As passed in the 2017 special session of the Minnesota Legislature and signed into law on May 30, 2017. See H.F. 2, Lines 67.6 to 70.36.
One or more school districts or charter schools may join together to form an innovation zone partnership. The partnership can also include non-school partners, including but not limited to postsecondary institutions, nonprofit organizations, and units of government.
The purpose of an innovation zone partnership is to implement and research innovative approaches to learning. These new approaches can be based either on models already supported by research, or on proposed hypotheses that may not yet be studied.
Some examples of innovations listed in law that can be tried in zones include, but are not limited to:
A plan for an innovation zone must be developed in collaboration with instructional staff at all participating schools, then approved by all participating school boards, and then submitted to the commissioner of education for final approval.
An innovation zone plan must, at a minimum, describe the following:
Innovation zone plans can list some or all of the following exemptions from state laws and rules, which will be used by the zone. The plan must explicitly list which exemptions it will use.
| Exemption | How It Might be Used |
|---|---|
| 1. Any law or rule from which a district-created, site-governed school is exempt (123B.045). | This essentially waives district schools in innovation zones from the same laws and rules waived for charter schools. |
| 2. Any statute or rule from which the commissioner has exempted another district or charter school. | Could be used to save innovation zone members from having to independently apply for a number of commonly-sought waivers. Instead, they could seek those waivers all at once via their innovation zone plan. |
| 3. Online learning program approval (124D.095, subdivision 7), but only if the school district or charter school offers a course or program online combined with direct access to a teacher for a portion of that course or program. | Could be used to enable “blended learning”. |
| 4. Restrictions on extended time revenue (126C.10, subdivision 2a) for a student who meets the eligible pupil criteria as defined under MN Statute 124D.68, subdivision 2. | Could be used to provide additional targeted interventions during the school day for at-risk students. |
| 5. Any required hours of instruction in any class or subject area for a student who is meeting all competencies consistent with the graduation standards described in the innovation zone plan. | Could be used to enable “competency-based progression”. |
The legislation creates an Innovation Research Zone Advisory Panel, whose function is to review innovation zone plans that are submitted, and recommend them for approval to the commissioner of education. The commissioner retains final decision-making authority on approval of the plans.
The Panel is to be comprised of nine members—one each from the following organizations: Education Minnesota, Educators for Excellence, Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals, Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association, Minnesota Association of School Administrators, Minnesota School Boards’ Association, Minnesota Association of Charter Schools, the Office of Higher Education, and at least one additional member with expertise in evaluation and research.
The commissioner may approve up to a total of three innovation zone plans in the seven-county metropolitan area and up to three in greater Minnesota.
Education Evolving is happy to help and advise schools and districts applying for this new 2017 innovation zone status, and make connections to other districts applying. If you are interested in learning more please email Krista Kaput, our Manager of Policy and Research, at krista@educationevolving.org.
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