A State-by-State Report Card of Educational Innovation

In this just-released report, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress examine school improvement and grade states on issues related to educational innovation, defined as “the process of leveraging new tools, talent, and management strategies to craft solutions that were not possible or necessary in an earlier era”. The first Leaders and Laggards report, published in 2007, examined school performance and highlighted areas in need of immediate attention and improvement. For this year’s updated report, the added dimension of educational innovation was especially critical as the authors suggest that the ability to take advantage of novel solutions and innovations in the field will be an essential component of educational reform and school improvement efforts. Review findings, recommendations, state profiles and state-by-state grades in 8 key areas using the interactive Leaders and Laggards map.