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About Us

McREL is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education research, development, and service organization that helps schools, districts, and education agencies improve outcomes for all students.

We help school and system clients in all kinds of communities analyze their performance, identify the root causes of challenges, build their staff capacities, and find the under-used bright spots they can scale up to make an even bigger difference for every student. Our areas of expert service include:

  • Analysis and alignment of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards
  • Professional development, learning, and coaching for teachers, principals, and system leaders
  • Research, data analysis, logic models, and program evaluations
  • School improvement strategies, action planning, implementation support, and technical assistance

We help educators flourish by turning research into co-created
solutions that transform teaching, learning, and leading.

Learn about our research and evaluation services, our professional learning and coaching services, and our books and other publications in our Products & Services Catalog. Call us at 800.858.6830 or email info@mcrel.org to speak with one of our experts about your school/system’s goals and find out how we can support your efforts.


We Work With All Communities

We work with a diverse mix of schools and districts (public, charter, and private), state and federal education departments, regional service agencies, foundations, ed-tech companies, and colleges and universities. We work with school systems large and small from rural, suburban, and urban communities across the U.S. and around the world.
In addition, we touch thousands of students’ and educators’ lives through our management of the U.S. Department of Education’s Regional Educational Laboratory for the Pacific Region and the Comprehensive Centers serving state departments of education and schools in the Central Region (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming) and the Pacific West Region (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of Palau).

Our Commitments to Our Clients

What can you expect from McREL when we work with your school or system? You’ll get a dependable partner that listens to your needs, understands your goals, and delivers evidence-based services and resources to support your success.
We promote better outcomes for every learner. We believe that a quality education is a foundational civil right of every person. To that end, we seek out opportunities to partner with schools and systems of all types, locations, and contexts, engaging with educators to apply evidence-based practices that elevate educational experiences and outcomes for all students.
We deliver quality work that makes a real difference. Our goal is to deliver high-quality services that lead to positive, enduring differences for your school or system and your stakeholders. You can depend on us to meet or exceed your expectations every step of the way.
We value context and collaboration. We take a collaborative, partnership-oriented approach with our clients. It begins with our team listening to and understanding your contexts, goals, and needs before we design the right services for you. We’ll honor your team’s expertise and capacities as we work together, adding our strengths and resources to yours to help you achieve your goals.
We emphasize continual learning. Curiosity, exploration, change, and reflection are vital to deep learning and lifelong fulfilment. As such, you can expect us to encourage your team’s professional curiosity and growth. That goes for us too. While delivering great service to you and your team, we know we’ll be learning from you too, discovering new insights together that lead to better results for all.

McREL’s Research Base, Models, and Frameworks

Our approaches and strategies, while customized for each client’s situation, are founded on McREL’s highly regarded research-based frameworks and models, including: