Welcome to 2008 Innovation Labs

Board GoalsMaintain a quality education program for all

students

Operate in the most efficient manner possible.

Maintain a school in every community.

Welcome to 2008 Innovation Labs

Develop a sustainable administrative model to manage our districts.

Create equal opportunities for students in our four school districts

Create a communication model that supports collaboration.

Characteristics of a complex system

Learning is a typically a "complex" activity. Most learning systems contain a number of separate parts that must work together for learning to occur.

Characteristics of a complex system

A complex system is emergent.

In an emergent system, smaller parts comprise a larger system. This larger system has properties the smaller units lack. Therefore, together they become more than they could be in isolation.

Administration of a complex system

A complex system is unpredictable.

Decision-making is decentralized.

Innovation flourishes in complex learning environments.

Characteristics of a complex system

A complex learning environment contains many iterations and feedback/feedforward loops.

People learn by trial and error--in other

words, they learn from their mistakes.

Characteristics of a complex system

It's quite possible that learning occurs BEST on

the "edge of chaos," where order and chaos meet.

Recommended Changes

School Organization Structure

Elementary: Preschool through 4th Grade

Middle School: 5th through 8th Grade

High School: 9th through 12th Grade

Pre-School Programs

Establish a cooperative pre-school program for Laurel-Concord and Coleridge Students.

Newcastle pre-school already in existence.

Pre-School Programs

Combine the Kindergarten through 2nd grade students in Coleridge and Laurel for the 2007-08 school year.

Junior High Programs

Combine junior high athletic programs at Coleridge and Laurel-Concord

(Coordinated practices in volleyball, football, and track to accommodate low numbers and combined teams in volleyball and football to accommodate separate 7th and 8th grade contests)

Special Programs

Level III Autism Program at Coleridge (Currently serving students from Laurel and

Wynot)

Level III Vocational Program at Laurel (Currently serving students from Coleridge,

Laurel, and Newcastle)

Special Programs

Credit Recovery Program

(Currently serving students from Allen, Laurel-Concord, and Newcastle)

Special Programs

Coordinate a transportation program to accommodate travel for special or combined programs.

(Currently serving students from all four schools involved in the above programs or junior high athletics)

Special Programs

Provide vehicles or share transportation services between school districts at cost

(Coordinate school activities and field trips to allow for shared transportation when possible)

Distance Education

Expand distance education/online classes (21 distance education rooms)

(Currently offering 57 distance education courses to over 890 students in Allen, Coleridge, Laurel, Newcastle, Prague, Wausa, Winside, Wynot)

College Credit Classes

Expand college credit options for high school students

(In the first semester, 53 students completed 268 college credit classes, 2 students enrolled in college full-time)

Administration

Reduce administration and staff

(Reduced ½ time administrator and 4 teaching positions, while expanding offerings to students)

Elementary Programs

Expand elementary programs in art, guidance, health, and Spanish

(Reassigned present staff to expand elementary programs)

Tax Reduction

Rescinded overrides in Coleridge and Newcastle to protect against possible free-holding options.

06-07 07-08 Levy Tax

School Levy Levy Decrease Decrease

Coleridge 1.171223 1.102294 .067706 $79,128.38

Laurel 1.174556 1.096038 .078518 $178,842.14

Newcastle 1.298252 1.085068 .213184 $178,940.00

Wynot 1.200000 1.060436 .139564 $84,908.38

Total Decrease .498972 $521,818.90

Extra-Curricular Programs and Clubs

Expand extra-curricular programs and clubs to students in Coleridge, Newcastle, and Wynot

(Students from Coleridge, Newcastle, and Wynot involved in FFA. Laurel and Coleridge students have been involved in cooperative programs in Cross Country, Wrestling, and Golf)

Redefining the three “R’s”

Rigor

Relevance

Relationships

Overcoming the three “A’s”

Abundance

Asia

Automation

Complex System

The education system we grew up in is still necessary, just not adequate to guarantee our children the same opportunities we have enjoyed.

Daniel Pink

2007-08 Successes