2026 Eddies Awards: Most Actionable Tools & Research

George W. Bush Institute

Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

This landing page contains the generic version of A Republic of Readers, and Leading on Reading, which is a two-page, condensed version used during the Senate briefing on the science of reading. 

SUMMARY

The Republic of Readers provides governors and state leaders in all 50 states with a clear framework for the four essential elements of strong reading policy and implementation to help them strengthen their states’ literacy efforts. It also includes state-specific analysis and data, examples of strong state practice for each element of the framework, and real-world examples of how governors have used their leadership to drive reform and expand opportunity for all students.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Reading is the foundation of all learning. From early education to the workforce, the ability to read with understanding unlocks every subject—math, science, history, and the arts—and is linked to higher graduation rates, workforce readiness, and lifelong success. When students can read well, they are positioned to excel academically and thrive as informed, engaged citizens. Yet nationally, only about a third of students read at grade level. This challenge begins early and compounds over time. Students who are not proficient by the end of third grade are far more likely to struggle in later grades, drop out, and face limited opportunities. The stakes are high, with long-term impacts on both individuals and state economies. To address this, policy and practice must be grounded in the science of reading—a body of research across multiple disciplines that explains how children learn to read. Evidence shows that explicit instruction in phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension is essential. When states align teacher preparation, professional learning, materials, screening, and intervention to these principles, students are far more likely to succeed. Without alignment, policies often fall short. Governors and state leaders are uniquely positioned to set a vision, direct resources, align policy, and hold systems accountable. To launch the effort, President and Mrs. Bush hosted the Governors Forum on Reading in December 2025. Twelve governors and 28 state leaders participated alongside former governors and national experts in action-oriented discussions. We followed with outreach to all states, personalized engagement, and virtual convenings to support continued peer learning and collaboration.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. States must take a comprehensive, “everything all at once” approach to adopting and implementing policies aligned with the science of reading. Governors and experts at the Forum emphasized that impact requires a comprehensive approach, aligning educator prep, in-service training, high-quality materials, and strong screening and intervention to ensure that systems work together to improve outcomes.
2. Implementation is 90% of this work. With 42 states adopting science of reading policies, governors are now focused on effective rollout—coordinating systems, supporting educators, tracking impact, and continuously improving. Success depends on sustained, years-long commitment to strong implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement, making data-driven adjustments to ensure real gains in student outcomes.
3. Good things happen when states connect and learn from each other. A Republic of Readers highlights governors leading reading reform. At the Governors Forum, bipartisan leaders asked thoughtful questions and shared strategies with one another. One governor noted they arrived without a plan but left knowing they needed one—demonstrating the power of peer learning to spur action.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Our work, both in developing A Republic of Readers and sharing it with leaders in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, was shaped by collaboration with PIE Network members, national partners, and education leaders. These partnerships informed both the framework and how states are applying it in practice. 

Developing the Framework

Through the PIE Literacy Community of Practice, we engaged Alissa Peltzman in reviewing and refining A Republic of Readers. We also incorporated research from 50CAN to strengthen the evidence base. 

Governors Forum on Reading

At our two-day convening of governors and their education policy advisors, partners including PIE Network, National Parents Union, Chief Council of State School Officers, and the National Governors Association contributed to action-oriented discussions. The agenda centered on our framework and the role of governors in driving reform, featuring PIE Network members ExcelinEd and The Commit Partnership, as well as experts from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, National Council on Teacher Quality, U.S. Department of Education, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and former governors who have led reading reform. 

Ongoing Programming and Engagement 

In response to strong demand for continued collaboration, we launched virtual convenings aligned to state priorities and continue to share the framework across partner networks. Examples include: 

• Presenting at CCSSO’s 2026 Legislative Conference
• Sharing the framework at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce convening
• Engaging NGA members through their Governor Education Policy Advisor Academy
• Featuring TNCAN and TN SCORE on a virtual convening of state leaders discussing best practices, monitoring, and continuous improvement. 
• Co-hosting a Senate briefing with NPU featuring state chiefs and national experts; NPU also leveraged the framework to support Senator Cassidy in drafting the READ Act

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

The reach and impact of A Republic of Readers reflect strong engagement across both state and federal leaders, as well as growing demand for continued support and collaboration. Key metrics include:

• All 50 governors, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, received printed, state-specific editions.
• 12 governors and 28 state leaders attended the initial Forum.
• 14 states have advanced new science of reading policies following the Forum in December 2025.
• 37 states are now engaged in ongoing support efforts with GWBI.
• 25 Senate offices attended a federal briefing hosted with NPU.
• NPU supported introduction of the READ Act, informed by the Republic of Readers.
• A Republic of Readers has had more than 500 website views.

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), National Parents Union (NPU)

Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators 

RESOURCES

• ERN: https://edreformnow.org/featured-work/#investing-educators 
• NPU: Investing in Educators – National Parents Union 
• Bonus Pay Gets Great Nurses Where They’re Needed Most. Why Not Teachers, Too? – The 74 
• Recording of June 2026 NPU/ERN webinar (Passcode: *WdY$518)

SUMMARY

This research helps local and state policymakers to identify and implement evidence-based teacher pay strategies so they can address: resource inequities; chronic teacher shortages, including those in STEM, EL, and special education; access to high-quality teachers; and, teacher attrition, especially in high-poverty schools.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Targeting bonuses to educators in high-needs areas—beyond the typical differentials for seniority or advanced degrees—would: equalize access to effective educators; rectify per-pupil spending inequities; alleviate shortages in STEM, EL, and special education; and, reduce teacher turnover at high-poverty schools. Yet despite a clear rationale and strong supporting evidence, bonus pay for teachers in STEM, special education and EL, and for those working in high-poverty schools, is still shockingly uncommon. Our analysis of National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) data from teacher contracts in 148 large districts shows that fewer than 1 in 6 offered bonus pay for working in schools with large proportions of low-income students. Even where extra pay for other shortage areas (e.g., special education) ostensibly exists, the incentives are usually nominal and often require activation by school boards or other entities through processes that lack transparency and accountability to parents and taxpayers, which, in turn, renders them ineffective. Teacher union leaders often opine that any deviation from standard salary schedules is somehow unfair and that bonus pay could be divisive. That opposition reveals a fascinating contrast with standard practices in nursing—a profession for which, like education, the American Federation of Teachers provides widespread representation in collective bargaining. Though nursing shares similar demographics and educational requirements with teaching, the union’s approach to compensation in these two professions is worlds apart. Our analysis of 6 geographically matched AFT teacher and nursing contracts shows that while bonus pay is rare, restricted and meager in teaching, it is widespread, accessible and far more generous in nursing. Teachers are the #1 in-school driver of student outcomes. Our findings weaken the argument that bonus pay is inherently anti-union or unmanageably divisive. It’s time to pay more to get the best teachers to where children need them most.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

• When implementing differentiated pay, three elements are crucial:

1. 1. 1. SUBSTANTIAL: The differential amounts must be substantial enough to be a compelling incentive (at least 7.5% of a teacher’s base salary).
      2. ACCESSIBLE: Like in nursing, the differentials must be easily accessible to teachers and not restricted by opaque approval processes.
      3. RELIABLE: The differentials must be sustained over time, as opposed to being one-time or short-lived bonuses, so teachers can rely on them.

• At the district level, differentiated pay also could be offered as: 

1. 1. 1. Annual bonuses outside of contracts (though negotiation through an MOU or the like may still be required)
      2. Through increasing school leader autonomy over hiring, staffing, and school budgeting; or,
      3. Through strategic staffing with distinct roles that comprise a team teaching model.

• At the state level, differentiated pay could be implemented through:

1. 1. Grant programs tailored to address effectiveness and chronic shortages (e.g., Texas TIA);
   2. Pay scheme flexibilities for qualifying districts;
   3. Scholarship programs that cover full tuition costs for teacher preparation programs in exchange for a multi-year commitment to a hard-to-staff assignment or specialization; or,
   4. A sliding scale tax credit for teachers based on the poverty level of the school in which they teach.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

A number of staff at PIE Network member organizations helped inform the development of this paper and elevated its presence in the field, including: Heather Peske, Hannah Putman, and Katherine Bowser at the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ); Evan Stone and Jill McLaughlin at Educators For Excellence; Nicole Fuller and Saashya Rodrigo at the National Center for Learning Disabilities; Nicholas Munyan-Penney at the EdTrust; and Tracy Johnson, formerly of DFER-Texas. PIE Network also graciously hosted a webinar highlighting the paper in January 2026. Ryan Franklin of Philanthropy Advocates in Texas was a panelist, as was Shannon Holston of NCTQ. Our peer reviewers and critical friends, including several PIE Network members, included 3 nationally recognized experts on teacher pay: Dan Goldhaber (UW), Marguerite Roza (Georgetown), and Douglas Staiger (Dartmouth); as well as 2 others not named yet here: Julie Sugarman (MPI) and Prateek Dutta (Colorado Charter Schools).

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

• Posts on X regarding this paper from Charles Barone’s account alone got over 3,000 views.
• Posts on X regarding this paper from NPU’s account got about 1,000 views.
• Posts on Barone’s LinkedIn page got over 3,000 impressions.
• The paper was featured in a December edition of Mike Petrilli’s Schooled
• On ERN’s website, the report and its associated content received 364 total page views across dedicated pages on edreformnow.org between November 2025 and June 2026, reaching approximately 197 unique users. 
• The primary report page (/k-12/investing- in-educators/) accounted for 241 views with an average engagement time of 43 seconds—nearly 3x the engagement time of the blog announcement post—indicating substantive readership rather than incidental traffic. 
• We can’t claim causality, but 3 months after pointing out in our paper that the Hartford teacher contract allowed for bonuses but the Board had not acted on it, the Board announced new pay differentials for special education teachers.

All4Ed, EdTrust, National Parents Union (NPU)

Network Policy Pillar: High Expectations

RESOURCES

• ESSAWaiverWatch.org

SUMMARY

This tool helps local advocates, parents, and the media to understand the dangers that their state’s assessment, accountability, and/or funding waiver presents to holding all students to high standards and advancing equity so they can make the case to state and federal officials to preserve transparency, accountability, and equitable funding for the students who need them most.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

For three decades, federal law has protected students’ right to an equitable education by requiring that:

• All students should be supported to achieve at the same high standards;
• High-quality, comparable assessments with publicly-reported, disaggregated data will shine a light on schools that aren’t supporting all students; and
• Additional resources for school improvement should flow to schools that need them. 

Now several states are seeking to upend these pillars by seeking waivers of federal assessment, accountability, and funding requirements, often in the name of “states’ rights” and “innovation.” ESSA Waiver Watch keeps track of those efforts and explains why they are, for the most part, harmful. Proposed waivers include:

• Changes to state testing that would lower standards for students, sometimes by several grade levels, and/or allow students to be given different tests, making it impossible to compare how students are achieving against grade level standards. We cannot return to an era when schools have different — and lower — standards for some students.
• Changes to state accountability systems that would lower standards for schools and muddy transparency for parents, advocates, and policymakers, allowing schools to de-emphasize proficiency and graduation rates–hiding poor student outcomes behind less rigorous indicators.
• Changes to how federal funding can be used, enabling resources to flow away from supporting English learners, students from low-income backgrounds, those in rural communities, and justice-involved youth. 

Combined, these efforts seek to reduce access to dedicated resources and services for students that have long been underserved by American schools, while simultaneously creating less transparency around impact and outcomes. These students—including students of color, students with disabilities, those from low-income backgrounds, and multilingual learners—deserve more attention and resources, not less.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Empowering new advocates: Wonky doesn’t have to mean inaccessible. ESSA waivers are technical by design, but the broad, white-label explainers on ESSA Waiver Watch translate the jargon into plain language that any advocate, parent, or reporter can pick up. The tool hands new advocates the background knowledge to enter the fight informed, credible, and ready to make the case, broadening coalitions beyond veteran accountability experts.
2. State-specific advocacy: The fine print is hard to find, compare, and understand on purpose. States rarely advertise what they’re waiving, and the documents are dense. ESSA Waiver Watch provides state-specific summaries that break down what each waiver would change and what it means for equity and transparency, so that parents and advocates can see the threat clearly and spring into action during the (often too-short) public comment window, when officials are still legally required to listen.
3. Building bridges nationwide: No advocate has to fight their state’s waiver alone. By tracking every request in one place, and by contextualizing them within broader threats to equity and accountability, ESSA Waiver Watch turns scattered and siloed state-by-state battles into one shared, national defense. This arms advocates to see what’s coming, borrow winning arguments and learn from the states ahead of them.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

ESSA Waiver Watch is a collaborative project between three national PIE Network members: EdTrust, National Parents Union, and All4Ed. Our organizations have divided responsibility for evaluating new waiver requests and creating content to keep the website up to date, helping make this a go-to resource for advocates and members of the media trying to understand the ever-shifting landscape of state waivers. As awareness of the site has expanded, PIE Network and other advocates have directly shared new waiver proposals, which has helped keep the website up to date. By creating a central hub to find information on a web of policies that are, by design, challenging to track, compare, and understand, ESSA Waiver Watch has also created a central hub for advocacy and communication. Through this project, we’ve coordinated directly with advocates in states including Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, and Oklahoma, leveraging both open webinars and strategic round tables to learn from past waivers and tailor advocacy strategies to the unique local contexts. In many cases, this has involved sharing the findings of our waiver analysis with broader state coalitions and collaborating on public comment and op-eds for advocates to use and adopt for the local contexts. 

We’ve also leveraged these information sharing sessions to more directly discuss strategies for advocacy action, as well as planning for how to monitor implementation in approved states. This state engagement has also led to working with other national PIE Network members, including ExcelinEd and Collaborative for Student Success, to develop additional resources designed to anticipate states following the lead of others who have proposed harmful but potentially popular waivers around assessments and accountability, including menus of assessments in high school and using ASVAB and WorkKeys as state academic assessments rather than military and career readiness indicators. This coordination has helped make the content of the site stronger and more responsive to the current moment.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

From its launch in December 2025 through June 21, 2026, the website has received 6,913 page views from 3,584 users, and 1,104 file downloads. The work has been linked in Education Week, Chalkbeat, and K-12 Dive, and used by reporters in trade and general media as important background for ongoing reporting on state waiver requests and approvals. We’re also tracking the direct support we’re providing for advocates, including:

• In Tennessee, we shared our findings from waivers around the country and specific concerns about recent actions in the state with a large coalition of PIE Network and non-Network members, which helped completely stop a waiver related to the state’s accountability system.
• In Ohio, advocates reached out after hearing about our site and learning about a new waiver in their state. We completed our analysis, which we then shared with a 50+ member coalition, providing opportunities to answer questions and share options for advocacy. This led to 20 organizations signing a joint public comment, as well as a follow-up webinar to share our concerns with a broader audience. 
• We did similar engagement in Indiana, which led to direct engagement with the Indiana Department of Education.
• In Alabama, we shared our analyses with national and local PIE Network partners, which was then used by those with more direct connections on the ground. The engagement again prompted a request to work directly with the state chief to discuss our concerns. 

Together, the combined efforts of state advocates, EdTrust, All4Ed, National Parents Union, and other national partners, using ESSA Waiver Watch as a key resource, have kept key equity protections in place for students across the country. Several state leaders have indefinitely paused, withdrawn, or otherwise modified harmful waiver applications, and no state has received the entirety of every waiver it sought from the U.S. Department of Education.

Edunomics Lab

Network Policy Pillars: High Expectations, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• The WANDA tool 
• Our newsletter describing the tool 

SUMMARY

This data tool helps advocates and leaders to see changes in staffing (central vs teachers vs para professionals, etc.) and student enrollment over time in their state or district so they can weigh in as leaders wrestle with budget tradeoffs and consider which investments are working to drive achievement.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Many states and districts have added staffing in the last several years, even as enrollments may have fallen. The question now is whether those investments are working to drive improvement in student outcomes and should be protected, or whether some school systems need to consider right-sizing or redirecting staff to classrooms. None of these discussions is possible without clear and reliable data, which is typically buried across different documents and sources. This tool inspired thoughtful data-based discussions at school board meetings, with advocacy groups, in state houses, and more.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. In some districts, staffing grew substantially even as enrollment fell. Where those districts face deep deficits, advocates are using these data to ask whether some right-sizing is due. Rather than cut desirable electives and athletics, leaders can consider whether budget gaps can be addressed with some staff restructuring. In districts where staffing cuts have already happened, the data help validate district assertions that it has already right-sized, countering accusations of bloat.
2. Where there was growth in non-teaching specialist staff and administrators (the middle layer), advocates are asking whether students might benefit from returning some of that talent to classrooms, particularly where those additions didn’t correspond to increases in achievement. Or where achievement did grow, the data help make the case for these staffing investments.
3. When advocates are armed with localized and relevant data, engagement happens. Staffing and enrollment data are foundational to district financial health. Pulling these data points together for each district worked to engage communities, media, advocates, school boards, etc., in thousands of communities.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

This WANDA data tool was conceived of in response to questions we were getting from a range of PIE Network members who were asking about the key finance drivers in their local community. As we kept showing people how to examine the basic data inputs, we realized how useful such a tool would be that made those data available to everyone.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

The WANDA tool has had over 33,000 engagements online (where the user was actively interacting with the data) just since March. Numerous PIE Network members referenced it in their newsletter or other publications (NPU, Fordham, Ed Choice, 50Can, Collaborate for Student Success, etc.). The tool was included in hundreds of media stories, and was named in dozens of school board meetings.

National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators

RESOURCES

• Main Report Landing Page – State of the States: Investing in Teachers and Families Through Paid Parental Leave 
  • Fact Sheet
  • Research Summary
  • Executive Summary
  • Arkansas Case Study
  • Delaware Case Study
• Paid Parental Leave Calculator – Paid Parental Leave Calculator – National Council on Teacher Quality 
• Model Policy – Model Act: Paid Parental Leave for Public School Teachers 

SUMMARY

This research or tool helps state policymakers to adopt paid parental leave for teachers so they don’t have to choose between their own families and their students—improving outcomes for kids and for adults. Its accompanying tools—a cost calculator, model policy language, fact sheet, and state summaries—make it immediately usable by legislators, advocates, and district leaders, not just a piece of research that sits on a shelf.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

This report gives states a concrete, low-controversy lever to pull at a moment when teacher shortages and tight budgets are colliding. Teachers should never have to choose between their students and their own families. If we want to keep great teachers in classrooms and improve outcomes for kids, we need strong paid parental leave policies to keep great teachers in the classroom. Fifteen percent of teachers who leave the profession cite personal reasons such as pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for family. Only about one in three teachers reports having access to paid parental leave, and of those teachers, fewer than half perceive the benefit to be adequate. This report brings several key messages to bear for advocates and policymakers. It reframes a soft benefit as a hard fiscal problem. Paid parental leave often gets filed under nice to have. This report shows it’s actually a retention lever—and retention has a real dollar cost. Districts spend $11,000 to $25,000 to replace a single teacher, so every teacher who leaves over a preventable leave gap is a quantifiable loss, not just an anecdote. It exposes a gap that’s bigger than people realize. Teachers have access to paid parental leave at a rate 14 percentage points lower than other working adults, despite being one of the most female-dominated professions in the country. That’s a striking inequity that most people—including many lawmakers—don’t know exists until they see the data. It gives states a low-cost way to act. Unlike calls for across-the-board raises, paid leave is a targeted, scalable policy that Delaware funded through a payroll contribution of less than 1% of employee wages. That’s the kind of smarter use of existing dollars framing that fits squarely into any messaging. It has a real shot at influencing actual legislation. The Arkansas and Delaware case studies are a roadmap that other states can copy. Without strong teachers, our schools and students pay the price.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Require districts to offer at least 12 weeks of paid parental leave for teachers, beyond sick days. Beyond the benefits to families, paid parental leave can also stabilize the workforce—yielding clear economic benefits for states. Research shows that access to parental leave significantly increases the likelihood that employees will return to the workforce rather than leave. Among the 16 states that require paid parental leave, just Arkansas and Delaware offer full pay up to 12 weeks,
2. Guarantee that teachers on paid parental leave receive their full salary for the duration of their leave. Teachers in half of states that offer paid leave receive only partial pay during their time away from the classroom. Extending the benefit of full pay is not as burdensome as one may believe. For example, imagine 3% of Virginia’s 94,000 teachers took paid leave this year. If the state were to cover the cost of long-term substitutes for 12 weeks, the cost would only be $5.35 per taxpayer.
3. Extend leave eligibility and benefits to all teachers who become parents—including fathers, other non-birthing parents, and adoptive and foster parents. Research shows that paid parental leave extended to non-birthing parents, such as fathers, results in greater parental involvement, healthier and more stable family relationships, and improved career opportunities for wom Despite the likely positive outcomes, nearly one-third of states reduce parental leave benefits for non-birthing parents.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Through webinars and collaboration, we connected with over 20 advocacy organizations, many within PIE Network, on the importance of embracing this policy into their agendas. We also engaged with policymakers from 10 states via webinars or phone calls to support the adoption of this policy. 

A quote from a member of a PIE organization – “Kudos on the maternity leave report and webinar last week. That is an issue we’ve been starting to kick the tires on in Texas, so it was perfect timing to get such a strong resource to help us out. More to come on how our conversations evolve between now and next year.” (PIE Network Member)

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Since its publication, NCTQ’s paid parental leave initiative has generated significant engagement and influence. The report and accompanying resources have attracted more than 10,000 pageviews and over 5,000 downloads. Users have engaged with the Paid Parental Leave Calculator nearly 800 times, while the Model Policy has been downloaded more than 350 times—demonstrating strong demand for practical guidance on expanding paid parental leave for teachers. The report also sparked substantial media attention, generating 177 media hits across 70 unique outlets and helping to elevate paid parental leave as a national education policy issue. 

Most importantly, the work has driven tangible policy action. Since the report’s release, 14 states—Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Alaska, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Georgia, Iowa, Virginia, Utah, Hawaii, Nebraska, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—have introduced legislation to support paid parental leave for teachers. Five states enacted legislation aligned with NCTQ’s recommendations. Oklahoma, Georgia, and Utah strengthened and expanded existing policies, while Virginia and Louisiana established paid parental leave benefits for teachers for the first time. The influence of NCTQ’s work is most evident in Louisiana and New Mexico, where policymakers adopted key elements of the NCTQ Model Policy, including innovative state reimbursement systems that help districts cover the cost of substitute teachers. These policy changes demonstrate how research-driven solutions can move beyond recommendations to create lasting benefits for educators and their families.

Rodel, SCORE, ExcelinEd, Jobs for the Future, Commit Partnership, All4Ed, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Non-Network Partner: The Commission on Purposeful Pathways

Network Policy Pillars: Innovative Options, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

The Commission report and toolkits can be found here: A Launchpad for Life: A Vision for Purposeful Pathways for All Students

SUMMARY

This research or tool helps policymakers and practitioners to help students so they can know who they are, where they’re going, and who can help them get there.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Young people are facing a preparation gap, an education gap, and an experience gap. 78% of Gen Z respondents said in a national survey that they know they should have a plan, but only 13% believed that they had one. Our advising is abominable. Georgetown points out that 80% of good jobs will require a degree or certification beyond high school, and yet the national average is closer to 60%. And the experience gap is that young people across the globe tend to have more education, but less real-life experience than their older peers, so this generation is often more than twice as likely to be unemployed as older generations. This report, completed by top researchers at Education First and informed by our 21 Commissioners (several of whom are PIE members and three of whom were students), not only provides a conceptual framework based on national best practice, it also provides toolkits on best practice and policies, and it is the impetus for deep national investment and on-the-ground collaboration through the newly-created Pathways Impact Fund.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Provide ALL students with purposeful pathways. Our students live in a bifurcated system, 80% are in comprehensive high schools with more access to dual enrollment, but less meaningful work experiences. 20% go to vocational schools, with more meaningful work experience, and less access to postsecondary education. All suffer from inadequate advisement. The core recommendation is that all students need access to strong advising, advanced coursework, and meaningful work experiences.
2. Hardwire purpose, belonging, and social capital into every pathway. These concepts are fairly new to pathways, but they are essential. Raj Chetty’s work tells us that economic connectedness (forming friendships across socioeconomic lines) is the single strongest predictor of upward economic mobility. One of the youth Commissioners said it best when she said, “I just want to make a difference in my community.” Embedding these attributes into our pathways will be a game changer.
3. Move the goalpost from the high school diploma to economic mobility. As stated, solely having a high school degree in today’s economy is not a gateway to a good job. Every governor likes pathways, but they mostly want to know are they leading to jobs—good jobs, in their state. Building seamless connections from K12, to higher ed and work means that this is a shared responsibility and one that will not only transform high schools, but higher ed and the workforce as well.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

The Commission on Purposeful Pathways was led by 24 Commissioners, seven of whom are PIE members: Paul Herdman, RODEL and co-chair of the Commission, David Mansouri, SCORE; Amy Loyd, All4Ed; Bridget Worley, Commit Partnership; Adriana Harrington, ExcelinEd; Jaime Francis, US Chamber of Commerce, Joel Vargas, Jobs for the Future, alongwith John Garcia, Pathways Impact Fund and Melissa Connelly, OneGoal (also co-chairs). The research and drafting was led by Education First. The report was just released this March, but it has already informed significant action. This report informed the first $7.5M in investments via the Pathways Impact Fund  into five intermediaries around the nation (including Rodel) to implement the Commission’s recommendations. Moreover, the Pathways Impact Fund has already built a collaboration network with 24 members including PIE Network members like Colorado Succeeds and Youthforce NOLA targeting impact for over 24,000 students. A second $7.5M competition is open now.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

The report has had broad exposure in the US and globally. Global Newswire reported, High School Should Be a Launchpad, Not a Finish Line: 21 Leading Experts Chart Path Forward (3/4/26).

• Reposted: 459 outlets, including the AP and Yahoo Finance
• Views and Unique Readers to Date: 7.8k views, 1512 unique readers 
• AI Citations: Our press release has been referenced by ChatGPT and crawled by Applebot
• The press release gained high visibility through Globe Newswire, the Associated Press, and Yahoo Finance. 

Additionally, Jessica Poiner, Senior Education Policy Analyst at the Fordham Institute released a commentary piece summarizing the findings of the report. Mike Petrilli included a reference/link his colleague’s commentary piece as well as to the report with a short summary of its findings in his Schooled newsletter. 

Since its launch in March, the Commission report landing page has received 3,770 total views from 2,397 unique users. The report file has been downloaded 884 times. Moreover, the report has been highlighted in dozens of webinars and panels ranging from SXSW and ASU-GSV to state conferences like those in Delaware and Tennessee. 

We’ve also been running a survey with over 300 respondents so far about how attainable the commission’s vision seems—you can see results here. 

Most importantly, as stated above, now that the Pathways Impact Fund is using the report as the basis of its multimillion dollar investments and national network, the findings and recommendations of the report will have ongoing impact for tens of thousands of students and communities long after its release.

Innovate Public Schools

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems 

RESOURCES

• AIEP

SUMMARY

This research or tool helps parents and caregivers of students with disabilities to understand their child’s IEP and the rights that come with it so they can advocate with confidence and secure the services their child is owed.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

IEP documents are dense, technical, and full of legal terms. Parents who are new to special education, working multiple jobs, or speak a language other than English often cannot tell whether their child’s goals are right, whether services are missing, or what they can push for. That gap is not a small one. It means children go without support they are legally entitled to, and the families most affected are often those already underserved by the system. AIEP closes that gap. It uses AI to turn confusing IEP paperwork into clear, plain-language explanations a parent can actually use. Parents can upload a document, see what each section means, understand the goals and accommodations, and walk into a meeting prepared instead of overwhelmed. When parents understand the plan, the whole dynamic shifts. They ask sharper questions, catch missing services, and sit at the table as equal partners rather than passive observers. Schools benefit too, through better communication and stronger family engagement. Students benefit most of all, because support that is understood is support that gets followed through. This matters because special education has long depended on a parent’s ability to decode a system that was not built for them. By removing the language barrier and the knowledge barrier at once, AIEP helps level a field that has tilted against low-income families, English learners, foster youth, and historically marginalized communities. Better-informed parents lead to better-aligned services, and better-aligned services lead to better outcomes for the students who need them most.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Plain language is the unlock. When IEP jargon is translated into clear explanations, families who were previously shut out can fully participate. The barrier was never parent capability. It was access to understandable information.
2. Pair the tool with trusted messengers. Adoption rose when parent navigators and community fellows introduced AIEP and walked families through it. Technology spreads through relationships families already trust, not through the tool alone.
3. Language access must go beyond Spanish. Families need quality translation in Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Arabic, plus screen reader support. Real equity means building for the full range of languages and abilities in a community, not the most common one.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Innovate Public Schools has benefited from being part of PIE Network by learning from peer organizations across the country that are advancing educational equity through family leadership, advocacy, and systems change. Through Network convenings and ongoing collaboration, we have gained practical strategies for strengthening parent organizing, building cross-sector partnerships, and using data and storytelling to influence policy. These shared learnings have reinforced several of our organizational priorities, including expanding opportunities for parents to lead advocacy, deepening our focus on literacy through California’s new Science of Reading legislation (AB1454), and developing accessible tools that help families navigate public education. One of those tools is AIEP, an AI-powered resource that makes IEPs and education systems easier for families to understand and navigate. Its development has been shaped by close collaboration with several partners and education leaders. SpEducational, a community-based nonprofit that empowers families advocating for students with disabilities, helped us shape how AIEP explains parental rights and advocacy inside the tool, ensuring the explanations reflect what families actually need to know to participate fully in the IEP process. Teach Plus connected us with teachers during the development phase, bringing special education teachers and specialists into our focus groups. That educator perspective gave us direct insight into how IEPs are written and where parents most often get lost, and it sharpened the tools’ plain-language explanations so they work for both sides of the table. We are now working with the San Francisco Unified School District board to begin implementing AIEP across the district, moving the tool from pilot to practice. These relationships have strengthened our commitment to centering parent voice.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Since launching our first pilot in the San Francisco Unified School District, AIEP has reached families and practitioners through both direct use and broad community exposure. To date, more than 200 families in San Francisco have used the tool to better understand their child’s IEP. Eight parent navigators in San Francisco have been trained to use AIEP and support families with it directly. Beyond direct use, more than 1,000 people have been exposed to the tool through trainings, demonstrations, webinars, and community events, expanding awareness of AIEP across the region. We have also demonstrated the tool with special educators and school administrators, including school principals and district leaders. Parents have self-reported that AIEP has improved their ability to navigate the IEP process. They feel more prepared for IEP team meetings and better equipped to ask questions about assessments, evaluations, present levels of performance, goals, and services. We are now scaling the tool into new communities. We recently launched a pilot with five new parent navigators in San Mateo County and another with eight parent navigators in Los Angeles County. Across these three regions, our goal is to reach 200 new users in each county, for a total of 600 direct users of the tool. We also just signed an MOU to conduct a deep-dive pilot with an elementary school in San Francisco Unified. Looking ahead, our goal is to continue scaling AIEP not only to help families navigate the IEP process, but also to identify systemic barriers in special education. We will use that knowledge to inform our organizing and advocacy, working to change policy and practice so the system serves students and families more equitably.

EdTrust-West

Network Policy Pillar: High Expectations

RESOURCES

• Black Student Success Data Tool

SUMMARY

This research or tool helps local advocates and organizers to ground campaigns, conversations, and calls to action in data so they can leverage the insights to mobilize communities and demand change from Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and its schools. This research tool helps parents, families, and community members to see how well their child’s school is supporting Black students so they can leverage the data to ask informed questions, advocate for stronger student supports and resources for their community.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Black students in LAUSD deserve schools where they feel safe, supported, and academically challenged. Yet statewide and district trends show persistent gaps in achievement, discipline, and access to college and career-ready coursework. When data revealing these gaps is accessible, communities are better equipped to hold systems accountable and push for change. The Black Student Success Data Tool shows how LAUSD schools serve Black students, using publicly available data on school experiences, academic outcomes, and BSAP funding. Designed for advocates, families, and community members, it helps users monitor progress, identify gaps between student groups, and push for accountability. We’ve compiled data from LAUSD and the California Department of Education into interactive dashboards that can help answer questions like:

• How are Black students in LAUSD experiencing school, and how are they performing academically districtwide and at individual schools?
• How do Black students’ experiences and outcomes compare to those of their peers?
• How have the school experiences and academic outcomes of Black students in LAUSD changed over time?
• How are BSAP funds being used, and what are they being spent on?
• What patterns emerge in achievement, school experience, and BSAP spending across schools? 

By making this data easier to access and interpret, the tool helps users hold the district and individual schools accountable for using BSAP funds to support Black students’ academic success and positive school experiences.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Our Black Student Success Data Tool shows that Black students continue to experience lower academic outcomes and higher rates of discipline and disengagement across LAUSD.
2. In 2023-24, LAUSD spent only 74% of its Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) budget, leaving nearly $80 million in targeted funding for Black students on the table.
3. At the school level, the pattern is uneven: while many schools used most of their BSAP budget allocation, several campuses spent none of their BSAP funds, limiting Black students’ access to the expanded supports and programming the dollars were intended to make possible.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

While none of our primary collaborating organizations are PIE Members, EdTrust-West did work closely with several community partners who participated in focus groups to help guide the creation and design of the tool, including: Community Coalition, CADRE, InnerCity Struggle, ACLU Southern California, Catalyst California, Reclaim Our Schools LA, and Dr. David C. Turner III at UCLA. In addition, nearly 50 community partners joined a webinar to learn how to use the tool to advance their local advocacy efforts.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

The Black Student Success Tool has had 400 users and 1000 views since release (March 9) on our website and 1880 views directly on Tableau.

New America

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Homepage: ECHO: The Education, Community, and Housing Open Data Dashboard – New America
• Dashboard: ECHO Data Dashboard
• Education Advocate User Story

SUMMARY

This tool helps policymakers, advocates, and journalists to break down silos, build coalitions across issue areas, and more easily and effectively tackle complex and vital problems in their states and communities.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Public education, housing, and community welfare are closely connected. Housing policy and markets determine who can live in a neighborhood and attend its local public schools. Community factors, including health, income, and employment, affect the students’ learning in local classrooms, as well as the cost of local housing. Property values influence what tax revenue is available for schools. School quality affects the housing market in a neighborhood. Despite these connections, however, those focused on education policy rarely consult information about housing policy, or vice versa. Local socioeconomic indicators are important to both housing and education, but it can be hard to bring them into policy conversations. The Education, Community, and Housing Open (ECHO) Data Dashboard is meant to make that not only possible, but easy. It includes a wide range of national data related to education, housing, and community demographics and welfare. These data—available in map, table, and chart formats—are intended to inform and help shape the discussion and construction of social policy in states and communities, with no need for specialized analytical skills.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Education advocates can use the ECHO Data Dashboard to make the case for education equity improvements with data that will make sense to new allies working on issues of housing, economic development, and health equity. These could include advocacy partners from other sectors, lawmakers that focus on these other issues, and journalists who cover these areas in their beats. See the user stories on the dashboard homepage for examples.
2. Education advocates can use the ECHO Data Dashboard to easily make data visualizations that tell clear and compelling stories about problems and opportunities facing students and communities. The dashboards automatic visualization functions can help advocates illustrate their talking points, create social media graphics, and bring compelling materials to conversations with lawmakers and stakeholders.
3. Education advocates can use the ECHO Data Dashboard to see how school district and community data affects each state legislative district and congressional district. These many federal data sources are not reported at the legislative district level, but with ECHO, advocates can tell lawmakers how school funding, student need, and community welfare data looks in the district that elects them, not just the geographic unit in the data. This powers more targeted and compelling advocacy.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

In our work exploring the intersection of housing policy and school finance policy, we were consistently stymied by the fact that school finance data is reported at the school district level, while housing and other community data tends to be reported at the census tract level. But this is more than an academic challenge. PIE Network members know that the best legislative advocacy case is the one that speaks to a lawmaker’s home district, but none of the data is reported at the level of the legislative district. Past PIE Network member efforts to reform school funding formulas in Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Connecticut, Colorado, and other states have required bespoke data efforts to show how different school funding factors affect the state’s legislative districts. This tools gives a huge head start to those advocacy efforts.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

New America is at the beginning of publicizing this tool. We have planned a presentation to the Southerners for Fair School Funding network and shared it with networks of local advocates focused on education ecosystems and school desegregation.

