Innovation Zone Act

Office of School Improvement

Michele Blatt, Executive DirectorShelly DeBerry, Student Success Advocate

David Price, Coordinator

Guidance DocumentLocal Solutions Dropout Prevention & Recovery

Research based guidanceImportant componentsResources availableSuggested focus areas

Creating a Vision

For the Project

Create a mental image of your school 3 –5 years from now or how do you help others to create a mental image

Table Discussion

Your vision for your school/district for the future.

What are the primary challenges you will face if you design a plan to move your school toward that vision in the coming year?

USING DATA

Table Discussion

1. What other data would support the need for your project?

2. What stakeholders need to be involved in gathering data?

3. How would you share this data with others?

GOALSWhere do we want to go?

How do we plan to get there?

Goal StatementsSamples

Goal #1

To increase graduation rates.Objective: To use graduation coaches for at risk students.

Goal #2

To raise the graduation rate by 2% each year for the

next three years.Objective: To implement an advisor-advisee program.

Table Discussion

1. How could you strengthen some of these goals?

2. What do you need to do to strengthen goals?

Goal and Objective Sample

Goal #3

To raise the graduation rate of students with disabilities by 2% each year for the next three

years.

Objective: Identify students with disabilities who have high risk predictors of attendance, behavior or course failure and assign a teacher mentor to guide the student to graduation.

Clear goals with measureable objectives are extremely important.

It must be clear what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.

Charts are often helpful to make it clearer.

Tips for Writing Goals

What is Innovation?

Table Discussion

How will the current structure of the school, support the innovation zone project? (ie scheduling practices, staffing patterns, calendars, curriculum, instructional interventions and allocation of resources).

If not, what changes need to occur?

Tips for Writing an Innovative Project

Articulate in your application what will be different as a result of the project.

What are you doing that is new and different, not just trying to fund an existing project?

How will this project change things for the future not just short term?

WELLNESS

Table Discussion

How will the project support a comprehensive student support system that addresses student physical, social and emotional needs?

What needs to change in your system to meet the “whole” child needs?

Tip

The project needs to be systemic in nature.

Not for just a small portion of students but how will it put in place a system that stays in place.

Meaningful Partnerships

What does that look like?

Why is this a major component of the grant?

Tips for Creating & Documenting Meaningful Relationships

Use the Community Dialogue to Action Guides

Create MOU’s

Share data with everyone

THE ARTS

Career Development

Table Discussion

How will your project support relevancy through an integrated curriculum, which includes the arts, wellness and career development?

Scalability Provide a testing ground for innovative graduation

programs, incentives and approaches to reducing the number of dropouts.

Provide information regarding the effects of specific innovations, collaborations and policies on graduation rates and dropout prevention and recovery.

Document educational strategies that increase graduation rates, prevent dropouts and enhance student success.

What are some tips for how your application can show ways the project can be scaled or duplicated by others?

Tip

Document a timeline of events and who was responsible

Sustainability

1. Keeping the project alive.

2. What happens when the money runs out? Does the project go away?

3. What are some things to consider when

addressing how to sustain a project?

Tips on Sustainability

Be sure to have ideas about how to sustain the project.

Not likely to be funded if it looks like the project will stop when the funding stops

Evaluation Tip

Use the logic model template if you are unsure how to write up a good evaluation

Review of Tips

1. Clear goals with measureable objectives are extremely important.

2. It must be clear what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.

3, Charts are often helpful to make it clearer.

4. Articulate in your application what will be different as a result of the project.

5. What are you doing that is new and different, not just trying to fund an existing project?

6. How will this project change things for the future not just short term?

7. The project needs to be systemic in nature.

8. Not for just a small portion of students but how will it put in place a system that stays in place.

9. Document a timeline of events and who was responsible.

10.Be sure to have ideas about how to sustain the project.

11.Not likely to be funded if it looks like the project will stop when the funding stops

12.Use the logic model template if you are unsure how to write up a good evaluation

FINAL

QUESTIONS