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Research Centers

  • AAA Lab

    AAA Lab

    The AAA Lab at Stanford studies understanding and the ways that technology can facilitate its development. The lab works at the intersection of cognitive science, education, and computer science by examining and enhancing learning in individual, cross-cultural, and technological settings.  

  • CEPA

    Center for Education Policy Analysis

    The Center for Education Policy Analysis unites nationally prominent scholars from across Stanford to provide rigorous, scientific research needed to affect education policy in meaningful ways. By focusing on critical questions that are directly relevant to teachers, school leaders, and decision makers, CEPA seeks to improve education for all students.

  • CSET

    Center to Support Excellence in Teaching

    The Center for the Support of Excellence in Teaching combines empirical evidence and experience in the classroom to identify, test, and share the most effective ways to teach.

  • HSTAR

    Human Sciences & Technology Advanced Research Institute

    The Human-Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute examines people and technology — how people use technology, how to better design technology to make it more usable (and more competitive in the marketplace), how technology affects people's lives, and the innovative use of technology in research, education, art, business, commerce, entertainment, communication, national security, and other walks of life.

  • John W. Gardner Center Logo

    John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities

    The Gardner Center partners with communities to develop leadership, conduct research, and effect change to improve the lives of youth. As a center for rigorous research, deeply rooted in the principles of community youth development, the Gardner Center’s interdisciplinary team focuses on questions raised by its community partners about issues that matter to youth. Research findings are used to inform practice, develop policy, and advance the youth development field.

  • Lemann Center

    Lemann Center

    The Lemann Center for Educational Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Brazil is focused on developing new approaches to improving learning in Brazilian public schools, particularly for low-income students, and to developing new kinds of learning opportunities for such students both inside and outside the public school system. The activities of the Center include bringing Brazilian students to study for the MA and PhD at Stanford, hosting visiting scholars and visiting researchers, cooperating in research projects with Brazilian universities, and organizing conferences on educational issues in Brazil and at Stanford.

  • PACE

    Policy Analysis for California Education

    Policy Analysis for California Education is an independent, non-partisan research center based at Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and the University of California – Davis. PACE seeks to define and sustain a long-term strategy for comprehensive policy reform and continuous improvement in performance at all levels of California’s education system, from early childhood to post-secondary education and training.

  • SCANCOR

    Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research

    The Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research advances research and development in the social sciences, particularly in the area of organizational studies. Through cooperation among Scandinavian business schools and universities, SCANCOR promotes an international perspective in research and education, strengthens ties among Scandinavian researchers and encourages joint research projects.

  • SCALE

    Stanford Center for Assessment and Learning Equity

    The Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE), formerly associated with the School Redesign Network at Stanford University, provides technical consulting and support to schools and districts that have committed to adopting performance-based assessment as part of a multiple-measures system for evaluating student learning and measuring school performance.

  • SCOPE

    Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education

    The Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education addresses issues of educational opportunity, access, equity, and diversity in the United States and internationally. SCOPE engages faculty from across Stanford and from other universities to work on a shared agenda of research, policy analysis, educational practice, and dissemination of ideas to improve quality and equality of education from early childhood through college.

  • Stanford Center on Adolescence

    Stanford Center on Adolescence

    The Stanford Center on Adolescence conducts research and graduate training in the study of adolescent development. The Center promotes the character and competence of all young people growing up in today's world, and provides guidance for parenting, for improved educational practice, and for youth development in a wide variety of community settings.

  • Stanford PACS

    Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society

    The Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society engages students, faculty, and practitioners in scholarship and dialogue that examines ways in which philanthropic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other key elements of civil society work to address public interests, both in the United States and abroad.

  • SHEG

    Stanford History Education Group

    SHEG is a collaboration among many people: full-time staff, graduate student RAs, practicing teachers, and undergraduate volunteers and interns.  SHEG sponsors an ongoing research group for students across the university interested in issues of how history is taught and learned.  We also host visiting scholars whose work addresses issues of historical understanding and history education.

  • Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research

    The Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research is home to sponsored research projects that examine contemporary higher education planning and policy issues from a wide range of analytical perspectives, including those of social scientists and policy audiences in the United States and abroad.

    A multi-disciplinary group of faculty and graduate students, it is housed in the Graduate School of Education and engages with colleagues across the university.

  • UL

    Understanding Language: Language, Literacy, and Learning in the Content Areas

    Understanding Language draws attention to the critical role of language in subject-area instruction, as represented in the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. UL seeks to improve academic outcomes for all students, and especially English language learners, by developing exemplary instructional resources and by advocating for policy supports at the state and local levels.

  • YouCubed

    YouCubed

    YouCubed was co-founded by Professor Jo Boaler and Cathy Williams, who now serves as executive director, to make the latest research on math learning accessible to teachers and parents, giving them practical ways to incorporate new and important research ideas in classrooms and homes. Through free downloads, research papers and community forums, YouCubed's mission is to inspire math success for all students through growth mindsets and innovative teaching.