Regional Educational Laboratories: Bridging Research and Practice in Education

The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) form a crucial network dedicated to enhancing educational outcomes across the nation. These labs serve as a bridge between rigorous research and practical application, working directly with educators and policymakers to address pressing challenges in education. By focusing on evidence-based solutions and fostering strong partnerships, RELs strive to improve learner outcomes and support informed decision-making at the local, regional, and state levels.

The Mission and Structure of RELs

The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) are a network of ten labs that partner with educators and policymakers nationwide. These labs collaborate with state departments of education, school district leaders, classroom educators, and other education stakeholders to address their most pressing problems of education policy and practice. The REL program is administered by the Institute of Education Sciences' (IES) National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE). Each of the ten RELs operates under a five-year contract with IES.

The authorizing legislation for the REL Program requires that RELs conduct three main activities to support improvement in learner outcomes:

Applied Research and Development
Training, Coaching, and Technical Support (TCTS) for Use of Research
Dissemination

Applied Research and Development

RELs partner with districts, states, and other education stakeholders to identify high-priority needs and conduct applied research that addresses them, helping stakeholders understand problems and learn what is working in their schools. RELs produce clear, objective, and peer-reviewed research products designed to be actionable for partners and national audiences alike. RELs also develop toolkits that support the scaling up of best practices, such as those identified through the What Works Clearinghouse’s Practice Guides.

Training, Coaching, and Technical Support (TCTS) for Use of Research

TCTS projects leverage RELs’ unique expertise in designing and interpreting rigorous, relevant research, as well as the identification and application of evidence-based practices. TCTS includes intensive training involving hands-on, direct instruction from experts in research or practice; coaching, or thought partnering, that supports decisionmakers in applying research evidence to inform high-leverage decisions and actions; and technical support to build partners’ capacity to identify, collect, analyze, and visualize data.

Read also: Comprehensive Regional Analysis

Dissemination

REL dissemination activities are designed to communicate research and evidence in a timely, accessible, and actionable manner. RELs are honest brokers and effective synthesizers of scientifically valid information in an age where information of varying quality is ubiquitous and readily transmitted.

Key Stakeholders and Partnerships

Working in partnership with key education stakeholder groups is central to the success of the REL Program. RELs engage partners - that is, local, regional, and state education leaders and decisionmakers - in the design, execution, and evaluation of REL activities. Key stakeholders include organizations with decision-making authority and the ability to influence education policy and practice, such as state and local education agencies, school boards, institutes of higher education, and student, family, and community organizations.

REL partnerships are designed, developed and executed to improve long-term student success. Partnership activities are intensive, narrowly focused on a high-leverage topic within a specific state, and characterized by effective communication, genuine cooperation, and a mutual understanding of the context, content, and intended outcomes of the work.

For example, Regional Educational Lab (REL) Mid-Atlantic partners with key stakeholders in Delaware to develop evidence that can inform consequential decisions about policy, programs, and practice. REL Mid-Atlantic is partnering with the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) to improve how the state gathers and uses information about its career and technical education (CTE) programs and to strengthen how the state collects, reports, and uses school discipline data.

REL Mid-Atlantic is also partnering with the Maryland Department of Disabilities to support and improve the coordination and tracking of services for students with disabilities, to increase connection to career readiness and post-school career services and to post-secondary education opportunities. Additionally, REL Mid-Atlantic is partnering with the Maryland Center for Computing Education and St. Mary’s County Public Schools to study how implementing an introductory computer science course, required for all eighth-grade students, supports students’ computational thinking, mathematics achievement, and interest in advanced computer science coursework.

Read also: Enhancing Education in Lake County

Geographic Coverage of RELs

The ten RELs serve specific geographic areas, ensuring that each region of the United States has access to tailored research and support. These regions are:

REL Appalachia: Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia
REL Central: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Standing Rock Reservation, and Wyoming
REL Mid-Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
REL Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin
REL Northeast & Islands: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virgin Islands
REL Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington
REL Pacific: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands
REL Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina
REL Southwest: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
REL West: Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah

Each REL is located in the region they serve and is staffed with a deep bench of locally based content and research experts.

Complementary Roles with Other Programs

The work of the REL program is intended to complement other IES programs such as National Center for Education Research, National Center for Special Education Research, the National Center for Education Statistics, and other programs of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance such as the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). RELs represent IES’ “boots on the ground” by translating and helping education stakeholders apply evidence.

REL projects are also intended to complement the work of other Department of Education programs such as the Equity Assistance Centers, and particularly the Comprehensive Center Network. RELs and Comprehensive Centers coordinate to ensure that their distinct expertise is leveraged in complementary ways:

RELs’ distinctive value in the federal technical assistance community comes from their ability (a) to conduct rigorous applied research and development work to address critical stakeholder needs, and (b) to integrate and build on that research and development work with high-quality training, coaching, technical support, and dissemination to ultimately improve learner outcomes. RELs generate evidence that recognizes the unique nature of regional education contexts through a variety of products, leveraging training, coaching, technical support, and dissemination activities to help partners understand and implement this evidence.

