About the Education Scorecard

The Education Scorecard is a collaboration between two of the nation’s leading education research centers: the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University and the Educational Opportunity Project (EOP) at Stanford University. Together, CEPR and EOP have built a real-time, publicly accessible window into how students in local school districts across America are learning and growing. The Education Scorecard uses data from the EOP’s Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) which enables apples-to-apples comparisons of student achievement across districts and states regardless of which assessment a state uses. Getting the data into the right hands, accompanied by case studies and analysis, has changed the conversations happening at the local, state, and federal level — and CEPR’s commitment to active, intentional outreach is what has made the Scorecard a genuine force in the national conversation on education. In its fourth year, the Scorecard has maintained its commitment to sustaining debates in local communities.

The partnership between CEPR and the EOP was forged at a moment of national urgency.  Sean Reardon and his colleagues launched the first version of SEDA in 2016, developing a method to put state assessment results on a common national scale, using state-level data from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to link each states’ scores to the NAEP scale. However, because they relied on data reported by states to the federal government, the SEDA data typically lagged two or three years behind testing dates.  In 2022, Harvard’s Tom Kane approached the EOP with the idea of making the SEDA data timelier and more useful for state and local policymakers.  With support from CEPR to scrape the public data, the EOP created a new version of SEDA based on more current, publicly-reported data.  When the first post-pandemic NAEP scores were released in October 2022, the Education Scorecard (known then as the Education Recovery Scorecard) provided detailed analyses of the 2022 district-level metrics within that first week—providing much-needed information on how students were faring in the immediate wake of the pandemic.  The result was a timely, nationally-comparable resource for tracking learning in local communities.

But the Education Scorecard is not just a technical achievement; it is a civic one. It provides annual analyses of policy topics such as the impact of federal pandemic relief spending and the consequences of heightened student absenteeism.  In future years, we plan to include updates on the progress of early literacy efforts or the effects of student screen time. The Scorecard has actively worked with journalists, policymakers, school leaders, and community advocates to ensure they know the data exist, know what they mean, and know how to use them. The reach of the Scorecard speaks for itself: the most recent release alone generated coverage in top national outlets including the Associated Press, NPR, CBS Evening News, and Fox News, with stories syndicated and broadcast thousands of times across the country.

From the beginning, the team understood that data alone does not drive change. Storytelling does. So, alongside the numbers, the Scorecard built a coordinated communications effort — reaching out to local and national media, providing reporters with tailored data for their communities, and translating complex findings into clear, actionable takeaways that could inform editorial coverage, legislative conversations, and school board decisions alike. Districts like Ector County, TX, Union City, NJ, and Compton, CA aren’t just data points — they are proof of what’s possible, and the Scorecard is committed to making sure their stories are heard.

Project Leaders

The Team

Daniel Dewey

Senior Research Analyst, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Daniel Dewey is a senior research analyst at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. He holds a M.A. in Applied Economics and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Erin Fahle

Executive Director, Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford Universitylyst, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Erin Fahle is the Executive Director of the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. Dr. Fahle manages the research team that develops the Stanford Education Data Archive and conducts research to explore how social and school context affects gender, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic inequalities in student’s access to educational opportunities and subsequent achievement. Her research has been published in Educational Researcher and the American Educational Research Journal and featured in media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and NPR. Prior to joining Stanford, Dr. Fahle was a Research Scientist at NWEA and an assistant professor at St. John’s University. Dr. Fahle holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Stanford University and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Georgetown University.

Christina Grant

Executive Director, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Erin Fahle is the Executive Director of the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. Dr. Fahle manages the research team that develops the Stanford Education Data Archive and conducts research to explore how social and school context affects gender, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic inequalities in student’s access to educational opportunities and subsequent achievement. Her research has been published in Educational Researcher and the American Educational Research Journal and featured in media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and NPR. Prior to joining Stanford, Dr. Fahle was a Research Scientist at NWEA and an assistant professor at St. John’s University. Dr. Fahle holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Stanford University and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Georgetown University.

Dr. Christina Grant is Executive Director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, where she connects rigorous research with the policies and decisions that shape educational opportunity across the lifespan. A scholar, practitioner, writer, and public speaker, her research focuses on the future of assessment, AI alignment in K–12 education, systems leadership, and the superintendency. She is the author of The Superintendent as a Civic Leader (Harvard Education Press, forthcoming) and holds dual faculty appointments at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

Previously, Dr. Grant served as the District of Columbia’s State Superintendent of Education — overseeing a $1 billion budget and policy for 130,000 learners — where her leadership contributed to D.C. becoming the nation’s highest-gaining urban school district on the 2024 NAEP. In 2025, she was appointed by Governor Maura Healey to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is a Pahara, Presidential Leadership Scholars, German Marshall Fund, and Aspen Fellow, and holds an Ed.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew Ho

Charles William Eliot Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Andrew Ho is a Professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and psychometrician whose research aims to improve the design, use, and interpretation of test scores in educational policy and practice. Dr. Ho is known for his research documenting the misuse of proficiency-based statistics in state and federal policy analysis. He has also clarified properties of student growth models for both technical and general audiences. His scholarship advocates for designing evaluative metrics to achieve multiple criteria: metrics must be accurate, but also transparent to target audiences and resistant to inflation under perverse incentives. Dr. Ho is a member of the National Assessment Governing Board that sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress. He holds his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and his M.S. in Statistics from Stanford University.

