Marc Tucker


Marc S. Tucker was the president and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy from 1988 until January 1, 2019. He is active in education reform and benchmarking the policies and practices of the countries with the best education systems in the world.

Early years

Tucker was born in Newton, Massachusetts.

Education

He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and American literature from Brown University in 1961. He subsequently studied theater engineering and technical theater production at the Yale University School of Drama, and then went on to a master of special studies with a concentration in telecommunications policy at George Washington University, graduating in 1982.

Career

He served as executive director at Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, president at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, associate director at the National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education, and a professor of education at the University of Rochester.
Tucker was a "leader of the standards-driven education reform movement." He was influential in creating the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, the New Standards Consortium, the National Skills Standards Board, America's Choice, the National Institute for School Leadership and Board Examination Systems Program.
Tucker has testified to the U.S. Congress and state legislatures.

Publications

Tucker was the author of the 1986 Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy report, "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century," by Marc Tucker, a "leader of the standards-driven education reform movement",
In 1990, the National Center on Education and the Economy published his book, America's Choice: high skills or low wages!.
In 1993, he co-authored Thinking for a Living: Education and the Wealth of Nations with Ray Marshall.
In 2002 he co-authored Standards for Our Schools: How to Set Them, Measure Them, and Reach Them with Judy Codding.
In 2006, he published Tough Choices or Tough Times: The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.
Tucker published a report on international education benchmarking entitled Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An American Agenda for Education Reform.
His book, Surpassing Shanghai, was published by Harvard Education Press in November 2011. According to the publisher, Surpassing Shanghai aims to answer a simple question: How would one redesign the American education system if the aim was to take advantage of everything that has been learned by countries with the world's best education systems? In his review of Surpassing Shanghai, Jay Greene said that the "best practice" methodology is flawed and is likely to lead to poor policies.