Read also: Comprehensive NCAA Regional Look

The Comprehensive Centers (CC) program supports 19 Regional Comprehensive Centers and one National Center to provide capacity-building services to State Educational Agencies (SEAs), regional educational agencies (REAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools that, like the RELs, with the goal of improving educational outcomes for all learners, closing achievement gaps, and improving the quality of instruction. By statute, the Department is required to establish at least one center in each of the 10 geographic regions served by the REL program.

Regional Comprehensive Centers (RCCs) provide frontline intensive technical assistance to support SEAs' capacity to identify, implement, and sustain evidence-based programs, practices, and interventions in service of improved learner outcomes. This includes support for states to implement their ESEA Consolidated State Plans, and the facilitation of exchanges and communities of practice to help states identify common high-leverage problems and solutions. This also includes support to address programmatic issues identified in Department monitoring reports or audit findings, as well as common implementation challenges faced by States, and emerging national education trends.

While the specific activities of the RELs and Comprehensive Centers may both occupy the TCTS space, each program does so with a distinct, yet complementary focus.

Historical Evolution of the REL Program

Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 authorized the establishment of a network of large-scale labs, with a focus on basic research and the development and dissemination of educational innovations. At the beginning of the REL Program in 1965, there were 20 labs. Over the years, the number has varied. The current RELs Program supports a network of 10 RELs.

The goals set for the REL Program have changed throughout its history.

Before 1985, the REL were charged with pursuing the broad goal of general education improvement.
Department of Education sought to enhance the impact of RELs in their regions by identifying school and classroom improvement as the two main priority areas.
In the 1990-1995 REL competition, the education of at-risk children became the focus area.
For the 1995-2000 contract cycle, two priority areas were set: (1) promote excellence and equity for all students and (2) scale up reform to encompass all schools, all levels of educational administration, all programmatic areas, and diverse social contexts.
In 2000-2005, RELs were asked to (1) create procedural knowledge of the best practices for transforming low-performing schools into high-performing learning communities and (2) promote use of such knowledge.
In the 2006-2011 contract cycle, RELs were framed as "emissaries of science," with the goal of providing policymakers and practitioners with training and technical assistance to inform effective decision-making. RELs were required to provide technical assistance that was based on the highest-quality evidence, as defined by scientifically valid research principles.

The Value and Impact of RELs

The RELs partner with districts and state education associations in their region to support the use of evidence to improve student outcomes. They do this by helping partners explore and use their own data and by offering partners evidence-informed technical assistance. And the best part? Not only are REL services and resources free of charge, but RELs are required by law to address the evidence-related needs identified by state and local partners. In other words, the RELs take a bottom-up, rather than a top-down approach to developing the supports they provide.

For example, if a district is considering adopting or changing a program to incorporate evidence-based literacy practices across the curriculum, the REL can offer individual consultation services for decisionmakers about the latest high-quality research on literacy instruction and then lead educators through the process of implementing evidence-based practices.

Challenges and Potential Reforms

Over the six decades since the Regional Educational Labs (RELs) were created, their mission and impact have been frequently questioned. Throughout their history, there has been little agreement on the purpose of the RELs. Over the years, including in 2025, efforts have emerged to eliminate them stemming from a variety of challenges related to their goals and from a perception of limited impact.

Despite this checkered past, I believe that RELs have the potential to provide necessary capacity and technical expertise in service of state and local education leaders.

Several core principles can guide changes to the RELs, with the goal of making them more responsive to both state and national interests.

RELs require better tools and processes to support state and local educational innovation. A crucial step is shifting REL contracts toward performance-based contracting. Consistent with the FAR, IES should build milestone payments into REL contracts, rewarding contractors for reaching specific progress points.
The pool of firms competing for REL contracts is small. This concentration limits competition, potentially raising costs and reducing quality, depriving American students of the full benefits from REL funding. The Education Department should modernize its REL solicitation process, for example, by using “industry days” to let state education leaders communicate their priorities and desired partnerships to potential contractors.
RELs are designed as partnerships between the federal government and state education agencies. The Education Department must update these relationships. Among the most important changes is to recognize that RELs need staff who know how to implement change in schools, not just study it.

By law, ten RELs serve specific geographic areas, creating monopolies and limiting competition. The Department of Education should explore ways to enable states to select REL services and content expertise that better match their needs compared to what their “local” REL might provide.

Examples of REL Projects

REL Mid-Atlantic: A set of free professional development materials designed with busy educators in mind. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers, to promote collaborative learning and planning among teachers. The Toolkit is a one-stop shop for those interested in improving students’ writing quality and offers guided activities and practices that teachers can implement throughout the school year.
The Rural Talent Development and Attraction Lab (Rural Talent Lab): A four-year, multi-state initiative led by the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) in partnership with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and HCM Strategists, with generous support from a $7.2 million grant from Ascendium Education Group. The project aims to strengthen rural postsecondary opportunities by helping five states develop and implement statewide plans that expand middle-skill credential pathways (associate degree or undergraduate certificate) directly aligned with local workforce needs.

tags: #regional #education #labs #overview