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Innovation Zone

good news bad news

Tennessee
18 hours ago

Most Tennessee districts are showing academic growth, but districts with the farthest to go improved the least

It’s not just Memphis: Across Tennessee, districts with many struggling schools posted lower-than-expected growth scores on this year’s state exams, the data shows.

exclusive

Tennessee
2 days ago

Most Memphis schools score low on student growth under new state test

Find out how your school fared in growth on the state's new test in this Chalkbeat exclusive.

chalk talk

Tennessee
September 13, 2017

Memphis’ new iZone chief shares his data-driven plan for fixing struggling schools

Antonio Burt returns to Memphis as assistant superintendent over the program where he started as a turnaround principal.

school turnaround

Tennessee
August 29, 2017

As Tennessee prepares to release more high school scores, McQueen calls turnaround work a challenge

The state's ed chief hints that the trajectory for high school turnaround won't change significantly when Tennessee releases district-level scores on Wednesday.

Feeling flexible

Colorado
August 22, 2017

How five Aurora schools in an “innovation zone” are making budget decisions to meet their own needs

Five schools in northwest Aurora in the district's innovation zone have a redesigned budget specific to their needs as they start a second year of innovation.

Transition

Tennessee
June 16, 2017

New principal named for Memphis school at the center of grading investigation

Shelby County Schools turns to a veteran principal with school turnaround experience to take the helm of Trezevant High School.

ASD Pivot

Tennessee
June 7, 2017

Tennessee’s turnaround district is reaching the end of an era

The Achievement School District isn't going anywhere, but it’s taking a backseat to other school improvement tools for the Tennessee Department of Education.

A new way

Tennessee
May 17, 2017

Tennessee considers a new approach for getting local schools to improve: working with them

The State Department of Education is eyeing Chattanooga for Tennessee's first foray into a “partnership zone” approach.

school improvement

Tennessee
April 20, 2017

Tennessee reveals quicker exit plan for schools in the Achievement School District

A school will return to its local district if it improves and stays off of two consecutive “priority lists, or if it fails to improve.

Community voices

Tennessee
March 28, 2017

Memphians weigh in on Hopson’s investment plan for struggling schools

Shelby County Schools holds a community meeting about Superintendent Dorsey Hopson's plan to address 19 schools dubbed "critical focus" schools.

Too much too fast?

Colorado
December 6, 2016

Key piece of Aurora Central High School’s reform plan not yet in place

Aurora Central High School has been working on changes from an innovation plan to improve the school, but the change to the school's learning model hasn't happened.

rebranding

Tennessee
November 22, 2016

Seeing needs beyond good teachers, Teacher Town Memphis changes its approach and its name

The philanthropic collaborative revises its public image as its leaders rethink the ways they want to help the city's schools change.

Remediation remedy

Tennessee
August 25, 2016

Memphis high schools change schedules to make catch-up classes the norm

Shelby County Schools is using a new remediation approach that doesn't involve adding time onto the school day.

Big questions

Tennessee
August 16, 2016

What’s the endgame for Tennessee’s Achievement School District? That’s the question facing lawmakers

State lawmakers will answer questions about the future of Tennessee's school turnaround district when they convene on Wednesday.

chalk talk

Tennessee
May 2, 2016

iZone chief Sharon Griffin on fixing Memphis’ most challenging schools

A Q&A on school turnaround strategies that work, the challenges of urban education, the importance of coaching and supporting principals and teachers, and more.

Aye for Innovation

Colorado
April 28, 2016

Denver school board approves innovation zone, granting schools new freedoms

The schools will be overseen by a new nonprofit and will have more control over how they spend the state funding.

Warning List

Tennessee
April 20, 2016

Here’s where Tennessee’s lowest-performing schools stand a year before the state’s next priority list

Here's the so-called "cusp" list from the State Department of Education, along with five things to know before viewing it.

Pilot program

Tennessee
April 19, 2016

Building on Innovation Zone successes, Shelby County Schools to launch separate ‘Empowerment Zone’

Shelby County Schools' prized school turnaround initiative is getting a little sister.

Painful plan

Tennessee
April 6, 2016

Hopson: Proposed budget cuts to Memphis schools could reverse years of improvements

More than $50 million in proposed cuts would impact staffing and programs including special education, the Innovation Zone and CLUE within Shelby County Schools.

Change agent

Tennessee
March 29, 2016

To launch first new iZone school, Shelby County taps established leader

Rodney Rowan has done what few principals have managed to do — turn around a long-struggling school. Now, he’s being asked to replicate that success.

iZone growth

Tennessee
March 10, 2016

Griffin hiring more top leaders for expanding iZone

As Shelby County Schools prepares to add more schools to its school turnaround initiative, regional Superintendent Sharon Griffin is putting three lieutenants in place.

