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The Innovation League

www. theinnovationleague.org

Pilot Program 2018

Mission The Innovation League exists to increase the number of students from underserved communities attending competitive colleges. We achieve this through mobilizing PhD students to facilitate research projects with young people.

The Problem

3% 72%

Today, more than ever, Americans need to invest in higher education to meet the demands of a growing global economy. College is the best investment that young people can make in their future. For colleges and universities to serve as gateways to economic opportunity and social mobility, they must be open to young people from diverse backgrounds. We believe access to a high-quality college education is a civic right.

With an ever growing attainment gap, and declining graduation rates, many young people have lost faith in the power of education to change their lives. We know that selective institutions have the resources needed to support exceptional outcomes for underserved students, including graduation rates and post-college labor market success. Yet, the nation’s most selective colleges admit the smallest share of low-income students.

64%

In 2015 college graduates on average had incomes

that were

Highly competitive colleges enroll:

of students from families in the bottom economic quartile

from the top economic quartile

higher

than high school graduates

In Massachusetts, 65% of students from lower income backgrounds enrolled in college, but only 50% of them entered 4 year institutions.

Despite benefiting from the best public school systems in the country, MA schools report a persistent attainment gap. For example, only 53% of economically disadvantaged students scored proficient or higher in the 2017 10th grade MCAS tests, compared to 83% of their wealthier peers.

The Innovation League’s programs are designed to support young people from underserved communities in Massachusetts. We focus on making an impact across three key areas:

Aspirations Being part of The Innovation League increases students sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy, as they visit campus and work collaboratively with PhD researchers in small seminar groups.

Community Self-Efficacy Critical Thinking Advice

Attainment We mobilize PhD researchers to share their expertise with school students, advancing their subject-level knowledge and key academic skills, including: critical thinking, research and communication.

Awareness The Innovation League increases students’ awareness of effective college application techniques by connecting students to expert information, advice and guidance on admissions and financial aid processes.

The Innovation league MASS.

Partnerships and Impact The Innovation League is supported by AccessEd. AccessEd has been established by the co-founders of The Brilliant Club in the UK, Jonny Sobczyk and Simon Coyle. The Brilliant Club is an award-winning and independently evaluated charity that exists to increase the number of students from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly-selective universities in the UK. It does this by mobilizing the PhD community to share its academic expertise with state schools.

Since establishing The Brilliant Club in 2012, Jonny and Simon have grown a system-level organisation that is now active across the UK, working with over 30 leading universities and over 500 schools. This year, it will mobilise 600 PhD researchers to deliver programs of university-style tutorials in those schools to over 10,000 young people. As well as operating at a national scale, Brilliant Club programs also have credible evidence of impact. The average for low-income school leavers progressing to a highly-selective university is 11%. An evaluation by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) found that the average for The Brilliant Club in the UK is 58%. Further, the evaluation found that The Brilliant Club has a statistically significant impact on the likelihood a student will progress to a highly-selective university, compared to a control group. AccessEd exists to support education leaders in other countries to design and pilot new university access programmes that mobilize PhD researchers. The Innovation League belongs to the AccessEd network, benefitting from the collective expertise of researcher and practitioners engaged with fair access to higher education globally.

Impact Evaluation

PhD researcher led tutorials in the UK make it significantly more likely an under-represented student will progress to a highly-selective university. Learn more about our impact evaluation: www.thebrilliantclub.org

AccessEd Network

United States South Africa Hong Kong United Kingdom Republic of Ireland

Program Outline

Academic Seminars

6 Academic Seminars led by PhD Students

Visit to College Campus Day 1

Research Groups

Admissions Advice Session

Visit to College Campus Day 2

Research Symposium

Feedback and Graduation Ceremony

Registration

Pilot 2018

by 5th Feb

March-April typically weekly

after school

April-May over a weekend

April-May Parents/

guardians invited

The Innovation League’s program is aimed at middle and high school students that have demonstrated the potential and drive to succeed at a competitive university. We believe schools know their students best and do not set enrollment criteria based on attainment. We ask teachers to register students (in cohorts of 15-20) who they believe will most benefit from the program. As we seek to support underserved students, we do ask schools to ensure at least 60% of the students registered meet our targeting criteria. This means at least 9 out of 15 students should meet at least one of the following criteria: •  eligible for free school

lunches •  high needs •  economically disadvantaged •  From historically

underrepresented minority background (Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders).

