CER's WEB LINKS
to Education Organizations

The following is an alphabetical listing of education policy and reform organizations with information available on the World Wide Web. Click on the hyperlink to go directly to their page. For additional information about these organizations here on the CER website, see also our profiles of individual organization, sorted by issue, which you can reach from our Education Resources and Organizations page.

See also: 

• Charter School Websites: Links to Charter Schools on the Web
• Power Links to particularly parent-friendly websites.

• Private Scholarship Programs: State by state listing, including many websites, of privately funded programs bringing school choice to low-income families around the country.

Achieve, Inc. Resource Center on Standards, Assessment, Accountability, and Technology: A non-profit organization that provides advice and assistance to states on education reform, particularly in the area of increasing state standards.

Active Citizens and Taxpayers of New Jersey, Inc.: This non-partisan organization has four goals: bringing issues directly before the voters through ballot initiatives, reducing taxes and intrusive government, recalling ineffective and unresponsive representatives, and achieving an independent audit of all government departments.

Alliance for Parental Involvement in Education (AllPIE), East Chatham, NY: Non-profit organization that encourages parents to be involved in and informed about education.

American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) Charter School Initiative: To help identify exemplary charter schools, AALE has developed an independent charter school accreditation program, working toward two goals: strengthening the study of liberal arts, and providing a reliable measure of charter schools' institutional health.

The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE): ABCTE is committed to increasing the supply of highly qualified teachers essential for achieving student success, and is creating new assessments to evaluate them.

Arizona Charter School Association: A member association that helps charter schools to improve and expand in the state.

Arizona State Professional Educators: Organization that supports: teachers' right to choose any professional organization; teachers' right to work and not pay fees to unions; students' right to learn; and teachers' value as professionals.

Association of American Educators: Organization focused on children's right to a good education.

Association of Charter Educators (ACE) of Texas: A non-profit, statewide membership organization serving open-enrollment charter schools.

The Association Montessori International, AMI/USA: Founded in 1929 to provide training, materials, research and support of the Montessori method of instruction.

Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators: Serves professional educators and promotes professionalism and student achievement.

Association of Texas Professional Educators: Seeks to make a positive difference in the lives of educators and schoolchildren. Members are committed to supporting quality public education and the professional rights and obligations of the education community.

Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO): BAEO is a national organization whose mission is to actively support parental choice to empower families and increase educational options for Black children.

California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC): A state-wide, nonprofit, non-partisan association of individuals supporting and advocating charter schools, which provide exciting options for meaningful education reform and allow communities to invent the type of schooling that best meets their unique needs.

Cato Institute, Education and Child Policy, Washington, DC: Cato scholars in education and child policy develop measures to clear the path for entrepreneurial activity and parental power in education, working toward a day when state-run schools give way to a dynamic independent system of schools competing to meet the needs of every single American child.

Center for Civic Education: A nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by citizens committed to values and principles fundamental to American constitutional democracy.

The Center for Education Policy, Georgia Public Policy Foundation: Provides factual and objective information; provides a forum for the discussion of ideas; and serves as an independent voice for improving educational achievement for all children in Georgia. 

Center for Excellence in Educational Options, National Institute for Educational Reform: Works to improve education through professional developmental activities, researched publications and instructional settings.

Education Studies, Pacific Research Institute, San Francisco, CA: Non-profit public policy research organization and school reform center supporting the Four Cs: choice, charter schools, content (high academic standards), and competition.

Center for Market-Based Education (CMBE), a project of the Goldwater Institute, Phoenix, AZ: Offers a guide to Arizona’s charter schools market place, and supports school choice in public education.

Center for School Change, University of Minnesota: Works with educators, parents, business people, students, policy-makers and other concerned adults to increase student achievement; raise graduation rates; improve students' attitudes toward learning, and strengthen communities by developing more effective models of public education, and building support for comprehensive school reform.

Charter School Resource Center of Indiana: Works to facilitate the establishment and operation of high-quality charter schools, promote the growth and success of the charter school movement, and represent the collective voice of Indiana’s charter school community to the larger community.

Charter School Resource Center, Pioneer Institute for Public Policy, Boston, MA: Focuses on the improvement of elementary and secondary education by providing support for the launch of entrepreneurial, self-managed public charter schools throughout Massachusetts.

Charter School Resource Center of Tennessee: Non-partisan, non-profit, organization that assists the citizens of Tennessee in the building of a strong charter school system.

