educational innovations could
Revitalize
Appalachia
S
chools across the country are seeking better ways to
match the skills of their graduates with opportunities
that exist beyond high school.
In parts of the country where jobs are scarce,
educators have an even bigger challenge. Being
“college and career ready” just isn’t enough.
Graduates in these pockets of the country will need
to create jobs for themselves and their neighbors.
If necessity is the mother of invention, schools in
eastern Kentucky are poised to improve education
beyond what schools in even the most affluent
districts struggle to achieve. In January, the New
York Times controversially described it as the
hardest place to live in the United States, statistically
speaking. Perhaps nowhere in the nation does the
tie between education and economic growth have
more potential than in eastern Kentucky, where
employment opportunities beyond coal are needed.
Determined to rise above statistics and stereotypes,
17 school districts in the Kentucky Valley
Educational Cooperative have an ambitious set of
30 | next»
plans that helped them secure a $30 million Race
to the Top grant last year. Now, these schools are
preparing for a seismic shift in the way students
learn and are partnering with the University of
Kentucky College of Education, among others, to
help carve out what that looks like. The 17 districts
(known as the Appalachian Renaissance Initiative
or “ARI”) share resources and professional learning
opportunities, while also working to affect policy
and protocols.
More than 600 teachers, leaders, students and
community members gathered in Pikeville in
October to get a first glimpse at how ARI projects
are taking shape during the National Promising
Practices Summit and Appalachian Innovations
Collaborative Meeting. On April 21, 2015 the
public will again have the opportunity to gather in
Pikeville to see results of the Promising Practices
work.