about the program

Educators are always looking for new ideas that will help them do their jobs more effectively. They hear about an innovative practice or new research result and want to know more: What is it? Who’s doing it? How might it work for me? The Innovation Studies Program creates and disseminates user-friendly information to support educators who want to understand and effectively implement promising policies and practices.

The program's work includes studying promising practices in action, comparing them to other practices, relating them to relevant research, and analyzing key features that appear to contribute to successful outcomes. This work is demonstrated in the Innovation Guides, a series produced for the Office of Innovation and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education that offers promising practices in the areas of charter schools, parent involvement strategies, online learning, and more. Additionally, for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Innovation Studies Program is leading the Rethinking High School project, creating a series of profiles that examine successful high schools throughout the country along with analyses of high school reforms in action.

The Innovation Studies Program also specializes in developing web-based tools that help educators adapt and implement new practices in their local contexts. A current project, BuildingChoice.org, offers tools for district administrators and others to expand or improve their public school choice options for parents, teachers, and students. Another major initiative, the website Doing What Works, helps educators see how schools have implemented research-based practices and helps them plan their own improvement strategies.