Advance Illinois

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Federal Actions & State Responses: Exploring Key Policy Changes and Potential Next Moves for Illinois
• Presentation to the Illinois Success Network Conference developed based on the Federal Explainer 

SUMMARY

This tool helps Illinois lawmakers navigate the shifting federal landscape and its impact on education and care. It offers a clear overview of key federal actions affecting students, children, and families, across areas like funding, immigration, civil rights, and higher education, along with analysis and suggested state responses to protect access and seize new opportunities.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

In a landscape of information overload and constantly-updating news and social feeds, this explainer collates and provides analysis of the federal changes most relevant to the conditions impacting educational access and student outcomes and opportunities in Illinois. Given the breadth of the changes at the federal level, roughly 1.9M public school students across the state, nearly 131 colleges and universities in Illinois, and thousands of early childcare providers stand to be impacted in one way or another by federal policy and budget decisions.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Provisions in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act (OBBBA) reduce eligibility, including eliminating eligibility for legal immigrants. The explainer suggests that Illinois develop an alternative, inclusive method for calculating low-income count for EBF purposes. Since changes to low-income counts may begin to impact EBF as early as this summer, the state should investigate alternative options for stabilizing low-income counts in FY27 and, more durably, for the long term.
2. In response to the Department of Justice rescinding “disparate impact” guidance, with the Department of Education receiving guidance to do likewise, the explainer suggests Illinois codify disparate impact protections at the state level.
3. In light of large reductions in force at the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) and the cancellation of nearly $1B in approved research grants and cancellation of long-standing longitudinal studies and other critical data infrastructure, the explainer suggests Illinois develop a state data agenda to ensure the state has access to the data it needs to assess and improve student success, particularly in the event that federal sources are discontinued or compromised

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

The knowledge and information sharing, learning, and collaboration that are central to the Illinois Federal Education Response Group (IFERG), which Advance Illinois convenes on a monthly basis, greatly informed this work and highlighted the need for such a tool to share with lawmakers that would fill what was observed as a critical information gap.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

This tool was first shared with lawmakers at our annual Legislator Education Forum targeted to the full Illinois General Assembly (177 members) before being distributed by email to a listserv of over 4,000 people including nonprofit policy partners, foundations, civic leaders, agencies, CBOs and more as well as some state lawmakers. Further, the explainer was distributed by hand to lawmakers during the recent legislative session as well as made available at various convenings related to education including the annual Illinois Success Network conference.

Education Resource Strategies

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Meeting This Moment in K-12 Education: Actionable Resources for District and State Leaders
• These 12 States Are Most Affected by Federal Education Funding Cuts
• 5 Intertwining Financial Challenges Districts Are Facing – Education Resource Strategies
• When the Future Is Unclear, Start With What Matters Most – Education Resource Strategies
• The Shifting Role of State Education Agencies in Supporting District Sustainability
• Guide to Strategic Budget Reductions – Education Resource Strategies

SUMMARY

This research helps education leaders and advocates to make informed decisions and tradeoffs in the face of unprecedented fiscal uncertainty and challenge so they can protect the practices and experiences that matter most for students and educators.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

By painting a clear picture of the current fiscal challenges districts are facing, advising state leaders on how they can support districts through this critical moment, and offering guidance on the types of tradeoffs and strategic budget reductions that will protect student learning, we can ensure that districts build a sustainable path forward. Without navigating this strategically, leaders run the risk of making the easy, across-the-board cuts that will disproportionately affect the students who need these resources the most, while still failing to address the issues that will continue to financially strain them. It’s also important that community members understand the fiscal landscape and how it’s impacting their schools and students. This campaign raises awareness of these often overlooked or under-covered issues so that, when districts ultimately decide on strategies to move forward, they can be involved in decision-making. This framing has already demonstrated impact. Our original campaign directly led to funder-supported regional work in New England, where we’ve brought this analysis to state and district leaders, driving real action on the ground.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Education leaders are navigating this crisis without the full picture of all the different factors that are impacting their finances. Changes to federal programs like Medicaid and SNAP, unstable local and state revenues, enrollment decline, rising costs, and increased student need are hitting simultaneously, creating an urgency for bold action unlike anything districts have faced before.
2. Meeting this moment of financial challenge requires tough, strategic trade-offs—not brute-force cuts. The districts that do nothing, or make un-strategic cuts, will end up preserving the status quo, allowing outdated structures and default decisions to erode student experiences. Districts that make bold decisions and tradeoffs that protect what we know work best for kids will be best positioned to navigate this challenge and uncertainty.
3. District leaders can’t navigate this storm alone. State education agencies have a critical role to play in helping district leaders through this challenging moment. Especially as they assume a greater autonomy and responsibilities for public education in their state. They can take action by helping identify common challenges, surfacing best practices, and helping districts in making these strategic, but difficult decisions.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

These publications were informed by discussions, partnerships, and cohorts with district and state leaders across the country who are navigating these challenges. This campaign led to funder-supported work in the New England region to raise awareness of the compounding challenge and drive action amongst stakeholders and communities. As part of this project, we have developed a deep understanding of how these challenges are impacting district finance in the region, and have led presentations for education leaders to help them understand the fiscal landscape in their states and identify specific actions and solutions.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

In the past year, these connected publications have resulted in nearly 28K clicks, including all U.S. states and internationally. This analysis was picked up in the media by national outlets like Education Week and K-12 Dive, and state outlets like the Minnesota Reformer, which cited our research in an article to raise awareness about the impact that federal funding disruptions would have on districts. We ran a targeted outreach campaign for education leaders on our strategic budget reduction guides, resulting in 316 downloads from some of the largest k-12 districts in the country. As part of our deeper work in New England, we have taken our findings on a roadshow, connecting with state and district leaders in states including Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations 

RESOURCES

• How the Science of Reading Is Reshaping Teaching: What the Data Say
• Report: Nearly One-Third of Teachers Still Use ‘Discredited’ Reading Methods – The 74
• The science of reading has won the argument. Has it won the classroom?
• The science and culture of reading instruction
• How can states and systems help teacher preparation programs with the science of reading?

SUMMARY

This research helps state policymakers and education leaders to identify where science- of-reading reforms are—and are not—reaching K–3 classrooms so they can strengthen teacher preparation, licensure, early-career training, and curriculum policies to turn promising laws into stronger reading instruction and better outcomes for students.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

At least 40 states and counting have enacted science of reading laws, which we consider a significant step in the right direction toward improving literacy education. However, whether these efforts ultimately succeed depends in large part on how clearly and consistently they are understood, supported, and enacted by teachers. To learn more about these laws’ impact on what’s really happening in classrooms, we conducted a nationally representative survey of America’s K–3 reading teachers, with the twin goals of assessing their knowledge of reading science (via a short quiz embedded in the survey) and connecting those results to specific and ongoing science-of-reading state implementation efforts. Among our findings: 

• At least a third of teachers in high-poverty settings aren’t fully committed to the science of reading
• Teachers who rely on their preservice training know less about the science of reading than teachers who receive in- service training
• Teachers in states with science of reading-aligned licensure tests have a firmer grasp of reading science; and many teachers are still using questionable reading curricula. 

These findings help policymakers and education leaders identify where implementation is succeeding and where additional support is needed. By strengthening teacher preparation, aligning licensure requirements with evidence-based reading instruction, expanding high-quality professional development, and ensuring access to science of reading aligned curricula, states and districts can increase the likelihood that literacy reforms translate into stronger classroom instruction. Because early reading proficiency is a foundational predictor of later academic success, improving the quality and consistency of reading instruction—particularly in high-poverty schools where the report identifies the largest implementation gaps—has the potential to improve literacy outcomes, narrow achievement gaps, and expand students’ long-term educational and economic opportunities.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Before teachers enter the classroom, they should have received science of reading aligned instruction from their teacher preparation programs, and those teaching K–3 should be expected to pass licensure exams that include comprehensive knowledge of the latest reading science.
2. States should require every K–3 teacher to complete at least one science of reading training in their first two to three years on the job. Our analysis shows that teachers who complete LETRS, UFLI Foundations, or Amplify CKLA have a clearer grasp of reading science than the rest of the sample, as do those who complete state-sponsored trainings (though we aren’t in a position to endorse specific states’ professional development–related choices).
3. States should require districts to adopt a science of reading aligned K–3 curriculum of their choosing from a state-approved list. State departments of education can curate a list of curricula that are fully aligned with the science of reading yet diverse enough to fit the needs of all their students (including English learners and students with dyslexia). Researchers and states should regularly assess the curricular content.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Literacy education is a key priority for PIE Network members, and we were especially grateful to be able to learn and draw from ExcelinEd’s Early Literacy Matters initiative. To quantify teachers’ exposure to policies related to the science of reading, we augmented our survey data with their Early Literacy Matters data. Deans for Impact Board President Kelly Butler’s feedback on our report draft was invaluable.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Published less than two months ago, the report has already received 15,400 views and 39 media mentions in publications such as Education Week, The 74, Chalkbeat, and K–12 Dive. It has been featured in newsletters from organizations including FutureEd, Whiteboard Advisors, the National Association for Gifted Children, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, and Johns Hopkins University. The report is also on the reading list for North Carolina’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education, a bipartisan commission established in March 2026 by the governor to strengthen student achievement. We have also witnessed influential policy voices engage with the findings. Rachel Canter of the Progressive Policy Institute noted that the report “substantiates what many of us have suspected” and highlighted its implications for how states align literacy reforms and implementation efforts. Robert Pondiscio of AEI shared one of the report’s most important insights: that teachers in disadvantaged schools often report receiving more science-of-reading-aligned training and materials but nevertheless demonstrate weaker knowledge and commitment to those practices. Last but not least, NCTQ’s 2026 Teacher Prep Review featured a recommendation for teacher preparation programs that echoed one included in our report, suggesting that the study is already contributing to conversations about how future educators should be trained.

Progressive Policy Institute

Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Inside the Mississippi Marathon – Progressive Policy Institute
• Canter for The Atlantic: Replicating the ‘Mississippi Miracle’ Won’t Be Easy – Progressive Policy Institute

SUMMARY

This research helps state policymakers, advocates, and educators to better understand the factors contributing to the Mississippi Marathon so they can help their own state chart a course to educational improvement.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Mississippi’s dramatic improvement serves as an example of what is possible for children nationwide, regardless of their background or their starting point. At a moment in history in which students nationally have recently posted some of the lowest reading and math scores this century, Mississippi provides a reason for hope. The report provides a detailed and nuanced look at how Mississippi’s change came about, proving that the slow, steady work of advocacy for change can have big impacts for children if leaders persist. Inside the Mississippi Marathon is written as a playbook for policymakers hoping to understand how to create similar outcomes beyond policy checklists and campaign slogans.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Mississippi’s educational transformation from last in the nation to among the best did not depend on a single policy or person but a comprehensive policy agenda, careful implementation work, collective leadership, and persistence over time. This is why Mississippi’s success should be framed not as a miracle but as a marathon. Any state with the right mindset and enough desire can replicate it.
2. Our comprehensive policy agenda included four pillars: 1) standards, testing, and accountability; 2) consequences for poor performance; 3) evidence-informed instructional policy; and 4) support for implementation. In order to replicate our success, states should focus not only on the ingredients of Mississippi’s science-of-reading work (one of our evidence-informed instructional policies) but also on how the context surrounding that policy established the conditions for its success.
3. People were at the heart of the effort to make change in Mississippi by building political will, advocating for change, working hard on implementation, and persisting through backlash. States should think about how they build collective leadership to improve student achievement across government (legislature, SEA), nonprofits/advocacy organizations, and local schools and districts.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Several members of PIE Network were instrumental in Mississippi’s journey. Mississippi First has been the state’s leading education reform voice for public schools since 2008. Both Mississippi First and Mississippi benefited over the years from the support of ExcelinEd, Fordham, NCTQ, NAPCS, and NACSA, among other national partners as well as the thought partnership and support of our friends and colleagues in PIE Network from states across the country.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Since the report’s release, it has received over 6,000 page views on PPI’s website and spawned a dozen media reports and podcast interviews. The Atlantic article alone has received 250,000 views, according to their internal numbers. Canter has met with state leaders in six states since April 2026 and has plans to engage more over the next year.

State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), TNTP

Network Policy Pillars: High Expectations, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Coherence by Design​ – TNTP
• Coherence at Scale – TNTP 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUAM3P0xy44 –
• Piloting Instructionally Coherent Literacy Intervention in Knox County Schools
• Instructional Coherence for Literacy: Knox County Study Shows…
• https://youtu.be/KkdDhJIQBDo?si=YuB8LDI0KjEeJprZ

SUMMARY

This research helps district leaders and state policy makers to take action on implementing practices and policies that establish and scale instructional coherence so they can strengthen student experiences and increase student academic outcomes, particularly for students who are furthest behind.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Across the country, students who need the most support often experience the most incoherent instruction. Core instruction, intervention, tutoring, and other supports are frequently disconnected, leaving students—especially those furthest behind—to navigate different materials, routines, and expectations across their school day. When systems create the conditions for instructional coherence, every student can engage in grade-level learning across all subjects. Drawing on data and real district practice, this instructional coherence-focused suite of reports—TNTP’s Coherence by Design​: Building Instructional Systems That Help Students Catch Up, TNTP’s Coherence at Scale: A State Guide to Supporting Instructional Systems, and SCORE’s Piloting Instructionally Coherent Literacy andInstructional Coherence for Literacy—outline the real increases to student outcomes when instructional coherence is implemented, and the actionable steps district leaders and state policymakers can take to establish, scale, and sustain instructional and systems coherence. 

