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
“Instead of trying to add more skills and competencies into the curriculum or Spursuing gargantuan efforts to replace one curriculum with another, there’s a better approach—and that’s to condense the curriculum.”
Read more in Thomas Hatch’s recent article: “The Power of Condensing the Curriculum” in the December 2025 issue of Educational Leadership.
Featured Projects
The Latest from International Education News
What's new, what's good, and what's effective in education around the world
How is climate change affecting schools and schooling? Sustainability, students and schooling (Part 1)
Educators and education programs around the world are both developing new ways to make schooling more sustainable and creating new educational opportunities for students to learn about the world around them. To help take stock of these developments, in the … Continue reading
Micheal Kirst and Victor Chan on “Broadening our perspective concerning American’s education attainment: Growth, progress and data gaps”
The current narrative of education stagnancy or decline is misleading. That’s the key argument in this excerpt from a recent paper from Micheal Kirst and Victor Eliot Hau Hong Chan. To make that argument, Kirst and Chan draw on a … Continue reading
Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: The Lead the Change Interview with Celina German
In the third part of this month’s Lead the Change (LtC) interview, Celina German discusses her experiences researching the intersection of community-based youth leadership, after-school club affinity programming, and student activism history. German is a Ph.D. student in the Learning, Literacies, … Continue reading
Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: The Lead the Change Interview with Paul Campbell
In the first part of this month’s Lead the Change (LtC) interview, Dr. Paul Campbell discusses his experiences researching educational change, leadership, and policy. Campbell is an Assistant Professor of Educational Administration and Leadership at The University of Hong Kong and … Continue reading
Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: The Lead the Change Interview with David Osworth
In the first part of this month’s Lead the Change (LtC) interview, Dr. David Osworth discusses his experiences researching the intersections of educational policy and leadership for equity. Osworth is an Assistant Professor of Educational and Cultural Foundations at the University … Continue reading