Innovation Guides from Office of Innovation and Improvement

In its initial stage, this website has drawn primarily from districts studied by a research team from WestEd and its partner Edvance in 2004 for a series of Innovation Guides about promising practices in American public education. In 2007, five more Innovation Guides were published through the U.S. Department of Education. The nine guides below highlight innovative programs for increasing parents' public school options.

Creating Strong District School Choice Programs This publication focuses on the real-life lessons learned from school districts implementing the No Child Left Behind Act's public school choice provisions.

Creating Successful Magnet Schools Programs This publication identifies six school districts whose successful magnet programs offer a range of contexts, experiences, and perspectives.

Successful Charter Schools Eight charter schools from around the country are featured for their varied and distinctive programs.

Creating Strong Supplemental Educational Services Programs This publication shares the work of five districts' efforts to implement Supplemental Educational Services required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Innovations In Education: Supporting Charter School Excellence Through Quality Authorizing This guide profiles the promising practices of eight charter authorizers around the country, highlighting various ways that authorizers and policymakers can achieve quality authorizing.

K–8 Charter Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap The promising practices of seven schools are highlighted in this guide, illustrating a range of ways that charters can effectively help raise student achievement.

Charter High Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap Developing strong secondary programs is the focus of this charter guide that illustrates promising practices from eight charter high schools that are helping to close the achievement gap.

Engaging Parents in Education: Lessons From Five Parental Information And Resource Centers Practices from five Parental Information and Resource Centers are featured in this guide to help increase parent involvement in public schools across the country.

Innovations in Education: Connecting Students to Advanced Courses Online Developed by six virtual schools in partnership with school districts, these practices increase student access to advanced courses through online learning opportunities that supplement the brick-and-mortar classroom.

Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success This guide serves as a resource for school leaders on K – 12 online learning programs. Seven evaluations representing both a variety of programs and evaluation methods are featured.

Creating and Sustaining Successful K-8 Magnet Schools This guide provides some "lessons learned" for district and school decision-makers of how specialized programs can spark enthusiasm for learning and catalyze academic growth in students whose interest and aptitudes may not be fulfilled by their neighborhood schools.

Successful Magnet High Schools This guide exams eight magnet high schools, analyzing their common characteristics and profiles them as models of success.