Research

Community College Research Center
Website: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/

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.
'When we speak of the transition from school to work, we will be speaking more often of the community college,' says Professor Thomas R. Bailey, who is also Director of the Center. 'When we speak of retraining our nation's labor force, we will also be speaking more often of the community college.'
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.

Harlem Schools Partnership
Website: http://www.tc.edu/hsp

The Harlem Schools Partnership (HSP) for STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a collaborative effort of Teachers College (TC), and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at Columbia University in association with the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) and with support from the General Electric Foundation.

The mission of the HSP is to improve STEM education by helping schools create rich environments for STEM teaching and learning.  We accomplish this through professional development that strengthens curriculum, increases teacher knowledge of STEM content and teaching practices, diversifies assessment of student learning, and ensures that English Language Learners are successful in STEM.  The intended outcome is that HSP schools will be models of excellence for STEM teaching and learning, and that participating teachers will become leaders and mentors for others at their schools and in the Department of Education.

National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching
Website: http://www.tc.edu/centers/ncrest/

The National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST), established at Teachers College in 1990, supports restructuring efforts by documenting successful school improvement initiatives, creating reform networks to share new research findings with practitioners, and linking policy to practice.
NCREST works to develop understandings that help schools become: learner-centered by focusing on the needs of learners in decisions about school organization, governance, and pedagogy; knowledge-based, by restructuring teacher learning and professional development that are supported by disciplined inquiry; and responsible and responsive, by refocusing and re-inventing accountability and assessment practices.
Currently, NCREST is involved in a variety of projects including aligning curriculum and educational technology, Professional Development Schools, teacher learning, student assessment, the documentation of successful school reform efforts in elementary and secondary schools, and the development of local, state, and national policies that reflect the relationship of research and practice.
Jacqueline Ancess is the director of NCREST.