NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The Oklahoma Center for Education Policy (OCEP), launched Sept. 1, is dedicated to producing policy-relevant research that shapes decision-making across Oklahoma’s education system. OCEP, a part of OU’s Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, will also disseminate education research through policy briefs and reports as well as ongoing events, including the center’s statewide Oklahoma Education Policy Conference in October and its Education and Public Policy Seminar Series.
“The new center will primarily focus on producing high-quality research that can guide state education policy,” said Daniel Hamlin, faculty director of the new center and Presidential Professor at OU. “We will also translate research findings into actionable strategies for policymakers, school leaders and families.”
Funded by grants from the Walton Family Foundation and George Kaiser Family Foundation, the center’s mission reflects the belief that data-driven insights are essential for tackling the complex challenges facing Oklahoma’s PK-12 schools. The center will conduct research that examines issues of educational access, accountability and outcomes with an emphasis on teacher quality, school choice, early literacy, rural education, family engagement, and college and career pathways.
“Poor educational performance has consequences for the state,” Hamlin said. “Major American companies that drive growth not only locate where they can find a pro-business environment but also a skilled and educated workforce, and while Oklahoma has a business-friendly climate, our state’s education system has been a tremendous barrier.”
“With the new center, our goal is to help set Oklahoma’s education system on a new trajectory – one that ensures that every child in our state has the opportunity to get an excellent education. Oklahoma’s future and the opportunities available to the next generation depend on it.”
Click here for more about OCEP and the latest education policy research.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine researcher Jody Summers, Ph.D., has long hypothesized that inflammation plays a role in the development of myopia, or nearsightedness, in which close-up vision is clear but distance vision is blurry. Her laboratory experiments have been convincing, and now she has preliminary human data to support the theory.
Mulugeta Gebregziabher, Ph.D., a nationally and internationally recognized public health leader, researcher and educator, has been named a professor and the endowed chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma Hudson College of Public Health.
Engineering Days at the University of Oklahoma give high school students direct exposure to engineering through hands-on, discipline-based experiences on campus. The program brings rising juniors and seniors to the Norman campus for one-day sessions led by OU faculty and supported by current engineering students.
