State education leaders who are champions for data- and evidence-use significantly impact the way their state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) serve students. These leaders are better positioned to: Deeply understand their students’ needs; Identify, share, and invest in evidence-based strategies; and Create a culture of continuous…

State education leaders who are champions for data- and evidence-use significantly impact the way their state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) serve students. These leaders are better positioned to: Deeply understand their students’ needs; Identify, share, and use evidence-based strategies; and Create a culture of continuous improvement…

By Annelise Eaton, Senior Director of Research, Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy and EdResearch for Recovery, a joint initiative of Results for America and the Annenberg Institute. As students return to school for the first time in three years without most COVID precautions in place, the impact of…

By Sara Kerr, Sam Stockwell and Jen Tolentino The last three years have stretched our schools to their absolute limit. Remote learning, social distancing, staffing shortages, ever-changing regulations — all of it — have left city staff, teachers, students and parents depleted. And as recovery efforts continue, it doesn’t look…

By Renise Walker Achieving more equitable outcomes through procurement can seem daunting, but there are simple steps state and local workforce agencies can take to get started. In the United States, $1 trillion is spent each year by state and local governments on goods and services, with $79 billion spent…

The Treasury Department wants data and evidence of program effectiveness to drive states’ American Rescue Plan spending strategies. Here’s what that looks like. By Pete Bernardy and Kristine Goodwin One year after passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, federal funds are helping states recover from the COVID-19 pandemic —…

By Jen Tolentino If you’re reading this and you work in local government, chances are you already know the importance of data. You might also feel pressure to do more with data: generate more, analyze more, report more. If this neverending push for more makes you feel overwhelmed, you’re not…

By Jen Tolentino and Sophie Bergmann The neighborhood a child grows up in profoundly impacts their economic outcomes in adulthood. Zip code level data underscores this point, as does the lived experience of residents, who often feel they must leave their neighborhood to find better opportunities. Of course, neighborhoods aren’t…