Application
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the extreme pressures facing school districts across the country, the 2020 League of Innovative Schools application period is temporarily postponed. We will share new dates and additional information as soon as possible.
The Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools is accepting applications for the 2020-2021 member cohort. Applications open on March 16. 2020. We invite you to apply!
Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. PT on May 15, 2020.
The new member application process will follow the timeline detailed below:
Round One
Applicants submit a written application with multimedia artifacts to validate and supplement their responses.
| Key Deadline | Dates |
|---|---|
| Application opens | March 16 |
| Application submission is due by 11:59 p.m. PT | May 15 |
| Finalists and applicants are notified of status | June 15 |
Round Two and Acceptance
Finalists will participate in one interview – one with Digital Promise staff and one with a member of the League Advisory Board. In addition, the Digital Promise staff may conduct interviews with district staff members.
| Key Deadline | Dates |
|---|---|
| Finalist interviews must be completed by 11:59 p.m. PT | July 15 |
| New members and applicants are notified of status | August 1 |
| New member orientation call | August -- |
| Fall 2020 League of Innovative Schools Convening in Los Angeles, California* | October 2020 |
*Please note: Attending the fall convening is required for new membership. If you are unable to attend this meeting, please defer your application until next year.
General Interest Webinar
To best support applicants, we will be hosting two general interest webinars to provide an overview of the application process and answer any questions. Please register for one of the following dates:
April 2, 2020 at 2 PM ET – CANCELLED
April 28, 2020 at 2 PM ET – CANCELLED
Interested in applying? Complete this form to receive email updates about important application reminders and deadlines.
Questions? See our FAQ section below, or email us at league@digitalpromise.org.
The League of Innovative Schools
The Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools is a national network that connects and rallies the most forward-thinking leaders in education. League members represent 114 districts in 34 states serving more than 3 million students, and their diverse experiences reflect the advancements, challenges, and vital work of public education in the United States.
Digital Promise works at the intersection of education leaders, researchers, and entrepreneurs and developers to improve learning with the power of technology. By collaborating on shared priorities, the League spearheads innovative learning and leadership practices that lead to improved outcomes for every student. To that end, the League aims to:
Galvanize networks to design, validate, champion, and scale effective, innovative learning opportunities to advance equity and excellence for every student.
- Design: Create policies, programs, tools, and models
- Validate: Inform design and efficacy with research
- Champion: Advocate for policies, programs and models that transform systems
- Scale: Share and drive adoption models for replication
- Effective: Proven positive impact
- Innovative: New or improved solutions to challenges
- Advance Equity: Ensure historically underserved student populations participate, benefit, and thrive
- Advance Excellence: Support solutions that increase knowledge and skills for student success
Learn more about League district members.
Membership Benefits
The League of Innovative Schools supports members’ leadership development and participation through:
- Advocacy: Strategic partnerships and support to spread ethos and influence policies
- Co-designed Solutions: Opportunities to tackle big challenges, co-design, prototype, and pilot new models, practices, and tools, and produce evidence-based solutions to benefit thousands of educators and students through Challenge Collaboratives, Innovation Study Tours, and more
- Cohorts: Learning communities focused on discussing challenges and sharing best practices and resources
- Communications: Digital Promise newsletters containing relevant research, resources, and opportunities for district leaders
- Convenings: In-person meetings to build capacity, deepen relationships, share know-how and best practices, and learn from diverse school communities
- National Showcase: Platform and multimedia communications tools, such as Innovation Portfolios, to highlight and feature district innovation efforts
- National Thought Leadership: Recognition as a forward-thinking leader in the education field
- Networking: Connection to a national network that incubates and celebrates effective innovation to drive equity and excellence for all learners
- Professional Development: Opportunities and access to processes, resources, credentials, and events to expand knowledge and advance outcomes in their communities
- Research: First access to learning sciences research to support practical, scalable, equitable improvements in education, and ongoing, sustained relationships with Digital Promise researchers
Membership Requirements
League member superintendents commit to:
- Attend biannual League meetings to collaboratively problem-solve, build relationships with peers, and share and learn from district and school visits
