Board Names Sonia G. Chessen as Executive Director of Education Sciences

Education Sciences Board Names Sonia G. Chessen as Executive Director; Board Approves Proposed Research Priorities. Sonia G. Chessen, a veteran Washington policy analyst on matters of children and youth, has been named executive director of the National Board for Education Sciences (see membership list). Chessen assumed the position on August 8.

The Board's September 6–7 meeting in Washington focused on IES Director Russ Whitehurst's proposed long-term research priorities, which the Board approved. The priorities are to

• Develop or identify a substantial number of programs, practices, policies, and approaches that enhance academic achievement and that can be widely deployed;
• Identify what does not work and what is problematic or inefficient, and thereby encourage innovation and further research;
• Gain fundamental understanding of the processes that underlie variations in the effectiveness of education programs, practices, policies, and approaches; and
• Develop delivery systems for the results of education research that will be routinely used by policymakers, educators, and the general public when making education decisions.

Read the Full text of the approved priorities.

Mark Schneider Nominated as NCES Commissioner

President Bush nominated Mark S. Schneider to be Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. Schneider currently serves as Deputy Commissioner of IES's National Center for Education Research. Prior to joining IES Schneider served as a professor and chairman of the Department of Political Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. » read more