Strategic Data Project Convening 2022: Full Schedule

This year’s conference theme, “Learning Unfinished,” will be an opportunity to focus our efforts on improving systems and decisions so that students complete their pathways from preschool to college, into the workforce, and beyond and expedite our learning by sharing with one another. This year the event will take place at the Westin Boston Seaport District in Boston, MA from May 11–13, 2022

12:00pm EDT

Pre-Conference Events (fellows only)

Welcome! Current SDP Fellows will be participating in pre-conference sessions. Registration will be 12:00 - 2:00 PM ET.

Tuesday May 10, 2022 12:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
The Westin Boston Seaport

Fellows Only Session

7:30am EDT

Pre-Conference Events (fellows only)

Current SDP Fellows will be participating in pre-conference sessions.

Wednesday May 11, 2022 7:30am - 2:00pm EDT
The Westin Boston Seaport

Fellows Only Session

12:00pm EDT

Registration

Welcome back! It's been two years since we last convened and we are excited to reconnect the network. Grab your badge and some swag. Mix and mingle. Say hello to your SDP hosts, alumni council, and cohort mates, as you check into SDP Convening 2022.

Wednesday May 11, 2022 12:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom Foyer

General Session

3:00pm EDT

Welcome to Convening: Learning Unfinished, Unfinished Learning

Join us as we kickoff SDP Convening 2022! This year’s conference theme, “Learning Unfinished,” will be an opportunity to focus our efforts on improving systems and decisions so that students complete their pathways from preschool to college, into the workforce, and beyond and expedite our learning by sharing with one another.

Speakers

Miriam Greenberg

SDP Director, Strategic Data Project

Miriam is the Director of the Strategic Data Project overseeing the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University's efforts to build and sustain data-driven leadership and research capacity in education systems and organizations. She provides direction and support for... Read More →

Jon Fullerton

Executive Director, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Jon Fullerton is the executive director of CEPR. Jon has extensive experience working with policymakers and executives in designing and implementing organizational change and improvements.Before coming to Harvard, Jon served as the Board of Education’s director of budget and financial... Read More →

Wednesday May 11, 2022 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

General Session, Livestream

3:30pm EDT

One System? Unleashing Data to Blur Silos from High School to Career

In a recently released paper entitled, “The Big Blur”, leaders at Jobs for the Future (JFF) explore radically restructuring education for grades 11–14—by erasing the arbitrary dividing line between high school and college—to open opportunities for the learners our current systems leave behind. Two of the Big Blur authors, Joel Vargas and Kyle Hartung, will share the big ideas from the paper, elicit reactions and questions, and engage participants in identifying implications for cross-sector data use.

Please read the attached Executive Summary of JFF's, "the Big Blur" to prepare for a meaningful discussion.

Speakers

Dr. Joel Vargas

Vice President, Education, Jobs for the Future

Joel Vargas is a vice president of programs at JFF. He oversees programs focused on improving learning systems and outcomes, advancing the application of research and analytics, and inclusive regional economic development. Joel has also advanced state policies and local practices... Read More →

Kyle Hartung

Associate Vice President, JFF

Kyle Hartung is an associate vice president at JFF where he leads and oversees bodies of work with state, regional, and local leaders to design, strengthen, and scale solutions to fundamentally change existing systems and reimagine the ways in which people—youth, young adults, and... Read More →

Wednesday May 11, 2022 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

General Session, Livestream

5:15pm EDT

A Snapshot of Our Network's Impact

Join our current SDP fellows as they showcase their strategic data projects, and their impact, in our capstone poster gallery walk.

Speakers

Current SDP Fellows

SDP fellows are researchers, analysts, and professionals with strong analytic capabilities who have familiarity with research design, and evidence of leadership. For two years, they work for a school system or education organization, participate in high-impact professional development... Read More →

Wednesday May 11, 2022 5:15pm - 6:00pm EDT
Marina Ballroom

General Session

6:30pm EDT

Welcome Back Reception at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston

Join us for a special welcome back reception at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston where we will share a toast and mark the occasion of our annual SDP Convening of leaders in education.

Wednesday May 11, 2022 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

Receptions and Dining

7:30am EDT

Breakfast

Thursday May 12, 2022 7:30am - 8:30am EDT
Harbor Ballroom

Receptions and Dining

8:30am EDT

How Can (and Should) We Measure the Value of College?

