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In order to realize the promise of innovative teaching models at the student level, school and district leaders must establish system-level conditions such as Essential Supports that allow educators to implement the design for students, Enabling Systems and Structures that lower barriers for implementation and accelerate uptake, and Ongoing Processes to align and improve. Learn more about our Innovative Learning Implementation Framework and explore strategies, advice, and tools below.

Framework graphic showing Conditions for Success and Scale; a three-part diagram with a student at the center, labeled "Teaching & Learning Model," surrounded by a large green circle split into 4 parts: Learning Materials & Tools, Community & Culture, Student Support Programming, and Professional Development & Learning. This is further surrounded by a thinner turquoise circle, split into several parts: Policies, Talent Systems, Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, Physical Environment, Time, Finance and Resourcing, Technology and Data Infrastructure, and Communications. The outermost circle is split into the following parts: Systems Visioning, Planning and Project Management, Continuous Improvement, Designing for Equity, and Change Management. The Conditions are as follows: innermost circle- Essential Supports, middle circle- Enabling Systems & Structures, outermost circle-Ongoing Processes.
Learning Materials & Tools
  • Core Curriculum
  • Supplemental Curriculum
  • Digital Curriculum
  • Assessments
  • Software Selection
  • Open Educational Resources
  • Digital Citizenship
Professional Development & Learning
  • Onboarding
  • Professional Development
  • Technology Training
  • Content Area Training
  • Pedagogy
Student Support Programming
  • Comprehensive Student Development
  • Social-Emotional Learning
  • Physical Health
  • Mental Health
  • Identity Development
Community & Culture
  • Student Culture
  • Staff Culture
  • Systems Building
  • Parent Engagement
  • Community Engagement

Select Practice Area

Community & Culture

Establishing and developing ties to the community and culture can help innovative schools foster environments centered on inclusiveness, innovation, and productive relationships. Creating explicit and implicit practices, norms, rules, and ways of working across students, staff, families, and communities at large can support this complex work.

Below, find strategies and resources for:

  • Student Culture
  • Staff Culture
  • Systems Building
  • Parent Engagement
  • Community Engagement
Teacher gives fist-bump to student standing outside doorway

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Technology & Data Infrastructure
  • Technology Infrastructure
  • Connectivity
  • Hardware
  • Procurement
  • Network Systems
  • Data Infrastructure
  • Data Interoperability
  • Data Privacy & Security
Finance & Resourcing
  • Budgets
  • Finance Modeling
Physical Environment
  • Flexible Classroom
  • Physical Layout
  • Safety
Talent Systems
  • Leadership Pipeline
  • Teacher Pipeline
  • Staffing Model
  • Human Resource Systems
Communications
  • Communications Planning
  • Public Relations
 Time
  • School Schedule
  • Structure of the Day
 Research, Measurement, & Evaluation
  • Pilot Structure
  • Program Evaluation
  • Research
  • Learning
  • Measurement
  • Dissemination
 Policies
  • State Policy
  • District Policy
  • School Policy
  • Data Privacy Policy

Select Practice Area

Community & Culture

Establishing and developing ties to the community and culture can help innovative schools foster environments centered on inclusiveness, innovation, and productive relationships. Creating explicit and implicit practices, norms, rules, and ways of working across students, staff, families, and communities at large can support this complex work.

Below, find strategies and resources for:

  • Student Culture
  • Staff Culture
  • Systems Building
  • Parent Engagement
  • Community Engagement
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0 strategies

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Visioning
  • Strategy Development
  • Vision Development
  • Leadership Decisions
Planning & Project Management
  • Planning
  • Project Management
  • Implementation
Change Management
  • Leadership Development
  • Leadership Choices
 Continuous Improvement
  • Program Capture
  • Program Codification
Designing for Equity
  • Equity Framing & Focus
  • Co-Design with Stakeholders
  • Analysis & Reflection

Select Practice Area

Community & Culture

Establishing and developing ties to the community and culture can help innovative schools foster environments centered on inclusiveness, innovation, and productive relationships. Creating explicit and implicit practices, norms, rules, and ways of working across students, staff, families, and communities at large can support this complex work.

