Today, we’re releasing the State Education R&D Playbook, an interactive resource developed by the Alliance for Learning Innovation, Education Reimagined, and Transcend, that builds on our brief Seizing the Opportunity for State Education R&D: Findings and Recommendations for Action. Informed by 100+ stakeholders across more than 20 states, it offers concrete strategies, real-world examples, and practical tools to help state leaders, local system leaders, policy influencers, and philanthropists identify, test, and spread what works for learners.
Education still lacks the dedicated R&D structures common in other sectors. States can lead by building durable capacity that turns promising innovation into measurable, scalable transformation. Some states are already illuminating what can happen when research and development are central to education transformation.
States Leading the Way
Kentucky pairs community ownership with formal infrastructure. A statewide vision shaped by thousands of Kentuckians, the United We Learn initiative, has endured leadership transitions precisely because it belongs to the people, not to any single administration. One in four students now attend districts co-designing their own accountability systems through Local Laboratories of Learning, balancing statewide measures with locally-designed indicators validated by communities.
Indiana treats innovation as a strategic priority, not a side project—explicitly naming “creating capacity and flexibility to drive effective learning-focused innovation” as a core goal. Aligning K-12 and higher education under Dr. Katie Jenner enables coherent K-20 innovation, while the state’s Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard captures holistic learner outcomes beyond test scores. When Indiana says innovation matters, their organizational chart and initiatives prove it.
Colorado demonstrates the power of a strong intermediary ecosystem and regional support for transformation. Partnerships cultivated across education, philanthropy, and community organizations help communities access technical assistance, build coalitions, and use policy flexibility responsibly. State initiatives like the RISE Fund and Rural Coaction grants have seeded locally-driven models and created new possibilities for students while maintaining state coherence.
Together, these states demonstrate that there isn’t one “right” structure for education R&D. But there are essential ingredients: leadership commitment, community engagement, flexible policy, strong partnerships, dedicated resources and capacity, and systems to capture and share learning.
Explore the playbook for an in-depth look at these states’ successes and to learn about bright spots and insights from other states.
Why States Must Act Now
The landscape is shifting in ways that make strategic state education R&D not just valuable, but essential:
The federal R&D infrastructure is in flux. For decades, states relied on federally-supported research infrastructure (e.g., the Regional Educational Laboratories). That infrastructure is being dismantled or fundamentally restructured even as the challenges demanding innovation intensify: chronic absenteeism, workforce gaps, educator burnout, declining enrollment, and persistent opportunity gaps. These aren’t problems that one-off pilots can solve.
States are uniquely positioned to drive transformation. They sit between federal mandates and local action, providing the policy flexibility, funding streams, technical assistance, and cross-sector convening power that enable communities to innovate while capturing and spreading what works. In complex political environments, states that can demonstrate locally-driven, evidence-based innovation have a powerful story to tell.
The costs of inaction compound quickly. Fragmented innovation that never scales, lost learning from undocumented pilots, wasted resources on initiatives disconnected from evidence, talent flight to non-public options, and economic consequences as workforce needs outpace what education systems deliver. As one state leader put it: “You can’t say you can’t do your job because of constraints. Leadership matters.”
What’s Inside the Playbook
The playbook is more than a guide; it’s an invitation to action. For states ready to prioritize strategic education R&D, it offers:
- Eight Core Recommendations are organized around two mechanisms: establishing conditions and building infrastructure.
- State Spotlights showcase how states are putting these recommendations into practice, and bright spots aligned to each recommendation provide links to additional promising policies, initiatives, and resources.
- Targeted Plays for four key audiences: state leaders, local system leaders, policy influencers, and philanthropy.
- Self-assessment to help leaders gauge current R&D strengths and opportunities in their context.
- Practical Tools and Resources to jumpstart action in any state.
Ready to Get Started?
Done well, R&D is a strategic, bipartisan way to improve return on investment and learner outcomes without becoming another fleeting initiative. The question isn’t whether to invest in strategic education R&D. The questions are: What infrastructure fits your context? What quick wins can build momentum? Which stakeholders need to be at the table?
Explore the State Education R&D Playbook to discover what becomes possible when states make strategic R&D central to education transformation. To help leaders apply these insights in their communities, ALI has also launched the State Education R&D Leader Network, a community of state and local leaders that strengthens innovation capacity by providing space to share lessons, connect with peers, and implement the playbook’s recommendations in real-world contexts.