There is considerable evidence that postsecondary education offers a variety of economic and non-economic benefits for students and for society, but how do we measure those benefits? How do we “value” college? Join us for a discussion highlighting opportunities to improve how the field measures value, specifically with equity in mind, and how we can use data to improve higher education now and into the future.

Speakers

Jamey Rorison

Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jamey Rorison, Ph.D., is a senior program officer on the U.S. Program Data team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads efforts to advance a field-led movement to increase equitable postsecondary value, building on the work of the Postsecondary Value Commission, as well as a portfolio seeking to improve postsecondary data quality, use, and infrastructure at the local, state, and national levels. Prior to joining the foundation, Rorison served as director of research and policy at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), where h... Read More →

Edward Smith-Lewis

Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Institutional Programs, UNCF

Ed Smith-Lewis is the Director of the UNCF Career Pathways Initiative (CPI). Ed oversees all facets of the CPI, a $50 million grant-funded initiative by the Lilly Endowment. Through strategic grant administration, Ed works with Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and... Read More →

David Troutman

Chief Data Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor of Institutional Research and Analysis, University of Texas System

David R. Troutman, Ph.D., is the Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Data Officer of Institutional Research and Advanced Analytics for the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis (OIRA) at The University of Texas System. As the Associate Vice Chancellor for OIRA, Dr. Troutman... Read More →

Sahar Mohammadzadeh

Class of 2022, Harvard College

Thursday May 12, 2022 8:30am - 9:45am EDT
Harbor Ballroom

General Session, Livestream

10:00am EDT

Better Understanding Male Teachers of Color: a New Data Set

Limited Capacity seats available

Learn about a new data set focused on the experiences of male teachers of color; engage in collaborative conversation to identify potential research avenues with the data set, consider recommendations for next year's survey, and discuss policy shifts that may be inspired by these new data.

Speakers

Liz Cohen

Senior Director, Whiteboard Advisors

A veteran education policy analyst, researcher and organizer, Liz Cohen is a Senior Director at Whiteboard Advisors, where she works with a dynamic portfolio of social impact organizations, nonprofits and technology firms. Her current practice focuses on the intersection of student... Read More →

Abdel Sepulveda

Principal, Cambridge Public Schools

Jennifer Hedrington

Vice Principal, Cambridge Public Schools

Thursday May 12, 2022 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Marina III

Concurrent Session

Topic Equity in Access and Outcomes, Human Capital
Audience PK-12

10:00am EDT

Centralizing Learning Recovery through Learning Hubs and High Dosage Tutoring

Limited Capacity seats available

To tackle the disproportionate impacts of unfinished learning on our most vulnerable students, Guilford County Schools (GCS) developed innovative strategies to accelerate learning and promote engagement at school. GCS researchers and school leaders will discuss the implementation of high school learning hubs and high dosage tutoring, as well as the iterative and continuous monitoring and evaluation processes developed to help meet the needs of students. Educators, researchers, funders, and policymakers are encouraged to attend.

Speakers

Sonya Stephens

Chief Performance Officer, Guilford County Schools

Dr. Sonya Stephens, an educator for over 25 years, is the Chief Performance Officer for Guilford County Schools (NC). She manages the district’s state and local assessments, accountability and research initiatives, and student information system. Stephens works with principals helping... Read More →

J. Clark Wright

Director of Accountability, Research, and Evaluation, Guilford County Schools

I have a background as a school psychologist, and have spent time in both K-12 and community college settings.

Jimmy Leak

Research Analyst, Guilford County Schools

Jimmy Leak is a Research Analyst at Guilford County Schools and an adjunct professor at High Point University. Jimmy helps manage research-practice partnerships for Guilford County Schools. He also serves as data and evaluation lead on several grant-funded projects with focuses on... Read More →

Mike Hettenbach

School Support Officer - High School, Guilford County Schools

I have 26 years experience in K-12 education. My experience includes: Elementary teacher, Assistant Principal at a Vocational/Performing Arts High School, Middle School, large comprehensive High School, and a Principal at a large comprehensive High School. I am currently a High School... Read More →

Julianne Zemaitis

Accountability, Research, and Evaluation Intern, Guilford County Schools

Thursday May 12, 2022 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Marina II

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, COVID-19, Equity in Access and Outcomes, Program Evaluation
Audience PK-12

10:00am EDT

From Action Research to Transformative Change: Addressing Basic Needs in Higher Education

Limited Capacity seats available

The path from research to action can do a lot to address inequities, but much like child rearing, it takes a village to be successful. In this session, we will show how The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University and Madison Area Technical College engaged in a data-driven collaboration that aims to leverage research in addressing the needs of marginalized students.

