The mission of the Office of Urban Education and Educational Equity (formerly known as the Office of Collaborative Education) is to support school-based research and reform efforts that focus on the challenges, problems, and issues confronting schools in providing an equitable education for all students.

Through collaborations with schools and community-based programs, the Office of Urban Education and Educational Equity seek to support efforts to improve the quality of education available to all students. Addressing the various achievement gaps, teacher recruitment and retention, and student recruitment and retention are a major focus.

The Office of Urban Education and Educational Equity also serves as a vehicle for building connections and developing joint research projects between university-based researchers and school-based practitioners on strategies and programming designed to improve the achievement of all students