Last modified: Friday, January 17, 2003
Plucker to direct Education Policy Center at IUB
Jonathan Plucker, an associate professor in educational psychology and cognitive science at the Indiana University School of Education in Bloomington, has assumed additional responsibilities as director of the Indiana Education Policy Center.
Plucker succeeds Edward St. John, who is returning to full-time teaching and research duties after five years as center director. The center's Web site is https://www.indiana.edu/~iepc.
Plucker has served on the research staff of the center and also was involved in educational policy research earlier in his career at the University of Maine. "I really enjoy doing policy analysis and research because it gives you a chance to make a direct impact on the education community," he said.
Plucker said key issues for the center to assess include school choice, implementing the federal "No Child Left Behind" guidelines, school finance and educational testing. "The Indiana Education Policy Center has always been nonpartisan in its research, and we intend to continue in this direction while providing state and national educational and government leaders with the best information possible for them to establish education policy," he said.
Because of his interest in K-12 education, Plucker said the center emphasis may be more focused in this direction than on higher education issues affecting colleges and universities. "K-12 school reform in such fields as reading, science, math and special education is very politically sensitive today and will receive a considerable amount of our time at the center," he explained.
The center was created in 1990 to provide nonpartisan information and research on education issues to Indiana policy makers and other stakeholders to improve education. Center projects and activities include conducting research on education issues, responding to requests for information, disseminating research findings, analyzing national education data, evaluating education reform issues, hosting workshops on education policy, and training graduate students in education policy research.
The center staff of approximately 20 includes several School of Education faculty members.
For more information, contact Plucker at 812-856-8315 or jplucker@indiana.edu.
