The Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) has acted as a bridge to the educational future by holding true to its research and training mission, producing influential reports and involving students in its research, conferences and other activities. PEPG is entering its 17th year and celebrating the 13th year of its widely read quarterly journal Education Next.

Through careful research, PEPG scholars are clarifying the school reform agenda—on topics that range from middle schools and social promotion to international competitiveness and digital learning. For example, PEPG’s widely cited report, Achievement Growth, found that student achievement gains in the U.S. fail to close the international achievement gap—the U.S. ranked 25th out of 49 countries in student test-score gains over a 14-year period. A separate report, The Effects of School Vouchers on College Enrollment, found college enrollment increases of 24 percent for African Americans who attended a private school with the help of a voucher.

Digital learning was the focus of a conference hosted at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University in February 2012, at which former governor Bob Wise of West Virginia unveiled basic principles he and his colleagues offered as a guide to the online learning community. In July 2012, PEPG hosted an international conference on the achievement growth in the U.S. and in countries abroad. The keynote speech was delivered by Maureen McLaughlin, Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Director of International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education. August brought scholars, again from both within the U.S. and Europe, to discuss the global debt crisis and its effects on U.S. and European federalist-based governments. PEPG research and articles from its journal, Education Next have been widely cited by scholars and bloggers alike, used for teaching in colleges and universities around the country and across the oceans, quoted by elected officials, and reported in major media outlets.

These are a few of the activities highlighted in the pages that follow. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

—Paul E. Peterson