Zones of School Innovation

A key focus of Hawaii’s Race to the Top agenda rests on a commitment to close achievement gaps, turn around persistently low-performing schools and ensure all students are prepared for college, career and citizenship.  To achieve this goal, the Hawaii State Department of Education (DOE) established two Zones of School Innovation (ZSI). The ZSI will target support for struggling schools in rural or remote, hard-to-staff areas serving the largest population of native Hawaiian and economically-disadvantaged students in the state. “When we were writing the Race to the Top application, we made a critical policy decision: rather than look outside for other things, we would focus on the strengths that we already have, that are already cultivated within, and grow them,” said Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe. “For us, it’s about people,” he adds. “And we want to make sure that everyone in the Department of Education, especially our teachers and employees in the Zones of School Innovation, feel like they’re valued and have this opportunity to become more effective – better, stronger, faster – you know, why we all signed up to be in education in the first place.” Five of the state’s six “Priority Schools” – five percent of the state’s lowest-performing schools – are in the ZSI. The ZSI (priority schools, plus neighboring and feeder schools, including public charter schools) are in the communities of Nanakuli and Waianae in west Oahu, and in Kau, Keaau, and Pahoa in east Hawaii. The Kau-Keaau-Pahoa Complex Area covers a wide geographic area from Hilo to Naalehu (65 miles). Eight in 10 students are economically disadvantaged, while nearly half are native Hawaiian – student groups that consistently rank below non-disadvantaged, non-Hawaiian children in reading and math proficiency. Mary Correa, complex area superintendent for Kau, Keaau and Pahoa, views the ZSI as an unprecedented, collaborative effort by schools to identify and respond to the comprehensive needs of each student. “We wanted to do it as a zone, not just individual schools, and we worked on a plan with principals and teachers,” she said. “We had to focus on poverty. We had to focus on native Hawaiians. And we had to address the fact that students don’t have all the experiences and opportunities.” *Kau-Keaau-Pahoa Complex Area Statewide           Count Percent Count Percent Special Education 893 13.32% 19,334 10.58% English Language Learners 650 9.70% 18,099 9.91% Disadvantaged 5,047 75.29% 94,855 51.92% Hawaiian 3,073 45.85% 50,548 27.67% Male 3,566 53.20% 95,208 52.11% Female 3,137 46.80% 87,497 47.89% Total 6,703 100% 182,705 100% *Data from 2011-12 school year. Correa also reached out to nonprofits, foundations, the University of Hawaii system, Hawaii Pacific University and the County of Hawaii to help provide comprehensive health and educational services to students and their families. “Our job is to give students and families hope by maximizing learning opportunities and by strengthening communities,” she said. The picture is similar in the Nanakuli-Waianae Complex Area, where seven out of 10 students are disadvantaged, up to two-thirds are of native Hawaiian descent, and scores are homeless. In a 2003 Center on the Family community profile, Waianae and Nanakuli ranked poorly on measures of child and family well-being, including unemployment, per-capita income, children in poverty, child abuse rates and school safety. Educational attainment falls well below state and national averages. *Nanakuli-Waianae Complex Area Statewide              Count  Percent  Count  Percent Special Education 1,382 14.56% 19,334 10.58% English Language Learners 575 6.06% 18,099 9.91% Disadvantaged 7,055 74.34% 94,855 51.92% Hawaiian 6,267 66.04% 50,548 27.67% Male 4,978 52.46% 95,208 52.11% Female 4,512 47.54% 87,497 47.89% Total 9,490 100% 182,705 100% *Data from 2011-12 school year.  To engage students, educators are introducing culturally-relevant educational programs that use project-based learning and collaboration to build critical thinking skills and teamwork, while teaching the same academic standards required across the state.  The New Tech High School programs in Nanakuli and Waianae draw students into project-based learning as they increase proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Nanakuli-Waianae Complex Area Superintendent Lisa DeLong believes with adequate resources and robust family and community support, ZSI schools could see dramatic improvement in three to five years, perhaps even sooner. “If you have the ideal learning environment, in two to three years you could catch every student up,” she said. Under the ZSI, reform plans will be tailored for individual schools and rely on research-driven actions and strategies, attracting and retaining highly-qualified teachers, providing data coaches, developing community partnerships and offering comprehensive support for students' non-academic needs. All ZSI repair and maintenance projects will be completed and schools will be first in line for a Broadband Technology Opportunities Project. Students in the ZSI will benefit from early-childhood subsidies, early-learning centers, extended learning opportunities, and comprehensive supports such as health care. For example, Kamehameha Schools and INPEACE have partnered with ZSI schools to prepare students to learn before they enter kindergarten and keep students engaged through graduation. By 2014, the achievement gap in state assessment scores, graduation and college enrollment rates will be reduced by 50 percent, and eliminated by 2018. The ZSI schools are planting the seeds of a reform movement that will spread best practices in education to every school, benefiting all children.  “What really makes me excited is the idea that, in two or three years, when we have really got all the transformation and the work and the programs and the adjustments moving, that we will look back and we will say that the two Zones of School Innovation are the ones that led the way,” says Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “They weren’t trailing behind. They were the ones that were at the forefront of all of the great things that are in store for our students.”

NEWS Nanakuli students showcase performing arts in Scotland State expands opportunities for children to attend preschool Schools getting makeover to support Race to the Top initiative A System of Support (includes Questions & Answers) (88 KB) Extended Learning Time FAQs   ZSI SCHOOLS Nanakuli-Waianae Nanakuli Complex Nanakuli High & Intermediate Nanaikapono Elementary Nanakuli Elementary   Waianae Complex Waianae High Waianae Intermediate Leihoku Elementary Maili Elementary Makaha Elementary Waianae Elementary Public Charter Schools Ka Waihona o ka Naauao Kamaile Academy Kau-Keaau-Pahoa   Kau Complex Kau High & Pahala Elementary Naalehu Elementary Keaau Complex Keaau High Keaau Middle Keaau Elementary Mountain View Elementary   Pahoa Complex Pahoa High & Intermediate Keonepoko Elementary Pahoa Elementary Public Charter Schools Volcano School of Arts & Sciences Waters of Life Hawaii Academy of Arts & Sciences Ke Kula o Nawahiokalaniopuu Laboratory Kua O Ka La

 

 

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