LibGuides: EDUC-300: Education Reform, Past and Present (Lockhart): Policy and Research Institutes

About This Section

Policy and research institutes are excellent places for finding well-researched information, often written by scholars but presented in accessible language. Complex ideas are distilled into understandable concepts without losing academic rigor. These are perfect resources for undergrads! Be aware that some policy institutes espouse certain biases. A quick search on Wikipedia will allow you to sort out where each stands on the issues.

Be sure to check out FindPolicy. It allows you to search simultaneously across multiple research and policy institutes and think tanks.

Policy and Research Groups

Brown Center for Education Policy @ Brookings
Reflecting its topical mission, the Brown Center’s research is wide-ranging. During the last few years, work has included studies on the impact of curriculum, school accountability and turnaround, class size, instructional technology, student loans, preschool education, public pensions, teacher evaluation, the contributions of school districts and their leaders to student outcomes, and the academic achievement of U.S. students on international assessments.
Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation
CEPARE conducts research and advocate for policies that improve learning opportunities and environments for individuals and their communities.
Center for Education Policy at Harvard University
The Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) is uniquely focused on seeing that research findings are put to practical use. In consultation with education leaders and a broad network of partners, they seek to study the most pressing issues.
The College Board
Known primarily as the organization that administers the SAT, the College Board is also a research center in its own right. They use data collected in the process of administering the SAT to learn about, for example, the determinants of student success.
EdTrust
EdTrust is a nonprofit research center which has three regional locations (New York, Michigan, and California) and a National office in Washington DC. They do research across the K-12 and Higher Ed spectrum for policy and practitioner audiences.
Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce
CEW is often cited on questions of how much money do people make at a given level of education, and what sorts of degrees are paying more or less money.
National Student Clearinghouse Research Center
NSC is a massive project that tracks enrollment in and transfer among US colleges and universities. Their data allow us to know if, for example, a student who left Trinity as a sophomore went on to another college and whether she completed a degree elsewhere. NSC is often cited on questions of how many students are enrolled in college (and at different levels) and how much transfer is happening between colleges and between states.
Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.