Demetra Kalogrides

Research Data Analyst, Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University

Demetra Kalogrides is a research data analyst for the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. She received a B.A. in Sociology from Santa Clara University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Davis.

Jie Min

Research Data Analyst, Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University

Jie Min is a research data analyst for the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. Prior to joining Stanford University, Jie worked as research statistician at Far Harbor, LLC. Jie was a recipient of the National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. Jie earned her PhD and MA in sociology, as well as an MS in statistics, from Rice University.

Sadie Richardson

Ph.D. Student, Stanford University Graduate School of Education

Sadie Richardson is a Ph.D. student at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and research assistant with the Educational Opportunity Project. She received a B.A. from Rice University with a double major in Cognitive Sciences and Statistics.

Jim Saliba

Research Data Analyst, Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University

Jim Saliba is a research data analyst for the Educational Opportunity Project (EOP). Jim received a B.A. in Drama from Stanford University and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Minnesota, where they are completing their dissertation.

Lisa Sanbonmatsu

Director of Research, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Lisa Sanbonmatsu is Director of Research at CEPR overseeing multiple projects. Prior to joining CEPR, Lisa was a senior researcher on the Moving to Opportunity project at the National Bureau of Economic Research, where she evaluated large randomized experiments and examined factors affecting the mental health, physical health, education, and economic outcomes of low-income families and their children. Lisa holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.

Benjamin Shear

Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder

Ben Shear is an Assistant Professor in the Research and Evaluation Methodology program at the University of Colorado Boulder, College of Education. His primary research interests address topics in psychometrics and applied statistics, including validity theory, differential item functioning, and the application of diagnostic classification models. His research in applied statistics seeks to improve the use of quantitative methods by education researchers measuring student learning, evaluating education policies, or studying inequality. He holds his Ph.D. in Development and Psychological Sciences from Stanford University and his M.A. in Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology from the University of British Columbia.

Jiyeon Shim

Research Data Analyst, Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University

Jiyeon Shim is a research data analyst at the Educational Opportunity Project. Jiyeon received a B.A. in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Science from Yong In University in South Korea, and a Master’s degree in Economics from San Diego State University.

Douglas Staiger

Professor of Economics Dartmouth College

Douglas Staiger is the John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor in the Department of Economics at Dartmouth. Before joining Dartmouth in 1998, he was a faculty member at Stanford and Harvard. Dr. Staiger is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an Affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT. He was the recipient of the Arrow Award for the best paper in health economics in 2007, and the Eugene Garfield Economic Impact of Medical and Health Research Award in 2008. Dr. Staiger is a co-founder, with John Birkmeyer and Justin Dimick, of ArborMetrix, a healthcare analytics company. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics. Dr. Staiger received his BA from Williams College in 1984 and his PhD in economics from MIT in 1990.

Dr. Staiger’s research interests include the economics of education, economics of healthcare, and statistical methods. His work has been published in both top economics journals (including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics) and top medical journals (including JAMA, and the New England Journal of Medicine). In the field of education, his current research investigates school and teacher effectiveness in elementary and secondary education, and has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. In the field of healthcare, his current research investigates the quality of care in hospitals and labor markets for nurses and physicians, and has been funded by the National Institute of Health and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Sam Stockwell

Director of Communications, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Sam Stockwell is the Director of Communications and Strategy at CEPR. He previously served as the Associate Director of Communications and Outreach at the Annenberg Institute, where he led communications and external relations efforts. He holds a B.A. in Communications from Gordon College and an M.A. in Urban Education Policy from Brown University.

Derik Suria

Research Analyst, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Derik Suria is a Research Analyst Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. Derik holds a B.A. in Quantitative Economics and History and a minor in Data Science from Claremont McKenna College.

Rachel Tropp

Communications Specialist, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Rachel Tropp is the communications specialist at CEPR. Previously, Rachel worked as a research associate at Harvard Business School and a fellow for a workforce development nonprofit after receiving her AB in government from Harvard College with a secondary in educational studies.

Funder Info

The Education Recovery Scorecard receives philanthropic support from Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin and Griffin Catalyst, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Joyce Foundation.

The Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) is funded by the Gates Foundation.

Some of the data used in constructing the SEDA files were provided by the Education Data Center (EDC), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB).

The findings and opinions expressed in the research reported here are those of the authors and do not represent views of EDC, NCES, NAGB or any of the aforementioned funders.