History
"SEDL has a well-established history as a research-based leader that addresses underrepresented, high-minority issues that are critical to teacher and student success."
Sr. Isabel Ball
College of Arts and Sciences
Our Lady of the Lake University
The Southwest Educational Development
Laboratory (SEDL) was
established in 1966 as one of 20 regional educational laboratories
created by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The laboratories
were part of a comprehensive strategy to improve education and
educational opportunity for all students. They had a long-term
mission of developing and disseminating research-based solutions
to the most urgent education problems.
Since 1966 our work has changed to meet the needs of students and educators. We have taken on new scopes of work and given up others. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to solve significant education problems and our focus on helping education systems and communities provide a quality education for learners across the country.
Our initial programs emphasized curriculum development, international education, and migrant education. During our early years, we undertook an ambitious program of curriculum development that included multimedia and television production. We were awarded funding to implement our Follow Through Model, which extended the benefits of Head Start into the elementary grades for English language learners. We maintained our emphasis on the needs of language-minority students through the next 2 decades.
During the 1980s the regional educational laboratories were reorganized. The work of SEDL and the other labs changed. We now worked toward building the capacities of state and local education agencies, education service centers, and community organizations to help schools in their improvement efforts. Also in the 1980s, SEDL undertook projects serving individuals with disabilities through the dissemination of effective practices and research results.
The 1990s ushered in the current era of standards-based and systemic school reform. SEDL’s work became more focused on school improvement that emphasized coherence in teaching and learning. SEDL secured funding for the Eisenhower Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching, the Southeast Comprehensive Regional Assistance Center, and several regional projects such as project ExCELL in Texas. In 1995, we received federal funding to establish a pilot project—the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR). The NCDDR, now in its 11th year,helps disseminate research results that can then be used in shaping new technology, improving service delivery, and expanding decision-making options for people with disabilities and their families.
The 21st century has brought SEDL new challenges and new scopes of work. The U.S. Department of Education has raised awareness nationwide about the need for rigorous research in education and promoting evidence-based practice. We are working to make sure that relevant research reaches those who need the information most, and we are helping educators and policymakers at all levels translate and use that research. Through our two comprehensive centers—the Southeast Comprehensive Center and the Texas Comprehensive Center—we are committed to helping states and the districts they support implement the No Child Left Behind Act. We have also served as the primary contractor for the National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning since 2003. The National Partnership draws on the expertise of seven partner organizations to identify and promote promising and research-based practices for afterschool programs.
As SEDL enters its 5th decade, we will continue our dedication to ensuring that research is tightly linked to practice and creating professional development, tools, and resources rooted in research.
