BOULDER, CO (May 19, 2026) — In this month’s episode of NEPC Talks Education, Christopher Saldaña is joined by Susanna Loeb, professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and faculty director of the SCALE Initiative, where she also serves as founder and executive director of the National Student Support Accelerator. Loeb discusses the recent release of Getting Down to Facts 3, a Stanford SCALE Initiative project that brings together more than 100 researchers to give California policymakers, educators, and families a shared, evidence-based picture of the state's public education system from preschool through high school.
Loeb traces the project back nearly 20 years, to a moment when California’s public schools were marked by low achievement, an illogical funding system, an opaque governance structure, and an education code so dense that districts often simply copied their neighbors. The original Getting Down to Facts stepped back to examine the system as a whole rather than one lever at a time, revealing how inequitable funding, governance dysfunction, and accountability gaps were all connected. That shared factual foundation, Loeb explains, helped shape some of California’s biggest reforms, including the Local Control Funding Formula. Getting Down to Facts 2 built on that work, and Getting Down to Facts 3 now asks different questions: Why does the state struggle to sustain and scale the gains it has made? And how can it build a learning system that improves over time and adapts to change?
The conversation focuses on how research actually moves into policy and practice. Loeb candidly explains that rigor alone is never enough. Each round of Getting Down to Facts begins with a listening tour across the state, gathering questions from policymakers, advocates, educators, district leaders, and families so the research speaks to the decisions people are actually trying to make. Findings are then synthesized across dozens of individual studies and translated into formats that different audiences can use, from model policies to checklists to videos. Timing matters as well, Loeb notes; the first round’s most consequential influence came only after the Great Recession eased, when policymakers were ready to act on a comprehensive framework already on the table.
Among the most striking findings in Getting Down to Facts 3 are the depth of administrative burdens facing educators and the fragmentation of state systems of support, alongside pockets of genuinely strong work in tutoring, individualized attention, and high school redesign. Loeb organizes the path forward around what she calls the “ABCs”: Alignment and accountability that provide districts with clear and consistent goals. Balance between state guidance and local flexibility that supports districts' decision-making while saving them time, effort, and money. Finally, capacity-building, which supports districts in high-stakes work like recruiting, hiring, and retaining teachers and principals.
Loeb closes with practical advice for leaders in other states who want a Getting Down to Facts–style effort of their own. The work takes time—roughly two years from start to release—and requires independence for people across the political spectrum to trust the findings. Researchers must carefully choose the scope of the project and approach issues from multiple angles, rather than chasing a single lever or trying to cover everything. Above all, she emphasizes a listening tour, advisory groups, and pre-releases that engage policymakers, educators, and communities throughout the process.
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