Who We Are
NCREST works with educators, policymakers, community groups and other organizations to improve schools and transform education systems. Founded in 1990 by Linda Darling-Hammond and Ann Lieberman, Director Thomas Hatch leads NCREST’s current efforts help all those engaged in education to reimagine, create, and sustain more powerful and equitable learning environments. NCREST is affiliated with the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University.
What We Do
NCREST carries out research and development projects that address the fundamental changes in learning, teaching, curriculum, assessment, parent and community engagement, and administration that comprehensive school improvement demands. As part of the work, NCREST produces a wide range of publications and images of practice that can be used to fuel educational reform efforts and support professional learning. NCREST also shares news and research on educational change around the world via International Education News.
Featured Publication
“New possibilities for schooling are most likely to take off when their goals, capacity demands, and values fit the common needs, existing capabilities, and prevailing conditions in the schools and communities where they’re supposed to work” — Thomas Hatch
Read more in “ We will now resume our regular programming” from the Journal of Educational Change and The Education We Need for a Future We Can’t Predict.
Featured Projects
The Latest from International Education News
What's new, what's good, and what's effective in education around the world
Lead the Change Series Q&A with James C. Bridgeforth
In this month’s Lead the Change (LtC) interviews James C. Bridgeforth on the 2025 AERA theme: “Research, Remedy, and Repair: Toward Just Education Renewal.” Dr. Bridgeforth is an assistant professor of educational leadership in the School of Education at the … Continue reading
What’s Next for Schools in 2025? Scanning the Headlines for Predictions about Education in the New Year
AI, cellphones, and security – those are a few of the issues highlighted in this IEN’s scan of the predictions about education in 2025. To see the predictions for previous years, review the scans of the “looking ahead” headlines from … Continue reading
Banning Books and Cellphones but not Conflict: Scanning the Headlines for Reviews of Education in 2024
IEN’s annual roundup of the end-of-the-year education headlines features stories about efforts to ban books and cellphones in the US, while some of the international stories emphasize the conflicts and crises affecting children around the world. To see how education … Continue reading
Happy New Year from IEN!
IEN will be taking a break over the holidays and New Year and returning in January with our annual posts surveying the headlines reviewing the education news in 2024 and predicting education trends in 2025. In the meantime, please revisit … Continue reading
“Big Infrastructure, Big Capacity Building, and State-Wide Scale-Up…”: Mike Kirst on the Need to Revitalize Standards-Based Reform
Nearing the end of 2024, it’s an opportune time for Looking Back to Look Forward. In this case, that means looking back on the standards-based education reforms of the 1990’s through a reflection and report from Mike Kirst. As Dick … Continue reading