child care and early learning and related programs conducted in either family child care homes or centers affect child development processes; research to test alternative methods of providing child development and related services, and to develop and test innovative approaches to achieve maximum development of children; evaluation of findings from research conducted under this paragraph and the development of and effective application of those findings; dissemination and application of results from research and related development efforts and demonstration projects to child care and early learning programs, related programs, and early childhood education; production of informational systems and other resources necessary to support the activities authorized under this paragraph; and integration of national child development research efforts under this title into a focused national research program, including the coordination of research and development conducted by entities under this section with research and development conducted by other agencies, organizations, and individuals.
The Secretary, in order to conduct research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under this section— may carry out such activities directly, or through grants to, or contracts or cooperative agreements with, public or private entities; shall, to the extent appropriate, undertake such activities in collaboration with Federal agencies (other than the Department of Health and Human Services), and with non-Federal agencies, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations, conducting similar activities; shall ensure that evaluation of such activities in a specific program is conducted by persons not directly involved in the operation of such program; may require prime sponsors to provide for independent evaluations; may approve, in appropriate cases, community-based cooperative research and evaluation efforts to enable prime sponsors to collaborate with qualified researchers not directly involved in program administration or operation of a program funded under this title; and may collaborate with organizations with expertise in inclusive educational strategies for preschoolers who are children with disabilities.
Funds available to any Federal agency (including a department) for the purposes stated in subsection
(a)or the activities stated in subsection
(b)shall be available for transfer, with the approval of the head of the agency involved, in whole or in part, to the Secretary for such use as is consistent with the purposes for which such funds were appropriated, and the funds so transferred shall be expendable by the Secretary for the purposes for which the transfer was made. In carrying out activities under this section, the Secretary shall— coordinate, through the Office of Child Care and Early Learning, established under section 131, all child development research, training, and related development efforts conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services and, to the extent feasible, by other agencies, organizations, and individuals; consult with— individuals from relevant academic disciplines; individuals who are involved in the operation of child care and early learning programs and individuals who are involved in the operation of other child and family service programs; appropriate officials from Indian tribes and tribal organizations; and individuals from organizations involved with, and academic disciplines related to, children and families, ensuring that the individuals consulted under this subparagraph reflect the multicultural nature of the children and families served by the child care and early learning programs and the multidisciplinary nature of the programs; whenever feasible and appropriate, obtain the views of persons participating in and served by programs assisted under this title with respect to activities under this section; and establish, to the extent appropriate, working relationships with faculty members of institutions of higher education, as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 ), located in the area in which any evaluation under this section is being conducted, to participate in such evaluation, unless there is no such institution of higher education willing and able to participate in such evaluation. There is established a Child Development Research Council, consisting of— a representative of the Office of Child Care and Early Learning (who shall serve as chairperson); and a representative from each of the Federal agencies and offices determined to be appropriate by the Secretary. The Council shall meet at least annually and at such more frequent times as the Council may determine to be necessary. The Council shall assure coordination of child care and early learning services under the jurisdiction of the agencies and offices represented on the Council and carry out the provisions of this section so as to assure— maximum utilization of available resources through the prevention of duplication of activities; a division of labor, insofar as is compatible with the purposes of each of the agencies or offices represented on the Council, among those agencies and offices to assure maximum progress toward the achievement of the purposes of this section; and recommendation of priorities for federally funded research and related development that are related to the purposes of this section and those stated in section 101. The Secretary shall make an annual report to Congress— summarizing— the Secretary’s activities and accomplishments during the preceding year under this section; and the grants, contracts, or other arrangements entered into during the preceding year under this section; and making such recommendations as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate. The Secretary shall develop, and periodically update, a plan governing the research, demonstration, and evaluation activities under this section. The Secretary shall take necessary steps to ensure that all studies, reports, proposals, and data produced or developed with Federal funds under this title shall become the property of the United States.
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Sec. 137
Research, demonstrations, and evaluation
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