UPPER MIDWEST REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORY:

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of April 1965 (Public Law 89-10) authorized the establishment of regional facilities to address educational problems and issues. The act did not define any regions, thus states were left to themselves to define regions and instigate planning and development.

O. Meredith Wilson, President of the University of Minnesota, directed Vice President Donald K. Smith to head a faculty committee to draft a plan for a regional center at the University of Minnesota. In September 1965 the University invited sixty representatives of Minnesota educational, cultural, business, labor, and agricultural groups to discuss the University's plans. The Prospectus Advisory Committee was formed to develop and submit plans for approval and funding by the United States Office of Education (USOE).

Soon after, the Upper Midwest Region, consisting of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, was defined. The Upper Midwest Regional Educational Laboratory (UMREL) was created from the plans begun by the University of Minnesota. The agency was to coordinate communication and cooperation between existing educational agencies and endeavored to promote and encourage "a continuous process of innovation, evaluation, and renewal" in the region's schools. In addition, the laboratory was to focus on educational training, research, and development. In the scope of this collection, it appears that UMREL's primary focus was teacher preparation and experimental curriculum for the K-12 classroom. UMREL staff authored many papers on contingency-based classroom management and behaviorally engineered curriculum and learning environments. UMREL contracted Biomedical Computer Services, Inc. (St. Paul, Minn.) to design and manage computerized data collection and analysis in an effort to monitor student achievement.

On February 9, 1966, a 75-day planning contract between USOE and the University of Minnesota was signed. UMREL was incorporated on April 26, 1966 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Stanley B. Kegler was chosen as the first project director and Donald K. Smith as UMREL's first chairman of the board. UMREL representatives signed a six-month contract with USOE on May 15, 1966 and the laboratory began operations on June 15 of that year. USOE, as the funding agency, received annual reports and established review panels to monitor UMREL programs and progress.

UMREL's intent to be a coordinating agency was discouraged by USOE, which advised repeatedly that UMREL establish a more focused, interrelated long term plan. In response, UMREL developed a program directed toward "continuing education for teacher competence." Relations between UMREL and USOE remained strained; they could not agree on program goals or research. Review panels determined that UMREL had not made significant progress in either area. When the national education budget was cut, regional laboratories with unsatisfactory reviews lost their funding. On November 5, 1970, USOE notified UMREL that its federal funding had been terminated. The lab operated with federal funding until June 30, 1971.

Information was taken from the collection. A synopsis of UMREL's affairs, History of UMREL 1965-1971, was written by John Mihelic per request of the board of trustees. The paper can be found in box 1 of the collection.

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The collection consists of administrative files pertaining to UMREL's formation and general operations, including the prospectus advisory committee, board of trustees, and executive committee. Most administrative files center around the offices of the executive director and deputy director of programming. A substantial portion of the collection contains the publications, reports, papers, and proposals written by UMREL's research staff. They include papers on behaviorally engineered classrooms, contingency based management, curriculum development, teacher education, paraprofessionals and teacher aides, student motivation and learning styles, and computerized data management. One box of material concerns Biomedical Computer Services, Inc. (St. Paul, Minn.).

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These records are divided into the following five sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Upper Midwest Regional Educational Laboratory Organizational Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,487

Processing Information:

Processed by: Lynn Leitte, July 1998

Catalog ID number: 990017349400104294

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Stanley B. Kegler was appointed director when the program was first established under the direction of the University of Minnesota. Executive directors: John Prasch, September 1, 1966 - November 30, 1967; William J. Hill, Interim Director, December 1, 1967 - June 30, 1968; and David N. Evans, July 1, 1968 - June 30, 1971.

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Marvin F. Daley was deputy director of program until he was replaced by John C. Maxwell in November 1970.

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UMREL's vision for a school-wide computer system involved a configuration which would facilitate classroom management, school-wide administrative needs, and provide data on student needs and progress. BCSI was contracted by UMREL to design software and hardware configurations for computer aided data collection, management, and analysis procedures to track student achievement in UMREL's various experimental classrooms. They designed the Personal Progress Data Form (PPDF)--the "fill-in-the dot" test forms now common to standardized tests such as the American College Testing (ACT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Development of an easy to follow form that gathered all the data wanted by UMREL proved a more difficult task than expected. The project was plagued with other problems as well: teacher reluctance to use the PPDF, missing and inconsistent data results, lack of reliability in information, slow turn around time on data processing, and other problems. These problems were intensified by UMREL providing poorly defined objectives and timelines for BCSI, and limited or no computer access at the school sites where data was being generated.

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The UMREL Newsletter is available in the Minnesota Historical Society serials collection.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Education -- Experimental methods.

Education -- Curriculum planning.

Indians of North America -- Education -- Minnesota.

Indians of North America -- Education -- South Dakota.

Poor children -- Education -- Minnesota.

Schools -- Minnesota.

Schools -- Iowa.

Schools -- Wisconsin.

Schools -- North Dakota.

Schools -- South Dakota.

Teachers -- Training of.

Teaching -- Aids and devices.

Persons:

Ammentorp, William M.

Christensen, Rosemary, 1939-

Daley, Marvin F.

Evans, David N.

Fitch, Judith Carol Preuss, 1946-.

Hill, William J.

Hillery, Milton C.

Kegler, Stanley B.

Maxwell, John C.

Morreau, Lanny E.

Packard, Robert George.

Pinney, Robert H.

Prasch, John.

Publicover, Robert Gardiner, 1915-

Smith, Donald K.

Yost, Michael.

Organizations:

Biomedical Computer Services, Inc., (St. Paul, Minn.).

Blackhills Area Cooperative Schools (S.D.).

Burnsville High School (Burnsville, Minn.).

Central Junior High School (White Bear Lake, Minn.).

Detroit Lakes Senior High School (Detroit Lakes, Minn.).

Elk Point Elementary School (Elk Point, S.D.).

Hoover Elementary School (Mason City, Ia.).

John Hay Elementary School (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Lincoln Junior High School (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Minneapolis Public Schools.

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 191 (Burnsville).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 22 (Detroit Lakes).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 274 (Hopkins).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 276 (Minnetonka).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 38 (Red Lake).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 381 (Silver Bay).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 624 (White Bear Lake).

Minnesota. -- Independent School District No. 834 (Stillwater).

Minnesota. -- State Department of Education -- Minnesota National Laboratory.

Minot Public Schools (Minot, N.D.).

North Dakota. -- Minot Public School District No. 1 (Ward County).

Pine Point Elementary School (Ponsford, Minn.).

Red Lake Elementary School (Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minn.).

Saint Stephen's School (Minneapolis, Minn.).

South Dakota. -- Douglas Independent School District No. 3 (Pennington and Mead Counties).

Southwest and West Central Educational Research and Development Council (Minn.).

Southwest Minnesota State College (Marshall, Minn.).

Stillwater High School (Stillwater, Minn.).

Talented Youth Project (Minneapolis, Minn.).

United States. -- Department of Education.

University of Minnesota.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

West Fargo School (West Fargo, N.D.).

William M. Kelly High School (Silver Bay, Minn.).

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