Registration Modelled off the style of learning at universities like Harvard, MIT and Oxford, students study in small seminar groups of up to 6 students led by an expert PhD student. Over the course of the program students participate in 6 university-style seminars, facilitated virtually or at the school by the PhD students. Students are guided through “super-curricular” content, developing their critical thinking and communication skills, as they work towards producing a final assignment. The cohort model builds student community, fostering their sense of belonging and encouraging academic progress.

Academic Seminars

The Innovation League Research Project is designed to provide students with an authentic experience of life as a researcher. When students visit campus they work in their small research groups on a defined project. Using what they have learnt over the course of the academic seminars, students work together and prepare to present their findings. The Research Symposium provides students with an opportunity to present their work to their peers, and where possible teachers and parents/carers, in the style of an academic conference. PhD students provide students with feedback based on their seminar contributions and their participation in the Research Symposium. To graduate from the program the students must typically have attended at least 90% of the sessions.

The Research Project

Program Details

PhD students complete a competitive application to participate in the program, as well as a full background check as required by the school. All researchers complete training that is delivered by qualified teachers. The training includes instruction on how to design and deliver a super-curricular course. Researchers receive guidance and training on how to create an inclusive and engaging environment for students from diverse backgrounds. Our researcher training is designed to harness the passion and expertise PhD students have for their subject, by helping them structure a robust and engaging program for young people.

PhD students During the visit to a university campus, students receive guidance about applying to competitive colleges and the different financial aid options available to them. These sessions help to debunk any myths around the college admissions process and provide students with practical strategies on how to apply to college. Students also hear from peer role models about their experience of applying to and studying at competitive institutions. The Innovation League will seek to connect students to high-quality information and guidance

The Innovation League embraces the possibilities that technology offers to engage young people and scale our impact on college access. The Innovation League’s program can be delivered in-person (with researchers visiting the school weekly for academic seminars), or as a blended model (with some online seminars). Further information about implementation is available at the planning stage of the program. All seminar resources created by the PhD students are made available to the school and can be accessed online through our website.

Admissions Guidance

Digital Programs

Academic Seminar Curriculum

Fictions, Fakes and Mistakes: Writing Roman History

Each course of 6 seminars is individually designed by the PhD tutor and based on their own cutting-edge research. PhD students produce a seminar handbook in line with our template, which is designed to ensure that students are supported and challenged throughout.

Humanities

Social Sciences

Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Wars, Guns and Votes

The Moral Justification of Punishment

Cyborg Urbanization: Are Cities Natural?

The Fingerprints of Time

Understanding Viral Infections

Journey to the Coldest Place in the Universe

What’s Up is Down: Making Sense of the Quantum World

Rationale Every seminar handbook includes a rationale that serves as an introduction to the course, providing a ‘hook’ to get students excited about what they will be learning.

Glossary Every seminar handbook contains a glossary of key vocabulary to introduce students to technical and subject-specific vocabulary.

Feedback Criteria Feedback criteria clearly outline success metrics for the academic seminars, including seminar contributions and homework and the campus research project and final symposium.

Resources All seminar and homework resources, including activities and required readings, are included in each handbook.

Example Curriculum Overviews:

Who We Are Polly Goss is the CEO and Founder of The Innovation League. Polly taught English in the UK and was Lead Teacher with The Brilliant Club, before moving to the US. Polly has a Masters in Education from University College London and specialized in gifted pedagogy in urban schools. Polly moved to Cambridge in 2016 with her husband, a graduate student at MIT. Polly loves her new home and being part of the dynamic educational community of Cambridge.

Dr. Rajbir Hazelwood is the Program Director at AccessEd, where she leads on the support provided to education leaders to pilot new university access programs. Rajbir completed her PhD on decolonization at Washington University in St. Louis and was Assistant Professor of Modern British History at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. After 10 years in St. Louis, she moved back to London to join The Brilliant Club in 2015.

Simon Coyle is the Co-Founder and Director at AccessEd. As a result of his experiences as Teach First teacher in a low-income community in London, Simon was motivated to start The Brilliant Club with his friend and colleague Jonny Sobczyk. The Brilliant Club began as an after school project supporting students to develop the knowledge, skills and ambition to progress to highly-selective university. After a successful pilot, Simon and Jonny secured a founding grant and went on to grow The Brilliant Club to become the largest university access charity for secondary school students in the UK.

To learn more about who we are and to get involved with The Innovation League visit: www.theinnovationleague.org www.access-ed.ngo www.thebrilliantclub.org