For the past three years, Digital Promise has embarked on an expansive and human-centered endeavor to empower school districts to cultivate context-relevant solutions to the teacher of color workforce disparities. Through Digital Promise's Inclusive Innovation approach, teachers of color from various school districts were engaged to develop and…

As schools across the country closed in March 2020 at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not clear how long in-person education would be disrupted. The abrupt transition to remote learning was particularly challenging for districts in rural communities, many of which have long lacked reliable access to high-speed internet and…

The primary purpose of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA) is to assist school districts to implement effective innovations that benefit students. The "capacity" of a district to facilitate building-level implementation refers to the systems, activities, and resources that are necessary for schools to successfully adopt and sustain…

In 2012, the United States Department of Education announced the Race to the Top-District grants. One joint award was made to two large educational cooperatives in the same state that together represented 111 mostly rural schools in 22 districts. One of the grant's identified four essential projects was the implementation of personalized learning.…

This paper presents evidence from a unique reform model that allowed teachers and other educators in a large urban district to collaborate with one another in the development of an innovation meant to improve student ownership and responsibility. In this longitudinal case study, we describe school stakeholders' learning about the design, the…

The educational landscape around standards, assessment, professional development, and funding is changing at a rapid pace. This article asks how can education institutions--and educators--respond with a balance of urgency and coherence? How can education institutions temper the need for risk-taking and innovation with the responsibility to deliver…

The purpose of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA) Technical Manual is to provide background information on the technical adequacy of the DCA (Ward et al., 2015). This current version draws upon a rich history and background of previous work assessing district capacity. Notably, the current version includes significant modifications from…

This paper presents evidence from a unique reform model that allowed teachers and other educators in a large urban district to collaborate with one another in the development of an innovation meant to improve student ownership and responsibility. In this longitudinal case study, we describe school stakeholders' learning about the design, the…

The MSU-Wipro UrbanSTEM & Leadership fellowship program was formed to enhance teaching and leadership capacities of teachers in a large urban school district. The program is built on Technical and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) and its instructional approach uses the power of experience (Dewey,…

In this report, the Rennie Center for Education Policy & Research focuses on Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs) as a key tool that districts and schools can use to prepare students for college and career success, as well as the costs districts incur to implement ILPs. In Massachusetts some public school districts have utilized ILPs to pursue…

Illinois demonstration centers were established as change agents for the improvement of district programs for gifted children. The purpose of this study is to ascertain what factors operate within a demonstration process to influence visiting school personnel to initiate innovations in their schools. Three instruments were administered and…

A plan is presented for introducing instructional innovations in school districts through inservice education. (GW)

Suggests the field of education has paid little attention to complexities involved in large-scale replication of curricular changes and other new directions for school-based interventions, which has contributed to the failure of many reforms. Highlights a framework of general phases and specific steps for diffusion of major new approaches across a…

Teacher education programs have a long history of producing excellent health and physical education (HPE) teachers for suburban school districts. But graduates who start their career at high-need schools often feel poorly prepared to face the challenges of low-income school districts, schools, and students. This article is directed primarily to…

This paper discusses educational innovation and is comprised of five sections: (1) a review of previous years of educational innovations in the U.S., (2) processes associated with innovation, including an analysis of two national case studies, (3) research findings about the implementation of innovations, (4) a major thesis about centralized…