- Join and actively participate in Challenge Collaboratives, Cohorts, and/or other League initiatives focused on topics relevant to the challenges and changing needs of school districts
- Publish a district Innovation Portfolio and contribute to stories that showcase the League’s work
- Collaborate with peers, researchers and entrepreneurs to advance teaching and learning
To support new program opportunities and membership growth, League members pay dues according to their district size based on student enrollment.The table below reflects the current dues structure:
| ENROLLMENT | ANNUAL DUES |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1K students | $2,500 |
| 1,001 to 9,999 students | $3,000 |
| 10K to 49,999 students | $3,500 |
| 50K students + | $4,000 |
Who Should Apply
Superintendents are the core members of the League. Superintendents can invite district leaders to participate in League activities. Membership in the League is for superintendents who demonstrate a willingness and proven track record to:
- Improve outcomes for students and solving the challenges facing K-12 schools through powerful and smart use of learning innovations and technologies
- Use their voice to advance positive change in public education
- Partner with entrepreneurs, researchers, and leading education thinkers and pilot new approaches to teaching and learning
Candidates are selected based on the following factors:
- Vision and key achievements
- Potential for impacting student learning and educational leadership
- Commitment to networking and knowledge sharing
Application Criteria for the 2020 District Cohort
To best meet the needs of all learners and to strengthen the composition and impact of the network, for the League of Innovative Schools 2020 district cohort, we are inviting districts to apply that meet at least one of the following criteria:
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- The district’s free and reduced-price meals rate is 50% or greater
- The district’s student body is 50% or greater students of color
- The superintendent is a person of color
- The superintendent leads a district that is located in a geographic area that is currently underrepresented by the League of Innovative Schools — defined as a state where there is no League member district today or a region in a state that is not represented e.g. Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas, NV.
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Successful candidates are committed to achieving equity in public school systems, have a demonstrated record of district and community impact, and deeply respect and value discourse with diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I save my answers and revisit the application?
It is not possible to save answers or progress on this form. We recommend transferring these questions into an external document to save and complete responses according to your time preference. Then, enter your information in the online form when you are ready to submit. We have created a Word Document template for you to save your responses. Please note, you will still need to submit the application using the online form.
How are new members selected?
Members are selected through a peer-reviewed application process and assessed against a scoring rubric that details the criteria we have identified. The selection committee includes Digital Promise staff and members of the League Advisory Board.
Do you offer a rolling or year-round application process?
The recruitment period for new League members occurs once a year annually, typically launching between February-March. In order to best support new member cohorts, we do not offer a year-round application process.
What school districts make up the League of Innovative Schools?
From Alaska to Wyoming, League members represent 114 school districts across 34 states. Check out the District Map to see a list of current districts and corresponding profiles.
How does the League of Innovative Schools address diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work?
At Digital Promise our mission is to accelerate innovation in education to improve opportunities to learn with the goal of closing the Digital Learning Gap. Inclusive Innovation is an effort to critically examine and develop processes for addressing grand challenges in education with scalable R&D, centered in a radical commitment to equity that includes engaging stakeholders to design for impact. The power of Inclusive Innovation is that it doesn’t just invite underrepresented voices and perspectives into the innovation ecosystem; it places them at the center of it.
Within the League of Innovative Schools, this means targeting the barriers to participation in the education innovation ecosystem, with the goal of creating and catalyzing equitable opportunities for underrepresented individuals and groups to lead, participate in, and benefit from innovation. Through our Inclusive Innovation model, Digital Promise and the League are committed to critically examine our own work and double-down on purposeful design to advance equitable opportunities and outcomes for students.
In addition, this year, 17 districts from the League of Innovative Schools are collaborating to design a League Equity Agenda with a goal of developing a shared vision, core values, and priorities that embody an equity-centered commitment to changing the trajectory for underserved students.
