Research

The Center for Educational Equity

The Center for Educational Equity is a nonprofit research and policy center at Teachers College, Columbia University, that champions the right of all children to meaningful educational opportunity and works to define and secure the full range of resources, supports, and services necessary to provide this opportunity to disadvantaged children. 

We believe that all children, whatever their family background, wherever they live, and whatever the current political and economic climate, are entitled to a meaningful opportunity to graduate from high school prepared for college success and/or competitive employment. We promote a comprehensive approach to educational opportunity that would provide disadvantaged students the full spectrum of resources, services, and supports most critical for school success because we believe their right to meaningful educational opportunity entails access to these essential resources.

Founded in 2005 by internationally known educational law scholar and advocate Michael A. Rebell, who successfully litigated the landmark school funding lawsuit, CFE v. State of New York, the Campaign pursues systems change through a dynamic, interrelated program of research, legal analysis, policy development, coalition building, curriculum development, and advocacy dedicated to developing the evidence, policy models, curricula, leadership, and collaborations necessary to advance this agenda at the federal, state, and local levels.

EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Michael Rebell
Website: http://www.centerforeducationalequity.org/

The Center for Educational Equity is now on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/eduequity) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/EduEquity)! Connect with us to stay informed on educational equity issues and join us in the fight to secure a sound basic education for all children.

Community College Research Center

CCRC is the leading independent authority on two-year colleges in the United States. We conduct research on the issues affecting community colleges and work with colleges and states to improve student success and institutional performance.

Email: ccrc@columbia.edu 

The Consortium for Policy Research in Education

The Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) brings together education experts from renowned research institutions, including Teachers College, Columbia University; the University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University; Stanford University; the University of Michigan; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Northwestern University. CPRE was launched in 1985 as the first national federally funded R&D center for state and local education policy. Since then, CPRE has studied the design, implementation, and effects of dozens of policies and programs, and is widely considered to be among the premier university-based research organizations focused on education policy and evaluation. CPRE researchers and staff at Teachers College (CPRE-TC) are continuing this long tradition by conducting rigorous research and evaluation that aims to improve elementary and secondary education though increased educational effectiveness, equity, and access.

Over the years, CPRE’s work has been supported through generous funding from many sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, National Science Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Goldman Sachs Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Merck Institute for Science Education, National Center on Education and the Economy, Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Foundation, Student Achievement Partners, General Electric Foundation, SRI International, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, among others.

EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Douglas Ready

Website: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/cpre/

National Center for Children and Families

The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) advances the policy, education, and development of children and their families.  Housed at Teachers College, Columbia University, NCCF challenges the status quo that perpetuates inequalities among children and families.  The center's work is built on a commitment to eliminate educational, economic, and employment disparities through the production and application of the highest quality scholarship to the most intransigent social problems. NCCF informs and shapes child and family policy through cutting-edge research and analyses; the systematic training of future leaders, scholars, and policy scientists; and the distribution of relevant research to the media, policy makers, and practitioners on the front lines.  

NCCF is co-directed by Teachers College professors Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development and Education and Sharon Lynn Kagan, Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy.

Website: http://www.policyforchildren.org 

National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education

National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE) serves as a non-partisan venue to analyze and disseminate information about the contentious private initiatives in education that include vouchers, charter schools and educational contracting. Proponents of privatization view the movement as improving school choice, student outcomes and innovation through competition in the marketplace. They point to the poor performance of urban schools and how competition converts failure into success. Opponents argue that the movement undermines already flagging urban public schools, depriving the system of motivated students and scarce resources to bring about reform and runs counter to the establishment clause embodied in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Currently there is no disinterested authority to test and verify the conflicting claims of proponents and opponents, leaving the debate to those who argue on ideological grounds rather than empirical data. In evaluating different privatization plans, the center uses four criteria: the freedom for parents to choose schools that mirror their values and religious beliefs; productive efficiency that maximizes school results; equity that provides access for all to the range of educational opportunities, and social cohesion that prepares youngsters for democratic and civic participation. 

The Privatization Center is affiliated with the Department of International and Transcultural Studies. Its Director is Henry M. Levin, William Heard Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education. The Center disseminates its research, policy analysis through conferences, the World Wide Web, publications and the media. It also has entered a partnership with the education commission of the states to provide information to governors, state legislatures and state departments of education.

Contact: Samuel E. Abrams
E-mail: sa307@tc.columbia.edu

The School Board and Youth Engagement Lab

The School Board and Youth Engagement (S-BYE) Lab at Teachers College develops research-based ideas and new technology tools for strengthening youth engagement and redesigning school boards to be more democratic.

S-Bye Lab Director: Jonathan E. Collins