Visit a Lab School Email Info@InnovativeSchoolsNetwork to schedule your visit to an ISN Laboratory School.

Lab Schools

The vision of the laboratory school:

A place where teachers and researchers can develop and spread instructional innovation—is nearly as old as American public education itself: John Dewey, the philosopher and giant of progressive education, founded the first "experimental school" at the University of Chicago in 1896. More than a century later, many such schools are working to find their place in a rapidly changing education landscape—and are part of the Innovative Schools Network.

ISN Laboratory Schools are laboratories of innovation, they are part of a network that has broken away from the mechanical ways of an educational system that is prevailing in many other places. ISN Laboratory Schools have a deep belief in their responsibility as educational citizens to share what they know and contribute to the innovative educational landscape.

Interested in becoming a laboratory school? If you answer yes to these questions, you might be ready to move towards becoming an ISN Laboratory School:

Is your school established, successful, and innovative?
Is staff dedicated to continual improvement and evolution of the model?
Are you interested in engaging in cutting edge action research?

Become an ISN Laboratory School
All ISN Laboratory Schools have participated in the ISN School Review process and/or been a DPI-identified dissemination grantee, partnered with the ISN through their dissemination cycle. Becoming an ISN Laboratory School is one way to show others what an awesome school you are and how connected you are to innovation, collaboration, forward progress, and creative endeavors in your school. Additionally, lab schools have the opportunity to be visitation and immersion sites for the ISN, are given special recognition at ISN events, and are connected deeply to other lab schools within the network.