Agency/Field Relationships in the Educational R/D & I System: A Policy Analysis for the National Institute of Education.

This document examines the policy issue of balance between the National Institute of Education's (NIE) role in directing research and development projects and that of field-initiated efforts in the educational R/D & I field. The issue is approached from a systems analysis view: NIE's mission (grouped into research, development, dissemination/implementation/utilization, and evaluation/policy research clusters) is viewed in terms of its impact on the educational R/D & I systems functioning. The continuum of actions through which the agency might relate to various aspects of the field are analyzed from functional, cross-functional, and scenario analysis methods. Comparative analyses across functions are directed toward NIE and its role in developing a systems context approach, toward the leadership requirements for systems building and orchestration of efforts in the field, toward areas of communality and differences between the areas of concern for NIE and field-based groups, and toward nonprocurement strategies the NIE might use in effecting systems development. The report concludes with two scenario analyses examining (1) alternatives to NIE-directed competitive procurements and their implications, and (2) unsolicited procurement mechanisms, and options that might be considered in funding R/D & I activities initiated through the unsolicited route. (MB)