Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
A United States education policy and research foundation focused on improving teaching and learning through research, standards, and improvement science.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is a United States education policy and research organization established by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered by Congress in 1906. It was created to advance the quality of teaching and has operated at the intersection of educational research, institutional reform, professional standards, assessment, and public policy. Rather than functioning as a commercial brand, the foundation is best understood as an independent philanthropic and research institution whose work has helped shape the infrastructure of American education. During its early decades, the foundation broadened its remit beyond support for teachers to include systematic study of educational institutions and professional preparation. Under its first president, Henry Smith Pritchett, it sponsored research intended to define standards and expose weaknesses in professional education. One of the most influential results was the Flexner Report of 1910, Abraham Flexner's examination of medical education in the United States and Canada. The report contributed to major changes in medical-school standards, accreditation expectations, and the organization of medical training. The foundation also helped create or develop several institutions and frameworks that became widely used beyond its original programs. It developed the Carnegie Unit, a measure of secondary and postsecondary instructional time that became deeply embedded in course credits and academic requirements. In 1936 it began the Graduate Record Examinations as an experiment; the testing program was later acquired by the Educational Testing Service in 1948. The foundation was also associated with the creation of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, now widely known as TIAA, and with the development of the Educational Testing Service and the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, established in 1967 under the leadership of Clark Kerr, produced influential analysis of American higher education. The organization separated from the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1979 and became an independent institution under president Ernest L. Boyer. Boyer's tenure marked a renewed emphasis on the purposes of education, the relationship between teaching and scholarship, and the improvement of educational practice. The foundation moved to Princeton, New Jersey, during this period. In 1997, president Lee Shulman relocated it to Stanford, California, where it remains based. In its contemporary work, the foundation emphasizes improvement science: a practical, research-informed approach to changing educational systems through iterative testing, measurement, reflection, and collaboration with practitioners. Its framework asks what an organization is trying to accomplish, how it will know whether a change represents an improvement, and which changes may produce better outcomes. The foundation promotes problem-specific and user-centered work, attention to variation, analysis of the systems producing current outcomes, measurement for learning, disciplined inquiry, and networked communities that allow successful practices to be adapted and spread. Its principal audiences include educators, education researchers, institutional leaders, policymakers, and organizations working on student success and teaching quality. The foundation's influence therefore comes less from a consumer-facing product portfolio than from research reports, classification systems, professional knowledge, improvement networks, and policy ideas. Its historical contributions remain embedded in American education, while its present identity centers on collaborative improvement of teaching and learning at scale.
History
Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1905, making it one of the earliest major American foundations devoted specifically to education. Congress granted the foundation its charter in 1906. Henry Smith Pritchett, its first president, interpreted the mission broadly: the institution would not only support teachers but also investigate the conditions, standards, and structures that shaped professional education. A major early project was the examination of medical education led by Abraham Flexner. Published in 1910, the Flexner Report evaluated medical schools in the United States and Canada and became a landmark in the movement toward more rigorous medical education. The foundation's work during this era also contributed to the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, an institution intended to provide retirement security for teachers and later known as TIAA. The foundation became associated with the Carnegie Unit, a time-based measure of academic instruction that was adopted widely in American secondary and higher education. Although originally designed as an administrative and curricular standard, the unit became part of the language of academic credit, graduation requirements, and institutional comparison. In 1936, the foundation began the Graduate Record Examinations as an experimental testing program. The Educational Testing Service acquired the program in 1948. Leadership changed over the following decades, with presidents including Henry Suzzallo, Walter A. Jessup, Oliver Carmichael, John W. Gardner, and Alan Pifer. In 1967, Pifer and Clark Kerr were associated with the creation of a Carnegie task force on higher education. This work helped establish the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, whose studies influenced debates about access, institutional roles, financing, and the organization of American colleges and universities. The foundation also became connected to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a framework used to describe and compare institutions by their missions and activities. In 1979, the foundation separated from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and became independent, with Ernest L. Boyer as president. Boyer brought renewed attention to the intellectual and civic purposes of education and to the relationship between teaching, scholarship, and institutional responsibility. The foundation moved to Princeton, New Jersey. Lee Shulman later became president and moved the organization to Stanford, California, in 1997, creating the location from which it continues to operate. Under later leaders, including Anthony Bryk and Timothy Knowles, the foundation has focused increasingly on improvement science. This approach treats educational reform as an iterative process in which practitioners and researchers define a specific problem, study the system producing current results, test changes, measure their effects, and use the findings to refine practice. The foundation promotes six connected principles: making improvement problem-specific and user-centered; treating variation in performance as a source of knowledge; studying the systems that produce outcomes; measuring changes so improvement can be assessed; grounding practice in disciplined inquiry; and accelerating learning through networked communities. Networked Improvement Communities are central to this contemporary model. They bring together practitioners, researchers, organizational support structures, and institutions working toward a shared educational aim. Instead of assuming that a single intervention will work identically everywhere, such networks test and adapt practices across different contexts while making learning visible to participants. The foundation's current identity thus combines a long historical record of standards and policy research with an emphasis on collaborative, evidence-guided improvement in teaching and student learning.
