The Stanford Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL), a partnership between Stanford and Columbia University, prepares students for research, consulting, and leadership positions in public education organizations committed to improving the life chances of all children. The program brings together upper-level Stanford graduate students in education, business, and law to study and engage in consulting projects serving public- and social-sector organizations undertaking and supporting transformational change in K-12 education and in the public sector as a whole. We offer graduate students access to rigorous, multi-disciplinary, academic and experiential preparation they need to flourish in exciting leadership, management, and professional positions in those same organizations while simultaneously offering the organizations high-quality, low-cost consulting support.
Our Work
California’s public education system is undergoing an unprecedented transformation and facing historic challenges. From implementing a school funding plan that focuses resources on disadvantaged children and requires greater community engagement to adopting rigorous twenty-first century academic standards to providing greater choice and alternatives traditional public schools, our leaders, educators, communities and children are being challenged to ensure that these complex and important reforms realize their promise. Moreover, these significant changes are occurring in a state that educates 6.2 million children (one in 8.8 students in the nation) and enjoys tremendous racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity. No public education organization—be it a charter school management organization, public school district, or non-profit education and youth service-provider—has the time and expertise to tackle these challenges, while at the same time realizing their own vision of how best to educate all children.
That’s where CPRL-Stanford steps in to provide high-quality strategic research and consulting services to allow our public education leaders and practitioners to do the work that they want to do and achieve their organizational goals. Whether it’s assisting a mid-size school district in revamping its community engagement process to ensure that all stakeholder’s voices are included in district budgeting and strategic planning, partnering with a school-site that wishes to reduce exclusionary school discipline practices and mover toward a safe and supportive school environment for all children, or working with an national non-profit in designing a strategy to help improve the educational outcomes of foster children, CPRL-Stanford aims to support those leaders and organizations in solving their problems and realizing their goals.
Moreover, with the increase in local autonomy afforded by many of the recent changes to California’s education policy landscape, local districts, schools, and non-profit organizations need additional leadership and talent support for transformative change. CPRL-Stanford is not only committed to cultivating that next generation of leaders and talent, it aims to work with its clients to foster “learning organizations” that are committed to using problem-solving techniques to enhance their capacity to improve the life chances of the nation’s most underserved populations on an ongoing basis.
As part of the Center for Public Research and Leadership, Stanford and Columbia will be collaborating on curriculum development and instruction to pilot a multidisciplinary experiential course during the Winter and Spring quarters at Stanford. Bill Koski, an accomplished educational reform advocate, Stanford Law and Education (by courtesy) professor, and Founder and Director of the Law School’s Youth & Education Law Project, along with James Liebman, Columbia Law professor, Founding Director of the Center for Public Research and Leadership, and former Chief Accountability Officer of the New York City Department of Education, will lead the course and conduct its academic seminar. An experienced former K-12 leader and management consultant will guide the consulting projects. Participants engage in a rigorous and rewarding learning experience, including:
An intensive seminar in the design, leadership and management, and transformation of public school systems, charter management organizations, start-ups, and other K-12 public- and social-sector institutions;
Comprehensive skills training in team-based problem solving, managing multidimensional (operational, policy, legal) projects to specified outcomes in complex environments, client counseling, and effective communication; and
A high-priority consulting project for a public education sector client (e.g., school district, state education agency, charter management organization, non-profit) designing and implementing solutions to a complex problem at the core of the organization’s mission to improve the educational outcomes and life chances of children. The participant’s team work will allow public agencies throughout the nation to receive relevant, timely, and high-quality research and advice on institutional reforms that otherwise may not receive the attention they deserve.
CPRL Program Overview
Participants engage in a rigorous and rewarding learning experience, including:
A comprehensive seminar in the design, transformation and democratic accountability of K-12 school systems and allied public- and social-sector organizations.
Skills training in a constellation of twenty-first century problem-solving competencies, among them:
Working in diverse teams to address multi-dimensional problems
Quantitative and qualitative analysis, research, and measurement
Organizational macro- and micro-design
Project and product management
Policy research and analysis
Presentation of professional advice to public- and social-sector clients
Stakeholder engagement and communication with a diverse array of audiences
A high-priority, professionally guided consulting project on which an interdisciplinary team of professional students provides research, design, strategic planning, and recommendations on initiatives that interweave legal, regulatory, governance, management, policy, technological and operational problems and are central to the mission of the client organization—often, school district, charter management organization, social-services agency or other non-profit serving children.
CPRL Course Components
With a course load of 4 credits per quarter for the Winter and Spring quarters, the program involves a time commitment of ~20 hours per week, which includes:
Approximately 59 seminar hours over the two quarters;
Approximately 24 hours of focused skills training over the two quarters;
Average of 14 hours/week working on consulting teams for K-12 organizations under the guidance of experienced engagement managers;
Students admitted to the program communicate their areas of project interest, and every effort is made to place them on projects that conform to their interests.
What Can Students Expect from the CPRL Program?
Intensive experiential learning on interdisciplinary teams and cutting-edge projects
Deep engagement in public education improvement strategies and debates
Panels and field trips to speak with prominent education leaders
1:1 mentoring from experienced, professional engagement managers, K-12 education career support, and networking opportunities
Merit scholarships and need-based housing subsidies, funding permitting
Challenging, creative and meaningful work helping to improve kids’ learning and lives
