The Strategic Data Project Welcomes 35 Fellows into Cohort 17 of the SDP Fellowship, Includes Second Tutoring Working Group

October 26, 2025—The Strategic Data Project (SDP), an initiative of the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University, welcomed its seventeenth cohort of SDP Fellows, who will spend the next two years using evidence to evaluate and improve educational practices and policies. 

These 35 fellows, selected from across the nation, represent a broad spectrum of educational institutions and organizations, working at the local, state, and national levels to support students from early childhood through postsecondary education. This cohort includes new partnerships with organizations like the Allentown School District (PA), the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, and the Minnesota Department of Education, alongside returning partners such as Tulsa Public Schools, the Rhode Island Department of Education, and the Research Institute at Dallas College. These selected agencies’ leadership and fellows are united by a shared mission: leveraging data to drive transformative improvements that directly impact student success and reshape the future of education. 

The new fellows and their supervisors will convene on the Harvard University campus this month to plan the strategic data projects they will undertake for their organizations over the next two years. Throughout the two-year fellowship, fellows will participate in in-person and virtual training, receive support from the SDP network of faculty and alumni, and access new data tools and resources to improve outcomes for students.  

“What’s striking about this cohort is how focused our partners' work has become,” said Miriam Greenberg, Senior Director of the Strategic Data Project. “It’s less about proving a point with data and more about solving urgent problems, like making staffing decisions, redesigning instructional supports, and monitoring implementation in real time. That shift is what makes this moment different.” 

Cohort 17 will also include SDP’s second High-Dosage Tutoring Working Group, in collaboration with Accelerate, which will include four SDP Fellows at state education agencies in Florida, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Tennessee, and Texas. These fellows will continue to build upon work from the Cohort 15 High-Dosage Tutoring Working Group, which culminated in a set of data tools to understand and monitor high-dosage tutoring implementation, released for free public use earlier this month. 

Applications are now open for prospective fellows and prospective partner organizations for the Fall 2026–Summer 2028 cohort. Learn more at sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/apply. 

SDP is grateful to funders who sponsored partners across this cohort, including the Gates Foundation and Overdeck Family Foundation. 

Join our mailing list to be the first to know about updates from SDP. 

Contact: Rachel Tropp, CEPR Communications Specialist (rachel_tropp@gse.harvard.edu)     

About the Strategic Data Project     

Harvard's Strategic Data Project (SDP) works with education agencies to find and train data leaders to uncover trends, measure solutions, and effectively communicate evidence to stakeholders. SDP’s network of system leaders, fellows, and faculty come together to share how to best use data to make a difference in the lives of students. SDP Fellows are driving data-informed change in over 215 school systems and organizations. Learn more at sdp.harvard.edu.     

About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University     

The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.