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Focus Area:
Politics of Change

CRPE analyzes how politics—especially polarization and partisan divides—impact enacting and sustaining meaningful education reform. Political dynamics have often hindered progress, stalling promising innovations and narrowing the space for bipartisan solutions. Our work examines these tensions, identifies strategies to navigate them, and highlights opportunities for leaders to move reforms forward despite political headwinds.

  • Research Reports    

The Friction of Scale: Lessons from Scaling Up Innovation in Three School Districts

Michael Berardino, Lydia Rainey, Bree Dusseault

What does it really take to scale systemwide innovation? This report examines whether and how districts can achieve deep change by scaling a single, districtwide “Bold Idea.” In the first phase of our Innovative School Systems Grant project, CRPE followed 11 districts that were piloting innovations designed to dramatically improve students’ learning experiences.

  • Research Reports    

Phoenix Rising: Bold Ideas for States to Transform Public Education

Rebecca E. Wolfe, Robin Lake

This synthesis of the Phoenix Rising series presents a provocative yet pragmatic set of ideas to unlock large-scale renewal and principled innovation within public education.

  • Research Reports    

From Support to Priority: How Formal Structures Can Help Districts Protect Time for Civics Learning

Lisa Chu, AK Keskin

Civic learning is having a moment. But what actually makes it stick as a priority in schools? New national survey data from the American School District Panel (ASDP)—a research partnership between CRPE and RAND—find signs of growing momentum: 20% of district leaders said their district had increased its prioritization of civic learning over the past year, while 18% reported increased school board support.

  • Research Reports    

The Politics of Budgets: How Fourteen Districts Reduced Spending While Protecting Student Learning Experiences

Lisa Chu, Paul Hill, Lydia Rainey

Fiscal crises are no longer the exception for school districts; they’re the new normal. This report examines how 14 districts and charter networks cut costs while protecting student learning experiences.

  • Blogs    
  • The Lens    

Webinar Plus Q&A: Why Motivated District Leaders Pursue Incremental Change

Chelsea Waite

CRPE’s recent report, The Transformation Gap: Why Motivated District Leaders Pursue Incremental Change, sparked rich conversation during our webinar and panel discussion on August 5, 2026.

  • Research Reports    

The Transformation Gap: Why Motivated District Leaders Pursue Incremental Change

Chelsea Waite, Michael Berardino, Maddy Sims

School districts are struggling to create both equitable and fundamentally different outcomes for young people through incremental improvements. The alternative is transformational systems change, when school districts redefine their purpose and operations through a coherent strategy to ensure every school is a high-quality, empowering place for all students to thrive—but this remains rare.

  • Blogs    
  • The Lens    

Small Changes, Big Relief: How States Can Support School Districts While They Work Towards Strategic Leadership

Lydia Rainey, Robin Lake

State education agencies (SEAs) are being asked to do something they have rarely been asked to do before: lead. As the federal government’s influence over education recedes, leaving confusion in its wake, calls for guidance, clarity, and strategic direction are shifting to states.

  • Research Reports    

A Mile Wide, an Inch Deep: The State of Civic Learning in U.S. School Districts

AK Keskin, Lisa Chu

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, civic learning is having a moment—but new data suggest that more support is needed to move students from knowing the basics to participating in civics learning and practice within their communities.

  • Research Reports    

The Reckoning: Addressing Oakland’s Literacy Crisis

Ashley Jochim

Oakland Unified School District has spent the past five years trying to address a severe literacy crisis—one where most Black and Latine students were not reading at grade level.

  • Blogs    
  • The Lens    

Precision Learning Has the Potential to Do What Personalized Learning Could Not

Robin Lake

Driving past Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, I noticed a billboard that reads something like, “We treat your cancer like it’s YOUR cancer.” The message is more than a slogan.

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AK Keskin

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

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