$14 million grant to aid research at Education School

The University-affiliated Consortium for Policy Research in Education has been awarded a $14 million federal grant. The grant will fund "the study and recommendation of ways to increase the effectiveness of state and local education," according to a statement by University spokesperson Jon Caroulis. CPRE consists of researchers from Penn's Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Education Dean Susan Fuhrman said she is delighted by the news and feels it is "a testament to the important work that CPRE has done." Fuhrman explained that Penn put in a bid for the grant on December 15, competing against bids from universities all over the country. Under the grant, researchers will focus on three areas -- school reform, policy and governance and school finance. Consortium representatives said the research will examine issues such as interplay of coherence, educational capacity and incentive in motivation. Researchers will be searching for options to help failing schools and will work for radical deregulation. They will administer projects which deal with charter schools, school based funding, redesign of teacher compensation and contraction of educational services. In addition, CPRE will continue its present research on the implementation of standards in classrooms and evolution of reforms in states and local districts. CPRE is also planning a long-term study of how different reform environments affect both public and private schools and will try to replicate successes in other districts, Fuhrman said. The U.S. Department of Education also announced that the Institute for Research on Higher Education, also a division of the Education School, will be part of a three-school, five-year, $12.5 million grant. Under this grant, the researchers from Penn, Stanford University and the University of Michigan will study post-secondary education.