Presentation to the Board of Education, DPS March 3, 2016
The Luminary Learning Network (LLN) will manage and support Denver’s first innovation school zone. Mission LLN will accelerate innovative approaches to ensure all kids succeed in Denver. Through an Innovation Zone, the LLN brings together a diverse group of schools that are committed to providing unique and exciting learning environments for students while empowering teachers and leaders to design and run excellent schools. Vision LLN envisions a new model of organizing schools for improvement, excellence and equity. By leveraging autonomies and the power of a self-designed collaboration within the context of strong accountability for results, the LLN will not only accelerate their own performance, but also become a national proof point for school autonomy, innovation and excellence. Innovation School Profiles: ECE-5 Grades: ECE-5 K-5 ECE-8 Accredited on Watch 2014 DPS SPF Rating: Accredited on Watch Meets Expectations Meet Expectations 47.65% SPF Score: 47.52% 73.08% 55.32% 535 SY15-16 Enrollment: 406 279 536 Minority : 95% Student Population: Minority: 91% Minority : 18% Minority : 61% FRL: 92% ELL: 40% FRL: 88% ELL: 39% FRL: 13% ELL: 2% FRL: 59% ELL: 23% SpEd: 16% SpEd: 5% SpEd: 6% SpEd: 13% 2
Although all LLN schools have acquired ‘innovation school’ status, they do not have sufficient autonomy to execute their innovation plans. DPS’s culture of innovation has established an environment that is ripe for innovation in order to drive improvements in stud ent outcomes; however, some governing and operational features are impeding schools in their ability to execute their plans and deliver the results they know they are capable of. Current Challenges • Frequent introductions of new policies and the repealing of existing policies render a large percentage of innovation schools’ waivers void, denying schools the required level of autonomy to execute their plans • Of the 37 waivers that the four founding LLN schools were approved to receive, 30 apply to repealed policies leaving only 7 active waivers District • The % of waivers no longer valid for LLN’s founding schools include: 68% of C3’s waivers; 78% of Ashley’s Requirements waivers and 89% of Cole’s and DGS’s waivers • Innovation schools are not automatically exempted from new DPS policies and, therefore, do not retain autonomy granted by the district. When new policies are put into place innovation schools’ staff must vote on changes. • The experience of innovation school leaders and teachers has varied tremendously from school to school • Some schools and educators experience the advocacy they need to truly innovate; others feel a strong and Management and accountability persistent pull to revert to the common practices of non-innovation schools and therefore experience their ability to exercise their autonomies precarious, and space to innovate limited. • Innovation schools are often expected to implement their innovation plans and district mandates without additional resources Resources 3
The LLN’s innovation zone design will ensure autonomy and allow schools to improve student achievement The Zone will raise the bar for innovation schools and enable them to accelerate student gains. Theory of Action If schools are provided strong accountability expectations, genuine and un-mitigated flexibilities, and a novel funding structure, both supported and overseen by an independent governance and management structure, AND If schools are supported in deepening their instructional visions and practices through a uniquely designed service center that draws heavily on deep collaboration and peer-to-peer learning; Then , schools will be able to: • utilize the collective creativity and power of a Zone to better protect their current autonomies and collaboratively design new ones; • realize economies of scale that are both unique to a cluster of schools and not achievable by individual schools alone; • direct key resources — including people, time and money — more autonomously and more strategically; • integrate and leverage the schools’ common innovations to both accelerate their impact and to enable new ones; And, in turn , accelerate the student gains already unleashed by the individual schools of innovation. 4
Building on the culture of innovation at DPS, LLN is primed to have a positive and significant impact within the district LLN’s value proposition is significant to all stakeholder groups within the district. Students District Teachers and Schools ✓ LLN will ensure greater school ✓ LLN will ensure school autonomy ✓ LLN will aim to transform autonomy enabling schools to schools to provide high-quality so that school leaders can focus differentiate their educational seats to students aligned with the more of their resources on models to better accommodate educational programming Denver 2020 Plan ✓ LLN will support the knowledge- ✓ LLN will provide accountability by diverse student needs and improve student achievement sharing of effective innovation liaising with the district to ensure strategies among district school mandatory compliance while leaders reducing the amount of ✓ LLN will act as a disruptive force administrative compliance that to ensure effective, more-flexible schools must address individually central systems at DPS 5
LLN’s design embodies two major innovations in education management LLN’s success requires the implementation of a new governance model and a new operating model, outlined below and described i n more detail on the subsequent slides. Governance Model Operating Model An independent 501(c)(3) that is jointly governed by A model that optimizes LLN’s performance and community members, school representatives and efficiency by: Denver Public Schools, and operated through a i. Modification of the student based budgeting formula to increase financial autonomy, maintain memorandum of understanding with DPS, ensures connectivity to DPS priorities, and allow LLN autonomy, provides accountability (for individual school schools to fully realize their Innovation Plans; and zone performance), and manages LLN schools. Granting educators – who remain district ii. employees – a) greater control over policies; and b) full implementation flexibility over protocols and processes that impact the unique needs of their schools; iii. Having a lean, central administration oversee zone- wide operations and facilitates opportunities for collaboration in the zone and with the district; iv. Having the district provide any central support and standardized services that do not need to be differentiated for LLN’s schools versus other district schools. 6
LLN’s governance model has three distinct but complementary features that aim to ensure both autonomy and accountability LLN’s new governance model will enable sustainable school -level autonomies so that schools can focus on improving the quality of their educational programming by executing their innovation plan. It will also ensure compliance to mandatory regulation and help ensure that school leaders are fairly held accountable for their results. DPS Board of Education Role and NEW: Legal Structure NEW: Governing Board of Directors Responsibilities ✓ LLN is an independent 501(c)(3), ✓ Self-perpetuating , 9-member Board ✓ DPS Board of Education (BoE) classified as a Supporting of Directors (BoD) consisting of: plays a vital role for the Innovation ✓ 5 community representatives Organization Zone: ✓ 4 DPS representatives : ✓ Retains its non-delegable legal ✓ Relationship between LLN schools duties ✓ The board’s composition supports ✓ Approves creation and and DPS is articulated in the MOU and LLN’s Innovation Zone Plan collaborative problem solving ; renewal (every 3 years) of LLN ✓ Authorizes schools to enter however, in the event of conflict and consistent with the BOE’s statutory LLN ✓ Determines when low- and constitutional authority, the DPS BOE will resolve the conflict and performing schools should exit may involve a BOE/LLN approved LLN ✓ Has ultimate dispute resolution mediator . authority (List of BoD duties is in the appendix) 7
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