Organizations that share proven models with many schools could increase the pace of innovation
By: Tara Garcia Mathewson
Schools all across the country face similar challenges: gaps in achievement, student absenteeism, diminishing student interest in school from one grade to the next, out-of-school trauma that affects the way students learn, and the list goes on. But while these challenges are shared, many schools attack them as though they are facing them alone. They develop unique solutions to common problems.
New Schools Venture Fund is among the organizations trying to support a different path. The venture philanthropy firm funds “model providers” that have not only come up with solutions that seem to work but also want to help other schools adopt them, too. Model providers include schools and companies that want to export successful elements of a program or entire school designs. The model provider, for New Schools Venture Fund, must truly partner with schools to improve learning by offering the instructional resources, technology tools and teacher supports that will help schools actually do that.