The North Carolina Education Research Council was established in 1998 to provide research-based information to the North Carolina Education Cabinet, which included state officials concerned with education policy: the governor; the chair of the State Board of Education; the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction; and the presidents of the University of North Carolina (System), the North Carolina Community College System, and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. The council consisted of six members, each appointed by one of the members of the Education Cabinet. The council, in turn, appointed a director to administer research on issues that the council determined. For administrative purposes, the director and research staff were based in General Administration of the University of North Carolina (System). General Administration also provided staff assistance as needed to the council. Significant initiatives backed by the council included Governor James B. Hunt's NC Schools First in America challenge, Governor Michael Easley's Education First Task Force, and the Duke-University of North Carolina Research Consortium on Minority Achievement Gaps. The Spencer Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation provided grants that supported much of the research. The North Carolina Education Research Council was discontinued in 2003. Records of the North Carolina Education Research Council include correspondence; planning documents; meeting agendas and minutes; grant proposals; reports and presentations of research findings; and other materials. Most of the materials relate to the NC Schools First in America challenge, the Governor's Education First Task Force, and the Duke-University of North Carolina Research Consortium on Minority Achievement Gaps.
