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 Interview with Patricia Virella, Tayeon Kim, Lauren Bailes, and Elizabeth Zumpe
This month’s Lead the Change (LtC) interview features the new leaders of the Educational Change Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, Patricia Virella, Tayeon Kim, Lauren Bailes, and Elizabeth Zumpe. This week IEN shares excerpts from those … Continue reading
Scanning the headlines for creativity around the world: PISA Creative Thinking Assessment 2022
Can students think outside the box? That’s the question that OECD’s PISA test on creative thinking attempts to answer. This week, IEN shares a scan that pulls together the headlines from those countries where we found reports on the test … Continue reading
Schools Don’t Change, but They’re Always Changing: A Conversation with Yong Zhao on the Evolution of the Chinese Education System (Part 2)
What’s changing in the China’s education system? What might change in the future? Those are some of the questions that Thomas Hatch asked Yong Zhao about in preparation for a visit to China last month. Zhao was born in China … Continue reading
The Desire for Innovation is Always There: A Conversation with Yong Zhao on the Evolution of the Chinese Education System
What’s changing in China’s education system? What might change in the future? Those are some of the questions that led Thomas Hatch to spend almost a month in China this spring. In preparation for that visit, he talked with Yong Zhao to … Continue reading
A process not an event: A Conversation with Alma Harris & Carol Campbell about the National Discussion on Scottish Education One Year Later (Part 2)
In the second part of this conversation, Alma Harris and Carol Campbell talk with IEN Editor Thomas Hatch about what has (and has not) happened since the release of their report “All Learners in Scotland Matter- National Discussion on Education,” … Continue reading