Tucked in their spacious, sun-filled home in northwest Bend, Victor and Naomi Chudowsky no longer ride the Metro to work or hobnob with heads of state.

Instead, the couple left hectic Washington, D.C., for Bend’s abundance of mountains and forests. But they took their work as education research consultants with them, and the two now work in an office above their garage.

Despite their quiet life, the Chudowskys could have a major impact on federal education policy this year. They helped write a report on the No Child Left Behind act that was splashed across national newspapers from New York to Washington, D.C., at a time when Congress will be looking closely at the law.

The educational researchers were the lead authors on a study released Tuesday by the Center on Education Policy, an independent advocacy group based in the nation’s capital. The agency is not for or against the law but has followed it closely since its inception and produces annual reports on it.

The report revealed that student test scores have improved, and the achievement gap between students of different ethnicities has narrowed since the law was enacted.

But it does not explicitly say the improvements have occurred as a direct result of the federal legislation, signed into law by President Bush in 2002.

”It’s really difficult, almost impossible, to determine the extent to which you can attribute these gains only to NCLB,” Victor Chudowsky said Friday.

About the couple

Married for 12 years, the Chudowskys have a 4-year-old daughter and two doctorates between them.

”They make a wonderful team,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. ”They’re very intelligent, very knowledgeable, very productive.”

Naomi Chudowsky, 42, earned her doctoral degree in educational psychology from Stanford University. Victor, 46, received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Connecticut.

Naomi Chudowsky began her career working for the state of Connecticut to help develop its high school-level reading, math, writing and science testing program. She moved her way up to the National Academy of Sciences, researching how tests are used in K-12 education.

Victor Chudowsky spent time in his graduate school days conducting public opinion research in the former USSR. He then got a job working for Meridian International Center, a contractor to the U.S. Department of State, training Eastern bloc diplomats about U.S. foreign policy.

After Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government began shifting its focus away from Eastern Europe and more toward the Middle East, an area in which Victor did not specialize.

Then when their daughter, Sophia, was born, Naomi started working at home as an educational research consultant. Victor, who had studied statistics and research methods in graduate school, began to help her write proposals. The two decided they made a good team.

”All of a sudden, people were just really happy with our stuff,” Naomi Chudowsky said.

After getting more and more work as consultants, they realized they could live anywhere they wanted to because they were working from home.

”It got to the point where it didn’t really make a difference whether it was one mile away or 1,000 miles away,” Victor Chudowsky said.

They spent vacations in Bend and loved the access to hiking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing.

So they decided to try telecommuting. Four years ago, they moved to Bend and formed consulting firm Caldera Research LLC. Their primary clients are the Center on Education Policy and the National Academy of Sciences.

Despite the fact that they both live and work together, the Chudowskys say their careers do not impact their marriage.

”We spend more time together than most couples,” Naomi Chudowsky said, reclining on the couch next to her husband, ”but it’s given us more of a bond.”

They work objectively, so work-related tension comes up, Victor Chudowsky said.

”We fight a lot, but as soon as we come downstairs for dinner, we stop fighting,” he said as they laughed.

About the study

The No Child Left Behind study took the Chudowskys about six months to do. They pored over data they received from the Human Resources Research Organization, an independent nonprofit research agency.

Between Victor’s statistical skills and Naomi’s analytical and writing skills, the two interpreted the data and produced the 96-page report.

The data they used analyzed results from all 50 states on student reading and math scores before and after the federal law was enacted.

They attempted to answer two questions: Whether student achievement in reading and math has improved since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, and whether achievement gaps between students of different ethnicities have narrowed since the legislation.

They did find that student math and reading performances nationwide have gone up since 2002. They also found that the ”achievement gap” – students of one ethnic group doing better than those in others – has narrowed since the law. But the gap is still ”substantial,” the researchers found.

In Oregon, they found more students scored at a ”proficient” level in math and reading. The data they received from the state showed that 85 percent of third-graders were reading at a proficient level in 2002 and 87 percent scored at that same level in 2006.

In math, the difference was even greater. In 2002, 77 percent of Oregon third-graders scored at a proficient level on the state math test, while 86 percent of them did so in 2006.

But they did not have enough data on Oregon’s achievement gap, because the state did not have adequate data on that information prior to 2002, Naomi Chudowsky said. The student numbers in minority groups were small and changed from year to year, she said.

And she emphasized that the report cannot definitely say it is the law that has caused the improvements. Many things have happened in education over the last five years aside from the law, she said.

”You can’t say that all this has happened because of NCLB,” Naomi Chudowsky said. ”You can’t give credit to the law; it’s really what the educators are doing.”

The timing of the report’s release – the law expires this year – makes it likely it will be studied closely as Congress decides whether to reauthorize NCLB.

Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, testified on the report before the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.

”There were many questions from both Democrats and Republicans,” he said. ”But they are taking the report very seriously.”

Jennings said he is happy that the Chudowskys have been able to marry their professional and personal lives.

”Here they are in Bend having a national impact,” he said. ”They love it out there. Every time we talk to them, they say how beautiful it is.”