“It’s a vicious cycle,” Willett says. “The debt for students is hard to pay off, and people who graduate from here don’t earn much. [Therefore] alumni can’t increase our endowment, and then we’re short of financial aid.”

Although officials refuse to release details, this could be where Summers’ promises come in. Lagemann says that Summers has pledged “financial and personal support” to GSE, including a willingness to identify new donors and help with the school’s fundraising.

“Without getting into specifics, I have already enhanced support from central funds for financial aid at the School of Education, and I have made it clear to Ellen that she will receive both fundraising and programmatic support as she works to focus more sharply the mission of the school and further enhance the quality of the student body,” Summers says in a statement.

Although former GSE Dean Jerome T. “Jerry” Murphy, who served from 1992 to 2000, raised $110 million, that money went primarily to endow chairs for faculty members—the school stills struggles to provide financial aid within its meager budget.

Willett and Singer, who have published several books together and who shared the position of academic dean, only agreed to become the acting deans after former University President Neil L. Rudenstine pledged $6 million to the school over a five-year period to increase financial aid for doctoral students.

The school has long worked to increase doctoral student financial aid since doctoral students stay at GSE for six to seven years, while masters’ students only stay for one.

Since GSE admits 600 masters in education student and only 60 doctoral candidates annually, Singer says that Rudenstine’s aid has put GSE in “much better shape.”

But Willett adds that “financial aid is still an important issue” and that GSE now needs to focus on masters’ students.

Improving Research

Boosting GSE’s budget and endowment will also help in Lagemann’s quest to raise the school’s voice and presence both within Harvard and the larger educational community.

GSE needs to expand the scope of its research efforts and publicize its current efforts better, according to Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education Howard E. Gardner ’65.

“I would like to see research of high quality, drawing on cognitive and brain sciences, and identification of best practices based on solid research,” says Gardner, who also serve on Summers’ advisory committee during the dean search.

Lagemann also hopes for an increase in the communication of the research to the public.

Administrators say that Lagemann is exactly the right person to boost the school’s research efforts into the varying roles of educators—as teachers, administrators and policy makers.

Summers says that Lagemann is “a leader in the effort to convert high-quality academic research into usable tools to improve teaching and learning in the nation’s public schools.”