Center on Educational Excellence

Every individual should fulfill his or her potential. A good education unlocks doors to upward mobility, constructive engagement with the world, and a greater sense of contribution and well-being. In order to have a society of abundance and excellence, students from all walks of life should have a better chance to become creative, independent, efficacious adults who can chart their own course for a life of achievement, fulfillment, and meaning.

When rightly ordered, a good education also lends support to good character and the civic virtues necessary for the establishment and maintenance of free, prosperous, and thriving societies.

In order to have a society of abundance and excellence, students from all walks of life should have a better chance to become creative, independent, efficacious adults who can chart their own course for a life of achievement, fulfillment, and meaning. When rightly ordered, it also lends support to good character and the civic virtues necessary for the establishment and maintenance of free, prosperous, and thriving societies.

Widespread dissatisfaction with the educational status quo mean that the public is more open than ever to better alternatives. Yet today children are still hobbled by ineffective teaching methods, and parents lack choice about what school their children can go to and who teaches them.

Obstacles:  Public institutions should not undermine good character; societal institutions should be the place where good character is fostered. Educational excellence is often undermined by public bureaucracies and special interests.

We can open these opportunities to all by seeking fundamental change in established institutions and creating alternatives that can demonstrate the potential for educational attainment.

For these reasons, COEE’s publications and fellows put a strong emphasis on building a non-bureaucratic, non-politicized foundation for education reform. The Independent Institute’s Center on Educational Excellence (COEE) conducts research and develops policy solutions to remedy these and related problems.

To pursue these ends, the Center on Educational Excellence has published materials covering a variety of topics:

  • Successful school systems around the world;
  • Parental choice and teacher-owned schools;
  • The potential of Education Savings Accounts for improving K-12 outcomes;
  • The politicization of textbooks and curricula;
  • The unfulfilled promises of federal involvement in education;
  • Higher education’s triple crisis—high costs, falling quality, and diminishing payoff for students and society;
  • School accreditation: market regulation versus government regulation;
  • Campus safety, due process, and accountability;
  • Student loan debt, alternative funding, and Income-Share Agreements;
  • Free speech, ideological diversity, and the marketplace of ideas;
  • Educational theory and the philosophy of education; and
  • The role of education and government in a good society.

In particular, we seek to develop and communicate reforms that:

  • Improve outcomes for students from all backgrounds by offering access to a variety of affordable options for meeting diverse educational aims, including options found outside the public-school system;
  • Foster a thriving pool of teachers, institutions, and educational product developers that exemplify the spirit of service, innovation, inclusion, transparency, and accountability, and are unhindered by a stifling bureaucracy; and
  • Reinforce the foundations of equitable, prosperous societies, including self-reliance, independent thinking, civil society, free markets, and limited government.

Center on Educational Excellence Books

Center on Educational Excellence News Releases

Center on Educational Excellence Research

Center on Educational Excellence People

Personnel

Director
Williamson M. Evers
Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Educational Excellence, Independent Institute
Vicki E. Murray-Alger
Research Fellow, Independent Institute
Morgan E. Hunter
Research Fellow, Independent Institute
James Tooley
Senior Fellow, Independent Institute
Vice Chancellor, President, and Professor of Educational Entrepreneurship and Policy, University of Buckingham
Richard K. Vedder
Senior Fellow, Independent Institute; Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished
Professor of Economics and Faculty Associate, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University

Senior Fellows

Research Fellows

Jonathan J. Bean
Professor of History, Southern Illinois University
Donald A. Downs
Professor of Political Science, Law, and Journalism, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Joshua C. Hall
Professor of Economics, West Virginia University
Daniel B. Klein
Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Phillip W. Magness
Research Fellow, Independent Institute
Roger E. Meiners
Goolsby Distinguished Professor of Economics and Law, University of Texas at Arlington
John D. Merrifield
Professor of Economics, University of Texas, San Antonio
John W. Sommer
Knight Distinguished Professor Emeritys, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
José Maria J. Yulo
Lecturer in Philosophy and Western Civilization, Academy of Art University

Advisors

G. Marcus Cole
oseph A. Matson Dean and Professor, School of Law, University of Notre Dame

Charles L. Glenn

Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership and former Dean, Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, Boston University; former Executive Director, Office of Educational Equity, Massachusetts Department of Education

Jay P. Greene

Senior Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy

Timothy J. Groseclose

Professor of Economics and holder of the Adam Smith Endowed Chair, Mercatus Center, George Mason University; author, Cheating: An Insider’s Report on the Use of Race in Admissions at UCLA

James W. Guthrie

Presidential Fellow, Ross College of Education, Lynn University; former Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Nevada; former Dean, School of Education, University of California, Berkeley; Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Education, Vanderbilt University

Eric A. Hanushek

Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; former Deputy Director, Congressional Budget Office; former Member, Equity and Excellence Commission, U.S. Department of Education

Gail L. Heriot

Professor of Law, University of San Diego Law School; Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Paul E. Peterson

Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; and Senior Editor, Education Next

Michael J. Podgursky

Chancellor’s Professor of Economics, University of Missouri
Professor Emeritus in the Urban Education Program, Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Eugenia F. Toma
Wendell H. Ford Professor of Public Policy and University Research Professor in the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky; former President, Southern Economic Association; former President, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration

Adjunct Fellows

In Memoriam

Ze’ev Wurman
Chief Software Engineer, MonolithIC 3D Inc.

Herbert J. Walberg

University Scholar and Research Professor Emeritus of Education and Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Center on Educational Excellence Contact

Center on Educational Excellence
Independent Institute
100 Swan Way
Oakland, CA 94621-1428
510-632-1366 Phone
510-568-6040 Fax

Senior Fellow and Director, Center on Educational Excellence
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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the Independent Institute
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About the Independent Institute Centers

Each center is tasked with assessing, refining, and proposing innovative solutions to pressing social and economic challenges. Our programs focus on three core components: rigorous scholarly research, insightful publications, and the strategic dissemination of findings to opinion leaders and the public through conferences and media initiatives.

By fostering evidence-based solutions, our centers encourage informed discussions that can be scrutinized not just by experts, but also by media influencers, business leaders, religious organizations, engaged citizens, and policymakers. Our goal is to promote rational, objective dialogue that sheds light on key issues and shifts public discourse away from interest-group politics.