Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences Director Grover (Russ) Whitehurst today announced that Phoebe Cottingham has been named commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Cottingham will assume her new position in September.

"Phoebe Cottingham is taking on the vital mission of determining what works in education and translating that information so that it will enhance policy and practice," Whitehurst said. "She is uniquely qualified for the task before her, and I am delighted that she has agreed to be commissioner and look forward to working with her to transform education into an evidence-based field."

The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance is part of the Institute of Education Sciences, which was established by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. The institute includes the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Center for Education Research.

The evaluation center conducts studies of the impact of federal education programs, including Title I and Reading First, and distributes information on the effectiveness of such programs through the What Works Clearinghouse -- the institute's central, independent and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education.

The evaluation center also is responsible for 10 regional educational laboratories that conduct applied research and provide technical assistance to states and school districts in translating research into practice.

The center also includes the National Library of Education and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC).

Before joining the Institute of Education Sciences, Cottingham was the senior program officer for domestic public policy at the Smith Richardson Foundation where she developed priorities and strategies to fund innovative projects on school reform and early childhood education. She also initiated projects by leaders in evaluation science and public policy dedicated to developing new infrastructure to support systematic reviews and synthesis of evidence -- an effort that informed the development of the groundbreaking What Works Clearinghouse.

Previously, Cottingham served as associate director of the Rockefeller Foundation's Equal Opportunity Program, where she oversaw projects dealing with minority single parenting, community-based employment programs and child care policy. She has also held positions at UCLA, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania, Barnard College, Vanderbilt University and Marist College.

Cottingham earned her bachelor's degree in political science from the Pennsylvania State University and her master's degree and Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

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