Researchers from The Hope Center will define basic needs insecurity and discuss its prevalence nationally and across student characteristics. Furthermore, the team from Madison College will discuss how they are incorporating The Hope Center’s findings on basic needs insecurities into a holistic approach to address student needs and its impact on student performance.

Speakers

Jup Gill

Senior Research Associate, The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University

Zong Her

Director, Institutional Research and Data Management, Madison Area Technical College

Hello. My name is Zong Her, Institutional Research & Data Management Director at Madison Area Technical College. Most of my professional experience has been in Institutional Research (IR) & Effectiveness, watching the field evolve from being mainly about quantitative/qualitative research... Read More →

Marie Andrae

Senior Business Intelligence Development Coordinator, Madison Area Technical College

Keyimani Alford

Dean, Student Access and Success, Madison Area Technical College

Thursday May 12, 2022 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Burroughs

Concurrent Session

Topic Centering Students, Equity in Access and Outcomes, Authentic Stakeholder Engagement
Audience Postsecondary

10:00am EDT

Integrating Learning Mindsets: Student- and Teacher-driven Curriculum Improvement

Limited Capacity seats available

Many institutions aspire to support social emotional learning. How can we do that in a way that centers the voices of teachers and students? During this interactive session, attendees will learn how to surface ideas and opinions about the learning mindsets that matter most to their stakeholders, and use that information to audit and identify improvements in their existing curriculum. Recommended for program or curriculum designers and senior decision-makers.

Speakers

Suzanne Wulach

Director of Program Learning, OneGoal

I am a Cohort 7 Data Fellow who now works as a Director of Program Learning at OneGoal. My work focuses on college and career readiness, human centered design, culturally responsive pedagogy, blended learning, and classroom conditions that support social-emotional learning. I collaborate... Read More →

Daranee Teng

Managing Director of Programs, Moonshot edVentures

Thursday May 12, 2022 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Lewis

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Human Capital, Social Emotional Learning
Audience PK-12, Nonprofit

10:00am EDT

Learning from Evidence: Engaging Evidence for Systems Improvement

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

The Evidence Support Center at AIR and Proving Ground at CEPR have developed innovative tools to support the use of evidence in educational policy and practice. This session will provide a demonstration of these tools. Presenters will solicit problems of practice from attendees and show how these tools can address long-standing challenges, support decision-making, and improve outcomes for students and schools. This session is targeted toward state and district leaders, policy makers, research brokers, and evidence consumers.

Speakers

Matthew Linick

Senior Researcher, American Institutes for Research

David Hersh

Director, Proving Ground, Center for Education Policy Research

Dave Hersh is the Director of Proving Ground at the Center for Education Policy Research. Prior to joining Proving Ground, Dave was the Chief of Finance and Analytics for Camden City Schools (CCSD) in New Jersey. He joined CCSD as a Data Fellow with the Strategic Data Project. In... Read More →

Alexandria Sharpe

Network Manager, Proving Ground, Jumpstart

Alexandria is the Network Manager for Proving Ground at the Center for Education Policy Research. She received her bachelor's degree in sociology from Brown University and studied the links and barriers between education access and upward mobility. While an undergrad, she studied... Read More →

Lyzz Davis

Principal Researcher, American Institutes for Research

Thursday May 12, 2022 10:00am - 11:30am EDT
Marina I

Concurrent Session

Topic Making Evidence Work
Audience PK-12

11:45am EDT

Lunch

Thursday May 12, 2022 11:45am - 12:45pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

Receptions and Dining

1:00pm EDT

Using Data to Accelerate Learning on the Road to Recovery

For millions of U.S. students, the coronavirus pandemic impeded more than a year of schooling. Latino, Black, and low-income students were slowed down most in making progress in math and reading. What is the magnitude of unfinished learning? Are the gaps growing? What do we know about the interventions that might close those gaps and whether or not they are “right-sized” for the challenges ahead? Leaders from NWEA, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Harvard CEPR will come together to discuss the road to recovery and the role that data and evidence can play in accelerating learning.

