Policy and Advocacy

Across the country, our members are designing, testing and sustaining innovative approaches at the district and state levels. Too often, both state and federal policy are developed without the benefit of this real-world evidence.

Our policy and advocacy work bridges that divide by surfacing implementation-tested insights from education leaders and advancing them through state and federal policy conversations. To do this, we:

Analyze federal, state and local policy through the lens of implementation

Identify, share and refine promising practices across states and districts

Advance policy approaches that can be adopted, adapted or incentivized at scale

We bring these insights to decision-makers through White House and Congressional briefings, leadership in national coalitions and engagement with state leaders and partners. We also bring what we learn back to our members, strengthening cross-state learning and continuous improvement.

Today, our members are united around four urgent priorities that span state and federal action.

Sustaining federal K–12 funding

Recognizing public education as a public good

Transforming high school and expanding postsecondary pathways

Strengthening the teacher and leader pipeline

Together, we ensure policy at every level reflects what it actually takes to lead and succeed in public education.