2018 was an incredible year for the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools and Education Innovation Clusters (EdClusters). With our renewed focus on designing, validating, and scaling effective innovation to advance equity and excellence for every student, we have had an exciting year that included launching new tools and programs, welcoming new members, hosting convenings, and sharing stories. Take a look at our Year in Review!
On the 12th day of Innovation, the League and Clusters gave to you…
We are always excited to invite new districts that are implementing new teaching and learning practices into the League. In 2018, we welcomed 12 new districts: Arcadia Unified School District, D.C. Everest Area School District, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Graham Local Schools, Harrington Park School District, Meriden Public Schools, Middletown City School District, San Diego County Office of Education, Socorro Independent School District, South Bay Union School District, Southampton County Public Schools, and Wyckoff Township Public Schools. These new additions bring the League to 102 members in 33 states, representing almost three million students.
Representatives from our 12 new districts and 7 interim districts met at the fall 2018 League meeting in Park City, UT.
Our team had the honor of visiting school districts in 11 states: California (Cajon Valley Union School District, Covina Valley Unified School District), Indiana (East Noble School Corporation), New York (Mineola Union Free School District), North Carolina (Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Rowan Salisbury Schools), Ohio (Lakota Local Schools), Rhode Island (Bristol Warren Regional School District), South Carolina (Rock Hill School District), Utah (Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, Juab School District), Virginia (Albemarle County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools), Washington (Highline Public Schools), and Wyoming (Uinta County School District 1). We saw a of myriad new and exciting programs—like centers where high school students apply industry skills, collaborative spaces for students across multiple grade levels, and physical environment extensions for blind students. We hope to visit even more districts in 2019!
Kim Smith, Executive Director of the League of Innovative Schools, visits the Academies of Loudoun, one of the school visit sites of the fall 2019 League of Innovative Schools meeting. Also pictured is Eric Williams, superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools and members of his team.
We shared the League’s and EdClusters’ work and provided opportunities to showcase our member school districts at 10 Education conferences. We hosted 20 League districts at the ASU GSV conference (thanks to the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), ISTE, CoSN, iNACOL, SXSW EDU, SIIA, NGLC, Remake Learning, JEX, and the EdElements Personalized Learning Summit.
A few conferences in detail:
This rockstar panel of @DigitalPromise #DPLIS members and partners is about to talk about tackling OER’s biggest challenges at #iNACOL18 pic.twitter.com/LWTl5OxQJp
— Melissa Gedney (@melissaged) October 23, 2018
Our work has expanded—and so has our team—to support new League and EdClusters programs. We’ve provided more opportunities for network members to engage with researchers to address big challenges in Challenge Collaboratives, we created professional learning community Cohorts in which leaders can explore topics of interest with peers, and we’re developing Innovation Portfolios that showcase districts’ innovation stories and outcomes. The Digital Promise team that supports our networks has grown to NINE!
Our combined teams at our 2018 League and Clusters team retreat in Washington, DC.
We shared a blog post on eight approaches making a difference in public education—offering just a few examples of excellence happening in the League everyday.
Love the Shark Tank presentation from @Avonworthschool on being the #BeTheKindKid #LISCarolinas pic.twitter.com/FDlnZeGGTV
— Matt Miller (@LakotaSuper) April 25, 2018
The EdClusters team spent 2018 conducting research, piloting social network analyses, and mapping the resources in their networks. Check out the results of their work:
Read stories from these EdCluster regions:
We launched professional learning communities in the League to provide members with opportunities to lead discussions and share insights on topics of interest. The Cohort topics include Competency-based Professional Learning, Data Interoperability, Engaged Learning, Innovative Assessment, Learner Variability, and Rural Education. This year, League leaders shared strategies on implementing kindergarten badges, using virtual reality in history, designing teacher professional development for Learner Variability, and using innovative assessments to build grading habits.
The @DigitalPromise #DPLIS engaged learning cohort has been quite engaged in conversation! pic.twitter.com/mhfiYN9WKQ
— Aubrey Francisco (@aubreyfrancisco) October 11, 2018
We introduced a new model for League districts to collaborate with researchers. Challenge Collaboratives are focused on creating tools, programs, and models to address education challenges. In 2018, we launched five collaboratives:
The Data Interoperability Challenge Collaborative met in Austin, TX to collaborate and advance work in their own district’s journey to data interoperability.
We welcomed four new superintendent advisory members to our steering committee:
The Advisory Committee welcomes the new #DPLIS cohort – these districts are developing maker-learning frameworks, college and career pathways, improving equity through policy design, and more! pic.twitter.com/4x9zw4vU7A
— Digital Promise (@DigitalPromise) October 10, 2018
One of our major initiatives focused on demonstrating the value and benefits of data interoperability, or the seamless and secure sharing of data that provides educators with the information they need to best support student learning Check out the three videos we produced!
More than 200 League members traversed the country to attend our League convenings. Our spring meeting in Charlotte, NC, featured the Southern hospitality of hosts Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Rock Hill Public Schools and Rowan-Salisbury Schools. District leaders engaged in conversations on challenge solutions, gathered insights at district visits, and launched Cohorts. For our fall meeting, the League headed to the mountains and snow in Park City, UT, to connect and visit host districts Juab School District, Uinta County School District #1 and Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. The meeting included the launch of our Inclusive Innovation work focused on addressing the barriers to equity for marginalized students, as well as a session on opportunities for youth in film and media led by Meredith Lavitt from the Sundance Institute.
@RSSinformation aren’t sheepish about West Rowan HS Ag CTE Program! Bringing home the hardware for sure 🏆 @lynn_moody @DigitalPromise #liscarolinas pic.twitter.com/6nSTDTyOeX
— Steve Webb (@SuptVPS) April 26, 2018
Drum roll! In 2018, in collaboration with the Digital Promise Research in Action team, we launched the Digital Promise Challenge Map, focusing on 36 challenges across nine themes reflecting the shared challenges League districts are addressing. The Challenge Map surfaces promising approaches and opportunities to bring educators and researchers together around high-priority issues. We will continue to update the Challenge Map, tackle the challenges, and share research-based resources and ideas from League districts.
Check out the @DigitalPromise #DPLIS Challenge Map to dig deep into challenges in K-12 education. We are tackling them! https://t.co/oRZ9hwBUNC pic.twitter.com/ONhj3TYHj4
— Kim Smith (@k12kimsmith) December 13, 2018
We’re looking forward to seeing where 2019 takes us! Thank you to the League district leaders, partners, funders, and friends who made this work possible. To keep updated with the League of Innovative Schools and Education Innovation Clusters, follow #DPLIS and #EdClusters on Twitter.
