Research Initiatives

Arkansas Teacher Corps

Commit. Serve. Teach. The Arkansas Teacher Corps, led by Executive Director Brandon Lucius, recruits, trains, and supports exceptional social justice-oriented individuals to serve as teachers for Arkansas students who need them the most. ATC is an alternative teacher licensure program that provides an accelerated path to teaching in order to have a lasting impact on students and communities in Arkansas.

The Classical Education Research Lab

Located in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, the Classical Education Research Lab is a research center under the direction of Albert Cheng, Ph.D. The Lab exists to conduct original research to empirically evaluate the effectiveness of classical education and to provide resources for classical educators.

Charassein: The Character Assessment Initiative

In Greek, Charassein means to engrave, scratch, or etch and is the root of the English word 'character'. The Character Assessment Initiative (Charassein) is an effort devoted to the study of character skills. Our work centers around two goals: improving measures of character skills and better understanding how character skills are developed. For more information, please explore our website or contact the director, Gema Zamarro, Ph.D.

Office for Education Policy

The Office for Education Policy (OEP) directed by Sarah McKenzie, Ph.D., provides current national, state, and regional education research to support state lawmakers and educators in thoughtful decision-making in PK-12 education in the state of Arkansas.

School Choice Demonstration Project

The School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) directed by Patrick Wolf, Ph.D., is a national team of researchers, institutional research partners, and staff devoted to the rigorous and unbiased evaluation of school choice programs and other school improvement efforts across the country. The SCDP is committed to raising and advancing the public's understanding of the strengths and limitations of school choice policies and programs.

The Wai Lab

The Wai Lab, directed by Jonathan Wai, Ph.D., conducts research on social science and education policy problems from a multidisciplinary perspective to help improve the lives of students in Arkansas, the nation and around the world. Wai is also leader of the SMART (Supporting More ARkansas Talent) initiative.