–SARAH D. SPARKS
Congress charged the $3 million, 18-month commission to come up with ways to coordinate research and data use across federal agencies while protecting data privacy and security. The panel is not focused just on education, but the report is likely to shape reauthorization of critical and long-overdue education laws governing research and data—including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state pledged to introduce new legislation—tentatively dubbed the “Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act"—to begin implementing some of the commission’s two dozen recommendations.
