Shannon Coulter, SDP Fellowship Alumnus, receives Strategic Data Impact Award
CAMBRIDGE, May 14, 2026—The Strategic Data Project (SDP) at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University announced Shannon Coulter of the San Diego County Office of Education as the winner of the 2026 Strategic Data Impact Award. The award, first launched in 2021, was presented at SDP’s annual spring convening in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 2026, only current and former SDP Fellows working in education agencies were eligible for the award for their work using proof to guide decisions for positive impact. Award criteria included demonstrated use of high-quality data to address a pressing, clear challenge in education; measurable, quality evidence of success and impact; and the ability to inspire others.
Submissions also needed to align with the 2026 SDP Convening theme, “Proof Positive," SDP’s twin commitments to proof that guides decisions and positivity that sustains progress.
“Many schools were stuck in reactive, compliance driven approaches with truancy letters, review board referrals, punitive responses, and ICAN asked teams to flip that script,” reflected Coulter, now the Director of Research and Evaluation at SDCOE. “[With ICAN], we move toward an asset-based relationship, building models with weekly attendance, team meetings, positive interventions, nudge letters that say we miss you instead of threatening letters. This project is more than a set of reports.”
ICAN offers a scalable model for how education agencies can use real-time data to improve student attendance, as well as other student outcomes. The model centers attendance as an early warning indicator, coupled with shared routines to move from reactive responses to proactive, evidence-based support for students and families. The network brings together multiple districts across the county to use a shared strategic data calendar, common analytic routines, and coaching to guide timely interventions throughout the school year. Using daily attendance and chronic absence data disaggregated by student group, grade level, and school, ICAN supports early identification of students at risk, continuous monitoring of trends, and root-cause analysis that aligns interventions with local context.
Coulter credits the Strategic Data Project Fellowship’s training with providing him a foundation to shape both the rigor and the practical design of ICAN. SDP’s emphasis on problem definition, continuous improvement, and communicating results to decision-makers informed the creation of the strategic data calendar, the network’s coaching structure, and the translation of findings into the concrete metrics that district leaders use to drive action.
“While each of the submissions demonstrated the talent, innovation, and dedication of SDP Fellows and alumni, this project rose to the top due to its innovative use of data, with a clear and direct connection to outcomes,” said Alison Guerriero, Associate Director of Outreach and Partnerships for the Strategic Data Project. “At SDP, we say that ‘data work is people work,’ and Shannon Coulter’s ICAN project clearly put this into practice. Not only that, but the impact of ICAN on improving student attendance speaks for itself––ICAN participation was associated with two to four extra school days per student.”
Additional submissions which received honorable mention for the 2026 Award include:
- Yuzhu Xia, Cohort 16: Boston Public Schools’ Early Childhood Department led a multi-year, cross-departmental redesign of its PreK–2nd grade report card to turn a compliance-driven document into a family-centered communication tool that improves coherence, equity, and trust across PreK–K12 settings.
- Megan Conklin, Cohort 9: Hope Chicago partnered with higher education institutions to administer and act on a series of pulse surveys for its third cohort of traditionally underserved Scholars, using real-time feedback to design targeted interventions that improved student support and are now informing services for the fourth cohort.
- Andrew Hendricks, Cohort 16: Fresno Unified School District used an academic return on investment analysis of its one-to-one student laptop program to uncover high breakage, loss, and equity concerns, leading the district to invest millions in transitioning all elementary schools to a class set model.
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Learn more at sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/award or watch the video at https://sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/blog/2026/05/better-way-bring-students-back
Contact: Sam Stockwell, CEPR Director of Communications, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
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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.