To be effective, R&D must directly engage the educators, students, families, and communities it aims to serve. As state leaders develop their priorities based on statewide challenges, they can engage with local leaders to build capacity and relationships among people doing the work.
State leaders can convene diverse stakeholders—from students and parents to employers and educators—to develop policy structures that are rooted in local reality. Involving external partners and champions of innovation is especially Important for sustainability, given workforce volatility and leadership transitions in state and local leadership.
Key Actions
- Organize and support a state-wide innovation network or community of practice for those testing innovation focused on learning and capacity building around R&D. Approaches to networks could include:
- A state education agency (SEA)-supported statutory network linked to the state’s innovation program.
- A network established by an intermediary with the capacity to build bridges and broker relationships between researchers, educators, workforce, higher education, policymakers, and communities to tackle broader education systemic challenges.
- Support the “match-making” between SEAs, local education agencies (LEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) that might otherwise struggle to engage in new R&D work on their own, with partner organizations and networks.
Learn From Other States
Discover how states across the country are building capacity through partnerships, networks, and community engagement.
Kentucky & Utah: State-Led Networks Fueling Innovation
State education agencies in Kentucky and Utah are cultivating innovation through statewide learning networks. Kentucky’s Innovative Learning Network, the foundation of its United We Learn initiative, empowers local communities to co-design the future of education. Utah’s ULEAD Education connects practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to surface and share proven practices through its statewide clearinghouse. These efforts show how states can lead networks that spread effective, evidence-based innovation.
Virginia & Arizona: Partner-Led Networks Advancing System Transformation
Across Virginia and Arizona, nonprofit and cross-sector partners are building networks that accelerate education innovation. Virginia’s Commonwealth Learning Partnership convenes the Virginia Leads Innovation Network, where district teams collaborate to bring the state’s Portrait of a Graduate to life. In the Southwest, the Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy (AIEE) unites leaders from education, business, and policy through a “three-train” strategy that connects vision, local innovation, and enabling policy. Both exemplify how partners can sustain progress beyond political cycles.
North Carolina: Building Capacity Through Research-Practice Partnerships
The North Carolina Learning Research Network, a collaboration among the Department of Public Instruction, the UNC School of Education, and the NC Collaboratory, strengthens districts’ capacity to conduct action research and evidence-based improvement. Fourteen districts partner with university researchers to study local challenges like chronic absenteeism and teacher retention. By combining professional learning, coaching, and joint evaluation, North Carolina is cultivating a statewide network where research directly informs practice and innovation spreads across communities.
Washington, D.C.: Partnering to Turn Research into Action
The DC Education Research Collaborative joins practitioners, policymakers, and university researchers in a dedicated research-practice network grounded in equity and impact. Authorized by law, it sets a five-year research agenda shaped by an Advisory Committee of 21 diverse stakeholders, and it embeds data-sharing agreements and transparency protocols to ensure usefulness. The result: research that’s not just published, but actively used to improve schools and inform decisions across the capital’s public system.
Pennsylvania: Regional Network Accelerating Innovation Through Collaboration
In western Pennsylvania, Remake Learning’s Future-Driven Schools alliance brings together over 40 school districts in a network designed to build capacity for innovation and shared learning. The cohort convenes workshops, expert speakers, and provides tailored professional development that supports district teams as they iterate and scale new models of learning. By combining networked collaboration with locally-driven experimentation, the region is creating sustainable infrastructure for district-led R&D.