Christopher Edley, Jr.

Christopher Edley
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Former Dean Emeritus and The Honorable William H. Orrick, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law,
University of California, Berkeley

Christopher Edley, Jr. (1953–2024) was a former faculty director at PACE, as well as the cofounder and president emeritus of the Opportunity Institute. He was appointed by Secretary Arne Duncan to cochair the congressionally chartered National Commission on Education Equity and Excellence. He was dean emeritus and the Honorable William H. Orrick Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught administrative law and education law. Edley also taught at Harvard Law School, where he cofounded the Harvard Civil Rights Project. He served in White House policy and budget positions and held senior positions in five presidential campaigns. Edley received his JD and MPP from Harvard University.

updated 2024

Contributing topics
Access, quality & alignment in early childhood education
College access & postsecondary success
Continuous school improvement & support
Education finance
Educational governance & policy
Educator workforce & effectiveness
Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health
Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes
Contributing initiatives
CORE-PACE Research Partnership
COVID-19 Recovery
Getting Down To Facts II
LCFF Research Collaborative
PACE/USC Rossier Voter Poll
Policy Research Panels
Commentary by Christopher Edley, Jr.
: Evidence to Inform Recovery: PACE’s Response to COVID-19
Christopher Edley, Jr. in the Media
: Berkeley Law Launches New Center Named After Beloved Former Dean and PACE Faculty Director, Christopher Edley, Jr.
: Christopher Edley Jr., Civil Rights Expert Heard by Presidents, Dies at 71
: Collaborative Community Schools: From Wraparound Services to Co-Leadership
: UC Berkeley Leaders, Scholars React to Supreme Court’s Decision on Affirmative Action
: Key Voices in the Decades-Long Debate Over Affirmative Action
Publications by Christopher Edley, Jr.
In 2002 Congress passed the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA), authorizing the creation of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) as the research, evaluation, statistics, and assessment arm of the Department of Education, and crystallizing the federal government's commitment to providing national leadership in expanding fundamental knowledge and understanding of education from early childhood through postsecondary study. IES shares information on the condition and progress of education in the
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Students and Educational Systems
Critical Actions for Recovery and the Role of Research in the Years Ahead
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) recently issued a report providing guidance on the future of education research at the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research, two centers directed by…
PB Hough July 2020
Lead with Equity
What California’s Leaders Must Do Next to Advance Student Learning During COVID-19
On July 17th, 2020, Governor Newsom announced that all K–12 schools in California counties with rising COVID-19 infections would be required to teach remotely. Without a strong focus on improving the quality of remote education at scale, students…
Education Equity in California
Education Equity in California
A Review of Getting Down to Facts II Findings
This brief focuses on implications for equity in the research findings of Getting Down to Facts II (GDFTII). Policymakers changed education funding and governance with the 2014 enactment of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), Gov. Jerry Brown’…