Skip to content
Aurora Institute

Issue Brief

Innovation Zones: Creating Policy Flexibility for Personalized Learning

Author(s): Susan Patrick, Susan Gentz

Organization(s): iNACOL

Issue(s): State Policy, Develop Educator Capacity, Create Pilots and Innovation Zones

Download PDF


This policy issue brief describes what innovation zones are, why they are important and examples of legislative language from various states. Innovation zones or districts of innovation help state policy leaders identify outdated policies and regulations that may get in the way of educators designing innovative learning models. They create space for districts and schools to innovate, identify policy barriers and remove them through waivers. This brief is helpful for state policymakers to learn more about innovation zones or districts of innovation, why they are so important to catalyze the development of new learning models and examples of legislative language.