Dive Brief:
- Innovative schools have several themes in common: They anticipate challenges, maintain consistent schoolwide practices, and use evidence-based practices to solve problems that matter most to students and families, according to research released this week by the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Transcend.
- While school reform efforts can help deliver student experiences that are more engaging, flexible and empowering, the report warns that factors outside of a school's control — such as funding and workforce pipelines — can derail innovative practices and sustainability.
- The findings are part of the Canopy project that began in 2019 to collect, analyze and share self-reported educational solutions from traditional public, charter and private schools.
Dive Insight:
CRPE and Transcend, nonprofits that study school improvement and innovation, are currently tracking 319 innovative schools across the country, according to a data portal.
Since 2019, most schools participating in the Canopy project have adopted new practices to support student well-being and equity, deeper learning and postsecondary pathways — but in different stages, the report said.
For example, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools prioritized equity and student mental health. More recently, they have focused on instructional approaches that provide complex problem-solving and hands-on experiences.
Canopy schools, which were nominated by organizations, were surveyed in spring 2019 and again in each spring 2021 through 2024. About 263 Canopy schools completed at least two of the five surveys.
Key findings from Canopy schools' experiences include:
- Artificial intelligence. Schools are looking to AI to help personalize learning and ease some work burdens for teachers. However, most schools that reported using AI are doing so in limited ways for now.
- Blended learning. The use of online learning while students are in school buildings peaked in 2021 and has receded since.
- School-family partnerships. School leaders are seeking approaches that involve students and families in decision-making.
- Workforce worries. School administrators are concerned about finding teachers with the right training and background to teach in uncommon instructional models.
- Challenging policies. Existing policies around accountability, graduation requirements, teacher credentialing and scheduling are creating roadbumps toward innovation, school leaders said.
Of the schools surveyed in spring 2024, 84% said they were innovating to be on the "cutting edge." Other reasons included addressing: systemic inequities (59%), mental health concerns (49%) and lack of student agency (31%).
"The shortcomings of conventional school designs have only become more clear as achievement lags, adolescent mental health suffers, chronic absenteeism remains stubbornly high, and longstanding inequities widen," the report said.
The report also provided examples of improvement practices put in place at Canopy schools. Nowell Academy, a public charter high school in Providence, Rhode Island, for example, increased attendance rates by creating a support system for students that includes an on-site daycare, a 1-to-1 mentoring program, and instruction connecting classroom lessons to real-world applications.
To address friction among schools, families, students and teachers regarding student grades, Bennett Day School, a private K-12 school in Chicago, adopted a competency-based assessment system that measures achievement around personal growth and skill development. The school also minimized high stakes tests and implemented “demonstrations of learning” at the end of each trimester, according to the report.
And at San Diego Met High School, a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District, students earn credits through internships with local mentors every semester. Students can also earn college credits by taking courses, tuition-free, at San Diego Mesa College, which is adjacent to the high school campus.
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