School districts face a daunting array of challenges: supporting diverse student populations grappling with language barriers, integrating cutting-edge technology into the classroom, addressing chronic absenteeism, and doing it all while facing shrinking budgets and staffing shortages. These obstacles can feel overwhelming, but a growing number of districts are finding that collaboration is a powerful tool to tackle these complex problems head-on.
Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools provides a prime example of this collaborative approach in action. By connecting districts grappling with shared challenges, the league facilitates the sharing of successful strategies, fosters innovation, and helps translate research into practical solutions that resonate within diverse communities.
Bridging Language Gaps With AI
In Allentown School District, Pennsylvania, approximately 20% of students identify as English language learners (ELLs). This demographic shift presents a unique set of teaching needs: English phonics, irregular sounds, limited vocabulary, unfamiliar grammar, and the crucial element of background knowledge often assumed in native speakers. Meeting these diverse needs while providing individualized support is a constant struggle for teachers.
Melissa Smith, Allentown’s executive director of learning and teaching, recognized this challenge firsthand. Through participation in Digital Promise’s U-GAIN Reading Center leadership cohort, she connected with other educators across the country who were using AI to bridge literacy gaps for multilingual learners. This collaboration exposed Smith to research showing how AI could address dialect differences that often hinder language development.
This newfound knowledge is now shaping Allentown’s approach to evaluating resources and developing programs. Educators are implementing AI-powered strategies tailored to individual student needs, enabling teachers to reach every learner more effectively.
“Leaders need opportunities to continue to learn and grow in a manner that helps them understand the latest research as well as its relevance to their work,” — Melissa Smith, Allentown School District
Integrating Computational Thinking Across the Curriculum
The increasing ubiquity of digital technologies has highlighted the critical importance of computational thinking (CT) — a problem-solving approach rooted in computer science concepts. However, CT often remains confined to technology classes, limiting its broader educational impact.
To address this challenge, Quakertown Community School District Superintendent Matthew Friedman partnered with Digital Promise to develop a comprehensive K-5 computational thinking pathway. Utilizing Digital Promise’s computational thinking toolkit, the district aligned content with state standards, empowered teachers through summer institutes, and gathered data to refine implementation strategies and embed CT across all subject areas. Now entering its second year, this initiative is expanding to include sixth grade with plans for middle school programming on the horizon.
“The opportunities to collaborate are not just a one-size-fits-all approach,” Friedman said. “We’re listening and learning from other districts to build something to meet our specific needs.” — Matthew Friedman, Quakertown Community School District
This collaborative approach allows Quakertown to adopt research-informed, technology-enabled strategies that can be scaled within their unique context, while simultaneously creating a model adaptable for other districts.
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism: A Collective Approach
Lynwood Unified School District in California faced a steep rise in chronic absenteeism during the pandemic, with rates reaching 40%. While district efforts helped mitigate this issue, over 20% of students still missed more than 10 days of school annually. Subsequent challenges like wildfires, flooding, refinery smoke, and immigration-related anxieties further complicated recovery efforts.
“We want to keep our students and families hopeful,” said Dr. Maribel Martinez, assistant superintendent of Lynwood Unified School District. In 2024, the district joined a national cohort through Digital Promise to investigate the root causes of chronic absenteeism and develop tailored strategies that meet the unique needs of its students and families.
In this collaborative setting, conversations with peers from districts facing colder climates revealed crucial insights into how environmental factors directly impacted attendance. Inspired by these exchanges, Lynwood began working with its city council on drainage improvements and explored temporary bus routes to navigate storms more effectively.
Collaborative connections like these demonstrate that even when pursuing similar goals, sharing experiences with districts facing comparable challenges fosters fresh perspectives, reinforces the value of collective action, and builds momentum toward lasting change.
“Digital Promise is a national thought leader that has so much expertise…and they’re not only a collaborator to build things out, but also a connector that connects people, schools and districts to share different ideas,” — Matthew Friedman
Across the nation, school district leaders grapple with complex challenges yet remain united in their dedication to creating learning environments where all students can thrive. Recognizing that problems often transcend geographical boundaries, collaboration has emerged as a crucial strategy for developing innovative solutions and ensuring equitable access to quality education for every student.