The reports are grounded in impact data from an early literacy initiative implemented in Knox County, TN, in which students in coherent intervention groups averaged 1.3 additional months of learning, with the lowest-performing students benefitting even more, averaging 1.8 additional months of learning. In the school with the strongest implementation, students grew by an additional 4.3 months. These publications show what coherence looks like in classrooms and across systems, why it matters for learning acceleration, and what actionable steps district leaders and state policymakers can take to establish coherent systems of academic support that serve all students, particularly those who rely on multi-tiered systems of support the most, far better with excellence.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. The randomized control trial provides strong evidence that aligning interventions with Tier I instruction (“instructional coherence”) helps students learn more, faster—and without added cost, materials, or staff. Working to understand the findings of this study and how they can be scaled beyond, resulted in a set of recommendations for Tennessee and other states to further incentivize and spread this impactful practice.
2. School and district leaders can take clear actionable steps to establish instructional coherence at the school-building level. Although these steps take capacity and intention, they are all within the power of leaders to pursue.
3. State policy is essential to scaling and sustaining instructional coherence so that every young person has access to such high-quality learning experiences. Importantly, doing so is within state policymakers’ reach: there are existing areas of state action that, when intentionally connected, create powerful conditions for scaling instructional coherence.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

This coherence-suite of action research from SCORE and TNTP would not have been possible without the collaboration, insight, expertise, and leadership of the district, school, and classroom leaders in Knox County, TN who participated in the randomized control trial. These reports are powerful because they are rooted in practice and outcomes from that work; these Knox County districts made clear what is possible when district leaders align all their work to advance student outcomes from a vision of instructional coherence. 

Because of its clear recommendations and demonstrated impact on student outcomes, PIE Network members across the country are aiming to apply learnings from this research within their own settings. SCORE and Knox County Schools co-presented this study to researchers, district leaders, and peer organizations at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard’s Strategic Data Project convening. SCORE has shared deeply with peer organizations like A+ Education Partnership in Alabama who are looking to understand how to implement similar efforts in their own state contexts. SCORE has had opportunities to further apply coherence strategies in the Tennessee Educator Staffing Innovations Network and inform other state approaches that are being facilitated nationally in partnership with Teach Plus. TNTP has presented these reports to multiple districts and states across the country since their release, including presenting at a CCSSO Spring Collaborative meeting which convened CAO/CTO state education leaders, as well as State District Improvement Officers, from across the country.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

• TNTP and SCORE’s suite of publications on instructional coherence have reached a significant share of the field. All together, these reports have received: 34,256 total page views and 7,786 total downloads since publication. The scope and reach of this research enable states and districts across the country to follow the lead of Knox County and Tennessee.
• TNTP’s Coherence By Design has received 26,329 page views and 5,924 downloads since its release on March 4, 2026. 
• TNTP’s Coherence at Scale received 5,303 page views and 1,342 downloads since its release on June 10, 2026.
• TNTP’s webinar on Coherence by Design was attended by 790 individuals and was viewed on YouTube 1,200 times (with TNTP’s website page receiving 759 views).
•  SCORE’s Instructional Coherence for Literacy has received 1,744 page views and 339 downloads since publication.
• SCORE’s Piloting Instructionally Coherent Literacy has received 880 total page views and 181 downloads since publication.
• SCORE’s webinar on Instructional Coherence was attended by 98 individuals and viewed on YouTube 151 times (with SCORE’s website page receiving 443 views).

Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• crpe.org/ai-in-education 
• Think Forward: Building a Coherent Approach to AI in Education 
• crpe.substack.com

SUMMARY

This research helps policymakers, system leaders, and funders understand how AI adoption is actually unfolding in districts and states so they can move beyond fragmented experimentation toward coherent, equitable AI implementation that improves outcomes for every student.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving faster than most education institutions can respond—and the stakes are high. Districts and states face enormous pressure to act on AI, but without reliable evidence on what responsible, effective adoption looks like, many risk layering AI onto outdated systems rather than using it to fundamentally redesign them. CRPEs AI Early Adopter research fills that gap. CRPE’s interconnected studies on AI include a deep-dive study of Early Adopter school systems, a new mixed-methods study of state education agencies shaping AI adoption across 39 states and territories, and a Gap Analysis examining misalignments between AI tools and the real needs of educators, families, and system leaders. Together, these studies revealed that the barriers to AI’s impact in education are not primarily technical—they reflect deeper misalignments in vision, incentives, and system design. The field is over-tooled and under-visioned, and meaningful transformation requires more than deploying new products. It requires coherent strategy, equitable access, and leadership at the district, state, and national levels. CRPE translated these findings into practical, field-facing resources: public databases on district and state AI early adopters, research briefs, op-eds, a white paper, and Robin Lakes Think Forward: Learning with AI newsletter—all designed to give leaders the evidence and framing they need to act. This work matters because it shifts the conversation from should we use AI to how do we use it well—and puts actionable research in the hands of the policymakers, funders, and system leaders who can drive that shift at scale.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. The field is over-tooled and under-visioned. AI tools are proliferating, but most districts lack a coherent strategy for using them to improve outcomes. Leaders should prioritize building a clear vision for AI-enabled learning before investing further in tools—and funders should support that vision-building work, not just product adoption.
2. State education agencies are an underutilized lever for equitable AI adoption. CRPE’s study of early state actions on AI found that states vary widely in their AI guidance, teacher support, and policy infrastructure—and that early-acting states are creating meaningful advantages. Advocacy organizations and state leaders should act now to establish clear AI policy frameworks, especially around equity and teacher training.
3. AI has the potential to widen existing inequities if districts and states don’t act quickly and with intention. CRPE’s research found that high-income communities are more likely to have access to AI tools, trained teachers, and coherent adoption strategies—while under-resourced schools risk being left further behind. Advocates and policymakers must push for AI policies that prioritize equitable access, teacher training, and family engagement in every community.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

CRPE’s AI Early Adopter research was shaped by and directly informed the work of numerous PIE Network members.

• PIE Network: CRPE provided refinements to PIE Network’s AI-related parent poll questions, which informed a nationally representative survey and guided member advocacy strategies.
• Tennessee SCORE explicitly incorporated CRPE’s recommendations into its ELA-focused AI memo to the Tennessee State Board of Education, including establishing a vision for AI in education and prioritizing teacher training.
• ExcelinEd drew on CRPEs feedback in developing model AI guardrail legislation for state lawmakers and chiefs.
• TNTP hosted Michael Berardino for an all-staff session where he shared early findings from CRPE’s Early Adopter School Systems study with over 300 participants.
• EmpowerK12 engaged Robin Lake and Bree Dusseault to advise on speakers, topics, and strategy for a planned AI Summit for DC education leaders.
• EdTrust included Shira Haderlein as an ongoing member of its AI Advisory Board, creating a direct channel between CRPE’s research and EdTrust’s equity-focused AI work.
• Educate Texas hosted Bree Dusseault for a Texas Philanthropy Leadership Circle fireside chat where she shared early adopter findings with funders and education leaders.
• 50CAN invited Michael Berardino and Shira Haderlein to brief staff on CRPE’s full AI research portfolio.
• Additionally, philanthropic leaders at the Gates Foundation, Gates Family Foundation Colorado, and Cinelli Family Foundation used CRPE’s research to inform and refine their AI investment strategies. 
• National intermediaries, including TeachAI, Digital Promise, and AI for Equity, incorporated CRPEs feedback into sector-level frameworks, literacy guidance, and investment theses.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

CRPE’s AI research reached a substantial and diverse audience over the grant period across multiple channels: 

• Media: 25+ media stories citing CRPE’s AI research, appearing in NPR, CNN, The New York Times, the Associated Press, Education Week, The 74, and K-12 Dive—representing over 58 million estimated impressions. 
• Publications: 12 products published or in progress, including research briefs, a peer-reviewed article in State Education Standard, and op-eds in The 74 and The Hechinger Report. Combined views and downloads exceed 20,000, with syndicated op-eds adding 10M+ estimated impressions. 
• Convenings: 28 conferences, panels, and webinars—including SXSW EDU, ASU+GSV, and ISTE Live—reaching 1,000+ policymakers, funders, and edtech leaders directly.
• Newsletter/social: Robin Lakes Think Forward newsletter grew to 4,000+ subscribers; CRPE’s LinkedIn grew by 2,000+ followers to over 7,000. 
• Policy influence: 27 documented examples of policies or practices changed. The clearest signal of real-world traction: Tennessee SCORE built our recommendations directly into its State Board of Education memo on AI in ELA instruction. ExcelinEd used our feedback to shape a model AI guardrail bill now circulating to state lawmakers. TeachAI and Digital Promise incorporated our input into the national AI literacy frameworks, now guiding states and districts. Indiana Board of Education member Scott Bess cited our Think Forward Forum insights while expanding a microschool collaborative from one site to eight. And three major funders — Gates Foundation, Gates Family Foundation Colorado, and Cinelli Family Foundation — drew on our research to shape AI investment strategy.

ExcelinEd

Network Policy Pillars: Great Educators, High Expectations

RESOURCES

• Math Matters Website

SUMMARY

The Math Matters digital playbook helps policymakers and K-8 education leaders to analyze, compare, and strengthen a state’s math policies using an evidence-based, comprehensive framework so they can improve student math outcomes and expand long-term academic and economic opportunities.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

ExcelinEd’s Math Matters (MathMatters.org) addresses a significant and growing challenge: most students are falling behind in math proficiency, limiting their future academic and career opportunities. Only 39% of 4th graders and 27% of 8th graders are proficient in math, underscoring the need for systemic change. Math Matters translates research into actionable policy. It is designed to evaluate and advance comprehensive K–8 math policy through an evidence-based model framework organized around 11 fundamental principles. These principles address key system levers, including support for educators, assessment and parent notification, instruction and intervention, and ensuring Algebra I success. A central feature of Math Matters is its 50-state policy scan, which analyzes each state’s adoption and implementation of these principles. This allows policymakers and education leaders to clearly see how their state compares, identify gaps, and prioritize improvements. By enabling states to take a coherent, systemwide approach rather than fragmented reforms, Math Matters helps ensure students receive consistent, high-quality math instruction and timely support. Strong math skills are linked to higher earnings and increased workforce readiness, particularly as demand for data and quantitative skills grows. 

