Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 116 Part 3.djvu/378

 116 STAT. 1970 PUBLIC LAW 107-279—NOV. 5, 2002 (v) ensures that the regional educational laboratory attains and maintains a high level of quality in the laboratory's work and products; (vi) establishes standards to ensure that the regional educational laboratory has strong and effective governance, organization, management, and administration, and employs qualified staff; (vii) directs the regional educational laboratory to carry out the laboratory's duties in a manner that will make progress toward achieving the State education goals and reforming schools and educational systems; and (viii) conducts a continuing survey of the educational needs, strengths, and weaknesses within the region, including a process of open hearings to solicit the views of schools and teachers; and (B) allocate the regional educational laboratory's resources to and within each State in a manner which reflects the need for assistance, taking into account such factors as the proportion of economically disadvantaged students, the increased cost burden of service delivery in areas of sparse populations, and any special initiatives being undertaken by State, intermediate, local educational agencies, or Bureau-funded schools, as appropriate, which may require special assistance from the laboratory. (2) SPECIAL RULE.— If a regional educational laboratory needs flexibility in order to meet the requirements of paragraph (l)(A)(i), the regional educational laboratory may select not more than 10 percent of the governing board from individuals outside those representatives nominated in accordance with paragraph (l)(A)(iii). (i) DUTIES OF GOVERNING BOARD.— In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the regional educational laboratories, the governing boards of the regional educational laboratories shall establish and maintain a network to— (1) share information about the activities each laboratory is carrying out; (2) plan joint activities that would meet the needs of multiple regions; (3) create a strategic plan for the development of activities undertaken by the laboratories to reduce redundancy and increase collaboration and resource-sharing in such activities; and (4) otherwise devise means by which the work of the individual laboratories could serve national, as well as regional, needs. (j) EVALUATIONS. —The Evaluation and Regional Assistance Commissioner shall provide for independent evaluations of each of the regional educational laboratories in carrying out the duties described in this section in the third year that such laboratory receives assistance under this section in accordance with the standards developed by the Evaluation and Regional Assistance Commissioner and approved by the Board and shall transmit the results of such evaluations to the relevant committees of Congress, the Board, and the appropriate regional educational laboratory governing board.

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