Changes at the Education Department.

The end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005 marked a number of changes at the U.S. Department of Education, chief among them the resignation of U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige.

Following President Bush's reelection, Paige announced that, at the end of the president's first term, he would be resigning, having served longer than any Republican United States Secretary of Education.

"At that time, my work here will be accomplished," said Paige.

Following Paige's resignation, President Bush announced his nomination of Margaret Spellings to be the U.S. Secretary of Education. Spellings served as Bush's chief education adviser while he was the governor of Texas, and when he became president, he asked her to serve as his assistant on domestic policy.

In December, Deputy Secretary of Education Gene Hickok announced that he also would be resigning at the end of January 2005. Hickok had served as deputy secretary of education since July 2003, and prior to that appointment had been under secretary of education since the beginning of the Bush Administration. Before coming to the Education Department, Hickok had served as Pennsylvania's secretary of education.

Another resignation at the Department of Education was that of General Counsel Brian W. Jones, who leaves after more than three years of service as the top legal adviser and a key policy adviser to Secretary Paige on education issues that included the implementation of No Child Left Behind.

Among those assuming new positions at the Department of Education are John H. Hager and Barbara R. Foorman.

In December, Hager, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia, was sworn in as assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). He will lead the office that administers federal special education programs for America's 6.8 million children and youth with disabilities. OSERS also promotes employment opportunities for adults with disabilities and sponsors research to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.

In January, Footman assumed the leadership position of the National Center for Education Research, a key office in the Institute of Education Sciences, the research, evaluation and statistical arm of the Education Department. Described by the department as "an internationally known authority on language and reading development," Foorman becomes the nation's first commissioner for education research. The National Center for Education Research is one of three centers within the Institute of Education Sciences, and its mission is to support rigorous, unbiased research that helps ensure a quality education for all students, improve achievement, reduce disparities in school performance, and promote equal opportunities and access to higher education.

These were the changes at our press time, but for more information and news at the U.S. Department of Education, visit www.ed.gov.