Policy Entrepreneurship in an Emergent Domain: Advancing Innovation in Non-Cognitive Factors From the Federal Level

Abstract

I served as the Raikes Foundation Fellow on Non-Cognitive Factors and Learning within the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement during the 2014-2015 academic year. So called non-cognitive factors are the intrapersonal and interpersonal skills and attitudes which, in combination with cognitive skills, enable students to successfully navigate the learning tasks of school and the unpredictable, multilayered challenges of life beyond school. The Department seeks to drive innovation and improvement in non-cognitive factors to support three of its main goals: increasing college and career readiness for all students, narrowing achievement gaps and safeguarding equity for historically under-served and marginalized populations of students. Energy is growing across the education sector to prioritize non-cognitive factor teaching and learning in national reform efforts. However, much progress and collaboration is required to develop common understanding, identify valid measures and expand the teaching and learning evidence base of this vast domain of constructs. Promising recent innovations, specifically related to improving academic mindsets, have yielded positive impacts and suggest new conceptions of scale. This capstone examines my efforts as a policy entrepreneur within the U.S. Department of Education to capitalize on growing momentum across the sector and a burgeoning policy window to drive innovation in non-cognitive factors. Using the lens of the Kingdon policy streams framework, I deconstruct my efforts, focusing primarily on my role in crafting a national convening on improving non-cognitive factor measure development. Applying the Kingdon framework illuminates the possibilities and challenges of policy entrepreneurship in advancing innovation within this emergent domain from the federal level, with implications for the sector, the Department and my own leadership development.