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Drawing on five district experiences in Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Springfield, the report highlights design features focused on sustained improvements in teaching and learning over multiple years.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/school-district-innovation-zones-a-new-wave-of-district-led-efforts-to-improve-economic-mobility/582395/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/school-district-innovation-zones-a-new-wave-of-district-led-efforts-to-improve-economic-mobility/582395.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Margaret","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why do district-led turnaround efforts often underperform for low-performing schools?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The report attributes limited results to barriers such as district size and complexity, persistent student gaps in reading and math, teacher and principal fatigue from repeated improvement attempts, and reduced funding as federal grant support diminishes over time.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What makes an innovation zone different from typical district interventions?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Innovation zones provide a subset of district schools with autonomy over staffing, curriculum, and budgeting. State laws and contractual agreements often sustain that autonomy, while nonprofits generally operate the schools and are held accountable for improved student outcomes.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Which districts' experiences are used to illustrate the innovation zone approach?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The report focuses on five districts: Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Memphis (TN), and Springfield (MA). These experiences are used to identify design features that emphasize improving teaching and learning across multiple years.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},582395,1792209334,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},137451207643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","School District Innovation Zones A New Wave of District-led Efforts to Improve Economic Mobility  \nBy Nithin Iyengar, Kate Lewis-LaMonica, and Mike Perigo  \nCollaborating to accelerate social impact October 2017  \nTable of Contents  \nA New Wave of District Innovation Zones  ............................................ 3  \nA Growing and Varied Landscape of Innovation Zones Across the Country  ........... 4  \nPromising Outcomes to Date for This New Wave of Innovation Zones  ............... 7  \nDesign Features That Create a Framework for Success  ............................. 7  \nA Promising Turnaround Strategy Worth Watching  ............................... 12  \nAppendix: Profiles of School District Innovation Zones  ............................... 13  \nProfiles  ......................................................................... 14  \nThe AUSL Way: Moving from “Good” to “Truly Excellent”(Chicago)  ................ 14  \nFrom Innovation Schools to an Innovation Zone in Denver, Colorado  ............... 21  \nInnovation Network Schools in Indianapolis: Phalen Leadership Academies Takes the Lead  ..................................................................... 27  \nBuilt to Last: The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership, Springfield, Massachusetts  ................................................................ 34  \nProving What’s Possible: Shelby County (Memphis) Public Schools, Tennessee  ......40  \nCover photo: Phalen Leadership Academies  \nEducators, policy makers, and philanthropists have worked for years to improve the substandard quality of education provided many low-income students, one of the most effective ways to put disadvantaged kids on a pathway of upward economic mobility . But well-meaning reform efforts aimed at turning around failing schools largely disappoint  .  \nMore than $3  .5 billion in federal School Improvement Grants awarded in 2010 “had no impact on math or reading test scores, high school graduation, or college enrollment,”concluded an independent 2017 research report  .1 Similarly, the vast majority of districtled efforts to improve low-performing schools have been equally unsuccessful  .2  \nNone of this comes as a surprise  . It’s widely understood that school districts face significant barriers to designing and implementing sustained improvements in chronically underperforming schools  . In particular, the size and complexity of urban districts pose daunting challenges to advance significant reform efforts, despite glaring need  . Many students—especially low-income students and students of color—fall years behind in reading and math  . Principals and teachers grow fatigued by repeated—mostly unsuccessful—improvement efforts  . Money also is a problem  . Cash-strapped districts in recent years have relied heavily on federal grants to fund turnaround strategies, but that source has diminished over time  . As a result, many district leaders feel stymied when it comes to delivering meaningful improvement  . Instead, district improvement efforts often focus on modest goals, well below the standard required for social mobility and rarely include strategies to meaningfully improve student outcomes  .  \nA new wave of district-led “innovation zones” holds promise to overcome these challengesand deliver significant improvements in student outcomes  . These zones provide a subset of district schools with control over staffing, curriculum, and budgeting  . State laws and contractual agreements often guarantee the autonomy that can sustain the zone despite potential changes in district leadership  . Nonprofits typically operate the schools and are held accountable to the school district for significant improvement in student outcomes  .  \nThe experiences of five school districts that are vanguards of this new wave of innovation zones—Chicago; Denver; Indianapolis; Memphis, TN; and Springfield, MA—are the subject of this report  .3 These innovation zones reveal certain design features that place a ","cbCaimY4ys1WimnX","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimY4ys1WimnX","pdf",2054514,46,"English","# A New Wave of District Innovation Zones\n## A Growing and Varied Landscape of Innovation Zones Across the Country\n## Promising Outcomes to Date for This New Wave of Innovation Zones\n## Design Features That Create a Framework for Success\n## A Promising Turnaround Strategy Worth Watching\n# Appendix: Profiles of School District Innovation Zones\n## Profiles\n## The AUSL Way: Moving from “Good” to “Truly Excellent”(Chicago)\n## From Innovation Schools to an Innovation Zone in Denver, Colorado\n## Innovation Network Schools in Indianapolis: Phalen Leadership Academies Takes the Lead\n## Built to Last: The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership, Springfield, Massachusetts\n## Proving What’s Possible: Shelby County (Memphis) Public Schools, Tennessee","[{\"question\":\"Why do district-led turnaround efforts often underperform for low-performing schools?\",\"answer\":\"The report attributes limited results to barriers such as district size and complexity, persistent student gaps in reading and math, teacher and principal fatigue from repeated improvement attempts, and reduced funding as federal grant support diminishes over time.\"},{\"question\":\"What makes an innovation zone different from typical district interventions?\",\"answer\":\"Innovation zones provide a subset of district schools with autonomy over staffing, curriculum, and budgeting. State laws and contractual agreements often sustain that autonomy, while nonprofits generally operate the schools and are held accountable for improved student outcomes.\"},{\"question\":\"Which districts' experiences are used to illustrate the innovation zone approach?\",\"answer\":\"The report focuses on five districts: Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Memphis (TN), and Springfield (MA). These experiences are used to identify design features that emphasize improving teaching and learning across multiple years.\"}]","School District Innovation Zones - A New Wave of District-led Efforts to Improve Economic Mobility | PDF",1792043216,116]