July 6, 2001 UNT Inhouse publication : Center on Campus - Center for the Study of Education Reform

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Center for the Study of Education Reform

Established in the fall of 1990, the Center for the Study of Education Reform conducts policy research on selected school reform issues and disseminates research findings to policy-makers and educators.

In 1997, the center completed a four-year study of public and private school choice programs in San Antonio. A large grant from the U.S. Department of Education funded the research. The study produced a number of publications, including School Choice Tradeoffs scheduled for publication by the University of Texas Press next spring. The book was written by Kenneth Godwin, Regents Professor of political science, and Frank Kemerer, Regents Professor of teacher education and administration.

In 1996, the Texas State Board of Education selected the center to participate in a multi-university evaluation of the state's open-enrollment charter school program. Full-length reports have been prepared annually and submitted to the Texas State Board of Education, officials of the Texas Education Agency, legislative leaders and the media. Carrie Ausbrooks, assistant professor of teacher education and administration, coordinates the center's involvement in this study.

In 1998, the center co-hosted a symposium, "School Choice, Law and Public Policy," at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law in association with the Earl Warren Legal Institute. The symposium resulted in a book titled School Choice and Social Controversy, edited by University of California law professor Stephen Sugarman and Kemerer. The book was published in December 1999 by Brookings Institution Press.