About CRPE

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The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) was founded in 1993 at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. In 2008, CRPE changed its affiliation to the University of Washington Bothell. The Center's offices are located off campus, near Gas Works Park in Seattle.

CRPE engages in independent research and policy analysis on a range of K-12 public education reform issues, including choice & charters, finance & productivity, teachers, urban district reform, leadership, and state & federal reform.

CRPE's work is based on two premises: that public schools should be measured against the goal of educating all children well, and that current institutions too often fail to achieve this goal. Our research uses evidence from the field and lessons learned from other sectors to understand complicated problems and to design innovative and practical solutions for policymakers, elected officials, parents, educators, and community leaders.

CRPE seeks ways to make public education more effective, especially for disadvantaged children in big cities. We assume that it is not possible to improve student outcomes without changing schools and districts, and that public education today is the result of policies about everything from what is taught and how, to who may teach, how performance is defined and measured, how time and money are used, and what incentives are created for adults. We therefore formulate possible changes in every element of public education, show how they might work, and assess their likely benefits and costs. We strive to transform the way people think about problems and solutions in public education through research and analysis based on high standards and common sense.

Whether recommending incremental improvements or fundamental changes, CRPE uniquely challenges educational structures and practices that stand in the way of student success and creates new possibilities for the parents, educators, and public officials who would improve America's schools.

The Center on Reinventing Public Education:

• Cultivates new ideas and fresh thinking
• Reframes the questions, redefines the problems
• Analyzes options, tests ideas
• Uses multidisciplinary approaches
• Knows the landscape, recognizes the interconnectedness of systems
• Eschews ideological positions
• Connects analysis to policy at all levels

Our work is:

• Clear and direct: We present complex ideas with clarity and brevity, and follow evidence to its logical conclusion.
• Practical: We pursue ideas that people can use to solve problems.
• Focused on systems: We look at the big picture and its effect on the success of students.
• Innovative: We investigate questions that go beyond established precedents.

Public education is the goal. Particular institutions are only the means.