The Charter School Resource Center of Texas: Seeks to improve education by supporting the formation and successful operation of state and district charter schools, by providing information, access to professional expertise, and direct technical support to charter schools at all stages of their development and growth.

Charter Schools Project, Institute for Education Reform, California State University, Sacramento: Provides policy development and technical support to charter school developers, sponsors, and policy makers in California and across the US and Canada, links the university and state policy makers with the K-12 education community, and provides assistance to K-12 schools undertaking or contemplating major reform activities.

The CharterTeach Organization selects outstanding partner charter schools and then awards highly selective fellowships to quality, experienced teachers attracted to the innovation of the charter movement, and introduces them to partner schools with position openings.

Children First America: Promotes parental choice in education through private tuition grants and tax funded options, giving all families the power to choose the K - 12 school that best fulfills the hopes and dreams they have for their children.

Children First Education Foundation: Non-profit foundation working to to equalize educational opportunities for students in Whatcom County, Washington, by helping them attend the school of their choice which would otherwise be denied them because of cost.

Christian Educators Association International (CEAI): Serving Christian teachers in public schools since 1953, CEAI is a national organization with members in all 50 states, and offers an insurance alternative to NEA / AFT as well as other benefits.  CEAI also provides resources on teacher's rights in public schools, Equal Access Law, etc.

Coalition of Essential Schools: The Coalition is composed of 1,000 schools and 24 support centers who provide technical assistance and personalized support to schools.

Colorado League of Charter Schools: Non-profit membership organization that serves and supports Colorado charter schools and the state's charter school movement in an effort to improve public education in the state. Provides assistance its charter school association members, networking and advocacy, and conferences and workshops.

Committee to Save Our Schools, Westport, CT: Founded in 1994, CT:SOS advocates academics-based education, and informs school board members and candidates, parents, educators and interested citizens about successful and unsuccessful school practices.

Connecticut Center for School Change: The CT Center for School Change is a non-profit organization that supports efforts for comprehensive reform of Connecticut's schools, focusing on PreK through 8th grade public and non-public schools.

Connecticut Charter School Network: A membership organization of the charter schools across the state of Connecticut, it supports and serves charter schools in their efforts to provide educational innovation and public school choice in the state.

Core Knowledge Foundation: A non-profit organization founded in 1986 dedicated to excellence and fairness in early education. Offers the Core Knowledge Sequence, a consensus-based model of specific content guidelines that can provide a solid, coherent foundation of learning for students in the elementary and middle grades.

Council for Basic Education: A non-profit membership organization which promotes a strong basic curriculum.

Delaware Charter School Network: A nonprofit organization that educates the public about charter schools, provides technical assistance to existing Delaware charter schools and those yet to open, and works to serve as a unified voice for the state’s charter schools at the state and national level.

DC Charter School Resource Center: Provides technical assistance to parents, teachers, and community members who were interested in establishing charter schools in Washington, DC.

Edison Schools: (Formerly The Edison Project) The country’s leading private manager of public schools, Edison's school design is in operation in 79 public schools, including many charter schools, which it operates under management contracts with local school districts and charter school boards.

Education Commission of the States: Helps state leaders identify, develop, and implement public policy for education that addresses current and future needs of a learning society.

Education Excellence Coalition, Seattle, WA: A Political Action Committee that seeks to increase public school choice in Washington state through a statewide ballot initiative. 

Education Industry Association: A professional network of education businesses dedicated to delivering and advancing the education of all learners by promoting education reform through entrepreneurship. (Formerly Association of Educators in Private Practice.)

Education Intelligence Agency: EIA is a private, for-profit contract research firm, that provides quick, accurate information concerning the public education establishment to public policy organizations, school boards, the media, private schools, and teachers' unions.

Education Leaders Council is committed to changing the terms of the national education debate away from business-as-usual and toward raising standards and getting results. 

Education Policy Institute, Washington, DC: Provides educational research and policy analysis from a public choice and pro-market perspective.

Eduventures.com, Inc. is an education industry research and information services firm designed to help education businesses develop strategy, raise capital and acquire talent.

EdVoice: A C-4 grassroots organization advocating for education reform and support for public education across California, Edvoice is focused on passing legislation that will reshape California's public education policy, move the focus from process to outcomes, and enable students to excel in the 21st Century.

Esteem: Empire State Taskforce for Excellence in Educational Methods, Waverly, NY: Promotes public awareness of significance issues related to education reform, with a focus on issues in New York state.

Florida Consortium of Charter Schools: Resource center organized to serve, support, and promote charter schools in Florida.

