State Education R&D Playbook

BY Sarah Bishop-Root and Leslie Colwell

Today, the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI), Education Reimagined, and Transcend are pleased to share the launch of the State Education R&D Playbook, authored by our Senior Partner of Policy, Sarah Bishop-Root, and Leslie Colwell, Director of Policy at Transcend.

Made possible by ALI, the Playbook is an actionable, interactive tool that builds on last year’s brief, Seizing the Opportunity for State Education R&D, and is informed by insights from 100+ stakeholders across education and beyond. It is designed for state leaders, local system leaders, philanthropy, and policy influencers navigating growing pressure on public education systems, and asking what it will take to move from isolated innovation to sustainable, system-wide transformation.

For Education Reimagined, this work is deeply connected to what we see across the country: learner-centered education and ecosystems thrive when communities have the conditions and infrastructure to design for their local context and share what they learn. Strategic state education R&D helps make that possible at scale.

We invite you to explore the Playbook and consider how your state or community can build the conditions for learner-centered, community-driven innovation to take root and grow.

Explore the Playbook here.

Sarah Bishop-Root

Senior Partner of Policy, Education Reimagined

Sarah Bishop-Root is the Senior Partner of Policy at Education Reimagined. She was formerly the Policy Director of Next Generation Learning at ExcelinEd and led the Network of State Innovation Partners, a community of practice supporting state education agencies. Prior to ExcelinEd, Sarah worked at Blackboard, focusing on open education and educators’ adoption of online best practices. Sarah earned an MSEd in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington.

Leslie Colwell

Partner, Transcend

Leslie believes deeply that community-driven policy change is a critical lever for education transformation. At Transcend, she is a Partner leading our efforts to elevate the voices and insights from school communities directly to policy leaders so that policy can better support effective and enduring innovation in schools.

Leslie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from American University and a teaching credential from the University of California – Los Angeles. She serves on the boards of two Colorado-based non-profits, the Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy & Research Organization (CLLARO) and The Civic Canopy. Leslie lives in Denver with her partner, their daughters Maya and Lucia, and pup Pepper.