Speakers

Karyn Lewis

Director of Research and Policy Partnerships, NWEA

Dr. Karyn Lewis is Director of Research and Policy Partnerships at NWEA, where she leads a team of researchers who operate at the intersection of K–12 education research, practice, and policy. She also co-leads NWEA’s research agenda examining the impacts of COVID-19 on student... Read More →

Anthony Sims

Executive Director for School Improvement, Alexandria City Public Schools

Dr. Sims’ work in education and children’s mental health has focused on facilitating systemic change in educational and youth service settings to improve educational and social outcomes for youth. He has provided consultation to federal, state and local educational agencies regarding... Read More →

Tom Kane

Walter H. Gale Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Faculty Director, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.

Thomas Kane is an economist and Walter H. Gale Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research, a university-wide research center that works with school districts and state agencies. Between 2009... Read More →

Thursday May 12, 2022 1:00pm - 2:15pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

General Session, Livestream

2:30pm EDT

(Pre-)Pandemic Trends in Social Emotional Learning from 300 Million Student Survey Responses

Limited Capacity seats available

Link to slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lH8heKbcC0t-_0Zlo6Pg1qERbUcvBh5zqhsMqhskvRw/edit?usp=sharing
This presentation highlights year-over-year changes in social emotional learning for students in grades 3–12, both prior to and during the pandemic using national data from 2018 to the present, separately by student race/ethnicity. Results will shed light on the potentially disparate needs around social emotional learning as many districts move beyond mask mandates (Nierenberg, 2022). The session will include interactive components, such as having attendees share their hypotheses for our findings and discuss their own concerns about and solutions for supporting students' social emotional learning.

Speakers

Tara Chiatovich

I love looking for patterns in data and the kinds of tasks that work entails (learning new statistical software, writing code, creating data visualizations). During my fellowship with the Strategic Data Project, I had the good fortune to work in an urban school district that had tons... Read More →

Thursday May 12, 2022 2:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Marina II

Concurrent Session

Topic COVID-19, Equity in Access and Outcomes, Social Emotional Learning
Audience PK-12

2:30pm EDT

Building a Multi-Pronged Strategy to Access Student Outcomes in Nonprofit Organizations

Limited Capacity seats available

Few understand better than State Education Agencies (SEA’s) the challenges involved in collecting data across multiple Local Education Agencies (LEA’s) with varied data elements and disparate data collection methods. The challenge is even greater for Charter Management Organizations (CMO’s) whose portfolios span state lines. Yet the greatest challenge exists for third-party educational organizations and institutions of higher education seeking to collect data from multiple districts without any actual regulatory authority to demand compliance. This workshop will walk non-profit organizations through the initial first steps of building a data collection strategy for student and teacher outcomes throughout broader networks, with a significant portion of the session dedicated to directly coaching participants through the initial phases of outlining a strategy. Attendees will leave with their rough draft of the Partner Engagement Strategy Workbook https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cJyta7uHBjjwFvjbZXjeAjquc1EFK7Jw/edit#slide=id.g11bfdaeeec7_0_0

Speakers

Christopher Leake

National Senior Vice President, Teach For America

Thursday May 12, 2022 2:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Marina III

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Behind the Analysis
Audience Nonprofit

2:30pm EDT

Engaging With Data to Inform At-Promise College Student Success Strategies

Limited Capacity seats available

This session will explore the Promoting At-Promise Student Success (PASS) project, a mixed-methods study of low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized (“at-promise”) college student success. The session will describe (a) the PASS project and methods for acquiring mixed-methods data to inform support for at-promise collegians, and (b) how PASS researchers used mixed methods data to inform several at-promise student support strategies including proactive advising, tailoring, and ecological validation.

Speakers

Ronald Hallett

Professor, University of La Verne

Ronald Hallett is a Professor of Education in the LaFetra College of Education at the University of La Verne and a research associate in the Pullias Center of Higher Education at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on how to increase college access and success... Read More →

Joseph Kitchen

Assistant Research Professor, University of Southern California

Joseph A. Kitchen is an assistant research professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Kitchen conducts quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, and his research agenda spans several areas, with a central focus on the role of college... Read More →

Thursday May 12, 2022 2:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Marina I

Concurrent Session

Topic Equity in Access and Outcomes, Program Evaluation
Audience Postsecondary

2:30pm EDT

Reimagining and Packaging Educational Courses to Award Micro-credentials: Challenges and Solutions

Limited Capacity seats available

Join our discussion to learn about how we navigated and resolved the challenges of developing a micro-credentialing framework to respond to donors’ and stakeholders’ request to create tangible currency for our well-respected educational programs. Policy and measurement issues threatened to derail our efforts to develop authentic assessment protocols, but we prevailed. If you are considering developing micro-credentialing within your university/organization, this presentation will provide you with new ideas and solutions.

