Innovation Leadership Council

Strategic plan pillars

 

North Carolina’s Achieving Educational Excellence Strategic Plan explicitly calls for the use research, development, networks, and integrated systems to advance educational excellence. Pillar 6 calls for the creation of a cross-sector Innovation Leadership Council, building a structured innovation process, and publishing an annual collection of effective practices. The same pillar emphasizes that innovation should help connect traditional public schools, charter schools, and lab schools, while making promising practices more visible and more scalable across contexts. 

The Innovation Leadership Council (ILC) is intended to respond to that charge by creating a clearer pathway from local innovation to statewide learning. Rather than leaving strong practices isolated in individual schools or PSUs, the ILC is designed to surface innovative practices, vet them against shared criteria, and connect them to policy, communications, and networked improvement efforts. This work is also part of a broader effort to strengthen trust, reduce misconceptions, and support respectful dialogue that helps bridge divides within North Carolina’s public education community.

Council Goal & Objectives

The ILC brings together leaders from districts, charter schools, lab schools, higher education, and NCDPI to help surface what is working, strengthen cross-sector learning, and accelerate progress across the state’s strategic priorities. The goal of the Innovation Leadership Council is to identify, elevate, and help scale innovative and evidence-based practices that can inform learning, teaching, leadership, operations, student supports, and public engagement across North Carolina public schools. To accomplish this goal, the ILC is designed to:

  1. Improve identification and vetting of innovative practices by using a transparent framework, common submission process, and shared review criteria grounded in evidence, equity, and scalability. 
  2. Strengthen cross-sector learning by bringing together leaders from district, charter, and lab schools to share practices, clarify conditions for success, and support transfer across contexts. 
  3. Spread effective practices and stories of impact through an annual compendium, communications assets, and alignment with NCDPI’s Celebrate the Good work. 
  4. Support replication and scale through statewide and regional education networks, convenings, and implementation-ready resources.   
  5. Inform policy and strategic plan implementation by providing recommendations, lessons learned, and cross-cutting insights to NCDPI leadership and the State Board of Education.

Annual Innovation Cycle 

The ILC follows an annual cycle to identify, review, elevate, and share evidence-based innovative practices from across North Carolina public schools. This cycle helps the council move from setting priorities and launching the statewide call to reviewing submissions, developing recommendations, and sharing selected practices through statewide learning and the annual innovation compendium.

To support this work, the ILC engages members in five connected phases across the annual cycle:

PhaseActivities
1. Kick-off Retreat and Planning (Fall)
  • Set annual themes and priority focus areas.
  • Refine the submission process, guidance, and scoring rubric.
  • Help prepare for the statewide call for evidence-based innovative practices.
2. Statewide Call for Innovative Practices (Winter)
  • Support outreach and awareness for the statewide call.
  • Encourage strong submissions from districts, charter schools, lab schools, and other partners.
  • Provide input on technical assistance and submission supports.
3. Review and Recommendations (Spring)
  • Review and score submissions using a shared rubric.
  • Assess evidence, relevance, equity, and potential for broader learning.
  • Recommend practices to elevate for statewide visibility and learning.
4. Sharing and Statewide Learning (Summer)
  • Help shape case summaries, stories, and recommendations that elevate selected practices.
  • Share lessons that can inform educators, NCDPI, SBE and other partners.
  • Strengthen networks that support adaptation and use across contexts.
5. Convening Support and Annual Compendium (Fall)
  • Help highlight selected practices through statewide convenings and cross-sector learning.
  • Contribute to the Annual Innovation Compendium and related outreach efforts.
  • Provide feedback to strengthen the process for the next annual cycle.

 

Leadership Roles

Members of the ILC represent a range of educational roles and school models, while bringing relevant expertise that can strengthen the council’s ability to identify, assess, and elevate innovative practices.

Educator RolesMember Responsibilities
  • School-based leaders such as principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders with expertise in implementation, instructional improvement, student support, and day-to-day school operations
  • District leaders such as superintendents, accountability leaders, curriculum and instruction staff, and central office administrators with expertise in systems change, scaling, strategy, evaluation, and policy alignment
  • Charter, lab, and innovative school leaders such as school directors and innovation-focused leaders with expertise in school design, problem-solving, model development, and cross-sector learning
  • Higher education and research partners such as faculty, researchers, evaluators, and intermediary partners with expertise in evidence use, continuous improvement, evaluation, and implementation support
  • Help shape annual focus areas aligned with the North Carolina Strategic Plan
  • Surface innovative practices from a range of school and district contexts
  • Review submissions using a shared rubric and common criteria
  • Advise on evidence, equity, and scalability to help identify practices with broader relevance
  • Contribute to statewide learning by informing the compendium, convenings, and related communications

 

3-Year Project Timeline

The Innovation Leadership Council is being implemented through a phased, multi-year cycle that begins with council formation and design work, moves into a statewide call and review process, and then advances selected practices through storytelling, convenings, and the annual innovation compendium. The timeline below reflects the current SPAC project plan and organizes the work by quarter to show how the cycle unfolds over time.

