What is iINNOVATE?

Technology and global trends are reshaping the future of work, including the types of jobs that will exist and the skills required to obtain those jobs. These changes will have profound social and economic implications, particularly for our disadvantaged students. In the coming years, technology is expected to displace 75 million jobs globally, while those same forces will create 133 million new ones. The industrial economy, which rewarded the predictable performance of assigned tasks, is being replaced by a new economy in which ideas and information management is the key element of value.

Low-skilled or entry-level jobs that historically served as an entry point into the job market for individuals lacking specialized skills or a college degree are the most likely functions to be replaced by AI and automation. The result is that many unprepared young people are likely to be shut out of the new economy, deepening disparities between the haves and the have-nots.

Knowing this creates a moral imperative to prepare today’s students to succeed - personally and professionally - in our rapidly changing world.

• To be successful in college and career, students need to be equipped with not only content knowledge, but the essential skills to apply their knowledge in varied contexts. 

• Business and industry leaders are calling for us to adapt; to cultivate in student minds the unique human functions necessary to harness and direct emerging technologies- curiosity, imagination, exploration, perseverance, flexibility, critical thinking, problem solving and working creatively as part of a team. 

• This matches what we are hearing from our students, families, and staff who are asking for more relevant and engaging learning experiences in our schools. 

iINNOVATE Rationale:

If schools exist to help prepare all students for a bright future in which they are equipped to realize personal and professional success, and if business leaders are alerting us that the traditional approach to learning does not entirely match the needs of the new economy, and if our own students are themselves calling for deeper real-world learning opportunities, then it is incumbent upon us to embed more relevant and engaging learning experiences for students of all ages and abilities. 

iINNOVATE Goal:  

Our goal is to create integrated learning experiences where students apply their knowledge to real world situations and develop the life-long skills necessary to succeed in their future as students, employees and citizens. 

What iINNOVATE learning is….

• Relevant

  • Learning is driven by an essential question connected to a real-life topic, challenge, or problem

• Academic Learning Aligned to Standards Supporting all Students 

  • Built around standards across multiple subject areas

  • Deep and transferable learning rooted in inquiry

  • Embedded with English Language Development

  • Includes Culturally Responsive Practices

  • Tied to Career Technical Education standards

• Knowledge and Skills 

  • Students learn and practice applying “Success Skills” 

    • Critical thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, and Perseverance

  • Students utilize a wide range of resources and technologies to enhance learning

• Personalized

  • Students have some voice and choice to pursue interests and develop a personal connection to learning

• Experiential

  • Students are active participants in their own learning, applying knowledge and skills transferable to college, career, and life  

  • Students create, design, invent and share their learning with an authentic audience

  • Students embrace future possibilities of new platforms grounded in the science of learning

• Joyful

  • Students are captivated by the journey of discovery

  • Students are resilient and persistent when confronted by challenges

  • Students celebrate each other’s unique ‘super powers’ and actively look for opportunities to collaborate with those who are different than them