Below, find strategies and resources for:

  • Student Culture
  • Staff Culture
  • Systems Building
  • Parent Engagement
  • Community Engagement
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0 strategy

0 strategies

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  • Sub-topics
    • Student Culture
    • Staff Culture
    • Systems Building
    • Parent Engagement
    • Community Engagement
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A woman and a girl sitting at a table with a laptop

Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School

Gathering Family Feedback on Edtech Usage

Strengthening the home-school connection through awareness, accessibility, and technical training around edtech tools
Teacher sits with student at desk, looking down at work, overlaid by purple gradient text and a logo for the Foundation for Excellence in Education

Advice: Communicating about Competency-Based Learning

A state policy messaging toolkit
Several small white icons centered around one white circular icon showing three people with a lightbulb above their heads

Advice: Community Collaboration for School Innovation

A community engagement toolkit
image of 22Listening-Sessions22-for-Building-Trust-and-Open-Communication.png

Colorado Springs School District 11

"Listening Sessions" for Building Trust and Open Communication

A monthly community forum hosted by central office staff on Facebook Live
image of Hybrid-strategy.jpg

Hybrid and In-Person Re-Entry Resources

Tools to ensure a safe and supported re-entry to school
Teacher stands behind student on laptop at desk, looking over student's shoulder as she speaks

Advice: Device Expectations

Establish clear rules and procedures for devices
image of High-dosage-tutoring.png

Metro Nashville Public Schools

High-Dosage Tutoring

Utilizing community partnerships to provide one-on-one tutoring to students
image of Forging-Partnership-with-Neighboring-District-To-Share-Resources.png

Meriden Public Schools

Forging Partnership with Neighboring District To Share Resources

Partnering with a neighboring school district to share resources
Student smiles at laptop screen

West Chester Area School District's Cyber Program

West Chester Area School District's Approach to Mastery and Expectations

How a virtual/hybrid program addressed student mastery and expectations around rigor for virtual learning
image of Offering-College-Credit-Bearing-Opportunities.png

Meriden Public Schools

Offering College-Credit Bearing Opportunities

Partnering with universities to provide college credit courses in high school
image of Community-Cares-Program.png

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District

Community Cares Program

Building deep partnership to ensure students experiencing homelessness have a place to learn during virtual school days
Map of icons linked together with arrows, conveying a network of ideas in education

Guide: Communications Planning for Innovation in Education

A how-to guide with real-world district examples and tools
Student works on laptop, sitting at home desk

Highline Public Schools

Highline Virtual Academy's Approach to Student Expectations and Engagement in Virtual Learning

How one virtual program addressed student participation and discourse through expectations
Two students work side-by-side at table on laptops, smiling

Collecting Data in Pursuit of Equity

“If you start at the classroom level, the system can’t see itself.” (Lisa Williams)
Teacher stands in front of classroom, pointing to paper in his hand as students look on

Lovett Elementary School

Lovett’s Approach to Communications

Communications needs and goals evolved along with instruction
People sitting in a row, writing in notebooks

Activity: Reflect on Equity in Your Solution

Take time to step back and ensure that your proposed solution is an equitable one
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Meriden Public Schools

Ongoing District and Union Partnership Meetings

Monthly meetings between district leaders and teacher and administrator union representatives
image of Leveraging-Local-Media-to-Communicate-with-Multilingual-Families.png

Ector Country Independent School District

Leveraging Local Media to Communicate with Multilingual Families

Reaching all families by sending messages through diverse channels
A woman talking to another woman in an office while the second woman writes down notes

Leveraging Disciplinary Data to Advocate for Students

Using data on disciplinary events to advocate for equitable practices
image of HandSignals-strat.png

Communicating with Hand Signals

Using hand signals to communicate
image of Building-a-Partnership-with-Local-Community-College-To-Increase-Access-to-Learning-Opportunities.png

Meriden Public Schools

Building a Partnership with Local Community College To Increase Access to Learning Opportunities

Exchanging classroom space for college courses
Close-up on a handshake

Trailblazer Elementary School

Trailblazer Communications Plan

Creating Transparency and "Seeing is Believing" Tours
image of MakingSenseEmpathy.png

Activity: Making Sense of Empathy Interviews

Tell stories and find themes from empathy interviews
One person leads a discussion, holding paper in his hand and gesturing toward it with a pen while others look on

Activity: Reflect on Equity in Your Pilot

Take time to step back and ensure that your solution has the desired impact
image of SharedCommitment.png

Activity: Build a Shared Commitment to Change

Clarify your purpose for embarking on design work
image of Technical-support-centers-for-families.png

Metro Nashville Public Schools

Technical Support Centers for Families

Creating technical support centers to support students and families during remote learning
image of Leveraging-Community-Partnerships-To-Build-a-City-Wide-Plan.png

Meriden Public Schools

Leveraging Community Partnerships To Build a City-Wide Plan

District and city partnership to create outdoor in-person learning spaces
Photo of group of students working on laptops at classroom table

Lindsay High School

Lindsay Unified's Community Wi-Fi

Establishing community-wide Wi-Fi to enable 24/7 access for all Learners
Person sits at a table with others, taking notes in notebook, inside bright room

Activity: Identity Reflection Through Noticing

Notice the experiences, identities, and values that each person brings to a team
image of LeveragingCommunity_strat.png

Leveraging Community Engagement to Solve Complex Problems

Step-by-step guidance to engaging the community in support of K-12 transformation
An man and his daughter looking at a tablet computer.

