Gerald Bracey
Gerald Watkins Bracey (August 12, 1940 – October 20, 2009) was an American education policy researcher best known for the Bracey Report, an annual look at trends in U.S. public education. The reports ran for about 17 years, offering critical perspectives on many education policies. The last report was unfinished when he died, and his colleagues at the National Education Policy Center completed and published it in November 2009.
Bracey grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia, the son of Bettye and Gerald Bracey. He noticed big differences between his own schooling in the 1940s and 1950s and his children’s experiences, remarking on how topics like calculus and literature were taught in newer, more advanced ways. He earned a BA in psychology from the College of William and Mary in 1962, winning the Botetourt Medal for academic achievement, and he earned a PhD in psychology from Stanford University in 1967. He spent time living in Hong Kong and traveling around Asia, the Middle East, and Europe before returning to finish his doctorate.
Bracey’s career began as a research psychologist at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, where he worked for three years. He then joined Indiana University in 1970 as an assistant professor and as Associate Director at the Institute for Child Study, staying there until 1973. After a period of travel and international work from 1973 to 1977, he returned to the United States and worked as an adjunct for the University of Maryland’s European Division while also writing freelance restaurant critiques.
In 1977 Bracey became Director of Research, Evaluation and Testing at the Virginia Department of Education. He began writing a column titled “Research” for Phi Delta Kappan in 1984, a position he held for many years. In 1986 he moved to Colorado to serve as Director of Research and Evaluation for Cherry Creek Schools, a post he left in 1991. That year he wrote what would become the first Bracey Report, which started as an article and then evolved into an annual publication based on his analyses of education data and policy debates.
Bracey also founded the Education Disinformation Detection and Reporting Agency (EDDRA) in 1991 to debunk misinformation about public schools. He became a regular blogger for the Huffington Post beginning in 2006.
Publications and influence: In his later years Bracey published widely through the National Education Policy Center, including policy briefs and legacy works, and he authored several books such as Final Exam (1995), Setting the Record Straight (1997), Bail Me Out! (2000), and Reading Educational Research (2006). He also produced a booklet called Understanding Education Statistics. He wrote for Phi Delta Kappan, Education Week, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The American School Board Journal, and he contributed to discussions in various journals and on his blog and Twitter.
Personal life: Bracey married Dorothy Irene Heid in 1964; they later divorced. He later married Iris Bracey, with whom he raised two stepchildren, Noel Petrie and Kira Mekeburg. He died in Port Townsend, Washington, in his sleep at age 69, possibly from prostate cancer. He was survived by his wife Iris at the time of his death.
Awards and recognition: Bracey received the American Educational Research Association’s Relating Research to Practice award in 2003 for his work connecting research to real-world education practice. He was named the first Distinguished Fellow for the Agency for Instructional Technology in 1994–95 and remained an influential voice in education policy discussions until his death.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:51 (CET).