Centers & Institutes
The following is a listing of centers and institutes at Teachers College, associated with the EPSA Department.
The Campaign for Educational Equity
The Campaign 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
The Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education
The Center conducts economic research on the benefits and costs of alternative educational policies and interventions.
EPSA Faculty Co-Director: Professor Henry M. Levin
Website: http://www.cbcse.org
The Center on Chinese Education
The Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College Columbia University (CoCE) is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of education in China and to educational exchange between the United States and China. It seeks to achieve this mission through three categories of activities: research and development, education and training, as well as outreach and exchange. These activities will draw upon the historically special relationship between Chinese education and Teachers College, the interests and expertise of the faculty at Teachers College, as well as expertise and resources outside of Teachers College. Major funding for the Center's activities is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Mun Tsang
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/coce/
The Community College Research Center
The Community College Research Center (CCRC) was established in 1996 with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and is housed within the Institute on Education and the Economy (IEE). The main purpose of the CCRC is to frame critical questions concerning the fundamental purposes, problems, and performance of community colleges, and chart a course for strengthening scholarly research on the future of these important institutions.
The Center has taken a broad and comprehensive view of the community college over the course of the grant, but focused primarily on the roles of community colleges in workforce and economic development. The specific purposes of the Center are to: (1) synthesize existing research on the roles community colleges have been playing and the extent and determinants of their effectiveness within those; (2) formulate and answer new research questions on important issues confronting the community college sector; (3) begin exploration of alternative policies and directions for community colleges; (4) attract new researchers to the field and solidify a network of community college practitioners and scholars; and (5) suggest directions for data collection. The Center draws on expertise from a national advisory panel of community college practitioners, policy makers, and research scholars. The Center funds fellowships to doctoral students who are interested in writing dissertations on community college issues. The fellowship recipients work at the CCRC and participate in research projects. Reports of research findings, occasional papers, and non-technical Briefs are available through the CCRC website, or for a nominal cost.
EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Thomas Bailey
Website: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/
Institute on Education and the Economy
The Institute on Education and the Economy (IEE) is an interdisciplinary policy research center that focuses its attention on the interaction between education and the economy. The Institute is dedicated to carrying out research that will help improve educational policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels and to developing an active research community of TC students and faculty interested in these topics. IEE's research agenda includes issues such as the changes in the nature, organization, and skill requirements of work; education reforms designed to address the changing needs of the workplace; the educational value of work; learning on the job; the school-to-work model; the design and effectiveness of work-based learning, employer participation in education; academic and industry-based skill standards; and related education reforms. IEE is directed by Professor Thomas Bailey, an economist in the Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis. The Institute's permanent staff includes sociologists, economists, and psychologists. Several Teachers College faculty and faculty from other schools at Columbia as well as other universities and research organizations also work with the Institute. IEE also offers many opportunities for graduate students to work on research projects under the guidance of faculty and senior researchers. Recent activities have included the development of joint faculty-student study groups on work-based learning and on community colleges. Staff at the Institute have been influential in the development and implementation of the School to Work Opportunities Act of 1994 and the Educate America, Goals 2000 Act of 1994.Reports of research findings, working papers, and non-technical Briefs are available through the IEE website, or for a nominal cost. The Institute also houses the Community College Research Center (see the description of the Community College Research Center).
EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Thomas Bailey
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/iee/
The National Center for Young 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.
EPSA Faculty Co-Director: Professor Sharon Lynn Kagan
Website: http://ccf.tc.columbia.edu/
The National Center for Postsecondary Education
The National Center for Postsecondary Research aims to tackle a critical question for our nation: How do we help students both make the transition to college and master the skills needed to advance to a degree?
Every year, poor academic preparation prevents millions of students nationwide from accessing, achieving in, or completing higher education. And while colleges have implemented programs and policies to help students succeed, there is little hard evidence about the effects of such practices. The National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR) uses rigorous research methods to evaluate programs used by two- and four-year institutions in order to help remedy this problem.
NCPR is housed at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, and is operated in collaboration with partners MDRC and the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, and with a professor at Harvard University. The Center was established in 2006 and is funded by a grant of $9,813,619 from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.
Through its research, NCPR aims to:
• Reduce barriers to college and other education programs
• Ease students’ transition from high school to college
• Make college advancement easier
• Increase college completion rates
EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Thomas Bailey
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/ncpr/
The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education
The 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 Education Policy & Social Analysis. 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.
EPSA Faculty Director: Professor Henry M. Levin
Website: http://www.ncspe.org/
