During this time of catastrophic danger and disruption throughout our country and around the world, people of all walks of life are posing existential questions about the future even while hoping almost desperately for things to just return to normal. Perhaps it is human nature to yearn most intensely for order and the old status quo when those uncontrollable feelings of uncertainty and chaos are most pervasive. But with each passing day...

Charles Desmond, chief executive officer of Inversant In January, 2016, Dr. Charles Desmond, a senior fellow at the New England Board of Higher Education and a higher education policy advisor to former Governor Deval Patrick, was appointed chief executive officer of Inversant, a Boston-based nonprofit that helps families learn about and save for college.  Since 2011, Dr. Desmond has served as a Senior Fellow at the New England Board...

Some clips from long ago

Check out the Democratizing Evidence web site here In February 2017, the William T. Grant Foundation convened a group of education leaders to explore an important issue: how to expand and diversify stakeholder participation in the production and use of research evidence in education policy and practice. The premise of the convening was that the ongoing development of an education system that values equity and excellence depends on the...

Claus von Zastrow has held senior positions in education policy and research for more than 15 years. He currently oversees efforts at Education Commission of the States to improve statewide longitudinal data systems and provide state-by-state data on STEM education. Before joining ECS, he was chief operating officer and director of research at Change the Equation (CTEq), where he led initiatives to publish data on STEM education and scale the...