The Innovation Schools Act of 2008, § 22-32.5-102, et seq. C.R.S., was designed to provide a pathway for schools and districts to develop and implement innovative practices in a wide variety of areas and contexts to improve student outcomes. The Act provides a formal process that allows schools or groups of schools to make requests to their local…

The Innovation Schools Act of 2008, § 22-32.5-102, et seq. C.R.S., was designed to provide a pathway for schools and districts to develop and implement innovative practices in a wide variety of areas and contexts to improve student outcomes. Innovation schools are required to articulate a vision around the autonomies they are seeking, as well as…

Increasingly administrators are concerned with inspiring and supporting faculty members in the creation of interdisciplinary programs in response to research and funding shifts and public need. This article presents an initiative undertaken at the University of Colorado Denver, demonstrating a method for identifying and launching a set of…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

This exploration into competency-based innovation at the school, district, and state levels suggests that competency-based pathways are a re-engineering of this nation's education system around learning--a re-engineering designed for success in which failure is no longer viable. This discussion draws on interviews and site visits with innovators…

This paper is divided into two main sections. The first deals with trends in teacher education in college and university preservice programs in Colorado and with school-based inservice programs, and covers curriculum innovations and general program characteristics. Specific programs are cited as illustrations. The second section lists issues and…

In this presentation, three approaches for involving teachers in curriculum planning are described, including the interdisciplinary team approach, the total district approach, and the total faculty approach. Each of these approaches is illustrated with "snapshot" descriptions of promising practices from Colorado, Arizona, and Illinois.…

Profiles four successful charter schools. San Diego's O'Farrell Community School provides an enrichment curriculum for inner-city middle schoolers. The Minnesota New Country School, established by three teachers, stresses individual and group projects. Saint Paul's City Academy engages 60 racially diverse youngsters with real-life construction…

In order to help local schools cope with the problems of migrant children, the Colorado State Department of Education conceived the idea of a mobile unit which would make periodic visits to schools serving migrant children. Originally the service provided by the units placed heavy emphasis on the diagnostic function. Accordingly, the units were…

The nature of the Cooperative Extension Service in agriculture was examined to identify aspects that could be applied to the design of an educational extension service. To learn about the organization, programs, and priorities of Cooperative Extension, employees of the state extension services in California, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, and…

This is a collection of reports on innovative practices in student teaching programs. The label "innovative" is justified on the basis of the investigation's scope. Identification of innovative student teaching practices was accomplished by contacting chief state school officers, chairmen and members of state commissions on teacher…