Office of Innovation Awards $600,000 to Support Personalized Learning
PROVIDENCE, RI – Today, the Rhode Island Office of Innovation and the Rhode
Island Association of School Principals (RIASP) announced the three winners
of the Lighthouse Schools Challenge: Captain Isaac Paine Elementary School
in Foster, Barrington Middle School in Barrington, and 360 High School in
Providence. These schools were chosen from a candidate pool of 30 and will
each receive an award of $200,000 to support their continued leadership on
personalized learning.
«Congratulations to the winning schools, and to all of the applicants who
offered bold, innovative plans to inspire and engage all students,» said
Governor Gina M. Raimondo. «These Lighthouse Schools are pioneers in
personalized learning, and their work will light the way for school
communities across the state to reimagine the possibilities for
individualized education.»
The Lighthouse Schools initiative recognizes schools that are leading the
way on a student-centered approach to education that engages and challenges
students with relevant, rigorous learning opportunities. Through
personalized learning, instructional pace and approach are tailored to
match the needs of each student, and students have flexibility in how they
access knowledge and demonstrate learning.
«I’m excited by the work our Lighthouse Schools are doing, and look forward
to working with them going forward in a way that balances personalization
and rigor,» said Ken Wagner, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary
Education. «Rhode Island is a national leader in this work, and our
Lighthouse Schools will ensure that we stay on the cutting edge of
personalized learning.»
“Rhode Island is poised to become the first state to bring personalized
learning to scale. This Lighthouse Schools Challenge is just one example of
that,» said Daniela Fairchild, director of education for the RI Office of
Innovation. «We had an incredibly impressive candidate field. I am honored
and thrilled to support the work of our three award recipients and help
share their learnings with schools and districts across the state.”
«The diversity of this cohort illustrates the depth of talent, passion, and
commitment we have in Rhode Island. These three schools have an exciting
challenge ahead of them, and we look forward to leveraging their
experiences in order to scale up best practices and accelerate progress in
all our member schools,» said Don Rebello, president of RIASP.
Over the next two years, these Lighthouse Schools Challenge recipients will
bring personalized learning to scale in their schools with a continued
focus on rigor and student preparedness. They will act as “lighthouses” to
guide and support other Rhode Island schools in this work, serving as
mentors and case studies.
The challenge was announced in March 2017. Out of the 30 original
applicants, 12 finalists were selected in April and participated in a
series of workshops to support their planning and school-level work. The
finalists submitted proposals in July, and winning applications were
selected by a committee with principal, teacher, parent, and student
representation, as well as the Office of Innovation, the Rhode Island
Department of Education, the Rhode Island School Superintendents
Association (RISSA), and RIASP.