New Designs for School
Breakthrough Schools D.C. Round 3 Grantees
16 schools reimagining for more personalized and deeper learning ...
New Designs for School
Battelle Ed
New Designs for School
New Designs for School
We’ve all had the experience of truly purposeful, authentic learning and know how valuable it is. Educators are taking the best of what we know about learning, student support, effective instruction, and interpersonal skill-building to completely reimagine schools so that students experience that kind of purposeful learning all day, every day.
School: Metro Institute of Technology
Grades Served: 6-13 (ungraded)
Location: Columbus, OH
Operator: BattelleEd
Operator Type: Nonprofit
School Type: District
Setting: Urban
Students at Start: 200
Students at Capacity: 800
Blended Model Type: Flex and A La Carte
Key Features: Competency-Based Learning, Early College and Dual Enrollment, Flexible Learning Spaces, Higher Education Partnership
The Operator
BattelleEd, and Metro Early College High School (Metro School) have partnered together to create the Metro Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is designed to solve two problems: (1) capable students who struggle in schools that assume everyone acquires the same knowledge, at the same rate, towards the same goals; and (2) the high cost of a college education.
The Academic Model
- MIT employs a student-centered, mastery-based curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Some students may complete high school requirements in as few as two years.
- With MIT’s early college model, most students begin college coursework by the equivalent of grades 11 and 12. Students will have an associate degree and/or a certificate from a postsecondary provider at no cost when they complete MIT.
- Working with area businesses, MIT creates opportunities for internships, externships,and work-based learning.
- The school aims for the following “stackable credential” outcomes for at least 80 percent of students starting in grade 9:
- Pass 2-year college entrance assessments within 2 years, certifying exemption from remediation
- Earn transferable college credit within 3 years
- Earn an industry-recognized certificate within 4 years, or
- Earn an associate’s degree within 5 years.
The Organizational Model
- Ohio's Credit Flexibility policy helps expedite students' progress through the K-12 system. Students move as fast as they can, or take the time they need, to reach high school graduation.
- By utilizing existing state policy regarding graduation requirements, post-secondary options, and college credit plus opportunities, the 13th year will be funded with public dollars.
- MIT will partner with local two-year and four-years institutions, businesses, and trades organizations to provide college coursework, often online; enable seamless pathways to a range of certificates, credentials, associate’s degrees, and transfer to a four-year degree; and provide access to campus facilities including science and tech labs.
- To help scale the MIT model, the partners plan to further develop Metro School as an incubator for new schools, including adding staffing for training and professional development. They also plan to leverage the Ohio STEM Learning Network, launched by Battelle, as a vehicle for “franchising” the model’s design.