Our History

The History of CRER (formerly NCRPP)

Founded in 2014, the National Center for Research in Policy and Practice (NCRPP) began as an IES-funded Knowledge Utilization Center supported by the U.S. Department of Education. From 2014 to 2020, its work focused on how educational leaders access and use research, and on strategies that strengthen research engagement and use in decision-making. This early phase was anchored by a three-university partnership among the University of Colorado Boulder, Harvard University, and Northwestern University.

Beginning in 2020, the organization expanded its work through a major initiative focused on the effectiveness of research–practice partnerships (RPPs). From 2020 to 2024, this work contributed to a state-of-the-field view of RPPs, including a field-facing report that synthesized what was known and what still needed to be learned about how RPPs function and generate impact and development of a Toolkit to support RPP collaboration . 

Starting in 2021, the organization deepened its district-facing systems work through the Wallace Foundation’s Equity-Centered Principal Pipeline Initiative (ECPI). This effort includes the Research-Practice District Network (RPDN), which supports districts in taking a systems approach to leadership development and in strengthening the conditions that help principals and other leaders succeed.

In 2026, NCRPP became the Center for Reimagining Education Research (CRER), drawing on our past work while signaling an ongoing, forward-looking commitment to innovation, collaboration, and systems change. 

Our new identity is reflected in an expansion of our work in a few new directions that build off of previous work. First, our NSF-supported work focuses on knowledge mapping and critically analyzes the structure of research fields and portfolios. Our initial project analyzes the portfolio of NSF-funded studies of preK-12 STEM education. Second, with funding from the Bezos Family Foundation, we are leaning into what it means to support the necessary learning for collaborative education research approaches. In partnership with NNERPP, we are developing an approach and program for developing RPP coaches. Finally, with funding from the Spencer Foundation, we are leading  a collective approach to reimagining a research and development infrastructure to support systems transformation. This phase centers on critically analyzing the structure of fields of research and research portfolios, making complex bodies of research and practice knowledge easier to navigate, connect, and use, while continuing to strengthen the infrastructure that links research, policy, and practice.