- 2021
Timothy Knowles becomes president
[1]Timothy Knowles succeeded Anthony Bryk as president.
- 1997
Headquarters moved to Stanford
[1]President Lee Shulman relocated the foundation from Princeton, New Jersey, to Stanford, California.
- 1979
Foundation becomes independent
[1]The foundation separated from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and became an independent organization under Ernest L. Boyer.
- 1967
Higher-education task force established
[1]Alan Pifer established a task force led by Clark Kerr, contributing to the foundation's later higher-education commission work.
- 1948
GRE acquired by Educational Testing Service
[1]The Educational Testing Service acquired the Graduate Record Examinations program from the foundation.
- 1936
Graduate Record Examinations begin experimentally
[1]The foundation began the Graduate Record Examinations as an experimental testing program.
- 1910
Flexner Report published
[1]The foundation published Abraham Flexner's influential study of medical education in the United States and Canada.
- 1906
Congressional charter
[1]The foundation received a charter through an act of the United States Congress, with Henry Smith Pritchett serving as its first president.
- 1905
Foundation established
[1]Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to support the advancement of teaching and educational inquiry.
Products and positioning
Independent education research and policy foundation focused on improving teaching, learning, and educational systems through evidence, standards, and practitioner collaboration.
Educational standard
Carnegie Unit
A time-based academic measurement associated with the foundation and adopted broadly in American education. It helped standardize how schools and colleges described instructional time, course credit, and progress toward educational requirements. Although educational institutions have increasingly supplemented time-based measures with competency and learning-outcome frameworks, the Carnegie Unit remains an important historical influence on academic administration and credentialing.
Higher-education classification framework
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
A framework for describing and grouping colleges and universities according to characteristics such as institutional mission, degree offerings, and research activity. The classification has been used by researchers, policymakers, institutions, and the public to analyze the structure and diversity of American higher education.
Graduate admissions assessment · 1936
Graduate Record Examinations
A graduate-level examination program that the foundation began experimentally in 1936. The program was transferred to the Educational Testing Service in 1948, after which it became a widely recognized component of graduate admissions in the United States and other markets.
Education research methodology
Improvement Science
A research and practice approach used to support educational system reform. It combines problem definition, measurement, iterative testing, reflection, and practitioner-researcher collaboration. The foundation applies the approach through improvement networks intended to generate usable knowledge and adapt promising practices across varied educational settings.
Education improvement network
Networked Improvement Communities
Collaborative arrangements in which educators, researchers, and institutional partners work on a shared, specific problem. Participants test changes in different contexts, study variation, share evidence, and refine practices. The model is intended to make local learning cumulative and support improvement at larger scale.
Brand decisions
1979
Separation from the Carnegie Corporation of New YorkStrategyBackground
The foundation had operated in an organizational relationship with the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Action taken
It became an independent foundation under president Ernest L. Boyer.
Aftermath
The independent organization continued its education research and policy work and later moved from Princeton to Stanford.
1967
Creation of a higher-education task forceStrategyBackground
The foundation sought to examine the structure, purposes, and policy challenges of American higher education.
Action taken
Alan Pifer established a task force with Clark Kerr at its helm, contributing to the development of the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
Aftermath
The commission produced influential analysis of higher education institutions and policy.
1936
Experimental launch of the Graduate Record ExaminationsProduct launchBackground
The foundation was exploring ways to support graduate-level selection and assessment.
Action taken
It began the Graduate Record Examinations as an experimental program.
Aftermath
The program was acquired by the Educational Testing Service in 1948 and developed into a major graduate admissions examination.
Sources2 sources
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