Innovate NYC Schools

Innovate NYC Schools is the iZone's initiative to expand educational technologies with high potential for transforming classrooms toward more personalized, student-centered models. Innovate schools identify their key learning challenges, pilot and evaluate the impact of innovations on student achievement, and then actively share their findings with educators and education technology developers.

Innovate NYC Schools oversees the Personalized Learning Systems (PLS) and School of One pilots. In PLS, elementary schools incorporate adaptive learning software into classrooms to assist teachers in personalizing English Language Arts and Math instruction in the third, fourth and fifth grades. School of One is a full-time mathematics curriculum that redesigns the classroom to integrate multiple modes of instruction—live teacher-led lessons, software-based lessons, collaborative activities, virtual tutors, and individual practice—into the same learning space.

The initiative also supports the Innovate NYC Schools Ecosystem. Funded by the US Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) program, the Ecosystem models practices that help districts benefit from the best practices of the early-stage edtech community and drives smarter investments in educational technology by schools, districts, funders and solution developers.

Drawing on the principles of participatory design, the Innovate NYC Schools Ecosystem creates new mechanisms for robust problem definition, efficient solution sourcing, and collaborative pilots between schools and developers backed by rapid–cycle formative evaluation to quickly assess impact and disseminate lessons–learned to the community at large.
 
On January 7, 2013, Innovate NYC Schools launched the nation’s first district-sponsored software challenge. Small and mid–sized companies are invited to submit applications and games that enhance and support teaching, learning and student engagement. The Challenge will award over $100,000 in cash and prizes, and participants become eligible for consideration for a pilot program in iZone schools. 
 
You can learn more about the Challenge here and sign up for our newsletter here.


 

iZone On The Ground

School: P.S. 100 Isaac Clason Borough: Bronx Grade Level: K-5 Innovations in Action: Teachers supplement instruction with the use of adaptive learning software that assesses students' level at the start of a course and then provides real-time data on their progress. Data is then used to create daily, personalized lesson plans for each student based on the way and pace they learn best. This allows teachers to make effective and targeted interventions for students in need of support and provide new material to those who are excelling. For example, in one English class, teachers can personalize an online reading lesson for every student by adjusting vocabulary for each child; some read that the horse ran, others read that it galloped. They can tailor the process even further by giving the student the option to read independently on their laptops or have the story read aloud to them. "In Your Own Words" – the Principal's Vision: "As an iZone school, our teachers, administrators, and students are all learning side by side as we uncover new ways to use technology to strengthen our practices and meet the needs of every child."  – Chad Adam Altman, Principal, P.S. 100.