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The Innovation Project Early Learning Network (TIP ELN)

With a generous three-year grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The Innovation Project (TIP) and its partners have developed and supported an inter-district network focused on redesigning learning environments to better address the early learning needs of vulnerable children. In its first two years, the Early Learning Network (ELN) engaged school design teams and principals from 36 schools in 12 North Carolina districts. The ELN immersed participating schools and districts in a cohort-based program defined by three interrelated activities that together enable transformative results:

  • Transformation through School Design. School design teams participated in an intensive process to define learner-centered goals and strategies to improve early learning outcomes. Schools did not implement a specific model but instead engaged in a common process to design for transformation of the student experience in grades Pre-K-3.
  • Coaching for Entrepreneurial School Leadership. TIP recruited a cadre of exceptional coaches with proven records of school turnaround leadership and education innovation. These coaches supported principals in extending their skill sets to meet the challenges of leading through innovation in struggling schools and to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the ELN.
  • Innovative District Supports. TIP worked closely with superintendents and district leaders in innovation, curriculum and instruction, student supports, finance, human resources and other areas to support them in structuring district policies and practices to better empower school leaders and school design teams to engage fully in the ELN’s design process.

As a result of COVID-19, our team revisited, reimagined and redesigned cohort three to support five district design teams as they navigated some of their most pressing and critical early learning challenges. Additionally, our team utilized the Liberatory Design Process to center equity in how teams approached this important work. Cohort three included the following districts: Cumberland, Edgecombe, Granville, Rowan-Salisbury and Wake. To read more about what we learned, please review our case study, The Opportunity to Dream: How an Early Learning Network Implemented the Liberatory Design Process.

Partners

The Innovation Project The Innovation Project

Teams

Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative

Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Group Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Group

Selected Resources

Case Study – Rocky River Elementary School Case Study – An Implementation of a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum and Sensory Integration Tools for All Students

There is growing attention to the positive impacts of implementing social and emotional learning and sensory integration techniques in schools. The authors intend for this case study to showcase the design thinking and continuous improvement process at Rocky River Elementary school and the keys to success.

Case Study – The Opportunity to Dream: How an Early Learning Network Implemented the Liberatory Design Process

This case study examines in-depth the participating districts in Cohort 3 of the 2021 Early Learning Network (ELN), an inter-district network focused on redesigning learning environments to better address the early learning needs of vulnerable children. Over the course of the 2021 calendar year, The Innovation Project (TIP) and The Friday Institute developed and implemented this network and provided individual coaching for district leaders.

Project Team

Blake F. Wiggs Blake F. Wiggs

Dr. Mary Ann Wolf Dr. Mary Ann Wolf

Joe Ableidinger Joe Ableidinger

Dr Callie Womble Edwards Dr Callie Womble Edwards

Dr Patricia Hilliard Dr Patricia Hilliard

Nancy Mangum Nancy Mangum

Shayla Rexrode Shayla Rexrode

Dr Jessica Vandenberg Dr Jessica Vandenberg

Dr. Tom Williams Dr. Tom Williams

Dr Kevin Winn Dr Kevin Winn