Florida Charter School Resource Center: Provides training, support, and assistance to Florida charter schools and acts as a clearinghouse to provide information on charter schools to the public.

Floridians for School Choice: A non-profit corporation that fights to give all Florida families the opportunity to choose their child's school.

Florida Department of Education School Choice Office: Focused on ensuring that students of all ages have access to learning - regardless of what their educational needs are or where they live. The Florida Opportunity Scholarships Program allows students attending failing schools to choose a higher performing public school or attend a private school. The McKay Scholarships Program allows parents of students with disabilities to choose the best learning environment for their children.

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS), Washington, DC: Supports the development of excellent public charter schools in Washington, DC.

Giving Kids The Credit: Cost free tax credit donations up to $1,075.00 have been available to every Arizona taxpayer since 1998. Giving Kids The Credit (GKTC) raises these donations to assist students and fund education throughout Arizona.

Great Books Foundation

Greater Educational Opportunities (GEO)  Foundation: GEO seeks to provide greater access to quality education for all kids. They have sites in Colorado and Indiana. 

GreatSchools.net: Non-profit, online resource for information about California and Arizona schools. (Note: CA 2000 API results are now available.)

Hire Standards: Non-profit executive search initiative designed to place charter school principals and reform-minded school superintendents nationwide.

Independence Institute, Parent Information Center, Golden, CO: Addresses public policy issues of concern to parents from a free-market, pro-freedom perspective. Produces a report card and a grade for every elementary and secondary school in Colorado.

Independent Voices for Better Education, Inc., Brandon, FL: IVBE is a non-profit grassroots organization operated by volunteers dedicated to returning accountability for student outcomes to the public system.

Institute for Educational Leadership: Brings together educators, civic leaders, business executives and parents working to make a difference for children.

Institute for the Transformation of Learning: Founded by Howard Fuller, former Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, the Institute supports programs that expand parental school choice for those who have few options.

Hawaii Association of Charter Schools: Non-profit organization created  represent and support Hawaii's charter schools. HACS works with funding sources, provides technical support and professional development, creates community partnerships, and conducts research.

Idaho Charter School Network (ICSN): Works to ensure and share the success of Idaho public charter schools, for the benefit of Idaho children.

JobsInSchools.com, a service of SchoolMatch, provides free and fee services for tracking down job opportunities in districts across the country.

Leadership for Quality Education, Chicago, IL: : An advocacy organization that works to address and correct impediments to improving the quality of education at the local school level.

LINCS - Linking Independent and Charter Schools: Connects independent and charter school educators through technology to help them establish initial contact and build mutually-beneficial relationships.

Link Institute: A non-profit organization committed to promoting and supporting schools with rigorous academic content and virtue-based character education. 

Maine Association for Charter Schools: Advocates the charter school concept to the public and the legislature, to make educational choice and good charter schools a part of education in Maine. MACS also publishes an electronic newsletter.

Mathematically Correct!: A grassroots group of parents and educators that fights to restore basic skills to math education.

Michigan Association of Public School Academies: MAPSA is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization formed by a grassroots coalition of charter school supporters to represent their interests and serve as their united voice.

Michigan Education Report: a quarterly newspaper on education issues in Michigan, published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.

Michigan Learning, A Parent Network for Maximizing Our Kids Education: This website resource and magazine for Michigan parents helps them find the information they need to become more informed and involved partners in the education of their children. 

Michigan School Board Leaders Association: Association of reform-minded school board leaders working to achieve educational excellence in Michigan schools. Provides information, research, training and comradeship to members desiring to exercise genuine educational leadership.

Minnesota Association of Charter Schools (MACS)

Missouri Charter Schools Information Center: Resource and information clearinghouse for educators, legislators and the public and a support and networking center for Missourians interested in charter schools. 

Missouri State Teachers Association: Alternative professional educators association.

National Assessment Governing Board: An independent, bipartisan group whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public created by Congress to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- commonly known as the "The Nation's Report Card."

National Association of Charter School Authorizers: NACSA is a nonprofit membership association of educational agencies across the country that authorize and oversee charter schools. 

The National Center for Education Information: Private, non-partisan research organization in Washington, D.C. specializing in survey research and data analysis. NCEI is the authoritative source of information about alternative teacher preparation and certification.

National Center for History Education: Non-profit corporation dedicated to promoting the importance of history in schools and in society. Provides a communications network for all advocates of history education, whether in schools, colleges, museums, historical councils, or community groups.