Speakers

Kristina Cassiday

Director of Evaluation and Research, Junior Achievement USA

Thursday May 12, 2022 2:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Lewis

Concurrent Session

Topic Behind the Analysis, Program Evaluation, Career and Technical Education
Audience Postsecondary

2:30pm EDT

The National Exodus of Classroom Teachers? What We Know, Don't Know, and Need to Know

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

Join us for a brief review of the national teacher workforce data to learn what it tells us and what we still don’t know. This will be followed by an in-depth panel discussion about our nation's K-12 teacher workforce. Learn what these experts have to say about what's being done to bring transparency to the teacher workforce, what’s preventing more from being done, and why it’s all so important.

Speakers

Nathan Trenholm

Founding Partner, Data Insight Partners

Jhone Ebert

Superintendent of Public Instruction, Nevada Department of Education

Anyone who has worked with her can attest that Jhone M. Ebert brings a heart for equity, a collaborative spirit, and transformative leadership to everything she does. She puts these qualities to work each day in her role as Superintendent of Public Instruction for Nevada, where she... Read More →

Brennan Parton

Vice President, Policy and Advocacy, Data Quality Campaign

Students’ futures should not depend on a hunch or assumptions about their abilities, but rather on real information that shows their growth and potential. Without education data, teachers, parents, and leaders make decisions about students in the dark.As vice president of policy... Read More →

Matt Barnum

Education Reporter, Chalkbeat

Thursday May 12, 2022 2:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Burroughs

Concurrent Session

Topic Human Capital
Audience PK-12

4:00pm EDT

Coffee Break Sponsored by Panorama Education

Take a break and caffeinate with SDP, generously sponsored by Panorama Education!

Thursday May 12, 2022 4:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom Foyer

Receptions and Dining

4:30pm EDT

Working Session: Problems of Practice

At SDP Convening, you're among your people, who all are using data to make a difference in education. We have aligned goals, but the challenges are as different as we are. This session is all about making the most of the expertise in the room to make progress on these diverse challenges. In this hour, participants will have the opportunity to elevate problems of practice for input from peers across the network.

We ask that if you plan to join this session, please prepare by brainstorming a problem of practice you'd like to get input on (a policy change, a research design, a data deliverable, or more). When you have your idea, please summarize your problem of practice in advance here.

Not everyone will be called on to share a problem of practice, but we all have soemthing we can learn from this community of critical friends. Thanks in advance for your advice, insight, or a sympathetic ear, add this session to your schedule and stay tuned for additional information on the problems of practice to be discussed.

Moderators

Rebecca Marshall

Senior Manager, SDP, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard

Rebecca is the education programs manager at the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University. In this role, she manages the Strategic Data Project Fellowship, which works with education agencies to find and train data leaders to uncover trends, measure solutions... Read More →

Speakers

Sean Berkstresser

Executive Director of Information and Analytics, Tulsa Public Schools

As Executive Director of Information and Analytics, Sean’s work helps Tulsa Public Schools realize its vision of utilizing data as a strategic asset to improve student outcomes as well as supporting district staff to leverage modern tools and applications to better serve students... Read More →

Raifu Durodoye

Senior Researcher, WestEd

WestEd senior research associate Raifu Durodoye Jr. is an experienced educational researcher and practitioner. Dr. Durodoye uses experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs to examine the effectiveness of education programs, and provides technical assistance to school districts... Read More →

Ryan Estrellado

I work for a team called The Equity, Disproportionality & Design Project. Our mission is to collaborate with school districts to promote equity in their special education programs. I wrote a book called The K–12 Educator’s Data Guidebook: Reimagining Practical Data Use in Schools... Read More →

Thursday May 12, 2022 4:30pm - 5:30pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

Affinity Session

7:30am EDT

Breakfast

Kickstart your day with breakfast and conversation. eScholar has generously contributed to this breakfast.

Friday May 13, 2022 7:30am - 8:30am EDT
Harbor Ballroom

Receptions and Dining

8:30am EDT

Learning from Excellence: Using Data to Address Urgent Inequities

Strong data work is critical to successful strategy, innovation, and improvement—yet because so many of our data successes are behind the scenes, this work is easy to take for granted and can be difficult to share and celebrate. We'll hear directly from the 2022 SDP Award for Strategic Data Excellence honorees about how they used data in the past year to address urgent inequities facing their students. We hope the SDP network leaves this session feeling motivated and inspired.

