Renewing Our Commitment to the Region and the Nation

This issue describes the ongoing commitment of Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) to improve the quality of educational policy and practice in the mid-continent region and the U.S. as a whole. Four priority needs areas have been identified and will be the focus of McREL efforts for the next 5 years: (1) failure to support school reform efforts adequately; (2) lack of capacity to use standards to reform classroom practice; (3) declining availability of quality teachers; and (4) lack of leadership capacity to build high-performing learning systems. A letter from McREL's Executive Director reaffirms the laboratory's commitment to educational improvement. The issue also contains a discussion of "Leadership in Support of Systemic Reform," a discussion of"Creating Communities of Learners" in Kansas and South Dakota, and lists of essential education resources from McREL and other agencies and educators. A section titled "On the National Front" discusses a national dialogue on standards-based education in which McREL will participate. "Research from the Field" summarizes some research projects in class size reduction and teacher testing. A message from the McREL Board of Directors closes this issue by discussing the Board's role in educational improvement. (SLD)