Our History - Cross & Joftus

OUR HISTORY

Early in 2004, Christopher T. Cross and Scott Joftus combined their knowledge and talents to provide education leaders with expert and customized assistance in evaluation, strategic planning, policy analysis and development, and school and district improvement. Sharon Deich joined Cross & Joftus in April 2007, enhancing the capabilities of the core team to focus on expanded learning opportunities and address financing issues central to the success of all reforms.

Over time, we have worked with different clients on diverse issues, including:

strategic planning;
school system improvement;
literacy;
teacher quality;
high school reform;
accountability and data systems;
public-private financing approaches;
student achievement gaps;
out-of-school time learning;
No Child Left Behind Act implementation; and
science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM] strategies.

For some projects, we work in partnership with other organizations. For other projects, our firm engages associates to ensure the right expertise and experience.

Our continued success is based on two factors. First, we offer education leaders the small-firm advantage of working directly with our partners and the large-firm advantage of leveraging senior consultants with specialized knowledge and talents. Second, we combine rigorous analytical methods with innovative solutions. We promote a capacity-building approach that adds value to organizations long after their work with us has ended.

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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 and was a member from 1993 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 Minorities in Gifted and Special 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

Scott Joftus

Scott Joftus is president of the education policy consulting firm Cross & Joftus, LLC. Joftus brings important knowledge of evaluation and significant technical assistance experience. He was the primary developer and is now the director of The Learning Network, a partnership approach to school and school system improvement, which is being implemented statewide in Kansas. He is also the senior strategic advisor and technical assistance provider of the Race to the Top Technical Assistance Network, a $43 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education to help states implement major reforms and achieve dramatic improvements in student outcomes. Joftus also serves as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Education and Human Development, where he teaches leadership, program evaluation, and education policy.
Previously, he served as the policy director for the Alliance for Excellent Education, where he helped develop the agenda for the newly created policy organization focused on ensuring all students graduate high school prepared for college. From 1998 to 2002, Joftus was director of policy, research, and evaluation for The McKenzie Group, an education policy consulting firm. In this position, he conducted numerous evaluations for and provided technical assistance to the U.S. Department of Education and states and school districts nationwide.

He also served as a senior associate at the Council for Basic Education and as a strategic planning consultant to the San Francisco-based think tank Public Policy Institute of California. In addition, he was an elementary school teacher as a member of the first-ever corps of Teach for America.

Joftus earned his bachelor's degree in public policy from Duke University, a master's degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley, and a doctorate in education policy and leadership from The George Washington University.

Download Scott Joftus's Resume

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