For 50 years, the mission focus of the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE) and, more recently, CRESST has been the assessment of educational quality, addressing persistent problems in the design and use of assessment systems to serve multiple purposes.

This charge was most recently renewed in 1996 when CSE successfully competed for the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), receiving a five-year,[clarification needed] $13.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

[2] In addition to conducting research based on this core funding, CSE contracts with a wide variety of clients in the public and private sectors, including states, local school districts, foundations, and corporations.

The organization’s success is documented in the demand for its research and development services: CSE’s annual budget from all sources totals over $7 million.

[3] CSE/CRESST is located on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, CA, as part of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.