Peter Cookson graduated from
New York University where he received a B.A. in American History, M.A. in European Intellectual History, and Ph.D. in the Sociology of Education. He also received a post-graduate certificate in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from the
Harvard Graduate School of Education and an M.A. in Religion from
Yale Divinity School.
Career
A strong proponent of
education reform, his articles have appeared frequently in Education Week[5][6][7] and The Huffington Post,[8][9] among others. He received a special citation in the category of best blog for Education Sector's "The Quick and the Ed" from the National Education Writers Association for education reporting in 2012.[10]
Since the 1980s, Cookson has been a college and university professor and administrator, most notably at
Teachers College, Columbia University, where he founded the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation and TC Innovations. He was Managing Director of Education Sector,[11] an independent education policy think tank, and is currently Principal Researcher and Director of The Equity Project at
American Institutes for Research (AIR),[12] and teaches sociology at
Georgetown University.
As a specialist in
American education and equity in education, Cookson has been interviewed often, most recently on Bloomberg Radio's education network.[13][14]
^National Education Writers Association, National Awards for Education Reporting 2012. Special Citation—Peter W. Cookson Jr., Thomas Dawson, Joni Finney, Jeff Selingo, Ben Wildavsky, and Chad Aldeman, The Quick and the Ed, a publication of Education Sector
"National Awards for Education Reporting 2012 - EdMedia Commons". Archived from
the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2013-08-28.