Illuminations and Insights
We shine a light on our partners, the work we've done across the country, and insights from our team members.
Day in the Life: Q&A with Director of Internal Data & Analytics Annie Nielsen
Get to know our Director of Internal Data & Analytics, Annie Nielsen, in the latest installment of our “Day in the Life” series. In the blog, Annie shares insights into her role leading the development and maintenance of EA’s internal data model and analytic infrastructure, her journey from the Analyst team to the Business Operations team, and her passion for streamlining systems to make work easier for her colleagues.
The "Reimagining IES" Report Just Described Our Vision. Now What?
In this blog, CEO Andrew Rice reflects on the new vision document from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Reimagining the Institute of Education Sciences. In the blog, Andrew shares how strongly the vision resonates with the work EA's been building toward for years—especially the call to move education data from a static snapshot to a continuous stream. Real modernization requires shared, durable software. It requires governance, engineering capacity, and cross-state collaboration through models like state consortia. It requires equipping researchers with data engineering skills alongside statistical expertise. Andrew reflects on what it will actually take to make the IES vision a reality—and why this moment matters.
Day in the Life: Q&A with the Director of Finance Eric Cramer
Get to know the Director of Finance Eric Cramer in the latest installment of our Day in the Life series. In the blog, Eric describes his start in the education research space as an undergraduate student, the exciting nature of his responsibilities overseeing and analyzing data within EA's financial systems to drive the organization forward, and how he spends his time outside of work exploring state parks with his dogs.
Day in the Life: Q&A with Senior Technical Program Manager Drew McDermott
Get to know Senior Technical Program Manager Drew McDermott in the latest installment of our Day in the Life series. In the blog, Drew details his journey from graduate school fellow to his current role within the Data Science division, the rewarding nature of tackling analytics challenges for our partner organizations, and how he spends his time outside of work exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Economists of Scale: Using Interoperability Technologies for Efficient Research with Large Datasets
Co-hosts of the DatabasED Podcast, Senior Product Manager Molly Stewart and Vice President of Product Rosh Dhanawade, recently interviewed Principal Researcher Michael Christian and Research Scientist I Sara Hu about how interoperability has changed their research work at Education Analytics (EA). This blog includes highlights from their episode.
A Year in Review: 2025 Conferences
Each year, we attend and present at several conferences nationwide to showcase our work and our Ed-Fi-enabled product stack. These events allow us to engage with educators, administrators, district leaders, and fellow ed tech organizations, fostering collaboration and sharing insights. In 2025, we participated in more than 20 conferences. In this blog, we provide an overview of some of the key conferences we attended and presented at in 2025, including SXSW EDU, AeriesCon, CoSN, Ed-Fi Alliance Tech Congress, SCASA, EA Staff Conference, GaDOE Data Conference, and Ed-Fi Alliance Summit.