Education Strategies for Success. Cross & Joftus provides expert advice and assistance to education leaders in governments, foundations, corporations, think tanks, school districts, and advocacy organizations. Our tailored support enhances education reforms by helping clients develop effective policies, evaluate programs, plan strategically, and use best practices. READ MORE ABOUT CROSS & JOFTUS

Cross & Joftus Selected as Service Provider for Schools in Need of Improvement in Texas

Cross & Joftus was one of five organizations selected by the state of Texas as an approved provider of strategic planning services for the lowest performing schools in the state.

Christopher Cross updates his ground-breaking book Political Education: National Policy Comes of Age

In an updated edition of his book, Political Education: National Policy Comes of Age, Christopher Cross incorporates new material as Congress approaches reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and its first real review of No Child Left Behind. Given the importance of this expected shift in national policy, it is essential that both policy makers and educators understand the forces that have shaped federal K-12 policy over the last half-century. Read more

Cross & Joftus produces testimonial video about The Learning Network in Kansas.

Educators and administrators from across the state of Kansas discuss the power of The Learning Network in spurring and supporting school and district turnaround. Cross & Joftus currently works with all 17 districts and 32 schools in Kansas that are on improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.
See the video

Cross & Joftus Releases Two Reports on Investments in Summer Programming

With the National Summer Learning Association, Cross & Joftus recently authored two scans of summer programming resources available to school-age, lower-income children. The first report examines program offerings in five California cities (summary, full report). The second report reviews summer resources in Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana (summary, full report).

Cross & Joftus Authors Report on Out-of-School Time Efforts in American Cities

This example-filled guide developed with the National League of Cities describes three strategies municipal leaders have used successfully to advance after-school programming: involving many organizations and agencies in the OST effort; keeping after-school on the public agenda; and heading the development of a shared vision for after-school and other out-of-school time opportunities. Read more

Cross & Joftus Releases Report on Federal Education Programs

With the support of the C.S. Mott Foundation, C&J presents the rationale for adopting a more comprehensive approach to education reform, the role an inventory of federal programs can play in this effort, and the findings from a pilot inventory of education-related federal programs for children and youth. Review the report and inventory and read Deb Viadero's blog posting about the need for more effective coordination of such programs.

Cross & Joftus Selected as Service Provider for Districts in Need of Improvement in Kansas and California

Cross & Joftus was awarded a two-year contract by the Kansas State Department of Education to provide services to all 17 districts and 33 schools in the state that have been identified for improvement. We have also been selected by the California Department of Education as a service provider for districts in the state that have been identified for improvement (see press release). Find out how Cross & Joftus can support the improvement process in your state or district. Read more about The Learning Network™ and School System Improvement

Video Discusses the Important Role of Education Information Systems

The Race to the Top competition highlights the key role that data can play in improving student outcomes. A video produced by Cross & Joftus for The California Student Success Project shows how data becomes the voices of students. See the video

Christopher Cross authors chapter in new book, Smart Money: Using Educational Resources to Accomplish Ambitious Learning Goals

Published by Harvard Education Press, Smart Money draws on the work of the School Finance Redesign Project at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education. The authors bring together research on education finance policy and on the uses of school and district resources to provide a uniquely comprehensive analysis of school finance systems. In Part II, Cross & Joftus' Christopher T. Cross offers insights into the effective use of resources in his chapter, "How Federal Categorical Funding Prevents the Effective Use of Resources." Read more

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Wichita Public Schools

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Christopher T. Cross

Christopher T. Cross is chairman of the education policy consulting firm Cross & Joftus, where he contributes his considerable strategic planning, policy analysis, and development skills. Cross also serves as a consultant to the Broad Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Previously, he was a senior fellow with the Center for Education Policy and a distinguished senior fellow with the Education Commission of the States.

From 1994 to 2002, Cross was president and chief executive officer of the Council for Basic Education (CBE). Before joining CBE, he served as director of the education initiative of The Business Roundtable and as assistant secretary for educational research and improvement in the U.S. Department of Education.

