The third annual SDP Beyond the Numbers Convening, From Classroom to Boardroom: Analytics for Strategy and Performance, was held in Boston, MA on May 15–17, 2013. Participants included SDP Fellows (current and alumni); SDP Fellows’ Supervisors; members of ActivateED, a collaborative effort with Education Pioneers and the Broad Center; SDP Faculty Advisors; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation representatives; Center for Education Policy Research staff; and key leaders in K–12 education.... Read more about Beyond the Numbers Convening 2013

Two hundred education leaders from across the country gathered in Boston, MA to attend the 2nd annual Strategic Data Project (SDP) Spring Convening, Beyond the Numbers: The Power of Analytic Leaders. Participants engaged in discussions about improving the use of data and analysis in their respective partner agencies, and partook in a rich set of sessions focused on college-going success and the human capital pipeline. Speakers included Amy Briggs, Chief Operating Officer at Student Achievement Partners; John Friedman, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kenned School; and...

The Strategic Data Project (SDP) hosted its first Summer Institute for Leadership in Analytics in August 2012. The institute is designed to be for for any education analyst, not already part of the SDP program, interested in analyzing student achievement data to understand students’ progress through high school and into college.  Participants need not be an expert in statistical programming, though a basic understanding is recommended (e.g., Stata, SAS, R, SPSS).  The institute sought out analysts passionate about changing the culture of data use in education who are ready to take their statistical skills to the next level!... Read more about Summer Institute for Leadership in Analytics

SDP hosted orientation for its fourth Cohort of Strategic Data Project Fellows, a group of 32 talented fellows representing 16 education organizations across the country. 

CEPR affiliates are to present at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting 2013 from April 27–May 1 in San Francisco, CA. The theme of the event this year is “Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy, and Praxis.” CEPR presenters include researchers; steering committee members; and SDP Fellows, Alumni, and Faculty Advisors. The sessions will be an opportunity to learn more about some CEPR research, as well as research done outside of the center by its affiliates. View the list below to see the sessions that include the CEPR network.

The Strategic Data Project has released the human capital edition of the SDP Toolkit for Effective Data Use. The SDP Toolkit is a free resource guide for education agency analysts who collect and analyze data on student achievement. Completing the toolkit produces a set of basic, yet essential, human capital and college-going analyses that every education agency should have as a foundation to inform strategic management and policy decisions. The addition of human capital analyses will give users insight into teacher recruitment, placement, evaluation, development, and retention.

In...

In October 2013, the Strategic Data Project (SDP) welcomed Cohort 5 of the SDP Fellowship. The orientation event marked the launch of the two-year program for 44 fellows and 34 supervisors—SDP's biggest cohort yet. SDP Fellows will support efforts to build capacity for rigorous analytics and research methods to inform management and policy decisions within SDP's partner agencies.

CEPR-affiliated researchers Lindsay Page and Benjamin Castleman presented their research about the summer melt phenomenon in the session, "College-Intending Students and the Risk of 'Summer Melt," at The College Board Forum 2013. Participants evaluated rigorous evidence regarding successful intervention programs to recognize, meature, track, prevent, and solve the phenomenon. Strategic Data Project Fellow Christopher Leake was also featured in The College Board Reflections video, in which he also references Page and Castleman's summer melt research. 

The SDP Institute is a four-day workshop for any education analyst, not already part of the SDP Fellowship program, interested in analyzing student achievement data to understand students’ progress through high school and into college and patterns of teacher effectiveness. You need not be an expert in statistical programming, though a basic understanding is recommended (e.g., Stata, SAS, R, SPSS). The SDP Institute seeks analysts passionate about changing the culture of data use in education who are ready to take their statistical skills to the next level!

Through the SDP Institute...

Two of CEPR's programs, the Best Foot Forward Project (BFF) and the Strategic Data Project (SDP), presented at SXSWedu 2014. In Opening Doors to Advance Analytics for Your Agency, a panel demonstrated how SDP is changing how education agencies think about, use, and present data to inform policy decisions and communicate with stakeholders. Panel members included SDP Executive Director Nick Morgan, Superintendent Renee Foose of the Howard County Public School System (SDP Partner), SDP Fellow Atnreakn Alleyne of the Delaware Department of Education, and Senior Education...