At CRPE, we study how assessment, accountability, and oversight can strengthen public education while fostering equity, innovation, and continuous improvement. Our research examines how traditional accountability frameworks can narrow teaching and constrain schools’ ability to adapt, and we explore approaches that measure what truly matters for student success—academic growth, deeper learning, and readiness for life beyond school. We also investigate how oversight can balance school autonomy with strong protections for access and quality, ensuring that all students are well served. Across this work, our goal is to inform accountability systems that uphold public trust while enabling schools to innovate and respond to the diverse needs of their communities.
In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants in Washington State, where researchers found that districts and schools are using the grants for only marginal change.
This essay was written for the PIE Network 5th Annual Policy Summit, September 2011. The authors argue that state education agencies need to shift from their role of compliance monitor to performance manager—a shift most are ill-positioned for.
This essay was written for the PIE Network 5th Annual Policy Summit, September 2011. The authors argue that states can maximize their support for turnaround work by pushing for bold, workable plans, providing technical assistance, helping districts find and train leaders, and offering political cover for tough decisions.
This essay was written for the PIE Network 5th Annual Policy Summit, September 2011. The authors note that state education agencies have been tasked with increasing student outcomes on fewer funds and examine whether they are up for the challenge.
CRPE Senior Research Analyst Betheny Gross presented this overview of the latest evidence on choice policies including public school choice, vouchers, and charter schools at the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit 2011, in San Antonio, Texas.
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Education Researcher
Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND
Chairman, Cross & Joftus
Vice Principal, Portland Public Schools
Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Education Researcher
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education, Marquette University
Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Institute Fellow, American Institutes for Research
Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver
Research Analyst