Moderators

Miriam Greenberg

SDP Director, Strategic Data Project

Ali Guerriero

Associate Director, SDP Outreach and Partnerships, Harvard CEPR

As the associate director, Strategic Data Project outreach and partnerships, Ali leads SDP partner relationships and fellowship recruitment and selection, and informs CEPR internal organizational planning. Prior to CEPR, Ali worked at Strategy Matters, where she oversaw the business... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 8:30am - 9:30am EDT
Harbor Ballroom

General Session, Livestream

9:45am EDT

Addressing the Elementary Reading Crisis through Curriculum and Family Engagement

Limited Capacity seats available

Despite significant investments in evidence-based elementary curricula, many students struggle with reading comprehension. One promising lever to address this issue is the Model of Reading Engagement, a flexible and modular evidence-based science literacy program co-developed with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The program also includes a summer text-based family engagement strategy. This interactive session will discuss the curriculum, how its principles spillover into core ELA instruction, and the transferability of family engagement strategies beyond the elementary literacy context.

Speakers

James Kim

Professor of Education, Harvard University

James Kim is an expert on literacy intervention and experimental design. His professional mission is to conduct a systematic program of policy relevant research in literacy that focuses on improving outcomes for low-income students and struggling readers. He leads the READS Lab (... Read More →

Patrick Rich

literacy research, modeling of learning, making findings actionable, Charlotte-Meck Schools/ READS Lab (HGSE)

https://avatars.sched.co/c/9a/7965108/avatar.jpg.320x320px.jpg?d03

Ethan Scherer

Director, READS Lab, Center for Education Policy Research

Ethan Scherer is the Director of READS Lab at the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR). He leads the analytic design and execution for the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE) randomized controlled trial. MORE is a standards-aligned curriculum that causes lasting improvements... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 9:45am - 11:15am EDT
Lewis

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Literacy
Audience PK-12

9:45am EDT

Going Beyond "Correlation is Not Causation": How to Discuss Causal Inference with Community Stakeholders

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

How do you effectively engage stakeholders in research, policy analysis, and/or program evaluation? Learn about a framework for stakeholder engagement in this work, and some tools that you can use to enable stakeholders to have direct input into the analysis without knowing anything about data modeling. If you want to engage stakeholders in your organization's research work, you want to be in this session.

Speakers

Billy Buchanan

Senior Research Scientist, SAG Corporation

Currently a Senior Research Scientist with SAG Corporation (Annandale, VA). The majority of my current work involves a combination of estimating the causal effects of disability on the earnings of Veterans in the U.S. receiving disability compensation benefits from the Department... Read More →

Cara Jackson

Senior Associate, Abt Associates

Cara is a senior associate in the Social & Economic Policy division at Abt Associates, focusing on program evaluation, research design, and evidence synthesis. She is currently managing a national evaluation of one of the U.S. Department of Education's technical assistance programs... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 9:45am - 11:15am EDT
Marina I

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Making Evidence Work
Audience Nonprofit, PK-12

9:45am EDT

The Other Issues Around Developing and Rolling Out an Innovation

Limited Capacity filling up

As data strategists, we often focus on developing data and technology solutions. That involves spending hundreds of hours researching and learning various technologies as well as designing and building new tools. In this session, we discuss some non-technical aspects (e.g., tensions between data and IT departments and even between teams within the same department, aligning new tools with stakeholders’ improvement agenda), and advocate for integrating these non-technical issues into our traditional design and development process.

Speakers

Bo Yan

Data Strategy, Jefferson County Public Schools

Bo Yan has been leading the effort to develop and implement Cycle-based Budgeting at Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky for the past five years. More can be learned about the work at http://cyclebasedbudgeting.org. He was a proud Cohort 6 SDP fellow.

Jessica Rosenthal

Executive Administrator of Middle Schools, Jefferson County Public Schools

In my role, I supervise 19 middle school principals in Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky and contribute to numerous district projects and areas of district leadership. Previously, I was an elementary principal at a public Spanish immersion school for 9 years. I am passionate... Read More →

Bethany Dages

Academic Instructional Coach, Jefferson County Public Schools, Ramsey Middle School

Friday May 13, 2022 9:45am - 11:15am EDT
Burroughs

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Behind the Analysis
Audience PK-12

9:45am EDT

Understanding and Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Well-being in the Wake of the Pandemic

Limited Capacity seats available

This session will discuss the current evidence – including from the Early Learning Study at Harvard – on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for children’s social and emotional well-being. It will also highlight effective strategies for promoting well-being in schools, as well as explore ways that these strategies might also help combat learning loss.

