The Third Way: A Guide to Implementing Innovation Schools
The Progressive Policy Institute’s guide, The Third Way: A Guide to Implementing Innovation Schools, offers a practical framework for creating autonomous, accountable public schools inside district systems.
Written for legislators, district leaders, and advocates, the guide explains how Innovation Schools can give school leaders greater flexibility over staffing, budget, curriculum, and school design while keeping schools publicly governed and accountable for results.
This resource connects to Empower Schools’ work on Innovation Schools, school-level autonomy, public school governance, and policy conditions that help schools innovate within public systems.
In this resource:
How districts can create autonomous public schools within existing systems
What policy and governance conditions support Innovation Schools
How school-level autonomy can be paired with accountability
What implementation steps leaders should consider when designing Innovation Schools
Best for: district leaders, state education leaders, policymakers, advocates, school leaders, and funders exploring Innovation Schools, autonomous public schools, or district innovation models.
This third-party case study was published by the Progressive Policy Institute.
