General resources (cross-cutting)
State education R&D overview, learning systems, evidence-to-practice, field-building, “how to start” guides
| Resource | Description |
| State Education R&D Messaging Document | Key messages for illustrating and advancing education R&D. |
| Envisioning an Evidence-Based Education Ecosystem: State Level (LEARN Network) | State-leader conversation about the system-level steps and structures needed to drive large-scale, evidence-based change. |
| Seizing the Opportunity: Your Guide to Building State Education R&D (Audio Module), (Leadership for Educational Equity) | Explores how states can transform education through strategic R&D. Defines education R&D and explains why it’s so important right now. |
| Why States Must Lead on Education R&D, and How They Can Start Today (Op-ed: Transcend and Education Reimagined) | Case for state-led education R&D (why it matters and practical “how to start” steps) that touches multiple levers. |
| Transforming the Education Sector into a Learning System (EducationCounsel) | Weaves together R&D infrastructure, continuous improvement infrastructure, data infrastructure, human capacity, leadership, and policy/incentives. |
| Engineering Motivation Using the Belief-Expectancy-Control Framework (USC/CZI) | An example of how a “learning engineering” approach can help identify and solve motivation problems experienced by teachers and instructional designers serving adolescent and adult students. |
Establish State Vision and Goals that Prioritize Innovation and R&D
State vision + strategic plans, research agenda examples, priority-setting, student + stakeholder voice, problem definition
| Resource | Description |
| Conversations with Kids: Insight From a Year of Listening (Transcend) and Kid Conversation Starter Guide Policy Influencer Guide System Leader Guide | Tools for eliciting learner priorities and lived experience so states/districts can set direction (vision, goals, research questions) with young people as authentic partners. |
| Vision-Led, Learner-Driven (KnowledgeWorks) | Practical primer on building a shared, learner-centered vision so leaders can set coherent goals and guide system transformation. |
Establish Office
R&D infrastructure models, governance + staffing, convening + coordination, evaluation pathways, investment + sustainability
| Resource | Description |
| Actions State Leaders Can Take Now to Support K-12 Education Research (Bellwether) | Actions states can take to strengthen state research infrastructure in response to federal shifts. |
| Meeting the AI Moment Requires a New Education R&D Infrastructure (CRPE/AERDF) | Even though AI is the “moment,” the argument is fundamentally that education needs stronger, more modern R&D infrastructure and investment so schools aren’t just testbeds for unproven AI tools. |
Empower Local Leaders
Policy levers for innovation, waivers/pilots, enabling conditions, funding mechanisms, scaling pathways, ecosystem-building
| Resource | Description |
| How Education Policy Leads to Extraordinary Experiences for Students (Transcend) | Extraordinary learner experiences become possible when states create a flexible policy environment that lets innovative districts design around student needs. |
| Seeds of Possibility: Connecting Policy to Practice Across Learning Ecosystems (Education Reimagined) | Surfaces policy levers/conditions communities used (and could create) to enable learning ecosystem development. |
| State-Level Policy and Conditions Landscape Analysis (Education Reimagined) | 50-state analysis to help learner-centered leaders navigate and leverage existing policy flexibilities and enabling conditions. |
| Hold that Mandate: Alternative Policy Actions for Scaling Deeper Learning (Center for Innovation in Education) | Weaves together R&D infrastructure, continuous improvement infrastructure, data infrastructure, human capacity, leadership, and policy/incentives. |
| Levers of Change: How State Policies Support District Innovation (Bellwether) | State policy levers that catalyze district innovation (e.g., pilot programs, waivers, funding, and state-run programs) and how states can use them to support local experimentation and spread what works. |
| The Promise of Effective Innovation School Policy (Empower) | Makes the case for state innovation policies that give schools meaningful flexibility to implement school-designed models, boosting educator buy-in and sustainability, and includes state examples and recommendations for effective implementation. |
Mindset and Behavior Change
Implementation chains, adult behavior change, incentives + coherence, continuous improvement culture, adoption and spread
| Resource | Description |
| Our Answer to “Why Didn’t This Policy Work?” (Watershed Advisors) | Policies fail when the adult behavior changes required across the system aren’t mapped and supported; introduces the “implementation chain” as a practical way to define, align, and course-correct those behaviors so student experience actually changes. |
Modernize Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems
SLDS sustainability, data governance, interoperability, analytics capacity, privacy + security, long-term funding
| Resource | Description |
| Sustaining State Longitudinal Data Systems (Education Commission of the States) | How states can sustain SLDS over time—flagging funding, staffing, infrastructure, and adaptability risks and outlining strategies to keep systems functional and useful. |
| State Recommendations to Support Access to Data (Data Quality Campaign) | Concrete policy and practice steps states can take to strengthen SLDS and ensure meaningful, secure access to data (including governance, funding, privacy frameworks, and rollout planning) so data can better support decision-making. |
Leverage Technology
AI strategy + guidance, coordinated action, responsible AI, procurement + readiness, data/tech foundations, rapid learning loops
| Resource | Description |
| From Urgent to Future: Charting a Course for AI in Education (FullScale) and Guide for Coordinated Action | Help leaders move from reactive AI adoption to a coherent, student-centered strategy, pairing a vision/roadmap with role-specific recommendations for coordinated action across SEAs, LEAs, funders, and researchers. |
| Starting Smart with AI: Guide for SEA Leaders (FullScale) | SEA-facing quick guide that frames the state’s role in setting the groundwork for AI (questions, tools, and supports to assess needs, identify gaps, and coordinate district support). |
Partnerships and Networks
Research–practice partnerships (RPPs), community-centered R&D, learner voice + co-design, intermediaries + trust, cross-sector collaboration
| Resource | Description |
| Community-Centered Research & Development in Education (Getting Smart) | Community-centered R&D—equitable design processes, empathy-driven testing, and scenario planning. Argues that students/families/educators should be co-designers and co-testers, not just end users. |
| Trust & Transformation: Why Local Intermediaries Are the Key to Education’s Future (Getting Smart) | Local intermediaries as the “connective tissue” that convene partners, translate strategy into locally grounded practice, and sustain change through relationships and trust—i.e., the infrastructure of cross-sector collaboration. |
| OK. So We Are Listening to Student Voices… Now What? Inclusive Strategy for Educational Transformation (Next Generation Learning Challenges) | Moving from listening to student voice to acting on it through inclusive strategies—treating students as partners whose insights shape decisions and system change. |
| A New Narrative: How Unlocking the Power of R&D Through Inclusive Innovation Can Transform Education (Digital Promise) | Lays out an “inclusive innovation” approach to education R&D that centers collective ownership, student voice/leadership, and community context/proximity expertise to co-create solutions with districts and communities. |
| Five Ways RPPs Can Fail and How to Avoid Them (W.T. Grant Foundation) | Practical guide from state agency leaders on common failure modes in research–practice partnerships and how to avoid them. |
Provide Technical Support
State supports + TA, coaching + facilitation, grant programs + incentives, implementation tools, measurement + learning supports
| Resource | Description |
| Laying the Groundwork for District Success: Texas’ Targeted Approach in a Changing Landscape (State Case Study: Education Resource Strategies) | How Texas created enabling conditions for district success through a theory of action + research-based frameworks + grants, technical assistance, and other implementation supports. |