Washington, D.C., Aug. 16, 2006—The Institute for Higher Education Policy has appointed Clifford Adelman as a senior associate, effective Oct. 1, 2006. A widely respected expert on student opportunity and success, Adelman comes to the Institute after serving nearly 30 years as a senior research analyst at the U.S. Department of Education.
In his new position at the Institute, Adelman will play a senior role in the organization’s expansive national and international portfolio of research projects concerning assessment, higher education access, and student mobility. He will also expand on subjects that have been a focus throughout much of his career including degree completion rates, standardized testing, transfer patterns, and the role of community colleges. Adelman joins the Institute’s distinguished staff of more than two dozen analysts and professionals who together are recognized nationally and internationally for their expertise in higher education policy.
“Cliff is one of the nation’s most respected education researchers and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise. With a comprehensive knowledge of higher education issues, he’s a veteran of managing information and data that will be essential to helping to achieve the Institute’s goal of improving both equity and quality in higher education around the world,” said Institute President Jamie P. Merisotis.
During his extensive tenure at the Department of Education, Adelman authored several studies that served as benchmarking tools in education and agenda setting content for policymakers. Examples of his recent work include The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School Through College (2006), which details new avenues for analyzing the postsecondary side of the matriculation line; and Moving Into Town—and Moving On: The Community College in the Lives of Traditional Age Students (2005), which reviews academic profiles of community college students to serve as responsive indicators for institutional performance.
Earlier in his career, he contributed to key background studies of the high school curriculum such as the landmark A Nation at Risk (1983) report; and designed the higher education follow-up to that report, Involvement in Learning (1984), which served as a platform for the assessment movement in higher education over the following decade.
Prior to his numerous accomplishments in government, Adelman served in academia as an administrator and educator. He has held positions at City College of New York, Roosevelt University, William Paterson College of New Jersey, and Yale University.
Additionally, he is the author of three commercially published books, a highly sought after contributor to news stories, and a member of various education-focused committees. Adelman holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University as well as master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago.