Peggy Carr, Ph.D.

Peggy G. Carr, Ph.D., serves as Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.  Dr. Carr formerly served as Associate Commissioner of the Assessment Division for NCES, a role she held for nearly 20 years. In that role, she was responsible for national and international large-scale assessments, and most notably, managed the administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Most recently, she oversaw the transformational transition of NAEP from paper and pencil assessments to digital-based ones.  Prior to NCES, Dr. Carr served as the Chief Statistician for the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Carr is a published researcher in the field of student achievement and equity. She has over a decade of experience teaching graduate–level courses in statistics and research methodology. She holds a B.S. from North Carolina Central University; and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Howard University. Her public service has been widely recognized, which includes receiving the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Distinguished Public Service Award in 2022, the Secretary’s Golden Apple Award for exceptional service in 2016, and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award in 2008.