Speakers

Emily Hanno

Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard University

Emily Hanno is a Lecturer on Education and researcher with the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She began her career as Head Start teacher in Houston, Texas and then served as an instructional coach for early career teachers in the... Read More →

Lily Fritz

PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Lily is a Ph.D. Candidate in Education with a concentration in Human Development, Learning and Teaching. She studies the influence of children's early environments on social-emotional development, with an emphasis on understanding early education and care settings as contexts for... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 9:45am - 11:15am EDT
Marina II

Concurrent Session

Topic COVID-19, Social Emotional Learning
Audience Early Education, PK-12

9:45am EDT

Using Mixed Methods to Examine Implementation of Developmental Education Reform

Limited Capacity seats available

As part of a longstanding research-practice partnership, the Los Angeles Community College District and the University of Southern California are examining implementation of AB705, statewide legislation mandating that colleges reform developmental education placement and enhance the likelihood students attempt and complete transfer-level English and math courses quickly. AB705 has raised fundamental questions about how community colleges prepare students; we address these questions using a survey, case studies, and outcomes analysis. This session includes findings, a description of our methods, and a workshop on data collection for implementation research.

PRE-WORK: Optional, for those who are willing to share. Please upload your documents to this Google Folder.
If you’re working on a project (capstone or other work) and have not yet but want to incorporate a qualitative piece, please send us a one paragraph description of your project questions and goals. This will be used to design option 1 of the working session (qualitative protocol development) and could generate ideas for your qualitative protocol development.
If you have an ongoing project that includes outcomes and/or survey data, please send us a one paragraph description of your project questions and goals, along with some preliminary results. This will be used to design option 2 of the working session (Working towards a story) and could generate ideas for your qualitative analysis.
Materials produced on our AB705 study
AB 705 in the Los Angeles Community College District: Results from Fall 2019 (released January 2021) [link]
Progress and potential: Considering the question of racial equity in CA AB705 (released November 2021) [link]
AB 705 Implementation in the Los Angeles Community College District: Results from a District-Wide Survey (released February 2022) [link]
Presentation slides: “The logics that keep developmental education alive in an age of reform.” (See Google Folder.)

Speakers

Cheryl Ching

Assistant Professor of Leadership in Education, University of Massachusetts Boston

I am an assistant professor in the higher education doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. I study the design and implementation of policies and reforms that aim to advance racial equity. I am particularly interested in the ideational and interpretive aspects... Read More →

Elise Swanson

Senior Research Manager, Strategic Data Project

Elise Swanson is a Senior Research Manager at CEPR, where she supports the analytic work for multiple projects, including the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) and the Leveraging Technology and Engaging Students (LTES) project, which is a collaboration... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 9:45am - 11:15am EDT
Marina III

Concurrent Session

Topic Program Evaluation
Audience Postsecondary

11:30am EDT

Lunch

Friday May 13, 2022 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

Receptions and Dining

12:45pm EDT

Building Programs for Both: Engaging Student Voices in Program Design

Limited Capacity seats available

Easy access to powerful labor market tools, like EMSI/Burning Glass, have enabled CTE programs to equip students with skills necessary for student success. Their use, however, runs the risk of neglecting student needs and expectations. Through storytelling, discussion, and brainstorming, this session will offer an opportunity for CTE faculty and administrators to consider program design at their institution where student narratives influence what college means.

Speakers

Wyl McCully

Market Research Analyst, Lansing Community College

Wyl is a technologist who has spent two decades in a wide range of higher education contexts. Originally trained in journalism at Northern Michigan University, he developed a healthy understanding of rhetoric, earning an MS at North Dakota State University, and acquired extensive... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 12:45pm - 2:15pm EDT
Marina III

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Career and Technical Education, Equity in Access and Outcomes
Audience Postsecondary

12:45pm EDT

Defining Education Success through Qualitative Data Collection

Limited Capacity full
Adding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

With increasing data points from test scores to graduation rates, administrators struggle to define what makes a successful school. Driving continuous improvement requires consistent feedback about student and teacher experiences. Sarah Young from the Utah State Board of Education and Jill Curry from the Utah Governor's Office of Planning and Budget share how the state is standardizing qualitative data collection for stakeholder experiences while empowering schools and districts to take local action.