Ultimately, this work improves student outcomes by strengthening the policies that shape classroom instruction, which is to ensure that more students build the foundational and advanced math skills needed for long-term success. To date, Math Matters has driven policy changes in 11 states, creating the potential to impact academic outcomes for several students.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Use a comprehensive, evidence-based framework to guide policy decisions. States should align their K-8 math policies around the 11 fundamental principles, which address critical areas such as educator support, instruction, assessment, intervention, and access to Algebra I, to create a cohesive and effective system.
2. Leverage state-by-state comparisons to identify gaps and drive improvement. The 50-state policy scan allows leaders to benchmark their progress, learn from other states, and prioritize policy changes that strengthen implementation and outcomes.
3. Focus on foundational skills and pathways to advanced math success. Ensuring early math proficiency, timely interventions, and successful completion of Algebra I is essential to improving student trajectories and expanding access to future academic and career opportunities.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Math Matters reflects a field-informed approach grounded in the experiences and priorities of policymakers, advocates, and education leaders working to improve math outcomes. The development of the tool draws on research, policy analysis, and insights from leaders across states who understand the need for more coherent and comprehensive math policy. Through its structured framework and comparative data, Math Matters supports PIE Network members and other education leaders in translating research into action. Leaders can use the tool to assess their state’s policy landscape, identify gaps in adoption and implementation, and advance targeted reforms aligned with evidence-based practices. Additionally, the tool facilitates cross-state learning, which allows states to see where others are making progress and replicate effective strategies. This shared knowledge base strengthens collective efforts to improve math outcomes and ensures that policy changes are grounded in what works.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Math Matters measures reach and impact through engagement with its interactive platform and the use of its policy framework in state-level decision-making. The tool’s 50-state policy scan provides a clear mechanism for tracking how states adopt and implement the 11 fundamental principles over time. Usage indicators include engagement with the interactive state map, downloads of related resources, and citations of the framework in policy discussions, legislative proposals, and advocacy efforts. Math Matters has drawn 1,767 active users and 7,677 pageviews, with users averaging four pages per visit and 1 minute and 3 seconds per page. Across these sessions, users have taken 17,801 engagement actions, including 1,057 file downloads, underscoring strong demand for the framework’s tools. The tool is designed to inform decision-making, and its impact is reflected in how policymakers and education leaders use it to shape reforms. Over time, impact can also be seen in increased alignment of state policies with evidence-based practices and improvements in implementation. As more states leverage the framework to strengthen their systems, the cumulative effect is greater consistency in math instruction and improved student outcomes nationwide. State leaders also report the usefulness of the site and that it lays out a policy roadmap; in 2026 alone, 11 states passed at least one or more of ExcelinEd’s fundamental principles into law.

myFutureNC Data Ecosystem: Turning Data into Action Across North Carolina

Network Policy Pillars: High Expectations, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Dashboard – Dashboard
• County Resources – North Carolina County Educational Data and Resources
• All Indicators – All North Carolina Educational Performance Indicators
• North Carolina County-by-County Attainment Progress https://qrco.de/NCdashboard 
• 2026 State Report – https://qrco.de/2026State

SUMMARY

The myFutureNC Data Ecosystem helps policymakers, education leaders, workforce partners, employers, philanthropies, and community organizations identify local needs, align investments, and measure progress so they can make evidence-based decisions that improve educational attainment, strengthen workforce pipelines, and expand economic opportunity across North Carolina.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

North Carolina has set an ambitious goal: by 2030, two million residents ages 25–44 will hold a high-quality credential or postsecondary degree. Achieving that goal requires timely data communities can use to make informed decisions. The myFutureNC Data Ecosystem is North Carolina’s shared source of truth for education and workforce data, combining 128 education, workforce, demographic, and attainment indicators into public dashboards, county and regional profiles, and annual reports supporting local, regional, and statewide decision-making. More than a reporting tool, the ecosystem drives action. County attainment teams identify opportunity gaps and develop local strategies. Community colleges strengthen strategic plans and grant proposals. Workforce boards align investments with employer demand. School districts improve college access initiatives. Policymakers used the data to inform the Workforce Act of 2026 by identifying attainment and workforce gaps and aligning partners around shared priorities. The impact is measurable. 

• A-B Tech Community College used regional profile data to secure a GlaxoSmithKline Foundation grant supporting its ABM Works pre-apprenticeship initiative. 
• Appalachian State University used myFutureNC county attainment profile data to support its successful $35 million U.S. Department of Education GEAR UP APEX grant, demonstrating how trusted data helps secure transformational investments that expand college and career opportunities for nearly 14,500 students and families across 12 North Carolina school districts. 
• Johnston Workforce Alliance launched a county apprenticeship initiative using dashboard data, while New Hanover County Schools established a regional Financial Aid Collaborative using attainment and FAFSA data. 

By making data accessible and actionable, the myFutureNC Data Ecosystem helps communities strengthen partnerships, target investments, improve learner outcomes, and expand economic opportunity.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Local data drives meaningful local action. Communities make better decisions when they can understand their own education and workforce landscape through accessible, localized data rather than relying solely on statewide averages.
2. Shared evidence creates stronger partnerships. When education, workforce, business, philanthropy, and government leaders use a common set of trusted metrics, they align priorities, coordinate investments, and accelerate collective impact.
3. Transparent data strengthens accountability. Publicly available, regularly updated data allows communities to track progress, celebrate success, identify emerging challenges, and continuously improve strategies based on evidence.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

The myFutureNC Data Ecosystem has been strengthened through ongoing collaboration with education leaders, researchers, advocates, and fellow PIE Network members committed to improving learner outcomes. Conversations across the Network reinforced the importance of making data publicly accessible, locally relevant, and directly connected to policy and implementation decisions. These insights influenced the design of the ecosystem, including county- and regional-level reporting, user-friendly dashboards, and resources that support advocacy, planning, and community action. Organizations across North Carolina have incorporated the data into research, strategic planning, community engagement, grant development, workforce planning, and policy discussions. PIE Network members including BEST NC, Public School Forum of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools have used or referenced myFutureNC data in reports, presentations, feedback, and policy conversations, helping establish the ecosystem as a trusted statewide source of information. The platform has also supported collaboration among county attainment teams, community colleges, school districts, workforce development boards, economic development organizations, philanthropic partners, nonprofits, and state agencies. By providing a shared evidence base, the ecosystem helps diverse partners align around common goals while tailoring solutions to local needs.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

The myFutureNC Data Ecosystem reaches decision-makers in all 100 North Carolina counties through publicly accessible dashboards, county profiles, regional reports, and supporting resources featuring 128 education, workforce, demographic, and attainment indicators updated annually. In 2025, the platform recorded:

• 27,126 website users
• 71,461 dashboard visits
• 21,715 county profile views and downloads 

Its greatest impact, however, is the decisions it informs. Community colleges use the data to strengthen strategic planning and secure funding. 

• A-B Tech Community College incorporated regional profile data into a successful GlaxoSmithKline Foundation grant proposal supporting its ABM Works pre-apprenticeship initiative. 
• Appalachian State University used myFutureNC data to strengthen a successful $35 million grant proposal. Workforce organizations use the data to guide investments. 
• Johnston Workforce Alliance launched a county apprenticeship initiative using dashboard data, while Wilson Workforce Alliance used county profile data to establish strategic priorities for its regional workforce strategy. Education leaders use the ecosystem to improve student outcomes. 
• Southwestern Community College incorporated dashboard findings into its strategic plan, while New Hanover County Schools used attainment, FAFSA, and career readiness data to establish a regional Financial Aid Collaborative. 

County leaders, school districts, workforce boards, nonprofits, tribal organizations, and economic development partners also use the ecosystem to strengthen grant applications, guide investments, and align education and workforce initiatives across North Carolina.

The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• National Family Friendly Schools Homepage
• Educators and Family Leaders Video Testimony: 
• Kentucky Stories from the Field Collected by Department of Education 
• National Trusted Partners organizations offering support, training, and networking opportunities to Family Friendly Schools participants 

SUMMARY

This tool helps school and district leaders to strengthen, sustain and celebrate meaningful family partnerships so they can improve student success, school climate and community trust.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

The certification process creates momentum by recognizing progress and giving staff and families a shared goal. It transforms family partnership from a series of isolated activities into a sustainable improvement strategy that strengthens the conditions for student success. Over 30 years of research demonstrates that family partnership is not an add-on—it is a multiplier of school and district improvement efforts. Whether the goal is increasing third-grade reading proficiency, improving attendance, expanding access to rigorous coursework, or strengthening student well-being, schools achieve better outcomes when they engage families using research-informed practices. Effective family partnership is both relational and linked to learning—the two hallmarks of high-impact family engagement. Family Friendly Schools moves these principles from theory to practice by providing schools with tools to assess their current practices, identify priorities, implementing evidence-based strategies, and continuously improving over time.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Relationships are vital for the work of family partnership. These relationships do not happen by chance: they are built through intentional systems. This work helps turn the transactional interactions of registering students for school or calling parents into important relation-centered moments. 
   1. Key action: Ensure there are systems so that every family has a go-to person at the school and that staff person actively connects with that family.
2. Schools that partner with families start with listening, not informing. A core part of the family friendly school process is listening to families and making changes based on what was learned. 
   1. Key action: Ensure that a team comprised of families and school staff determining what they want to know from families, listening to families, and making changes based on that information.
3. Growth happens through practice. Schools strengthen family partnerships by trying new approaches, monitoring and making small improvements over time. Most schools lack systems to support this kind of ongoing growth in school family partnerships. 
   1. Key action: Establish a team responsible for using the Family Friendly tools such as the Self-Assessment, learning about effective family partnership practices, identifying school or district priorities and leading continuous improvemement.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Education leaders have been essential partners in shaping the development and continuous improvement of the Family Friendly Schools certification process. The work began in response to a need identified by educators across Kentucky: schools needed clear, research-informed standards for strong family partnership practices and a meaningful way to recognize schools moving beyond traditional family engagement activities. Through a statewide steering committee of education leaders, practitioners and partners, we developed a certification model that shifted family engagement from individual programs or events toward sustainable systems embedded in school culture. Leaders shared that family partnership strategies often changed with staff transitions and needed stronger structures with shared ownership and continuous improvement practices to last over time. Their feedback informed a step-by-step, self-reflective process that school teams could navigate together. The framework was grounded in research including the Dual Capacity-Building Framework, Kentucky’s Missing Piece to the Proficiency Puzzle work and established family engagement standards. These findings were translated into practical tools that bring families, educators and school leaders together to assess current practices, identify opportunities and strengthen partnerships. 

Education leaders continue to shape the model’s evolution. For example, leaders shared that the certification application could also serve as a communication tool for their broader school community, leading us to redesign it as a public-facing reflection and storytelling resource. We also recently completed a validation study with FHI 360 and are using those findings to strengthen our reviewer process and continuous improvement approach. Today, schools and districts are using the framework to build more intentional, equitable and sustainable family partnership systems. New interest is growing to include district-level certification.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

• 134 certified programs and schools in Kentucky
• 4-Year Growth: 34 → 134 schools (~294% increase)
• 81% retention rate (overall) and 87% recertification rate (2024–2025), demonstrating sustained commitment beyond initial certification
• Diverse Implementation Across School Types: o 50% Elementary Schools o 30% Early Care and Education o 13% Middle & High Schools o 7% Other (K–12, K–8, Intermediate)
• FHI 360 External Validation Study: More than 650 educators and families participated through surveys, school visits, focus groups, and statewide data analysis.
  • 90% of certified school teachers reported they are able to prioritize partnering with families, even when they have many competing demands.
  • 90% reported they can work with families to advocate for change in their school.
  • 95% reported confidence in talking with families about concerns for struggling students.
  • 89% of families reported there are many ways they can be involved in their school

• Approximately 1,250 education leaders and family partners are actively engaged in the Family Friendly Schools online portal, representing more than 100 new schools currently working toward certification.
• Certified schools demonstrated a 1.7 percentage point increase in reading proficiency compared to students in non-certified schools.

National Parents Union (NPU)

Network Policy Pillars: High Expectations, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• The tool
• February 2026 national poll topline 

SUMMARY

This tool helps parents and local advocates to see exactly how AI is being used in their child’s school, classify it as green, yellow, or red, and send a ready-made letter to the people in charge, so they can turn private worry into organized pressure and win real AI and data-privacy protections for kids.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

AI flooded into American schools faster than any policy could keep up, and most parents have no idea what is happening to their kids. NPUs February 2026 national poll of 1,511 parents found that 56% of children already use generative AI chatbots, rising to 68% among high schoolers. Yet only 37% of parents said their school had shared its AI policy, and only 30% had ever been asked for input. Two-thirds said schools are not doing enough to protect or explain how their children’s data is used. The tools are in the building. The guardrails are not. MyKidMyData.org closes that gap. It takes the question every parent is quietly asking, what is happening to my kids data, and turns it into something they can act on without a law degree. The traffic light framework gives families a plain-language read on AI uses in school: green for low-risk tasks, red for the lines that should never be crossed, like monetizing student data or training commercial AI on a child’s information. The site spells out the protections every district policy should include, so a parent knows exactly what to demand. A live letter-builder lets them send that demand to the principal, the school board, the superintendent, or a state legislator in minutes. This matters because the alternative is silence. When 86% of parents want mandatory safeguards on AI chatbots for minors and almost half cannot get their school to say a word about its AI policy, the missing ingredient is not opinion. It is a tool that converts opinion into pressure. MyKidMyData is that tool, built from real practice with New York City Public Schools and the parents living this every day. It is free, it works in any state, and any advocate can pick it up and run with it Monday morning.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. There is a parent-power gap you can organize around. In NPU’s February 2026 national poll, 79% of parents said they want a say in AI decisions at their child’s school, but only 30% had ever been asked, and only 37% said their school shared its AI policy at all. The distance between what parents want and what schools deliver is the opening. MyKidMyData turns that gap into a campaign any advocate can run.
2. You do not need to be a lawyer to hold a district accountable. The traffic light framework gives any parent a red, yellow, green read on how AI is being used with their kid, and the red-light list is a ready-made set of policy demands: no monetizing student data, no training commercial AI on children’s data, and no entering personal student information into unapproved tools. Concern becomes a concrete ask.
3. Action takes minutes, not months. The tool’s live letter-builder lets a parent pick the concerns that matter to them and instantly generate a letter to send to a principal, school board, superintendent, or legislator. No staff, no training, no template hunting. It is built so a single parent at a kitchen table can apply pressure Monday morning, and so any advocate can scale it across a state.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

MyKidMyData did not come out of a think tank. It came out of practice. The tool is grounded in NPU’s direct work with New York City Public Schools, the largest school district in the country, and in what our NPU parents in New York City and the Parent Power Collective were running into on the ground: AI showing up in classrooms and even in IEPs with no policy, no disclosure, and no clear answer about where their kids’ data was going. Their real experience shaped the questions the tool asks, the red-light lines it draws, and the letters it generates, so it reflects what parents actually face inside a school building rather than a theoretical checklist. The research backbone matches the field experience. The tool is built on NPU’s February 2026 Echelon Insights poll of 1,511 parents, which mapped where families stand on AI in schools and where the gaps are, and on NPU’s All Our Children framework, which synthesizes the leading research on AI and children, including the Brookings Center for Universal Education’s 2026 global study and the MIT Media Labs work on cognitive offloading. 

