#  SLS Fall 2026 Newsletter 

 





October 07, 2026

 

 

Dear friends,  
   
It may be early October, but it still feels like back-to-school season here at States Leading States! After a summer of planning research, signing data sharing agreements, and moving analysis forward, we’re all excited to make significant progress on our work with our partner states. And just as classrooms across the country welcomed new students this fall, we welcomed new team members to our SLS family, including:

- [Elizabeth Burland](https://prod-cepr.drupalsites.harvard.edu/people/elizabeth-burland), Associate Director of Research
- [Hanna Han](https://prod-cepr.drupalsites.harvard.edu/people/hanna-han), Postdoctoral Fellow
- [Nicolás Rojas Souyet](https://prod-cepr.drupalsites.harvard.edu/people/nicolas-rojas-souyet), Postdoctoral Fellow
- [Marc-Antoine Châtelain](https://cepr.harvard.edu/people/marc-antoine-chatelain), Postdoctoral Fellow

Elizabeth, Hanna, Nico, and Marc are already up and running on a number of our projects and will be leading much of the analytic work for SLS moving forward.  
   
In addition to growing our internal team during the summer and early fall, we are also officially welcoming six new SLS fellows into the [Strategic Data Project’s](https://sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/) Cohort 18. These fellows, who are working in our partner state education agencies in Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas, will kick off their two-year fellowship at the end of October with SDP Orientation. They will also be part of a community of practice focused on building sustainable capacity for research and evaluation within SEAs, which is a key goal of the SLS initiative.  
   
In other exciting news this back-to-school season, the Indiana Department of Education officially launched its outcomes-based contracting (OBC) pilot to improve middle school literacy, with 12 districts across the state implementing interventions from Amira Learning, Read 180, and Really Great Reading for this school year. [SLS will evaluate the impact of these interventions implemented under the OBC model](https://www.the74million.org/article/accountability-works-outcomes-based-contracting-makes-it-work-better/), with initial results by next summer and further results after a second cohort of districts next school year. Analyses are also underway for our evaluation of Alabama’s summer reading and math camps for struggling young learners. Stay tuned for more from Indiana, Alabama, and our other state partners!  
   
Finally, we’re planning to release our first SLS research report this fall: a national study of the impact of bell-to-bell cell phone bans implemented using lockable storage pouches. Along with the report, our team will be presenting this research at the Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) conference in Boston, MA on November 7th. If you’re attending the conference, we’d love to see you at our session!  
   
I hope you all are enjoying the start of fall and the excitement of a new school year. Please continue to [reach out to us](mailto:sls@gse.harvard.edu), visit our [website](https://cepr.harvard.edu/sls), and forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues!  
  
Warm wishes,  
Scott Sargrad  
Senior Director, States Leading States

[**Read the rest of the newsletter.**](https://mailchi.mp/gse.harvard.edu/sls-newsletter-fall-2026)



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Cell Phones ](/focus-areas/cell-phones)
- [ Math Instruction ](/focus-areas/math-instruction)
- [ Reading Instruction ](/focus-areas/reading-instruction)
- [ Newsletters ](/news-type/newsletters)
- [ States Leading States ](/projects/states-leading-states)
- [ 2026 ](/year/2026)
- [ K12 ](/sector/k12)
 
 

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