Why States Must Lead on Education R&D, How They Can Start Today

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A memory foam mattress. A Post-it note. A breakthrough cancer therapy. A self-driving car. Each is the product of robust research and development (R&D), the engine behind progress in nearly every sector.

Except education.

In 2025, most students still learn in a system designed a century ago. Despite pockets of innovation, public education remains largely standardized and slow to adapt — ill-equipped to meet the needs of every learner in a changing world. 

This lag isn’t just a missed opportunity, it’s a threat to our global competitiveness and our young people’s futures. If we want to engage and prepare students for the opportunities and challenges ahead, states must prioritize education R&D to transform education systems: investing in new ideas, testing what works and scaling promising approaches. While the United States consistently ranks behind international peers on assessments, sitting idle isn’t an option. 

As states navigate a changing federal landscape where they are encouraged to take the reins of their education systems, now is the opportunity to adopt R&D as a top strategic priority. Fortunately, states don’t have to start from scratch. Across the country, leaders are leveraging communities, learning science, and holistic outcomes to lay the foundation for R&D conditions and infrastructure.

In Washington State, the Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative is guiding future policy for high-quality mastery-based learning by transforming student experiences in almost 50 schools across the state. Through rigorous evaluation, Washington is collecting insight into the time and resources required to implement new teaching and learning systems.

Wyoming created the Future of Learning Partnership, uniting the governor’s office, education department, universities and school administrators around a shared vision for the future of education. The state’s RIDE initiative aims to shift teaching and learning practices toward more student-centered approaches aligned with its Profile of a Graduate. State pilot programs have reached half of Wyoming’s students, and the state has been able to identify and address roadblocks that prevent schools from implementing these practices.

In Virginia, Old Dominion University’s Center for Educational Innovation and Opportunity leads the state’s Lab School Network and collaborates with educators, researchers, and designers to advance Virginia’s mission of transforming education. This work was spurred by a $100 million state investment in developing lab schools to test innovative teaching methods. 

And in Massachusetts, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education worked with a handful of districts to examine how technology can be leveraged to support district priorities, including refining the use of specific technologies, centering digital equity and showcasing best practices around technology integration in alignment with district goals.

These efforts show that meaningful R&D in education is not only possible, it’s happening. This starts with a bold vision and an aligned public research agenda, informed by and responsive to communities’ needs. A recent report from Education Reimagined, Transcend, and the Alliance for Learning Innovation, outlines steps that states can take to build the infrastructure and conditions to enable system-wide education R&D. These include:

• Create dedicated capacity within SEAs or partner institutions/organizations with staff whose primary responsibility is shepherding this work across systems.
• Empower local leaders to test evidence-based solutions and develop innovative models that improve learner experiences and inform systems transformation.
• Build supporting infrastructure, including strong data systems to inform continuous improvement and innovation networks that connect and leverage the insights educators, researchers, and communities.

Most importantly, this work requires fundamental changes in how we approach educational transformation. State leaders can model critical mindset shifts and create cultures of trust and empowerment that embrace calculated risks, diverse evidence, and learner-centered design.

If we care about the future success of our young people, and our competitiveness as a nation, it’s past time to invest in the engine that powers other sectors to evolve and thrive. Learners deserve an education system that leverages R&D to enhance and continuously improve their experiences and outcomes. States must lead the way. 

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