Center for Education Policy

THE CENTER FOR EDUCATION Policy (CEP) was founded in 1995 by John F. (Jack) Jennings; it is a national nonprofit independent organization, an advocate for public education and improving public schools. It is a division of the SRI (Stanford Research Institute) and has offices in California and Washington, D.C. CEP receives its funds predominantly from charitable foundations.

SRI's Center for Education Policy works on several projects: standards-based school reform that aims to increase student achievement through creating a set of stable expectations for what students need to know and be able to do, combined with professional development and curriculum initiatives to help the students to reach the standards; teacher development, which involves preparation, induction, and continuing support of teachers, with an emphasis on which policies lead to a guarantee of good teachers; math, science, and technology, which involves evaluations and studies on mathematics and science education since the 1980s; as well as studies on technology integration in the classrooms.

Other projects include school choice, which reflects the national debate on public versus charter schools, and literacy and lifelong learning, which stresses that the technology and the new information age create incentives for further education for all ages to acquire high-level language and literacy skills. Within that issue SRI's Center for Education Policy also explores issues of adult literacy and English for speakers of other languages.

To achieve its objective of improving public learning institutions, the center engages in research and evaluations on the design, implementation, and impact of a variety of educational programs. SRI's Center for Education Policy works closely with SRI's Center for Education and Human Services on programs that affect children and youth, as well as SRI's Center for Technology in Learning on issues related to the use of educational technology to improve educational practice.

Most of the work involves multiple methods, such as surveys, case studies, expert panel reviews, and focus groups. SRI's Center for Education Policy conducts work for federal agencies, state departments of education, local school districts, private foundations, and nonprofit groups. It serves as a link with educators and the public on the pertinent issues in education improvement, as a discussion forum for educators and policy-makers, and as a think tank for policy initiatives. SRI's Center for Education Policy organizes meetings and presentations; conducts studies through surveys, panel reviews, and focus groups; and publishes reports and newsletters on a variety of topics, such as democracy and public schools, education and jobs, No Child Left Behind Act, testing, and improving public schools.