Professional Development and Support: What Will I Learn?

**Applications for Cohort 5 of the SDP Fellowship are now closed.**

Strategic Data Project Fellows work full-time in a partner agency (e.g. school district, charter management organization or state education agency) for the duration of their two-year Fellowship. During that time they also participate in a structured professional development program designed to boost Fellows’ skills and knowledge in measurement and analysis, leadership and change management, and education policy.

Professional development for Fellows consists of eight workshops over the course of the Fellowship, ongoing advising and mentoring with Harvard faculty and SDP staff, and individual professional development accounts.

The goals of the SDP Fellowship professional development are to:

• Provide Fellows with skill-building opportunities that directly contribute to their work.
• Significantly elevate their analytic, communication, and project management skills.
• Build a professional and intellectual network.
• Provide time and resources for Fellows to reflect on their work.

Fellows Workshops: Curriculum

Fellows’ workshops are structured around themes in education policy, and will also support Fellows’ development in measurement and analysis as well as leadership and change management. Policy and research themes we explore include: teacher effectiveness, value-added models, compensation, college going success, and how data can drive operational decisions more successfully. During these workshops, Fellows reflect on real-life analytic and leadership challenges that they experience in their work, sourcing each other and a host of other thought leaders for solutions.

Fellows’ individual work is guided by outside readings, case studies and related materials which form the basis for these workshops. In addition, Fellows are exposed to a wide range of role models including SDP Fellows from other cohorts; SDP researchers and staff; Harvard-based faculty; experts in analysis, leadership and education policy; and leaders from throughout the sector.

SDP emphasizes cutting-edge topics and learning from successful models. Our goal is for Fellows to leave each session armed with a vision for their work, along with the tools and relationships necessary to move from vision to action.