Tab/Accordion Items

Design and Launch the ILC

Q1 (Jan-Mar 2026): Charter and Approval

  • Finalize the ILC charter, membership criteria, and appointment process.
  • Secure Superintendent endorsement.
  • Establish the initial governance structure for the council.

Q2 (Apr-Jun 2026): Member Recruitment, Onboarding, and Branding

  • Launch member recruitment and nominations.
  • Confirm appointments to ensure diverse cross-sector representation.
  • Develop onboarding materials, orientation resources, and a 2026-27 meeting calendar.
  • Administer a short pre-survey to gather early examples of local innovations from members.

Q3 (Jul-Sep 2026): Kickoff Retreat and Innovation Framework

  • Plan and host the ILC kickoff retreat at NCCAT.
  • Co-design and draft the innovation framework, submission template, and scoring rubric, including evidence and equity criteria.
  • Identify areas of focus and Strategic Plan priorities

Q4 (Oct-Dec 2026): Submission Setup and Call Preparation

  • Build or adapt the online submission portal.
  • Develop PSU-facing guidance, including FAQ materials, overview slides, and information session scripts.
  • Finalize the Call for Evidence-Based Promising Practices tied to the Celebrate the Good campaign.
  • Develop the outreach plan, media plan, and campaign content calendar.

First Full Cycle

Q1 (Jan-Mar 2027): Statewide Call for Innovative Practices

  • Launch the statewide call.
  • Host informational webinars and office hours.
  • Provide technical assistance on submission and evidence expectations.
  • Track initial submission activity and participation.

Q2 (Apr-Jun 2027): Review, Selection, and Story Development

  • Review and score submissions using the shared rubric.
  • Verify evidence and alignment with Pillars 1-8 and priority actions.
  • Select a first cohort of innovative practices that reflects, where feasible, geographic and cross-sector diversity.
  • Begin development of case summaries and Celebrate the Good stories for selected practices.
  • Collect quotes, visuals, and data snapshots for featured submissions.
  • Begin preparing materials to share findings more broadly.

Q3 (Jul-Sep 2027): Case Development and Statewide Convening Support

  • Continue developing case summaries, story assets, and media-ready materials.
  • Collaborate with the statewide networks convening team to feature selected promising practices.
  • Recruit PSU presenters and student or educator voices.
  • Align compendium stories with statewide convening themes.
  • Collect feedback on ILC-related sessions and participation.

Q4 (Oct-Dec 2027): Annual Compendium, Outreach, and Refinement

  • Publish the 2027 Annual Compendium of Effective and Innovative Practices.
  • Share featured practices through web, social, and newsletter content.
  • Conduct a brief evaluation of the first cycle.
  • Refine the framework, rubric, and supports for the next cycle.
  • Refresh annual themes and the next Call for Evidence-Based Promising Practices.
  • Incorporate feedback on cross-sector learning quality and conditions for transferability.

Refine, Scale, and Sustain

Q1 (Jan-Mar 2028): Second-Year Call

  • Launch the second statewide call.
  • Host informational webinars and office hours.
  • Provide technical assistance on submission and evidence expectations.
  • Track early submission activity for the second cycle.

Q2 (Apr-Jun 2028): Review, Selection, and Story Development

  • Review and score submissions using the shared rubric.
  • Verify evidence and alignment with Pillars 1-8 and priority actions.
  • Select a second cohort with stronger emphasis on transferability and replication potential.
  • Begin development of case summaries and Celebrate the Good stories for Cohort 2.
  • Collect quotes, visuals, and data snapshots for selected practices.

Q3 (Jul-Sep 2028): Convening Support and Replication Learning

  • Continue development of case summaries and media-ready assets.
  • Work with the statewide networks convening team to highlight Cohort 2 practices and early replication efforts.
  • Organize sessions focused on implementation lessons and scaling.
  • Recruit PSUs to share adoption stories.
  • Gather data on replication interest and technical assistance needs.

Q4 (Oct-Dec 2028): Annual Compendium and Sustainability Planning

  • Publish the 2028 compendium and associated Celebrate the Good content.
  • Develop recommendations for codifying the ILC and compendium cycle in policy and practice.
  • Present sustainability options to DPI leadership and the State Board.
  • Develop a funding strategy to support convenings, documentation, and PSU replication.
  • Identify next-phase priorities for partner investment.

Implementation and Reach

  • Number and type of ILC members (role, region, PSU type).
  • Number of submissions received annually, by PSU type, region, and Strategic Plan pillar(s).
  • Number of submissions that meet evidence and alignment criteria.
  • Number of promising practices selected each year and number of PSUs represented.
  • Attendance and role breakdown for ILC meetings and statewide convenings.
  • Usage metrics for the annual compendium and related Celebrate the Good content (e.g., downloads/views, web page traffic, social engagement, newsletter opens).

Continuous Improvement

  • ILC member and PSU feedback on clarity and usefulness of the process, submission templates, rubric, and supports.
  • Evidence of replication and scale (e.g., PSUs adopting or adapting featured practices). 
  • Participation and representation in cross-sector sessions (district, charter, lab school).
  • Member-reported usefulness of cross-sector learning (brief post-meeting pulse checks).
  • Documented examples of adoption or adaptation of featured practices across governance models (for example, district-to-charter, charter-to-district, lab-to-district).