The Innovation Unit is working on the New York City iZone

The Innovation Unit is working with the New York City Department of Education to help support the establishment of their ‘innovation zone’ - with plans to grow to two hundred schools within three years. The iZone, as it is called, will prototype radically new models of schooling and 'modalities' of learning.  

The 25 Lab Schools established in the first year will be explicitly working on behalf of the entire New York City school system (comprising about 1500 schools).  The subsequent diffusion strategy will utilise NYC's high capacity school networks.

The iZone is explicitly focused not only on sustaining NYC's prodigious rise in test scores and high school graduation rates, but also significantly increasing career and college readiness.  The aim is a system and range of learning modalities through which students develop 21st century 'mastery skills' and are powerfully equipped to sustain their learning through college and career.  

This will certainly generate some radically new models of 'schooling'. The iZone demonstrates a commitment to innovation in education that is unprecedented in education, and we are tremendously excited to be associated with it. For more information, read this excellent blog post by Lisa Nielsen, who is also involved in setting up the iZone.