Driving K -12 Innovation： 2020 HURDLES + ACCELERATORS（Ⅱ）

Consortium for School Networking

Top 5 Accelerators

Top 5 most important Accelerators for schools to address in 2020 in order to pave the way for teaching and learning innovation and extraordinary student outcomes.

1.Learners as Creators

The idea that students dont have to wait to graduate to change the world is motivating schools to embrace real-world learning experiences that promote student-generated ideas and solutions.

2.Data-Driven Practices

With more student engagement/performance and other kinds of data being collected， schools are leveraging that data to make decisions about curriculum， hiring， teaching and learning， and technology investments. Increasingly， school leaders are using data visualization to view academic and operational outcomes.

3.Personalization

As the consumer sector has exploded with new ways to customize user experiences and products， schools are finding ways to provide learning support at the individual level. Personalized learning is when all aspects of learning are chosen by the learner， including but not limited to topic， pace， strategy， and presentation of knowledge/skills.

4.Social and Emotional Learning

Schools are working to build empathy， grit， persistence， flexibility， and adaptability into curriculum， which arguably shapes worldviews and students penchant for successful collaboration， problem-solving， and civic responsibility. Further， learning experiences that help build students character and identity， encourage creative and social risk-taking are being emphasized.

5.Building the Human Capacity of Leaders

When leaders take actions to strengthen the professional community of their schools， providing opportunities for educators and all K-12 professionals to learn and master new skills—regardless of title or rank—it leads with a strategic vision and opens the door to the innovative practices that can enhance student experiences.

SPOTLIGHTING TWO ACCELERATORS

1.Data-Driven Practices

Data-Driven Practices include， but are not limited to， data-driven decision making. Data can guide educators to dramatically improve teaching and learning for student success， direct education administration， and enable innovation. In the U.S. student data is collected by schools， districts， states， and federal government to inform teaching & learning， direct resource allocation， assess outcomes， and inform the public.

Data can be used to track student progress and identify students who are struggling. Data can also shift the focus from content to student understanding， skill development， and learning application， and enable students to assess and direct their learning progress.

Beyond teaching and learning， data-driven practices can assist with education administration and systems that surround learning. Data can help reduce decision-making risks and support safety， security， and threat prevention in education.

2.Social and Emotional Learning

Social Emotional Learning （SEL） is widely considered to be essential for students. Understanding and managing emotions help students succeed at school and “the development of SEL competencies while students are in school predicts a variety of later outcomes， such as participation in postsecondary education， success in the workforce， civic engagement， and personal well-being.” SEL strategies， implementation， and outcomes are a major current focus for education researchers and practitioners， as well as an important topic for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #4.7： Education： Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship.

The Advisory Board identified several nuances and challenges for leveraging Social Emotional Learning， including buy-in and communication， resources and implementation， and academic integration. Their insights resonate with academic literature related to barriers and challenges of SEL adoption.

Developing understanding and buy-in from educators， parents， and community members is critical to the success of Social Emotional Learning initiatives. To drive SEL adoption， the Advisory Board also recommends that schools and teachers： identify tools and apps that can support students; incorporate SEL activities into the school day， regardless of subject; share resources and examples for SEL integration; and invest in professional development; Integrate SEL.