National Future Ready Schools Initiative

• In Event: The Great Migration: District, State, and National Perspectives on the Digital Learning Transition

Abstract

National Future Ready Schools Initiative

Objectives or purposes

A major component of President Barack Obama’s ConnectEd initiative, Future Ready Schools is a combined effort lead by the US Department of Education and the Alliance for Excellent Education and over 40 business and education organizations. The overall goal of the initiative is to maximize digital learning opportunities and help school districts move quickly toward preparing students for success in college, a career, and citizenship. Through 13 nationwide regional summits hosting over 2000 educators and a number of digitally available tools, the initiative provides districts with the resources and support they need to ensure that local technology and digital learning plans align with instructional best practices, are implemented by highly trained teachers, and lead to personalized learning experiences for all students, particularly those from traditionally under-served communities. Evaluation of the summits seeks to measure their fidelity as well as short term impacts on districts across the country.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework

The Future Ready Summit evaluation reflects a combination of real time and impact evaluation. This approach maximizes the formative value of data collected as interventions unfold and the acquisition of more summative findings that support evidence on program effectiveness.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry

This research leverages mixed-methods evaluation strategies to gather qualitative and quantitative data on implementation fidelity and impact of the Future Ready Regional Summits.

Data sources, evidence, objects or materials

Data on the FRS initiative is a combination of survey methods and qualitative interviews. The District Leadership Assessment survey created specifically for this work was completed by over 500 districts nationally; the FRS Summit Surveys representing over 700 educator participants provided data on district progress in the digital learning transition. Qualitative data includes interviews from summit participants and open ended survey responses.

Findings

Preliminary results indicate that the Future Ready Summits were of high quality, and provided educators with the knowledge needed to develop effective digital learning strategies. Perhaps more importantly, educators indicated that they improved their leadership capacity by creating sustainable networks with their peers who provided experiential knowledge on digital learning transitions. Additional qualitative results and data from the District Leadership Assessment survey will describe the trajectory of district participants as they describe their respective digital learning contexts.
Reports of findings have implications for education policy and implementation of district, statewide and national digital learning efforts.

Author

• Avril Smart, North Carolina State University