Arguing that research, development, and dissemination are the least expensive, least threatening, and most needed forms of assistance that the Federal Government can provide to educators working toward the National Education Goals, this committee report presents 21 recommendations designed to enable the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) to play a leading role in the development of a national education reform strategy. It is noted that this report has been developed as the first step in the process of preparing legislation for the reauthorization of OERI. Background information provided by a foreword by Major R. Owens, chairman of the subcommittee, and an introduction, is followed by a list of the recommendations; detailed discussions of each of the recommendations; and a summary of related hearing testimony from July 30, 1987, through April 25, 1991, including a list of all witnesses. Two papers and a table displaying the research databases of selected Federal agencies are appended. In the first paper, "Responding to Children at Risk: A Guide to Recent Reports," Susan Austin and Gail Meister provide summaries of recommendations for the early and middle learning years and the high school years, followed by abstracts of 27 reports. In the second paper, "Tilling Fertile Soil: How Education Dissemination Can Benefit from Experiences of the U.S. Department of Agriculture," Susan Shurberg Klein presents and discusses 12 principles that have worked well in agricultural dissemination and suggests implications for their replication by OERI for education dissemination. The latter paper lists 25 references. (DB)