Turning Policy into Practice: What We Learned at the Policy to Action Summit

The event opened with an inspiring keynote from Seth Walker, a graduate of Talladega County Schools in Alabama. Seth shared how locally led research and development (R&D) in his district transformed his educational journey, ultimately guiding him to study cybersecurity at Troy University. His story set the tone for the Summit: Innovation built in community, stays in community—and its impact lasts.

Preparing District Leaders to Shape National Policy

The Summit’s workshop sessions equipped superintendents and district teams with the tools, language, and confidence to influence federal education policy. Throughout the day, participants worked in cross-district groups to:

• Align around key priorities for education R&D and innovation
• Craft compelling narratives rooted in their districts’ student stories
• Connect local innovations to the national strategy outlined in the Competitive Edge Action Agenda
• Prepare for high-impact meetings with congressional leaders and staff

School system leaders don’t just manage schools—they drive change, create knowledge, and shape what’s possible for students. Their voices are essential not only for guiding local innovation, but also for informing federal policy and securing the resources schools need to succeed.

Advocacy in Action: 60 Meetings, One Unified Message

The following day, 23 regional groups of superintendents and district leaders brought their shared message to the nation’s capitol, participating in more than 60 meetings with congressional offices.

District leaders spoke candidly about:

• What is working for their students
• What challenges require new approaches
• Why increased federal investment in education R&D is essential

Across conversations, one message was clear: Federal policy must reflect the needs and experience of school systems and the communities and learners they serve. To do that, districts must be centered in national R&D strategy.

Why Local Innovation Needs National Support

A theme echoed throughout the Summit: innovation begins in classrooms, but it requires federal support to grow and endure.

Education R&D isn’t simply experimentation—it empowers districts to:

• Design and implement new approaches tailored to their students
• Integrate emerging tools, including AI, responsibly and effectively
• Respond quickly to shifting learning needs and challenges
• Share promising practices that can benefit schools nationwide

It is a structured approach that helps districts learn what works, enabling them to make better informed and faster decisions that improve student outcomes.

A Shared Roadmap: The Competitive Edge Action Agenda

Hill meetings were grounded in Competitive Edge: An Action Agenda for How School Systems Can Advance Learning Through R&D, developed by the District Education R&D Advisory Committee in partnership with Digital Promise and ALI.

The Action Agenda offers:

• A shared roadmap for embedding R&D into the core work of school systems
• Clear strategies for aligning research with everyday classroom needs
• A framework for transforming promising ideas into sustainable, scalable solutions

This agenda is intended to shape both local innovation efforts and national policy conversations.

What’s Next: Insights to Strengthen the Movement

The momentum from the Summit continues. Digital Promise and ALI will soon release a national landscape analysis mapping how districts across the country are engaging in R&D.

This report will highlight:

• Emerging trends in district-led innovation
• Systemic barriers that require policy attention
• Opportunities to expand R&D in ways that accelerate improvement

These insights will help districts, partners, and policymakers identify where support is most urgently needed and how to build an education system capable of continuous learning and adaptation.

Attendees of the League’s 2025 Policy to Action Summit in Washington, DC, pose together on the stairs. They gained the tools and platform to shape federal policy and ensure schools receive the support they need to innovate.

The Power of a Network That Learns and Leads Together

The Policy to Action Summit reinforced a core belief of Digital Promise and the League of Innovative Schools: When districts learn together, advocate together, and innovate together, systemwide change for the benefit of students becomes possible.

By raising their voices collectively, League members demonstrated the power of local innovation amplified through a national network and showed how district leadership can help shape the future of learning.

This is the work of the League.
This is the heart of Digital Promise’s mission.
And this is how we turn policy into real progress for every learner.