SDP Blog

A hand-decorated note might not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think about the impact of data. But in San Diego County, one school counselor’s creative attendance “nudge letters” reveal something crucial about why SDP alumnus Shannon...

Every spring, over ten thousand students graduate from high schools across the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in North Carolina, and walk into a wide range of futures. Some head straight to four-year universities, while others enroll at the...

For many, college is a pathway to better employment opportunities and a more secure life. For community college students, who are often low-income, first-generation, or students of color, this hope feels even more urgent. “At Dallas College, like so many...

When Miriam Greenberg, SDP’s Senior Director, floated the idea for our LinkedIn hiring series, I was apprehensive. Isn’t the magic behind our selection process something we need to keep under lock and key? But as we talked more about the lessons we could...

My daughter started learning Mandarin this year. For a while she was deeply interested in hieroglyphics, so this feels like a practical pivot. Lately she likes to play “Mandarin teacher.” She seats my partner and me on pillows on the floor, points to...

Most ed agencies we talk to say they want data staff who can hit the ground running. What they often mean is someone who already knows their exact programming language and preferred tools. That instinct is understandable. Teams are busy. The work feels...

Most hiring processes for data roles in education are designed around one question: Can this person do the analysis? That question matters, but it’s not the only important one. The harder question is this: What happens when their analysis is wrong...

If you have ever watched a strong hire struggle in their first year, you have probably asked the same questions I have. Was this the wrong person? Did we misjudge their skills? Did they lack initiative? Over time, I have come to see a different pattern...

This summer, The Hechinger Report ran a headline: “Tutoring was supposed to save American kids after the pandemic. The results? ‘Sobering.’” It grabbed attention but communicated the wrong message. Tutoring itself did not fail. What failed was how...

A former partner recently called me in full panic. They had posted a data analyst role expecting a few dozen applicants. Instead, they got 392. On paper, it looked like a gift. But when they gave semi-finalist candidates a basic analytic task, the results...