Joining Forces

Colorado
February 24, 2016

In Denver, four schools want to push the boundaries of innovation

The schools want to form an “innovation zone” that would be overseen by a new nonprofit organization that would give principals more freedom.
Tennessee
January 20, 2016

New ASD superintendent asks state lawmakers for patience on school turnarounds

Malika Anderson's first charge as ASD superintendent is to fend off bills to limit — or totally abolish — the district.
Tennessee
January 13, 2016

D.C. Public Schools officials tour Memphis iZone

The mounting success of Shelby County Schools' iZone attracts national attention from other districts exploring school improvement initiatives.

until next year

Tennessee
December 23, 2015

Advocacy groups counter mounting criticism of ASD with year-end rallies

Two Memphis organizations push back against heightened opposition to the state-run turnaround school district.

Turnaround work

Tennessee
December 16, 2015

Latest iZone expansion will leave few Memphis priority schools to improve on their own

Shelby County's Innovation Zone will absorb three more priority schools, growing turnaround efforts by the local district, in addition to the state's turnaround work.
Tennessee
December 8, 2015

Vanderbilt study: iZone more effective than ASD in turning around struggling schools thus far

A new study shows that iZones have had sizable positive effects on student test scores in Tennessee, while effects of the Achievement School District have been marginal.

Ed Chief

Tennessee
October 30, 2015

Arne Duncan talks turnaround work in the trenches of struggling Memphis schools

The outgoing U.S. education chief makes his fourth trip to Memphis, where schools must overcome poverty and other mitigating factors to provide a culture of learning.

Ground zero

Tennessee
October 29, 2015

When Arne Duncan visits Memphis, he’ll see part of his legacy as U.S. ed chief

The outgoing education secretary will see firsthand one of America's battleground cities in the movement he spearheaded to transform public education.

Top administrators

Tennessee
October 28, 2015

iZone leader Sharon Griffin named Tennessee supervisor of the year

Sharon Griffin, who helped to create the Innovation Zone for Shelby County Schools in 2013, is Tennessee's 2015 supervisor of the year.

Charting improvement

Tennessee
August 11, 2015

Six charts showing test scores in schools that Tennessee wants to turn around

A chart-by-chart analysis of efforts to improve failing schools in Memphis and Shelby County, based on the latest TCAP scores

opportunity cost

Tennessee
August 3, 2015

Strong iZone scores viewed as chance to grow Shelby County’s turnaround initiative

Most schools in the district's Innovation Zone saw their student test scores rise, but additional funding to expand the program is anything but certain.
Tennessee
July 27, 2015

Five things to watch for when district and school test scores come out Wednesday

On Wednesday, the state unveils its district-by-district and school-by-school scores across Tennessee. Here are five important things to watch.

Budget process

Tennessee
July 7, 2015

With Shelby County budget settled, Hopson reflects on process

Dorsey Hopson hopes the fiscal bleeding slows as a result of the district's most recent budget-cutting process and priorities.

ASD copycats

Tennessee
July 7, 2015

More states look to Tennessee’s Achievement School District as a school turnaround model

Across the nation, more lawmakers look to Tennessee's pioneering district as a model to improve struggling schools in their own states, even as the ASD's impact in Tennessee remains murky.

chalk talk

Tennessee
May 18, 2015

Stanford-bound senior from Memphis Melrose talks about his public education and how students can defy the odds

Dellarontay Readus discusses how he overcame frequent moves and academic challenges to earn a full scholarship to one of the nation's premier universities.

Dual Language

Tennessee
April 29, 2015

For state’s only dual language program, turnaround efforts present challenges

Sometimes, when one innovative academic program bumps into another innovative academic program, worlds collide.

iZone

Tennessee
April 16, 2015

Laptops are providing new instructional tool for Shelby County students in ‘blended learning’ pilot

Shelby County Schools' 'blended learning' pilot program nears the end of its first school year with personalized computer instruction, high hopes for student testing, and a major new funding source.

iZone

Tennessee
April 8, 2015

Shelby County expands education reform efforts amid $125 million shortfall

While Shelby County Schools are cutting staff and services under a $125 budget shortfall, the district is expanding and investing in its Innovation Zone.
Tennessee
March 31, 2015

Shelby County closes three Memphis schools, moves students from three others

The Board of Education for Shelby County Schools votes to close three low-performing schools and transfer students out of three others, impacting more than 2,000 students.
Tennessee
October 2, 2014

Hopson says current I-Zone schools will not become charters

Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson II told the board today that the district plans to pursue additional government and private funds to support its Innovation Zone, a set of turnaround schools that have shown dramatic growth on state tests in each of the past three years.
Tennessee
September 12, 2014

Innovation Zone financially unsustainable, SCS officials say

At a board committee meeting yesterday, Shelby County administrators told board members it would cost $28.5 million over the course of three years to expand the programs currently being used to turn around low-performing schools in its Innovation Zone—and that bringing in charter schools, which fundraise on their own, might be a more efficient strategy for the district. Board members are skeptical.

