As the U.S. Department of Education pulls back its involvement in state education decisions, it has announced a new resource to help states build capacity for problem-solving and program improvements.
Kirsten Baesler, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the department, said the new resource will allow states "to ask and answer their own questions of issues and goals and matters that are most important to those states and local communities."
Baesler, speaking during a Tuesday press call, said the department is launching a Learning Agenda Playbook that will include case studies, templates, guidance and other resources to help state education agencies set goals, measure progress and make financial investments in their initiatives.
The playbook covers a diverse set of priorities including literacy, teacher recruitment and retention, and agency alignment. The Education Department said the resources can be adapted to each state’s needs and context.
Baesler said the optional resources will "help states ask the right questions about their strategic goals, and then be able to answer them with evidence and make better decisions about policy and appropriations in determining what is going to actually move the needle for our students and their academic progress."
The playbook was developed with the help of eight states that piloted the resources over the past year. For example, Georgia focused its work on which supports would help to retain special educators. State education staff used data to determine the impacts of the initiatives and to make funding decisions, Baesler said.
Idaho's focus was on student well-being, and state staff identified priority areas, sought broader agency engagement and identified gaps.
Debbie Critchfield, Idaho superintendent of public instruction, said in a Sept. 9 statement that the pilot has improved communication across education teams and better aligned efforts for student outcome goals. "That connection helps ensure the work we do is focused, coordinated and ultimately making a difference for Idaho students,” Critchfield said.
The other pilot states were Arkansas, Kansas, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
Baesler said the resources will also be beneficial for the Comprehensive Center Network, the Regional Educational Laboratories and research organizations as they support each state's problem-solving and improvement process.
Heather Boughton, associate director of state policy at the Alliance for Learning Innovation, was on the working group that developed the playbook. The Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of over 150 organizations that works to improve education research and development.
Boughton said the playbook helps states develop questions around priority areas, create a plan for answering those questions, and then put into action what they want to accomplish to meet their goals.
"It's important for states to be transparent about what they're learning, to be open about that with their communities, and then having those answers at hand allows them to make strategic targeted investments where their schools and districts and students need it most," Boughton said.
Most state education agencies don't have a dedicated research and development department, so Boughton said engagement from local stakeholders, research partners and other state agencies is important.
Reducing the federal education footprint
The playbook is debuting as the Education Department is actively reducing its federal footprint with the ultimate goal of closing the agency. Although only Congress has the authority to sunset a federal agency, the Education Department during the second Trump administration has laid off about half its workforce and has awarded several states waivers for federal accountability and fiscal requirements.
Additionally, the department has created 14 interagency agreements that would send many programs’ day-to-day responsibilities — like grant management, technical assistance and monitoring — to six other federal agencies. The Education Department retains the statutory responsibility for the programs being outsourced.
Supporters have said the partnerships will boost coordination among agencies to improve academic, career and life outcomes for students.
But there have been legal challenges to some of the Education Department's changes. And several education organizations, civil rights advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers have said reducing federal support to states and districts adds confusion throughout the K-12 system. They are also concerned that states don't have the capacity to duplicate the technical expertise and services the federal government has traditionally provided.
