Research

Long-form studies for school-system leaders.

Deep research, policy scans, and implementation studies. Less hot take, more receipts.

Joined dashboard

51-Jurisdiction Research Signals

Nine research signals, kept separate on purpose. There is no blended score. Open enrollment is four policies, not one heat map.

11states with AI signal 5+
20bell-to-bell device models
2explicit pod protections
1047directory-listed programs across 46 states
30,440NFHS esports survey participants
7binding or statewide cybersecurity floors
48states with verified teacher-pipeline support
13states with verified rostering standards
Bell-to-bellInstructional-timeDistrict-policyGuidance / executiveActive billNo statewide ruleOutside 50-state study
FamilyStatusAs-ofSource

Tile color shows the device-policy model. The number is the AI implementation signal score, not a legal ranking. NR means that jurisdiction was outside the underlying 50-state AI study. Microschool pathway labels are not legal clearance. Directory counts and NFHS esports survey values are visibility measures, never statewide censuses. Open enrollment missing cells are not yet verified, never zero and never “no program.”

Read the AI governance studyRead the elementary device studyRead the microschools studyRead the K-12 esports studyRead the K-12 cybersecurity studyRead the teacher-pipeline studyRead the voucher fiscal studyRead the interoperability studyRead the open enrollment study

What changed · October 2026

Where the map actually moved.

Three quiet months, then seven states moved. June, July, and August snapshots show zero state classification changes; October shows seven. Bell-to-bell phone rules rose from 18 to 20 states (Maine, Illinois). States with published AI guidance rose from 37 to 38 (Florida), and Kansas moved from none to developing. Sanctioned esports state championships rose from 8 to 10 (Oklahoma, South Dakota). Binding cybersecurity floors rose from 2 to 3 (Ohio).
October 2026 refresh: the first month any state changed classification on the dashboard.
Microschool directory listings are up 23 percent since July, from 848 to 1,047 across the 50 states. 28 states gained listings and none lost any. Largest increases: Ohio 22 to 50, Georgia 49 to 75, Texas 112 to 136, Tennessee 28 to 51, Washington 13 to 34, North Carolina 25 to 44. Kansas went from 46 to 53. A listing is not a school count.
Directory listings are self-reported and include homeschool co-ops. Growth means more programs chose to be visible, not proof that new schools opened.
Quarterly readout

4 official monthly snapshots from June to October 2026. Compare like-for-like fields only. Unverified and untracked values are research status, not proof a policy is absent.

4official monthly snapshots
2AI status or score changes
2device-model changes
5signals added after the first month
39cyber floors still unverified
Movement

AI governance

38 states with published statewide guidance. Mean implementation signal 3.56. 2 classification or score changes from June to October.

Movement

Device policy

20 bell-to-bell models, 18 instructional-time models. 2 model changes across the same 50 states.

Coverage expanded

Later signals

Added after June: microschools, esports, cybersecurity, teacher pipelines, interoperability. Cybersecurity has 12 verified floors and 39 still marked not yet verified. Interoperability is a first-release coverage signal from the August 2026 scan: Project Unicorn plus ECS 2024, not a movement trend. Teacher-pipeline and microschool status exist, but most of those series have only one or two official monthly points.

This is a snapshot comparison, not a ranking and not a blended score. Not yet verified is a research gap. Washington, D.C. is shown on the dashboard as a comparison jurisdiction and is excluded from 50-state totals. Mid-month files stay in the month selector; this readout uses official YYYY-MM archives only.