The Results for America (RFA) State Education Fellowship responds to states’ needs for implementation guidance and capacity for evidence-based decision making. RFA will select 16 Fellows from the eight states with the strongest evidence, evaluation, and continuous improvement plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Each state will be represented by two individuals who are responsible for overseeing the state’s research, evaluation, and implementation efforts. The program will involve a comprehensive analysis of each state’s ESSA plan, support for policy development, implementation guidance, access to external research partners to lay the groundwork for research-practice partnerships (RPPs) to build state education agency capacity, and opportunities for peer learning and expert input. As a result of the fellowship, RFA expects that Fellows will develop an accurate understanding of the extent to which their respective states will leverage key opportunities to build and use evidence to improve student outcomes, design plans for implementing approaches to at least three high impact leverage points, understand the potential for RPPs to help build long-term capacity to use and build evidence, and catalyze broader national adoption of evidence-based policies and practices.
This grant will support the development of a fellowship to guide senior state education agency officials in their implementation of the evidence provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
