The general goal of the National Institute of Education (NIE) is to improve practice in all areas of education so that all Americans can benefit from the best education possible. To determine methods for reaching this goal, this report describes NIE's mission, examines possible organizational structures for NIE, discusses suggested alternative programs, and describes the proposed transfer of programs from USOE to NIE. The proposed programs for NIE discussed in this report include adjusting inequities in educational spending, providing education services for poorly served clients, fostering community involvement in education through education vouchers, improving productivity in education, and developing theme schools. (Author/JF)