National Center for Urban Partnerships: Non-profit technical assistance agency supporting city-wide partnerships between K-16 educators and representatives from the community, corporate, and political sectors, providing strategic planning institutes, staff development workshops, and other forms of technical assistance.

National Charter School Alliance (formerly the Charter Friends National Network): Works to support strong laws, state-level charter activity, and state-level organizations that work directly with charter schools.

National Charter Schools Institute (NCSI): Provides assistance, solutions and resources to charter schools throughout the United States. (Formerly known as the Michigan Resource Center for Charter Schools.)

National Charter School Technical Assistance Web Site: National web site sponsored by the US Department of Education and created in collaboration with the Policy Support & Studies Program at WestEd and the California State University (CSU) Institute for Education Reform Charter Schools Project to support the sharing of practical information and innovations among charter school operators.

National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ): An information clearinghouse on teacher quality reform that aims to foster public understanding and acceptance of a commonsense approach to teacher quality that measures success in improved student achievement.

National Paideia Center: Promotes and supports the efforts of educators who are implementing the long-term systemic school reform of known as the Paideia Program, which seeks to provide a rigorous, liberal arts education in grades k-12 that will allow all graduates to have the skills necessary to earn a living, to think and act critically as responsible citizens, and to continue educating themselves as life-long learners.

National Right to Read Foundation: The mission of The National Right to Read Foundation (NRRF) is to return to the schools of America reading instruction which follows scientifically based reading research.

National School Safety Center: Serves as a catalyst and advocate for the prevention of school crime and violence by providing information and resources and identifying strategies and promising programs which support safe schools for school children worldwide.

Nevada Policy Research Institute: Non-profit, non-partisan public-policy think-tank founded in 1991 focusing on economic growth, equal opportunity, educational reform, the environment, and governmental effectiveness with the long range goal of providing a climate for responsible taxation, better schools, and a favorable business climate.

New Jersey Charter Public School Association: NJCPSA works to provide a clear and distinctive voice for the state's charter schools, educating the public about their progress and ensuring that they thrive for the benefit of students statewide. NJCPSA focuses on three broad goals: outreach, support, and accountability.

New Jersey Charter School Resource Center: Non-profit organization that works to reform and improve NJ public schools by leadership, choice, improvement and public knowledge.

New York Charter School Resource Center: Works to help charter school organizers with information and technical assistance on charter school legislation and development in New York.

New York Charter Schools Association: Provides technical assistance to member charter schools.

No Excuses Campaign: A national effort to mobilize public pressure on behalf of better education for the poor. It brings together concerned citizens who are committed to high academic achievement among children of all races, ethnic groups, and family incomes.

North Carolina League of Charter Schools: The League seeks to promote the charter school concept so that all students, families, and communities can access quality education.

North Carolina Charter School Resource Center: Committed to the values of public education and involved in strengthening the charter school movement in North Carolina by providing information, technical assistance and state-level advocacy for policies and regulations that facilitate the viability of charter schools.

North Carolina Education Alliance: NCEA is dedicated to fundamental reform of the state's education system and believes that the focus of education should be on students rather than the system, because the system exists to serve the students.

North Carolina Education Reform Foundation: Works to facilitate an informed debate of primary and secondary education market reform to expand educational opportunity for all children, as well as to initiate, support and advance the charter school movement in North Carolina.

Oregon Education Coalition: Working to make Oregon's system of public education work for the consumers, by organizing a broad based movement to advocate for school choice reforms.

Oregon Education Consumers Association: Provides consumers of public education with an independent source of information about education reforms, with an emphasis on parents rights, school choice, and the benefit of children.

Pacific Legal Foundation: Litigates in the courts, via its "Program for Choice and Innovation in Education," to defend school vouchers, English-based programs for English learners, charter schools, and other education reform efforts.

A monthly newsletter chock full of knowledge for parents who want to know more about the issues that effect their children’s education. The Parent Power! website has back issues as well as a Power Links page to particularly parent-friendly websites.

Parents In Control: Not-for-profit, tax deductible organization aimed at educating the grassroots. Through the formation of PIC Chapters, PIC hopes to get parents and all citizens more informed by teaching them about the issues that are important to them, how to lobby, and how to be effective when involved as an activist.

Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools (PRESS), Milwaukee, WI: Grass roots education group made up of hundreds of school board members, parents, educators and civic leaders who are motivated, dedicated, and concerned about their children’s education.