Arne Duncan

Tennessee
September 10, 2014

Memphis school improvement efforts in spotlight as Duncan finishes back-to-school tour

"I moved to Memphis thinking I’d change lots of lives every year. But really, my life has been drastically changed," said teacher Brittany Ordue.
Tennessee
August 7, 2014

Riverview principal uses military theme to improve test scores

This is the second time that Riverview principal Rosalind Martin has used the theme “Bootcamp to Improve Student Literacy.” The first school where she…

Blended Learning

Tennessee
May 29, 2014

Blended learning pilot means a new role for teachers in 16 Memphis schools

At the Shelby County district building on Wednesday, school board members were digging deep into 10th grade English language arts—and the questions at the…

Portfolio

Tennessee
March 25, 2014

Shelby County and Nashville reveal plan to use charters to help improve iZone schools

For the first time, the Innovation departments of Tennessee’s two largest school districts are planning to turn some of their lowest-performing schools over to…
Tennessee
November 27, 2013

Teach For America contract in Memphis area approved, despite concerns

Shelby County's merged school board voted 5-2 to keep its contract with Teach For America at last night's board meeting, despite concerns about the program's recruitment fee.
New York
May 28, 2013

Gap App winners think they can solve low middle school scores

Winners of the Gap App Challenge pose with Chancellor Dennis Walcott at Tweed Courthouse on Tuesday morning. The city Department of Education thinks it has found software developers who are solving the perpetual problem of middle school math. The department today announced four winners from its Gap App challenge — a competition inviting developers to submit programs that could help middle schools raise math scores, which remain stubbornly low. Developers submitted 200 apps to the challenge since it was first announced in January. The developer of the "Best Instructional App," KnowRe, has created an adaptive learning platform that offers Algebra 1 students different questions and challenges based on their previous answers. In the "Best Administrative and Engagement App" category, top-rated developer Hapara has created an interface that lets teachers see their students' work easily. "Our product is built exclusively on teacher and student feedback," the group says in an informational video.
New York
December 11, 2012

New York City won't get federal funds to "personalize learning"

If New York City wants to expand its use of technology to tailor instruction to students' individual needs, it will have to do so without special federal funding. The city was not on the list today when the U.S. Department of Education named the winners of its Race to the Top-District competition, aimed at rewarding districts that "personalize learning." One reason: The city Department of Education did not supply requested information about its budget. The city had been one of 61 finalists in the competition, which netted nearly 500 applications from school districts and consortia of districts from across the country. It had asked for $40 million to expand and augment existing initiatives, including the Innovation Zone, and build innovative schools from the ground up. Applications were scored by independent reviewers according to stringent rules set out by the U.S. Department of Education, and New York City's application got high marks in most categories. The reviewers lauded the city's vision, its prior record of success making major changes, and its analysis of where and why a move toward personalized learning would be useful. But it lost points because the city did not outline a clear timeline for carrying out the plans, show how the funds would benefit all students, or demonstrate that it had gotten buy-in from community partners with which it promised to collaborate.
New York
November 14, 2012

City's Race to the Top-District bid centered on iZone expansion

Students at Brooklyn's Olympus Academy, a transfer high school, use online learning to move ahead at their own pace. The city is asking the U.S. Department of Education for funds to support additional efforts to "personalize education." Pitting itself against school districts across the country, the city has asked the U.S. Department of Education for $40 million to expand and augment its existing education technology programs. The city's biggest commitment in its application for Race to the Top-District, which city education officials filed last week, is to add as many as 100 schools to its three-year-old “Innovation Zone.” The application also promises to build innovative schools from the ground up and train teachers on how to use technology to improve instruction. Race to the Top-District is the latest effort by the Obama administration to entice state and local education officials to adopt its preferred policies. In the first Race to the Top grant competition, in 2010, New York State netted $700 million to overhaul teacher evaluations, add more charter schools, bulk up teacher preparation programs, and develop a statewide data system. Last year, the state fell short in its bid to win Race to the Top funds earmarked just for early childhood education. The current round — the first open to individual districts — is focused on "personalized education." City Department of Education officials say the Innovation Zone, which this year contains nearly 250 schools, makes the department uniquely positioned to turn federal funds into higher student achievement. "It’s something that we’ve been doing for three years," said David Weiner, the Department of Education deputy chancellor in charge of innovation. "We really believe that that puts us in a great place to capitalize on what we’ve learned."
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