Brown University’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) marks its 20th anniversary this year. Endowed by a $50-million gift from the Annenberg Foundation in 1993, AISR was established as a national policy research and reform-support organization that collaborates with school districts and communities to improve the conditions and outcomes of urban schools. The institute focuses on three crucial issues in education reform today: college and career readiness, and expanded learning time, and school transformation. AISR has a series of anniversary videos in which Warren Simmons, executive director, discusses the history of AISR, developments in education reform, and highlights from a recent meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Nearly 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, large disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes still exist, especially in low-income communities and for children of color,” Simmons has said. “Remedying this requires an unflinching commitment to reducing inequities in learning opportunities and results and to cultivating and rekindling the beliefs of educators and communities in the capacity of all students to excel. This core commitment has driven our work from the beginning, and will continue to do so in the future.”

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