Speakers

Sarah Young

Chief of Staff, Utah State Board of Education

Sarah Young is the Chief of Staff with the Utah State Board of Education and she works to bring next generation learning to Utah’s public schools. Her projects have included the state’s Digital Teaching and Learning initiative and development of Utah’s Portrait of a Graduate... Read More →

Jill Curry

Senior Budget & Policy Analyst, Utah Governor's Office of Planning & Budget

Jill Curry is a Senior Budget and Policy Analyst in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget. Prior to her current role, Jill was a program analyst at the State Board of Education where, among other duties, she was responsible for legislative reporting including performance... Read More →

Friday May 13, 2022 12:45pm - 2:15pm EDT
Burroughs

Concurrent Session

Topic Authentic Stakeholder Engagement, Behind the Analysis
Audience PK-12

12:45pm EDT

From Snow-bound Pilot to Statewide Implementation: Lessons Learned from Kentucky’s Nontraditional Instruction Program

Limited Capacity seats available

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the capacity of public schools to educate students remotely while highlighting key challenges facing states and districts. Kentucky’s remote learning program, as it was used for snow days prior to the pandemic and for sustained remote learning in 2020-2021, illustrates these challenges: technology access for students; interpretation and use of digital learning data; and equitable access to instruction for various student groups.

Speakers

Bart Liguori

Reasearch Division Manager, Legislative Research Commission, Office of Education Accountability

Bart Liguori is the research division manager in the Office of Education Accountability (OEA) within the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (LRC). The OEA research division is tasked with implementing the research agenda for the Education Assessment and Accountability Review... Read More →

Deborah Nelson

Research Analyst, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission

Deborah works for the Kentucky General Assembly with an interdisciplinary team that conducts research on requested topics and annually compiles and reviews key education data points for each of the state's 174 districts. Using mixed methods, her work focuses on issues related to assessment... Read More →

Chris Riley

Education Research Analyst, Kentucky Legislative Research Commission - Office of Education Accountability

Friday May 13, 2022 12:45pm - 2:15pm EDT
Lewis

Concurrent Session

Topic COVID-19, Program Evaluation
Audience PK-12

12:45pm EDT

Generating and Using Rural Evidence through Rural Research Networks

Limited Capacity seats available

The National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) partners with over 40 rural districts across Ohio and upstate New York. Come learn about how NCRERN supports rural districts to pilot and test interventions. You will get to know our continuous improvement process, see network-wide data trends, and review results from our previous attendance intervention pilots. State education agency staff and other organizations that work with rural school districts are particularly encouraged to attend.

Speakers

Jennifer Ash

Director, Center for Education Policy Research - National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN)

Kellie Solowski

Research Project Manager, Center for Education Policy Research - NCRERN

Todd Hilgendorff

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, Greenville Central School District

Friday May 13, 2022 12:45pm - 2:15pm EDT
Marina II

Concurrent Session

Topic Program Evaluation, Rural Education
Audience PK-12

12:45pm EDT

Navigating the New Normal: Teachers’ Experiences and Perceptions during the Fall Semester of 2021

Limited Capacity filling up

It’s no surprise that the pandemic has resulted in changes in the education labor market. Reports of teacher shortages and high turnover have been making headlines. It is now more important than ever to understand what keeps teachers in their schools and what pushes them out. This session will utilize teacher engagement survey data to build a deeper understanding of how teachers are faring in our current context. It will explore the challenges that teachers are facing and offer promising practices from districts and schools that have overcome these challenges. It will also use survey data to highlight the likeliness that teachers, especially Black teachers, will leave the profession in the next year, and what experts say about how to intervene. This session will be highly interactive as we would expect that audience members will share their reactions to the data and add their experience to the conversation.

Speakers

Megan Lane Conklin

Director of Insights and Analytics, Upbeat (Education)

Megan Conklin is the Director of Insights and Analytics at Upbeat Education. Prior to joining Upbeat's team, Megan worked in Chicago Public Schools as an analyst on the recruitment and retention team. Megan is an alumna of Harvard's Strategic Data Project and is the co-founder and... Read More →

Matt Kraft

Associate Professor of Education and Economics, Brown University

Friday May 13, 2022 12:45pm - 2:15pm EDT
Marina I

Concurrent Session

Topic Human Capital
Audience PK-12

2:30pm EDT

Closing Remarks

Please join us for our final remarks as we close out Convening 2022!

Speakers

Miriam Greenberg

SDP Director, Strategic Data Project

Friday May 13, 2022 2:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Harbor Ballroom

General Session