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The Forum on the Future of Public Education

The Forum on the Future of Public Education strives to bring the best empirical evidence to policymakers and the public.

The Forum draws on a network of premier scholars to create, interpret, and disseminate credible information on key questions facing P-20 education. The Forum pursues original research and facilitates collaboration between researchers and policymakers to examine the pressing issues shaping the future of public education. Key constituencies of the Forum include scholars who influence research, policy and practice; policy makers and policy making bodies at all levels; members of the media who influence public opinion; foundations, organizations, business groups and others who support, criticize and advocate for reform; and citizens who make choices about education for themselves and their children.

America is witnessing a drastic redefinition of the policies and practices associated with “public education.” Too often, discussions around the future of public education are strong on passion but short on actual evidence. The Forum for the Future of Public Education is filing that gap by building a resource of objective, research-based insights on key educational issues. We are establishing an open venue- a true public forum to debate controversial and consequential policy issues that will shape American’s future.

Educational Psychology researchers receive NSF and IES grants

Aug 18, 2016, 16:00 by the College of Education at Illinois
Kiel Christianson and Jennifer Cromley, both scholars in the Department of Educational Psychology at the College of Education at Illinois, received National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences grants, respectively.

National Science Foundation grant

Kiel ChristiansonProfessor Kiel Christianson of the Department of Educational Psychology has received a three-year grant worth $448,259 from the National Science Foundation for his research project “Exploring the Link Between Rereading and Comprehension.”

According to Christianson’s abstract, the research project specifically examines the assumption that re-reading text is aimed at correcting errors in processing by trying to link re-reading behaviors to post-hoc assessments of reading comprehension, such as comprehension questions often used in educational settings. His project represents the first attempt to explicitly link eye movements during re-reading to standard measures of reading comprehension, thereby seeking to inform both basic science and educational assessment.

Learn more about Christianson’s research project. 

Institute of Education Sciences grant

Jennifer CromleyAssociate Professor Jennifer Cromley of the Department of Educational Psychology has been awarded a three-year grant worth $756,527 from the Institute of Education Sciences for her research project “Inference-Making and Reasoning: Refinement of an Assessment for Use in Gateway Biology Courses.”

Cromley said the objective of her research team is to have a high-quality measure of reasoning in biology that is unbiased, that can help identify at-risk students—even ones who have good high school credentials—and that can show growth in reasoning skills after a semester of introductory biology. For the last seven years, Cromley and her team have used a measure of student Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology (IMRB) that explains additional variance in these outcomes above and beyond the commonly used cognitive variables.

Learn more about Cromley’s research project.