Download the 2026 Annual Report
Annual Report 2026
Director's letter
Marching On
Despite a challenging political environment, the productivity of the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) continues unabated. Fortunately, PEPG’s funding comes from foundation grants and generous donations from supportive individuals, not from vulnerable federal grants or internal university funds.
In September, PEPG hosted its fourth annual Emerging School Models conference, focused on homeschooling, charters, district innovation, virtual learning, technical education, and more. We had a recordbreaking number of people register to join the conference in person and online: over 2,300.
In May, PEPG convened a two-day research conference that brought together the country’s leading researchers on multiple forms of school choice—from magnet and portfolio schools in the district sector to school vouchers and education savings accounts. From more than one hundred submitted proposals, 27 were selected for presentation. Some 60 researchers learned from one another in an atmosphere of open engagement from a wide range of viewpoints.
Our research and teaching missions are also moving forward. Educators turn to Education Next for critical assessment of cellphone usage and artificial intelligence tools in educational settings. Undergraduates prepare, under PEPG direction, policy-relevant research published on the EdNext blog. PEPG’s postdoctoral fellow, Mohit Karnani, brings high-level methodological sophistication to program activities.
Read about these activities and more in the pages that follow.
Sincerely,
Paul E. Peterson
Annual Report 2026