The traffic light standards draw on best practices from leading districts and student data privacy advocates, so the tool reflects field consensus, not one organization’s opinion. It is built for uptake. MyKidMyData is deliberately state-agnostic and advocate-ready, so any PIE Network member or local leader can deploy it in their own community without rebuilding anything. The green-light list doubles as model policy language, and the letter-builder works for any district in any state.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

MyKidMyData.org launched in May 2026 and was picked up by ABC News, putting the traffic light framework in front of a national audience. The research underneath it has driven sustained earned media, including coverage in the Washington Post, where NPU’s polling on parent demand for AI guardrails anchored the national conversation about AI in classrooms. That same research is the evidence base for NPU’s federal AI child-safety advocacy, including its endorsement of the GUARD Act, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 22 to 0 vote, and its opposition to H.R. 7757. 

NPUs distribution gives the tool reach few resources can match: a network of 1.7 million families and more than 1,800 affiliated organizations across all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, every one of them a potential deployment point.

Deans for Impact

Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators

RESOURCES

• Pathways that Deliver: Building Affordable, High-Quality Pathways into Teaching | Deans For Impact 
• Teacher Preparation Isn’t Broken. Our Approach to Policymaking and Advocacy Is – The 74 
• Building the teacher workforce that Tennessee deserves | Opinion

SUMMARY

Pathways that Deliver helps advocates, policymakers, philanthropy leaders, and educator-preparation leaders to reframe teacher preparation from a disconnected system into a concrete lever for PK-12 improvement, workforce sustainability, and evidence-based instruction so they can invest in preparation pathways that deliver stronger teachers, stronger student outcomes, and more responsive education systems.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

For too long, teacher preparation has been shaped by misleading narratives: that it sits apart from PK-12, that it is too slow to change, and that workforce and student-learning challenges must be solved around it, rather than with it. In reality, building affordable, high-quality pathways is vital and underleveraged. Preparation is where aspiring teachers develop knowledge, mindsets, and skills to succeed and stay—yet policies still reflect outdated assumptions and misaligned incentives. Pathways that Deliver challenges those assumptions by showing preparation is not a siloed function, but a lever for improving instruction, strengthening pipelines, and advancing responsive systems. It is a suite of tools, including a national policy framework, federal and state action guides, and state-specific guides, that offers tangible actions leaders can take now to create sustainable high-quality pathways into teaching. Drawing on over a decade of research and field partnerships, Pathways that Deliver translates evidence into policy levers that work across contexts. It lifts up change efforts that are already creating positive impact: aspiring teachers as tutors, paid clinical experiences, modernized entry requirements, and prep-K-12 partnerships built around local needs. 

This set of tools also serves as a policy translation for DFI’s The Science of Learning report, of which a 2nd edition was released in May with 120+ leading experts and organizations signing on as official supporters. Reaching over one million downloads, the report translates cognitive science research to practice, having contributed to national momentum in the adoption of science of reading and HQIM. Pathways that Deliver identifies conditions for states to leverage evidence-based preparation at even greater scale. Pathways that Deliver redefines the narrative and potential impact of teacher preparation as a long-term investment in instructional quality, workforce development, and student opportunity.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Treat teacher preparation as a systems-change lever, not a silo. States can use Pathways that Deliver to effectively integrate preparation to strengthen PK-12 improvement, workforce stability, and student opportunity, helping communities move beyond fragmented efforts and align preparation with priorities like stronger instruction, tutoring, HQIM, reading, math, and support for diverse learners.
2. Set a high bar while adapting to local context. The tools identify common levers—standards and licensure, program approval, data, accountability, funding, and convening power—that can be applied differently across states. Leaders can strengthen pathways from their own starting points without lowering expectations for teacher readiness or instructional quality.
3. Turn research into concrete policy action. Pathways that Deliver translates DFI’s Science of Learning work into policy conditions that help evidence-based preparation spread and sustain. Federal, state, and state-specific action guides show what leaders can do now to build affordable, practice-based pathways grounded in how students learn.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

Pathways that Deliver was co-created with a work group of 16 executive leaders across a wide range of educator-preparation programs. Work group members helped test assumptions, identify implementation challenges, and ensure recommendations represented high-leverage opportunities to strengthen educator preparation and pipelines. For further refinement, DFI engaged 13 leaders from advocacy, research, and technical assistance organizations, as well as universities and state agencies, including 4 PIE Network members: EdTrust-New York, Teach Plus, Latinos for Education, and the Center for Black Educator Development. Their expertise helped ensure the framework reflected diverse perspectives and addressed the needs of aspiring educators and the systems that support them. The framework has become a catalyst for action across numerous states. In Tennessee, DFI partnered with our Tennessee Ed Prep Impact Coalition to develop a state action guide, and our recommendations were incorporated into a report commissioned by the Tennessee General Assembly and are now being implemented by the Tennessee Department of Education. DFI is also partnering with PIE Network member Advance Illinois to develop an Illinois action guide through a policy action work group of ed-prep leaders, advocacy organizations, and other stakeholders to identify state-specific strategies. The framework is also being translated into action guides in Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, and Texas; PIE Network members in these states will similarly be invited to co-develop and activate state action guides. At the federal level, our policy framework shaped the collective advocacy agenda for Washington Week, a collaboration among DFI, the National Center for Teacher Residencies, and AACTE. Nearly 200 leaders participated in 100+ meetings with members of Congress and senior officials from the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor to advocate for federal investments that strengthen the educator workforce.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Since its late September 2025 release, the Pathways that Deliver suite of tools has been accessed about 2,000 times, with reach also extending into media coverage, state and national policy engagement, and major field convenings. DFI announced and amplified the framework with an op-ed in The 74, a national education outlet that reaches 1-2 million monthly readers. We have also begun translating the recommendations into state-specific action guides, starting with Tennessee, which was developed with a coalition of ed-prep leaders whose programs collectively prepare nearly 50% of the state’s future educators. Tennessee leaders extended the guide’s reach through an op-ed in state news outlet The Tennessean and subsequent legislative engagements. Core policy buckets championed by the framework have also aligned with concrete state action. In Texas, HB2 established the PREP Allotment, the single largest investment by any state in teacher preparation, addressing the critical need for certified teachers through supporting recruitment, preparation, and mentorship. In Tennessee, HB1977 proposed a Tennessee Teacher Residency Program and grant structure; also, our state action guide supported a letter to the Tennessee Department of Education calling on the state to leverage its Title II, Part A set-aside to support aligned policy ideas that generated interest from the Commissioner in working with the field to implement the ideas. Across states, 2026 tutoring legislation shows momentum behind high-impact tutoring models, including DFI’s recommendation to mobilize aspiring teachers as tutors. Science-of-learning efforts in Texas, Maryland, and Louisiana also reflect growing policy demand for preparation aligned to evidence about how students learn.

Education Reimagined, Transcend

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems 

RESOURCES

• Playbook (including State Spotlights, Key Messages, and 30+ bright spots)
• State Education R&D Brief
• Launch blog post
• 74 op-ed: Why States Must Lead on Education R&D, and How They Can Start Today

SUMMARY

The State Education R&D Playbook is an interactive tool that builds on a 2025 policy brief and is informed by insights from 100+ stakeholders across education and beyond. Designed for state leaders, local system leaders, funders, and policy influencers, it offers practical, role-specific recommendations and real-world examples to build the conditions and infrastructure to transform systems, enable innovation, and identify, test, and spread what works for learners.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Across the country, states are trying to respond to urgent challenges while also preparing young people for a rapidly changing world. Yet too often, promising innovations remain fragmented: one-off pilots are launched without clear learning agendas, evidence is not captured or shared, and successful approaches struggle to spread beyond individual schools or districts. The State Education R&D Playbook addresses this problem with a practical framework for building the infrastructure needed to learn what works, for whom, and under what conditions, and then use that learning to improve policy, practice, and student experiences and outcomes. Rather than treating innovation as separate from state strategy, the Playbook helps leaders connect vision, governance, funding, data, research partnerships, technology, communications, and scaling into a coherent approach. The Playbook matters because better outcomes and experiences for students require more than new programs. They require systems that can identify priority problems, support local innovation, generate evidence, learn from implementation, and spread effective approaches responsibly. This is especially important for students and communities least well served by the current system, who too often experience innovation as something episodic, underfunded, or disconnected from core policy decisions. The Playbook translates a big idea (that states need stronger education R&D conditions and infrastructure) into concrete actions. It includes recommendations with how-tos, state spotlights, bright spot examples, and a self-assessment tool that helps leaders diagnose where their state falls on a State Education R&D Readiness Continuum and identify practical next steps. Its purpose is not to prescribe one model of innovation, but to help states build the muscle to continuously improve, adapt, and scale what works in ways that are evidence-informed, learner-centered, and responsive to local context.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. States need to shift from supporting isolated pilots to strategic learning systems anchored in R&D. That starts with a shared vision, a statewide learning agenda, and clear priorities that organize innovation around what students and communities need most.
2. Evidence-based improvement and innovation require dedicated infrastructure. States can strengthen the conditions for learning and scaling by creating or supporting staff capacity, flexible funding, strong data and evidence systems, research-practice partnerships, and intermediaries that help local ideas grow beyond individual sites.
3. R&D is not just a state agency function. Advocates, local system leaders, philanthropy, researchers, and community partners all have roles to play in shaping priorities, testing new approaches, building evidence, communicating what is being learned, and supporting policy change.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

The Playbook was developed by the Alliance for Learning Innovation, Education Reimagined, and Transcend with input from more than 120 leaders across education, policy, philanthropy, research, advocacy, and adjacent sectors, including many PIE Network members. Their input shaped both the substance and format of the tool. Leaders told us they needed more than a conceptual case for R&D; they needed practical guidance, concrete examples, and tools to make the case in their own states. Education stakeholders informed the Playbook through interviews, working sessions, and feedback on emerging recommendations. The final tool reflects examples from states already building pieces of stronger R&D ecosystems, including statewide vision-setting, local innovation networks, data infrastructure, research partnerships, and innovation cohorts. 

Since launch, the Playbook has been used as an organizing framework in state-facing conversations and convenings. It has supported briefings with state leaders, philanthropy, and policy partners; been the foundation of workshops at SXSW and with CCSSO members focused on innovation and student outcomes; and provided common language for moving from interest in innovation to concrete implementation plans. 

