The NEED Act of 2025 would create the National Center for Advanced Development in Education (NCADE) inside the Institute of Education Sciences, modeled on DARPA to accelerate breakthrough teaching and learning solutions. The bill emphasizes commercialization and broader hiring — including engineers and AI specialists — to improve scalability and impact. Lawmakers should strengthen contracting rules, grant Other Transaction Authority for rapid prototyping, prioritize off-the-shelf technology, and use NCADE to spur modernization of NCER. Monitoring NSF’s Tech Labs rollout will help guide NCADE’s design and priorities.
Opinion: The NEED Act Would Create a DARPA-Style Education Lab — What Congress Should Add
This is a photo of the U.S Capitol building.
On Dec. 9, Representatives Suzanne Bonamici and Brian Fitzpatrick introduced the New Essential Education Discoveries (NEED) Act of 2025, an updated version of legislation they proposed in 2024 that did not reach a floor vote. The bill would establish a new center inside the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) — the National Center for Advanced Development in Education (NCADE) — modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to accelerate breakthrough advances in teaching and learning.
What NCADE Would Do
Under the bill, NCADE would "identify, develop and promote advances in and new solutions for teaching and learning, with an emphasis on breakthrough technologies, new pedagogical approaches, innovative learning models and more efficient, reliable and valid forms of assessments." The proposal explicitly prioritizes projects with commercial application to increase the likelihood of scalability and real-world impact on student outcomes.
Staffing and Structure
The NEED Act directs NCADE to recruit broadly — drawing on engineering, the learning sciences, artificial intelligence and other applied fields — rather than relying only on the traditional academic pipeline that currently supplies many IES program officers. The bill also allows for shorter-term appointments and wage flexibility to speed hiring and attract entrepreneurial talent.
Recommended Additions for the Bill
As the bill moves toward a floor debate, lawmakers should consider several enhancements to increase NCADE’s effectiveness and protect taxpayer value.
1. Modernize Contracting
NCADE should adopt evolving best practices in contracting. The Department of Defense’s recent acquisition reforms emphasize widening competition and reducing long-term dependence on single contractors. The statute should make clear that NCADE must encourage new entrants, limit cozy, long-standing contracts, and favor competitive procurement to preserve innovation incentives.
2. Prioritize Off-the-Shelf Tech and Agility
To move quickly, NCADE should prioritize off-the-shelf solutions, ensure access to current software and cloud services, and partner with authentic technology companies rather than incumbent testing vendors. The bill should specify performance-based contracts and grant NCADE "Other Transaction Authority (OTA)" so it can prototype rapidly, work with nontraditional suppliers, and pursue public-private partnerships at a commercial pace — authorities already used by DOD and the National Institutes of Health.
3. Spur Modernization of NCER
NCADE should not simply duplicate existing IES activity; it should push the National Center for Education Research (NCER) to modernize. NCER’s prevailing grant model — what the author calls the "three Fs" (five years, five million dollars and failure) — tends to produce many disconnected, university-led projects that do not scale. NCADE’s team-based, outcomes-oriented approach can complement NCER and encourage larger, coordinated efforts that align more directly with national education priorities.
4. Learn From NSF Tech Labs
The National Science Foundation’s new Tech Labs initiative offers a useful model: team-based, outcomes-focused funding designed to tackle problems beyond the capacity of single investigators. While some worry Tech Labs may shift resources from basic research to applied solutions, that concern is less acute for IES because it is statutorily mission-driven and focused on applied education research. Congress should watch Tech Labs’ implementation to inform NCADE’s structure and metrics.
Why This Matters
If enacted thoughtfully, NEED could transform federal education research by accelerating scalable solutions, diversifying talent, and improving procurement practices. Whether IES remains intact or some functions move to other agencies, the bill’s proposed reforms — and the additional safeguards outlined here — could reshape how education research and development produces practical, scalable improvements for classrooms nationwide.
Bottom Line: NCADE could be a powerful engine for education innovation — but Congress should strengthen contracting rules, grant rapid-prototyping authorities, prioritize ready-to-deploy technologies, and use the new center to push the broader research system toward team-based, outcomes-driven investments.
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