Looking Ahead to 2024

We are excited to be starting a new year building a national movement to establish and integrate Decision Education into the K-12 systems of all 50 states. This movement will take the efforts of many individuals, organizations, and communities, and we are inspired by the work already being done to empower students with the applied skills and dispositions taught in Decision Education.

Here are just a few of the many ways we plan to expand our reach and build the field in 2024.

We regularly work with K-12 educators, education leaders, families, funders, business leaders, researchers, advocacy organizations, and policymakers to bring Decision Education to schools across the country. The relationships we build with these partners are critical to our success.

In 2024, we are expanding these efforts through the development of an Advocates program made up of a community of diverse individuals from all over the United States. These advocates will help us expand access to Decision Education to more students by raising awareness, connecting with schools, families, and organizations in their communities, and working together to develop strategies to build a grassroots movement. We have seen the demand for Decision Education increase in recent years and are looking forward to seeing the movement grow through the support of this dedicated volunteer group. Interested in learning more? Visit our Advocate page.

In order to drive demand, the Alliance is also developing a Workforce Council initiative, with the goal of getting the largest national employers to support the Alliance’s mission. We have hired a Community and Partnerships Senior Manager who is dedicated to developing workforce relationships and corporate engagement, and we will be recruiting new council members throughout the year.

We will also benefit from the expertise of Dr. Ali Abbas—a renowned expert in decision-making, with a focus on decision analysis, risk analysis, multi-attribute utility theory, and data-based decision-making. Dr. Abbas is a member of the Alliance Advisory Council and will be advising the Alliance on multiple projects as a subject matter expert.

To support the movement for our growing field, the Alliance is testing and studying our own interventions in the classroom as well as supporting other research to build and share credible evidence in the field of Decision Education. We work with an expert and engaged researcher community in these efforts to grow the body of evidence and to encourage more researchers in the field and are planning a grants program so that we could support other researchers as they study the impact of Decision Education.

In 2024, our Research team is expanding an online community platform for the Decision Education research community, including members of our Research Collaborative, to share knowledge and resources and engage in conversations. We are also conducting a student forecasting tournament study and continuing to grow the researcher community by awarding scholarships to current graduate students who write research reviews on related topics through our Decision Education Research Scholarship Award. If you are a graduate student or know a graduate student who might be interested in this opportunity, you can learn more here.

The Alliance recognizes the unique role that policy has in the education system at the local, state, and federal levels. To build and sustain an education field, public policies, mandates, and legal requirements for the teaching and funding of K-12 Decision Education at the local, state, and federal levels are critical.

In 2024, we are working on building relationships with leaders in multiple states and on drafting model legislation for Decision Education standards adoption. As part of building these relationships, we will identify champions—state legislators or members of state boards of education who will serve as lead sponsors of a bill or regulation and who will reach out to state officials in support of standards adoption. You can view the Decision Education K-12 Learning Standards here. Please let us know if you would like to be involved in state-based efforts for bringing Decision Education into schools across the country.

We are excited to implement each of these initiatives and more in the coming months because we believe that, together, these steps will lead to enduring and exponential benefits—for both individuals and society—for years to come. We know that the social change on the scale we envision requires strategic planning, powerful partnerships, and excellence in execution. If you are interested in getting involved, please join our call to ensure that Decision Education is part of every student’s learning experience by signing our pledge, or finding other ways to advocate here.