The Playbook is also informing ongoing state partnership work. Transcend, Education Reimagined, and ALI are using the recommendations to help states assess where they are on the path toward stronger R&D infrastructure and identify context-specific opportunities for action. PIE Network members and partners have helped extend its reach by sharing it with state leaders, incorporating it into convenings, and using it to frame conversations about innovation, evidence, and state capacity.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

We are still in the first year of implementation, so we are tracking both reach and early evidence of use. Quantitative indicators include:

• Playbook views since January 2026 launch: 7,433
• Unique users: 2,633
• Event Count (the total number of interactions on the Playbook site, including button clicks, downloads, and form submissions): 22,286
• Education R&D Brief Views (since January 2025 – this is the brief that preceded the Playbook): 2,369
• Education R&D Brief Unique users: 1,389
• Number of state leaders, advocates, funders, and partner organizations reached through 1:1 meetings, briefings and convenings since January 2026: 720
• Number of contributors to the Playbook across the education sector (via 1:1 conversations/focus groups): 124
• Number of states represented within the Playbook via Bright Spots or State Spotlights: 22
• Number of follow-up conversations since ASU+GSV with state leaders about partnering to advance the Playbook recommendations via dedicated technical support provided by ALI, Transcend, and Education Reimagined: 6
• States where we have a finalized partnership MOU: 1 
• Number of states for which we’ve written model policy: 1 

Early indicators of impact include use of the Playbook in state leader convenings, philanthropic and advocate briefings, and emerging state partnerships. For example, in April, we partnered with GSV to host the first-ever State Leader Forum with 11 sitting state chiefs and 15 SEA deputies, anchored on the Playbook. In follow-up conversations with chiefs, we are now prioritizing a set of 3-5 states that we will partner with deeply to advance the recommendations over the next three years. The Playbook has also informed related work on assessment innovation, research-practice partnerships, and state-level capacity building.

Tennesseans for Student Success

Network Policy Pillars: High Expectations, Great Educators, Innovative Options, Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Tennessee Firefly
• 2026 Tennessee Governor’s Race Tracker
• Firefly story putting candidates on the record: Sen. Blackburn Expresses Support for Public Charter Schools and Open Enrollment | Tennessee Firefly
• Firefly story holding leaders accountable: Charter Approval May Take Music City Miracle | Tennessee Firefly

SUMMARY

This tool helps lawmakers better understand the impact of policy so that they can vote for legislation that helps students succeed and vote against harmful bills. This tool help parents better understand education policy and options, like charter schools, so that they can make the best decisions for their children and in the voting booth.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Polling has shown that parents in Tennessee aren’t always aware of how well their child is doing in school or what options like charter schools are. This challenge is exacerbated by a declining staff in traditional newsrooms and journalists who rarely cover education and, when they do, frequently exhibit bias against charter schools and testing. The Firefly addressed this knowledge deficiency over the last year by filing nearly 100 stories on charter school issues, along with frequent coverage of proposed changes to testing requirements and teacher evaluations, and key decisions by elected leaders that would otherwise be missed. The Firefly has also held elected leaders accountable for misrepresenting charter school achievement in their district and for voting against education reforms that would have given parents more options for their children. This year, the Firefly has played an important role in putting 2026 gubernatorial candidates on the record on key issues like charter school facilities funding, open enrollment, and proposed testing and teacher evaluation changes. These are not issues that traditional media will usually touch. The work the Firefly does helps change public opinion and serves the overall communications strategy of Tennesseans for Student Success by promoting lawmakers who champion student-centered education policies and putting candidates on the record on whether they support or oppose the interests of children.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. The Firefly has grown to average roughly 30,000 unique visitors a month. This proves that there is a genuine interest from the public in reading school reform content if you provide them with a place to access it.
2. Lawmakers and candidates frequently share Firefly content on social media, including multiple stories that saw 12+ shares each in 2026. This confirms that lawmakers can be helpful in messaging strategies if you provide them with the type of content (news stories) that they are accustomed to sharing.
3. All 3 major gubernatorial candidates took on the record positions on open enrollment, testing, and accountability, and charter school facilities funding through Firefly content. These are not issues that anyone would have likely taken a position on otherwise, and it’s an example of how a tool like this can help set the agenda.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

The work of the Firefly has been a useful tool to elevate the research and polling of multiple Tennessee-based PIE Network Members. SCORE and the Tennessee Charter Center have released multiple research projects on charter schools, higher education funding, and other issues that the Tennessee Firefly has elevated to a larger audience in 2025/26. Similarly, Tennessee CAN has produced polling on school choice topics that we have elevated to a larger audience during this time period.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

We have quantified the reach through our web page numbers. We ended June 2026 with 30,000 unique visitors. Since August 2025, the Firefly website has received just under 165,000 page visits.

EdTrust-Tennessee

Network Policy Pillar: Responsive Systems

RESOURCES

• Landing page: The Undercount Report – EdTrust-Tennessee
• Report: The Undercount
• Dasbhoard Data Guide: The Undercount 
• Statement: 45+ Organizations and School District Leaders Speak Out for Tennessee’s Students from Low-Income Backgrounds

SUMMARY

The Undercount helps state and local advocates, policymakers, and education leaders identify when school funding formulas fail to accurately capture student poverty so they can advance evidence-based policy solutions that direct resources where they are needed most. By revealing how Tennessee’s reliance on a narrow poverty measure excluded thousands of eligible students, the report provided a clear roadmap for reform, helped build bipartisan support, and ultimately change state policy.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

School funding systems are only as effective as the data they use to identify student need. The Undercount revealed that Tennessee’s reliance on a narrow measure of poverty excluded thousands of students experiencing economic hardship from the state’s funding formula, resulting in an incomplete picture of need and reducing the resources available to support those students. The report mattered because it transformed a technical funding issue into a clear, actionable policy challenge. By combining rigorous analysis with practical recommendations, it gave advocates, policymakers, and education leaders a shared understanding of the problem and a roadmap for fixing it. The research helped build an unusually broad coalition of support, informed legislative discussions, and ultimately contributed to bipartisan policy changes that will improve how Tennessee identifies students experiencing poverty. This work helps improve student outcomes and opportunities because accurate identification of student need is foundational to equitable school funding. When states more accurately count students experiencing poverty, funding formulas can better direct resources toward academic supports, student services, staffing, and interventions that help students succeed. Beyond Tennessee, The Undercount offers a model for other states seeking to evaluate whether their own funding systems are accurately capturing student need and delivering resources where they can have the greatest impact. By helping states make better funding decisions, the tool strengthens the connection between public investment and student opportunity.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Audit the state’s student poverty definition before federal impacts hit. States using direct certification tied to SNAP or Medicaid should assess how recent federal changes will affect student counts in funding formulas before that loss shows up in enrollment data. The Undercounts district-level data dashboard translates a technical issue into a concrete story that resonates with stakeholders and legislators.
2. Pursue a near-term stabilization fix while building toward a durable solution. A short-term mechanism to hold student counts and funding amounts steady creates stability for districts while creating space for advocates and policymakers to design a better long-term measure. That measure should be timely, stable, independent of federal benefits enrollment, tailored to the state, and accurately reflect the economic realities of districts’ current students.
3. Leverage cross-sector relationships and policymaker engagement opportunities to move policy change forward. Education, public benefits, and budget experts frequently operate in silos. In Tennessee, the Undercount led to direct engagement with the TISA Review Committee, where presentations representing all of those perspectives built committee-wide agreement that student poverty identification should be a core focus for 2026 recommendations.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

The Undercount was strengthened by ongoing collaboration with PIE Network members and education leaders whose research and feedback sharpened our analysis and strategy. We gathered critical perspective and timely data from PIE network members like EdFund, and leaned on other leaders such as Bellwether and The Urban Institute to inform our research framework. The research moved quickly from publication to action. The Tennessee Alliance for Equity in Education (TAEE), which includes Network members like Stand for Children TN and the TN Charter School Center, mobilized to engage legislators during TAEE’s annual Day on the Hill and throughout the 2026 session. That advocacy contributed directly to the passage of legislation directing the TISA Review Committee to study the issue and make recommendations to the legislature. The work has also traveled beyond Tennessee. EdTrust-Tennessee has maintained regular touchpoints with Southern partners navigating similar emerging challenges, sharing research, advocacy updates, and strategic thought partnership as states begin to address the impacts of federal policy change. Partners, including the A+ Education Partnership, Mississippi First, Teach Plus-Mississippi, the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, Fund Georgia’s Future, and the Southern Education Foundation, have engaged with this research as they develop their own advocacy approaches to this growing issue.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

• Statewide Advocate Training: Over 700 advocates across Tennessee participated in targeted training on Tennessee’s economically disadvantaged definition so they were prepared to advocate during the 2026 legislative session. Training occurred both before and during the legislative session, so advocates could act on the most up to date information as the bill moved. These trainings spanned virtual sessions, webinars, and in-person events in key legislative districts from rural to urban communities across the state and provided resources on the policy issue and how to talk about it with the public versus with legislators.
• Sustained Advocate Communication: Throughout the legislative session, over 4,000 advocates received weekly email updates on the bill’s status with clear guidance on how to take action as it moved through the legislative process. 
• 45+ Organizations and School District Leaders Speak Out: EdTrust-Tennessee coordinated a sign-on letter with 45+ partner organizations and school district leaders from across Tennessee. The letter was sent to every legislator.
• Putting the Data in the Public’s Hands: Over 5,000 people visited the Undercount Report and its public dashboard. Across Instagram and LinkedIn, social media posts reached over 3,394 views, putting the conversation about student poverty and school funding in front of everyday Tennesseans, not just policy insiders. 
• Putting the Data in Policymaker’s Hands: To ensure legislators understood the importance of the issue, EdTrust-Tennessee created custom one-pagers for over 45 legislators, detailing the estimated number of students in the counties they serve who are currently undercounted due to Tennessee’s economically disadvantaged definition. When possible, EdTrust-Tennessee supported the scheduling of meetings between advocates and legislators, so legislators could receive these custom one-pagers directly from their constituents

Mississippi First

Network Policy Pillar: Great Educators

RESOURCES

• The Weight They Carry Report: The Weight They Carry: Life as a Teacher in Mississippi
• Op-Ed: The Weight They Carry: Life as a teacher in Mississippi – Magnolia Tribune
• Article: House committee approves pilot program aimed at improving teacher satisfaction – Mississippi Today
• Podcast Appearance on Strategic Staffing Recommendation: In Mississippi, Responding to a Teacher Retention Crisis | Opportunity Culture

SUMMARY

This research helps state policymakers, state education leaders, and local school districts understand the drivers of Mississippi’s teacher attrition, including compensation, workload, student behavior, and school leadership, and provides a roadmap of evidence-based practices that enable each entity to address these challenges.

WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS

Teachers are the most important in-school factor affecting student achievement, but Mississippi consistently loses around a quarter of its educator workforce each year. Our research draws on survey responses from nearly 1,000 educators statewide to provide one of the most comprehensive examinations of why teachers leave the profession. It shows that attrition is driven by the cumulative effects of compensation, workload, student behavior, and school leadership. Our report goes beyond analyzing these challenges: it also provides a roadmap for action. It translates our findings into evidence-based recommendations for the state legislature, the Mississippi Department of Education, and local school districts, recognizing that no single entity can solve teacher attrition alone. By equipping each level of the education system with actionable strategies that reinforce one another, the report supports coordinated action to strengthen teachers’ working conditions, improve retention, and ensure that more students have access to effective educators.

THREE ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS

1. Competitive compensation is necessary, but not sufficient. While teacher pay remains an important challenge, our research shows that retention is also shaped by workload, student behavior, and school leadership. States seeking to improve retention should pair compensation increases with broader efforts to improve teachers’ working conditions.
2. Teacher attrition is not evenly distributed. Early-career teachers and educators in high-poverty schools and districts are significantly more likely to consider leaving the profession. Targeting resources and supports to these educators could have the greatest impact on retention and student outcomes.
3. Teacher retention cannot be solved through legislation alone. State policy is essential, but many of the factors driving teachers to leave, including school leadership, workplace culture, workload, and student behavior, are shaped at the district and school levels. Lasting improvements require coordinated action from state legislators, state education agencies, and local school districts.

HOW OTHER LEADERS INFORMED OR USED THIS RESEARCH

In developing our recommendations, we drew on the expertise of other Network members and experts to strengthen our analysis, including Public Impact, which helped shape our recommendation to expand strategic staffing in Mississippi. We also drew on resources from BEST NC to better understand effective strategic staffing models. Fellows from Teach Plus Mississippi helped provide feedback on an early version of the report. Since the report’s release, Teach Plus Mississippi has built on the report’s strategic staffing recommendation by conducting educator focus groups to explore implementation in greater depth. Their work extended the report’s findings into the next phase of policy development and advocacy.

UNDERSTANDING REACH AND IMPACT

Since its release, the report has been read 1,578 times, with an average engagement time of 10 minutes and 23 seconds. Its findings have been published through a news article and an op-ed in major Mississippi newspapers. The Mississippi Association of School Superintendents distributed the report statewide, and multiple superintendents have shared that they used the findings to facilitate discussions with district staff about teacher retention and working conditions. The report also directly inspired legislation that would have established a strategic staffing pilot program in Mississippi.