Strategic Data Project Convening 2026

Session Description: Many education organizations often treat evidence as an afterthought, rather than a crucial basis for decision-making. These organizations often lack a culture of asking the right questions and relying on evidence for decision making. In this session, participants will identify gaps in evidence use in their organizations and discuss strategies for how to create - and sustain - a culture of evidence and inquiry in their roles.

Intended Audience: Districts, charters or other local education agencies; State education agencies; Institutions of higher education; Nonprofit organizations; Philanthropies and Foundations; Service providers; Data analysts or independent researchers; Managers of data or technology teams; Senior leaders (including cabinet-level leaders and executive directors)

Session Description: Many data practitioners serve as the sole data voice within functional departments or small organizations where they must navigate cultures unfamiliar with rigorous evidence. This session brings these lone strategists together to swap strategies for establishing trust, managing workflows, and avoiding duplicative silos. Data strategists in LEAs/SEAs in HR, Finance, Safety, Federal Programs, etc.—and anyone serving as a "team of one"—are encouraged to attend and find their people.

Intended Audience: Data analysts or independent researchers; Districts, charters or other local education agencies; Philanthropies and Foundations

Session Description: Data initiatives often fail at the adoption stage due to user resistance and data grief. This structured exchange will convene leaders, analysts, and directors to crowd-source solutions for managing data change. Participants will rotate through themed round tables on easing emotional resistance, aligning system design to user workloads, and building trust between data builders and decision-makers.

Intended Audience: Districts, charters or other local education agencies; Managers of data or technology teams; Senior leaders (including cabinet-level leaders and executive directors)"

Session Description:  This session is centered on aligning behavioral health metrics with key P–20W milestones (e.g., kindergarten readiness, 9th-grade transition, postsecondary persistence/completion, and early workforce outcomes). 

School mental health is often treated as a support function separate from academic outcomes measured in service counts and compliance checkboxes rather than in evidence that moves students forward. This session challenges that framing. Too often, state policy and frontline practice operate with different mental models of what "good" looks like. State agencies optimize for reportable metrics; school counselors and community health workers respond to what they see in the room. This session examines the confidence gap between those two realities and offers a framework for closing it.

Participants will leave with:

• A P–20W indicator alignment map connecting behavioral health measures to key educational milestones
• Practical guidance on reframing mental health data as "barriers to learning" and "bridges to the workforce" for different stakeholder audiences
• Lessons from the field on building data systems that are useful to both policymakers and practitioners — not just one or the other

This session is designed for data strategists, state agency leaders, and district decision-makers who are ready to move beyond counting services and toward using behavioral health data.