About This Project – Digital Promise

About This Project

The Challenge Map was designed to highlight the shared challenges faced by districts in Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools (League). By elevating educator, student, and community member perspectives on high priority issues, the Challenge Map surfaces promising approaches and solution ideas sourced from the education community. Additionally, Digital Promise has curated a list of projects and resources that may be of interest to school communities navigating similar challenges.

Our Process for Identifying Challenges

To identify the priority challenges and the many complex factors contributing to them, the Digital Promise research team gathered perspectives from several thousand school community members via surveys, focus groups, listening tours, and League convening sessions. Here’s a snapshot of who shared their perspectives with us from 2022-2025:

6,278

Student responses
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365

District and school leader responses
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708

Educator responses
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846

Parent/caregiver responses
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86

Community member responses
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26

League of Innovative Students (LOIS) responses
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(Note: The insights Digital Promise gathered from the school community members mentioned above also align with insights additional students contributed in 2025, including 12 students from the 2025 LOIS cohort and 71 students who participated in Digital Promise’s focus groups on high school redesign.)

While educator hiring and retention has remained a top concern for district leaders across the nation in the last few years, leveraging technology in innovative ways continues to be a growing priority for many school districts.

League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#1: Infrastructure to support educators in leveraging technology

#2: Infrastructure to support personalized learning and individualized instruction

#3: Student mental health and well-being

#4: Infrastructure to support college and career readiness

#5: Educator professional learning

#6: Student agency

#7: Educator skills and practice

#8: Targeted supports for a broad range of learners

#9: Curriculum, instructional tools, and assessments

#10: Consistent student attendance

#11: School and community connection

#12: Educator hiring and retention

#13: Infrastructure to support Social-Emotional Learning

#14: Aligned school and district administrator support to educators
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#1: Infrastructure to support educators in leveraging technology
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#2: Infrastructure to support personalized learning and individualized instruction
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#3: Student mental health and well-being
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#4: Infrastructure to support college and career readiness
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#5: Educator professional learning
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#6: Student agency
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#7: Educator skills and practice
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#8: Targeted supports for a broad range of learners
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#9: Curriculum, instructional tools, and assessments
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#10: Consistent student attendance
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#11: School and community connection
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#12: Educator hiring and retention
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#13: Infrastructure to support Social-Emotional Learning
League District Leader Priorities in 2025-2026 School Year

#14: Aligned school and district administrator support to educators
As priorities shift over time, Digital Promise will continue to gather insights and resources from the field to update the Challenge Map. Check back regularly for new projects and updated resources that could support your community as you navigate similar challenges.

For questions regarding the Challenge Map, email the Center for Inclusive Innovation team.

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