The Innovation Zone (iZone) is a community of innovative New York City schools committed to personalizing learning to meet the needs, motivations and strengths of individual students.

The iZone aims to personalize education for each student by designing schools around the following five key principles:

• Globally Competitive Standards – Student learning outcomes are aligned to rigorous standards and assessments, such as the Common Core, that define the knowledge, skills and habits of mind graduates need to be successful in college and career.
• Competency Based Learning and Assessment – Students advance by demonstrating they have the skills, abilities and knowledge to be successful, rather than the traditional way of receiving credit based on simply spending time in the classroom.
  
• Personalized Learning Plans – Teachers, advisors, students and parents manage a personalized learning plan that accounts for each student's preferred pace and learning style.
• Multiple Modes of Learning – Students learn in the way they learn best – be it independently, one-on‐one with a coach, collaboratively in small groups, online, or beyond school, in real‐world contexts, such as internships or early college courses.
• New Staff and Student Roles – School staff will adopt new roles as learning coaches, advisors, content and assessment experts. And students will be empowered to plan and manage their own studies in a variety of ways.
  

With these principles as a foundation, iZone schools select one or more strategies that allow them to design certain classrooms, grades or even the entire school around individual students:

• iZone 360: Redesigning the whole school, including budgets, staff, space, scheduling, instruction and technology, around needs, motivations and strengths of individual students.
• iLearnNYC:  Flexibly meeting the needs of individual students through online and blended learning.
• InnovateNYC: Piloting, evaluating and scaling innovations that meet school needs and accelerate student learning.

iZone support to schools is primarily funded by Federal Race to the Top funds and private funds from Google, Cisco, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ford Foundation. The Department of Education is investing in all schools' technology infrastructure, increasing network bandwidth and access to computers so that students can access rich, 21st century learning opportunities.

All schools are eligible to apply. Selection is based primarily on a school's vision and commitment to personalizing learning.

The iZone will gauge success based on 1) creating an environment that allows for innovation, 2) organizing school practice and resources to enable personalization and 3) increasing student achievement and college and career readiness.

The Department of Education is consistently creating a wide range of learning experiences and options that prepare students for college and career in a setting where they learn best. Schools in the iZone are all dedicated to designing, implementing and evaluating new school models founded in personalization. For the school year 2010-2011, 81 schools across all five boroughs of New York City joined the iZone community. And in school year 2011-2012, that number will more than double to over 160 schools. By 2014, the iZone community will grow to 400 schools.

Each iZone school schedule is structured to best meet the needs of its students and teachers. In general, iZone schools allow students to learn outside the traditional school day, progress at a pace that works best for them and accelerate toward graduation. Teachers have more time to plan lessons alone and with fellow educators so they can identify and address each student's needs. 

In an iZone classroom, teachers are empowered to personalize learning for each of their students. Teachers participate in professional development throughout the year to help gain the knowledge and skills they need to teach effectively in technology-rich, student-centered learning environments. This includes analyzing student performance data to better personalize instruction and incorporating online content and collaboration tools into their regular classroom instruction. 

iZone staff and external partners support educators with technology tools and the infrastructure to effectively use it, as well as technical and programmatic support.

Many iZone schools are incorporating alternative ways of assessing students. In addition to looking at traditional student achievement metrics, such as graduation rates and credit accumulation, iZone schools are monitoring performance and progress on skills that will help students succeed in college and careers, such as the ability to problem solve, research and interpret information and communicate effectively. These assessments will not be incorporated into grades, but used to help schools determine the innovations that are most helpful for students.

Some schools are considering new ways of grading students. For example, some are incorporating competency-based grading which measures whether students are mastering concepts, rather than granting a single number grade based solely on right or wrong answers.

Currently, students in New York State can only obtain credit if they spend a certain amount of time physically in a class. The iZone is looking into ways to allow students to advance in school based on understanding content, no matter how long that takes. In order to do this, the New York City Department of Education has submitted a waiver to the New York State Education Department.

Schools in the iZone are thinking through how learning can happen anywhere and at anytime. This can mean during regular school day hours, before school, after school, or on weekends depending on each student's needs. This doesn't mean more homework, but it may mean more time learning outside of the traditional school day, based on each student's preferred learning style and pace.

Technology offers an unparalleled, in-depth look at student progress. Real-time data evaluates each student's level at the start of a lesson and charts their progress allowing teachers to provide extra help, or new challenging opportunities, as needed.

It also links students with world-renowned experts for insights not found in any textbook and enables collaboration with peers from around the world. Students in the NYC iSchool, for example, used Skype to discuss global climate change with NASA scientists and learned global history by discussing the impact of terrorism with students in Israel and London.

No; students in iZone schools interact with one another and peers throughout the world as much, if not more, than students in non-iZone schools. Students experience a variety of learning experiences, including solo work time, small group sessions, class discussions, and technology-facilitated learning with peers and experts.

No; as Sonia Morgan, a teacher from P.S. 327 said, "Technology does not replace the teacher. That's what other teachers need to understand," she explained. "That will never change." A teacher still provides continual guidance and support to each student, helping set the direction and scope of a student's education. The strategies used by teachers in iZone schools are additional tools at educators' disposal.

iZone recognizes that not every student in New York City owns a computer or has  access to the internet at home. To that end, some schools provide their  students with laptops that they may bring home; others offer extra time during and outside of school hours for students to  work on computers to complete their online assignments.

To learn more about adopting innovation strategies at your school, or to start a discussion with fellow parents, teachers and principals about how they can get involved in the iZone, email Innovation@schools.nyc.gov.