NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr Placed on Administrative Leave
NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr Placed on Administrative Leave
 
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February 2025

On February 24, news broke that Peggy Carr, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), had been placed on administrative leave. The Washington Post was first to report the news, with follow-up reporting from Education Week and The 74.

As commissioner, Carr was responsible for leading the federal statistical agency housed within the Institute of Education Sciences in the Department of Education. She was appointed to her position by President Joe Biden in 2021, following over two decades as serving as NCES’s associate commissioner for assessment. As commissioner, she led data collection and reporting activities for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In recognition of her longstanding and influential federal service, she received the AERA Distinguished Public Service Award in 2022.

As noted in news reports, her placement on administrative leave has come as a shock to the education research community and those in policy and practice.

“This action is simply a travesty,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Dr. Carr is a leading scientist in measurement and assessment, a dedicated civil servant for well over 30 years, and a leader of this essential federal statistical agency working across party lines to ensure objective, high-quality, and trustworthy data, statistics, and reporting.”

“We urge the new administration not only to reverse this decision but also to benefit  from retaining more ‘Peggy Carrs’ throughout the federal workforce,” said Levine.

“Carr was and remains a champion for the integrity of education statistics and the use of education data in research, policy, and practice,” Levine said. “We are very concerned about what this action will mean for the objective and non-biased reporting of education statistics.”

The position of NCES commissioner is presidentially appointed, with a fixed six-year term under the Education Sciences Reform Act. Carr’s term was to have ended in June 2027. She was also a member of the Senior Executive Service for many years prior to this presidential appointment.