For over two decades, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings has been advancing inclusive education and skill development. With nearly 200 partners in 80 countries working in education policy, research, and practice from the community to the national, regional, and global levels, CUE has helped catalyze bold visions for education change grounded in local realities and strengthened by global collaboration.
CUE’s approach focuses on understanding both the visible levers of change—such as policies, practices, and resource flows—and the hidden levers, such as relationships, power dynamics, and mindsets. By identifying and addressing opportunities within and beyond education systems, we work with diverse actors across ecosystems to create the conditions that enable young people to realize their full potential. Through this focus on strategic leverage points, CUE combines research, practical tools, and collaborative action to create the conditions where transformation is possible and sustainable.
At the core of CUE’s work are its evolving workstreams, which draw on collaborative and participatory research to examine education systems from multiple perspectives, such as breadth of skills, climate change, costing and financing, emerging technologies, family-school-community engagement, gender equality, pedagogical mindsets, and the scaling of innovations and initiatives.
Our work supports local, national, and global education ecosystems to achieve quality learning through:
- Research – Generating evidence that blends academic rigor with lived experience.
- Tools – Creating practical resources to help actors turn insights into action
- Convening – Bringing together diverse educators, policymakers, researchers, and youth to foster dialogue across boundaries
- Partnerships and peer learning – Fostering sustained collaboration and transformative learning through learning exchanges, communities of practice, working groups, and networks
- Collective action – Elevating local insights and evidence-based dialogues onto the global agenda
Our Team
Nonresident Experts