Accessing Student Data as a Family or Community Member for Advocacy

How family or community members can use student data for equitable advocacy
image of class-dojo-dollars.png

Holmes Elementary School

Class Dojo Dollars

Amplify Dojo incentives with a classroom economy.
Family uses laptop together, smiling

Madison Promise Online Program

Madison Promise Online Program's Approach to Communication

How one virtual school engaged families and set expectations for virtual and hybrid learning
image of Career-Academy-Vocational-School-Partnership.png

Meriden Public Schools

Career Academy Vocational School Partnership

Offering high school students vocational training
A man sitting at a desk writing on a piece of paper

The Forest School

Family Feedback

Collecting opinions and suggestions from families to improve students’ learning experiences
Student writes on tablet, looking at laptop, sitting on bed

Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' Virtual Academy

PCCS' Approach to Setting Norms and Expectations

How one virtual school addressed norms and expectations for students
A woman sitting at a table in front of a group of parents and students

Gill-Montague Regional School District

Engaging Spanish-Speaking Families to Strengthen Edtech Implementation

Partnering with family liaisons to increase engagement and use of family-facing edtech tools
image of EmpathyInterviews.png

Activity: Conduct Empathy Interviews with Stakeholders

Seek to understand the experiences of people in your district through personal interviews
Discussion group sits in circle

KIPP Massachusetts

Capturing Teachers’ Thoughts on Technology Usage

Providing opportunities for educators to share their perspective on technology through focus groups
Educator presenting on stage in front of blue background, gesturing to crowd

Advice: Targeted Messaging

How to develop key messages for stakeholders around blended and personalized learning
Teacher works with students on project in classroom

Using Data to Advocate for Students with Learning Differences

Strategically using data to understand and support students with learning differences, inside and outside the classroom
Student works with parent, smiling at laptop

NYC School Without Walls

NYC School Without Walls' Approach to Student and Family Engagement

How one hybrid program fostered student and family engagement in a virtual setting
image of County-Wide-Response-Meetings.png

Ector Country Independent School District

County-Wide Response Meetings

Building a network of leaders county-wide to share information and coordinate
image of AdultWellbeing_strat.png

Lindsay High School

Adult Wellbeing in Schools

Understanding and measuring the wellbeing of leaders, educators, and staff
Meeting of people convenes at large conference table, people talking amongst each other

Activity: Reflect on Equity in Your Process

Take time to step back and reflect on how equitable your design process has been
Teacher and four students look over project that shows a small 3-D model of a city

Engaging the Community to Build Future Momentum

“Our aim was to create a real conversation between parents and schools.” (Karen Perry)
image of Building-Consistency-in-Family-Engagement-Through-Common-Process-and-Tools.png

Cedar Rapids Community School District

Building Consistency in Family Engagement Through Common Process and Tools

Quarterly family phone calls to surface needs
Two students working together at desk, looking on together at paper

Deliberately Creating a Culture of Change

“This is about developing our own belief that we can grow as a district.” (Rebecca Midles)
Teacher stands in front of a line of students holding hands

Valor Collegiate Academies

Faculty Social-Emotional Learning

Encouraging social-emotional growth among faculty
image of Building-Multilingual-Systems-of-Support-and-Engagement-for-Parents.png

Meriden Public Schools

Building Multilingual Systems of Support and Engagement for Parents/Guardians

Providing multilingual support to engage parents/guardians in their child’s remote learning experience
image of RLImprovement_strat.jpg

Remote Learning: Planning for Improvement

Power Moves for Remote Learning
image of Parent-Square-for-Two-way-Communication.png

Meriden Public Schools

ParentSquare for Two-Way Communication

A tool for two-way parent/guardian and school communication
Teacher stands beside student's desk, looking down at laptop, in the middle of classroom

Cisco Junior High School

Balancing Blended Structures and Teacher Autonomy at Cisco

Providing freedom for teachers to make the best instructional decisions for their class