Partnership for Choice in Education, St. Paul, MN: Non-profit organization which provides public information and community education on the benefits of educational choice.

Partnership for Learning seeks to equip families and communities to maximize learning starting at birth, and works with media and corporate, government, foundation, school and community groups to conduct research, facilitate dialogue and equip people to make better informed education decisions.

Pennsylvania's Grassroots Coalition for School Choice, a newsletter sponsored by REACH -- the Road to Educational Achievement Through Choice -- a broad and diverse coalition that includes members of the business community, labor unions, ethnic and religious organizations, parents, and taxpayer groups working to enact school choice legislation.

Professional Association of Georgia Educators

Professional Educators of Iowa

Professional Educators of Tennessee

Public Agenda Foundation: nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization whose two-fold mission is to help leaders better understand the public's point of view on major policy issues and help citizens better understand critical policy issues so they can make their own more informed and thoughtful decisions.

Putting Children First, Austin, TX: Dedicated to helping parents have the freedom of directing their children's education, Putting Children First's work has three focuses: to implement a choice pilot program for under-performing schools; to expand charter school options; and to increase parental access to public education grants.

Rhode Island League of Charter Schools: Works to expand the role of charters in Rhode Island public education by serving member schools and leading an engaged discourse promoting public school choice. The League offers free technical assistance to organizations going through the chartering process.

The Riggs Institute: The Riggs Institute is a non-profit literacy agency that offers practical help, through training and literacy materials, to teachers, parents and tutors to learn to teach the basic phonics, reading, spelling and writing skills students need.

Saxon Publishers, Inc.: Founded on the premise that math was not being taught effectively due to poor textbooks. Saxon divides its textbooks into daily lessons, each containing a small increment of new learning.  Saxon's focus has been expanded to include phonics.

SchoolMatch is a school research and database service firm that specializes in rating schools (K-12), providing data which are both accurate and comparative across school systems, county and state lines. Offers free and fee services.

School Wise Press, San Francisco, CA: School Wise Press helps parents "get smart about California schools." Their website offers school-by-school rankings within each county of California, as well as a virtual library of practical information from standardized testing to bilingual education, from parent's rights to choosing schools.

Small Schools Workshop: Educators, organizers and researchers who collaborate with teachers, principals, and parents to create new, small, innovative learning communities in public schools, and explore the larger issues of education reform.

South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools: SCAPCS works to improve public educational outcomes through choice and accountability, specifically through support of charter schools in the state.

Spalding Education International is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching teachers and home schoolers how to teach reading using the phonics-based Spalding Method.

StandardsWork: Provides technical assistance to states, districts, communities and organizations that want to implement standards-driven reform.

Success For All: Comprehensive restructuring program for elementary schools, especially those serving many disadvantaged and at-risk students. Its goal is to ensure that every child becomes a confident, strategic, and motivated reader and writer throughout the elementary years.

Teach For America: National corps of diverse recent college graduates, of all academic majors, who commit two years to teach in under-resourced urban and rural public schools.

Teachers for Better Education (TBE): National organization for educators to discuss and promote education reform in the public school system, including the use of charter schools, education tax credits, opportunity scholarships and public school vouchers.

The Technology Network: National bipartisan political network of over 140 high technology industry leaders, with part of their focus on education reform issues.

Texas Public Policy Forum: Non-profit, non-partisan research group based on the principles of limited government, free enterprise, private property rights, and individual responsibility. Seeks to improve Texas government through educational research and data, and by recommending findings to policy makers and other Texan leaders.

The Textbook League: California watchdog group that provides independent, expert appraisals of textbooks that publishers are currently selling to schools. 

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation supports research, publications, and action projects of national significance in elementary/secondary education reform, as well as significant education reform projects in Dayton, Ohio and vicinity.

Utah Charter Schools Association: Dedicated to furthering the cause of charter schools in Utah.

Vaughn Next Century Learning Center Charter School, San Fernando, CA: Headed by charismatic and vigilant principal, Yvonne Chan, Vaughn has been a standout conversion charter school, turning millions of dollars in administrative savings and efficiencies into better facilities and professional benefits, as well as creating a safe, energetic and successful learning environment for its inner-city families.

Vermonters for Better Education: Seeks to enlist parents and the public at large in achieving quality educational opportunities for all the children of Vermont. VBE also publishes the Vermont Education Report, a regular electronic newsletter covering education news in Vermont and beyond.

See also: 

• Charter School Websites: Links to Charter Schools on the Web
• Power Links to particularly parent-friendly websites.

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