He chaired the National Assessment of Title I Independent Review Panel on Evaluation for the U.S. Department of Education from 1995 to 2001 and the National Research Council Panel on Minority Representation in Special Education from 1997 to 2002. Currently, Cross chairs the National Research Council Panel on Early Childhood Mathematics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Whittier College. He also serves on the board of The New Teacher Project and the board of EdSource. In March 2002, Cross guided the negotiated rulemaking process on Title I for the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2001, he completed a six-year term on the Board of International Comparative Studies in Education for the National Research Council. In addition, he chaired the National Council for Education and Humanities Development of The George Washington University from its inception in 2000 through 2002. Cross served as president of the Maryland State Board of Education from 1994 to 1997. He also was a member of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning.

Cross has written extensively on education and other public policy areas and has been published in numerous professional journals and newspapers, including Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan, The College Board Review, The Washington Post, the Sacramento Bee, and the Los Angeles Times. He co-authored an article, "Systems, not Superheroes," published in the winter 2008 edition of the American Association of School Administrators' Journal of Scholarship and Practice.

His book, Political Education: National Policy Comes of Age, is on the people and events shaping federal K-12 education policy from the time of the Eisenhower Administration through the passage of the 2001 amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It was published in November 2003 by Teachers College Press. Cross is also the co-editor of Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education, published in 2002 by National Academies Press. He has lectured on American education issues in Japan, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.

Cross has a bachelor of arts degree from Whittier College and a master of arts degree in government from California State University, Los Angeles.

Download Christopher T. Cross's Resume

August 3, 2009

Cross & Joftus Approved by California Department of Education as Service Provider for Low-Performing Districts
Cross & Joftus, a national education consulting firm, has been approved by the California Department of Education as a provider of district assistance intervention services under a state program that provides targeted assistance to school districts that have been placed in program improvement (PI) status.

Under that program, districts in PI status may work with an authorized service provider such as Cross & Joftus to assist the district in examining and evaluating current practices, identifying and prioritizing the major needs of the district, and then helping to implement supports and actions that target identified needs. The goal is to assist the district to exit program improvement status. The effort is supported with federal dollars under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Cross & Joftus Chairman Christopher T. Cross said, “With this award and the recent award of a contract by the State of Kansas to be the exclusive provider of school and district improvement services in that state, Cross & Joftus has become nationally recognized as a strategic partner with states and districts in supporting their efforts to solve a critical national social issue, the turnaround of low-performing districts and schools.” Cross also noted that the firm has been active in California as the manager of the California Student Success Project and in developing an on-line resource for teachers on behalf of the California Department of Education. (For more information, please visit www.edstrategies.net.)

With offices in California, Maryland, and Virginia, Cross & Joftus recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Current and past clients have included the Bill & Melinda Gates and Hewlett foundations, the United Way, the National Governors Association, the Pittsburgh (PA) Public Schools, the City of Philadelphia, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools, and the Education Commission of the States.

For additional information contact Christopher T. Cross at chris@edstrategies.net, Alice Parker at alice@edstrategies.net or Joan Evans at joan@edstrategies.net.

Sharon Deich

Sharon Deich is vice president of the education policy consulting firm Cross and Joftus, where she focuses on education financing issues and change management. She also is expert in coupling after-school programming and traditional education reforms to improve student achievement.

Prior to joining the firm, she spent two decades in the nonprofit sector honing her research, policy, and technical assistance skills. During this time, she worked with federal agencies, state government leaders, city officials, and foundation initiative leaders on issues related to early care, K-12 education, after-school programming, and related education reform efforts.

From 1997 to 2007, Deich served as an associate director for The Finance Project, where she authored numerous briefs and reports on the financing of human services programs and provided technical assistance and expert facilitation to organizations looking to scale up and sustain promising initiatives. During this period, she also served on numerous advisory boards, including one for a joint project of the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Conference of State Legislatures to expand extra learning opportunities as a way to improve student success.

Before joining The Finance Project, Deich spent 15 years researching and evaluating programs that support low-income children and families. Her prior experience includes work for the American Institutes for Research, where she worked closely with the Head Start Bureau to revise performance standards and the training and technical assistance system. She also spent six years working at the Urban Institute, where she was a contributing researcher and author for the National Child Care Study.

Deich earned her bachelor's degree in economics from The State University of New York at Albany and earned her master's degree in public policy from the University of Michigan.

Download Sharon Deich's Resume