Career Education and the National Institute of Education.

Overview & Synopsis

The National Institute of Education (NIE), a new federal agency established in August 1972 within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, occupies a parallel position to the Office of Education. The Administration and the Congress believe that a sustained, systematic investment in research, development, testing, and diffusion will substantially improve education. The NIE aims at solving or alleviating American educational problems, advancing the practice of education, strengthening the scientific and technological foundations of education, and building an effective educational research and development system. The unevenness of research-based educational development will be stabilized, and failure factors minimized, by a task force on career education, which is responsible for monitoring existing programs and planning new ones. The NIE will focus on reducing youth unemployment and helping adults redirect their career patterns. Major NIE efforts are on four model programs intended to develop career exploration and awareness: (1) the school-based model, (2) the employer-based model, (3) the home-based model, and (4) the rural residential model. Future emphasis will be placed on quality evaluation of career education products, post-secondary education, financing career education, integration of services and curriculums, labor market research, and greater partnership between employers and the education system. (AG)