{"id":1640,"date":"2019-03-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/lessons-from-south-carolina-and-utah-on-funding-innovation-in-education\/"},"modified":"2022-11-04T16:20:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T20:20:23","slug":"lessons-from-south-carolina-and-utah-on-funding-innovation-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/lessons-from-south-carolina-and-utah-on-funding-innovation-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from South Carolina and Utah on Funding Innovation in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As states, districts and schools around the nation begin redesigning education systems that to better support students to thrive in the future, they are naturally operating in different landscapes to launch their work from different <\/span>entry points<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

One issue that several states contend with is how to fund their transformation efforts. In our recent issue brief, <\/span>State Funding Strategies to Support Education Innovation<\/span><\/i><\/a>, we described the work underway in South Carolina and Utah, two states leading the nation in developing future-focused, student-centered learning environments. Like many states, the need for change <\/span>in K-12 education<\/span> lay in a number of factors, including growing recognition that having a growth-oriented and capable workforce to sustain the current and future economies of the states depended on students leaving K-12 education with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to fulfill these needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, both South Carolina and Utah began laying the groundwork in the policy and practice changes needed to set schools up for success for the future. Both have also accomplished significant change with fairly small appropriations and creative repurposing of resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Carolina Networked Districts for Professional Learning Opportunities<\/h3>\n

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) identified personalized learning as a key strategy for preparing all students for success in higher education, the modern workforce and in citizenship. These goals are mapped to characteristics outlined in the\u00a0<\/span>Profile of the South Carolina Graduate<\/span><\/a>, and SCDE worked with several partners to identify competencies aligned to the Profile as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the state recognized that schools and educators were at different levels of readiness for the coming changes, SCDE established the\u00a0<\/span>South Carolina Personalized Learning Network<\/span><\/a>, which provides a multi-tiered system of support, including:<\/span><\/p>\n