20 RI High School Teams Receive XQ+RI Planning Grants

Efforts represent all corners of the state and a broad range of innovative education ideas.

We are excited to announce 20 public high school community teams were awarded planning grants of $25,000 in the groundbreaking partnership of XQ+RI: Rhode Island’s XQ Challenge.

This is the latest step in the state’s first-of-its-kind partnership with XQ, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to reimagining high school education so every student succeeds – no matter their race, gender, or ZIP code. XQ+RI is engaging communities to create student-centered schools that prepare all young people for the future.

Community-Driven Design

Learn more about the XQ+RI Challenge Journey through the following infographic!

Click the graphic to view a full-size PDF version in your browser.

The XQ+RI challenge supports community teams to redesign school environments so when students graduate, they are prepared and empowered to be inventors of their own learning paths, careers, and adult lives. School design teams from across the state engaged students, families, community and higher education partners, as well as district educators, in their efforts. Phase 1 of this process began with a series of XQ+RI Design Days, and culminated in submitting a Planning Grant application. Phase 2 begins this August with convening and trainings for the 20 teams awarded the Planning Grant leading to the submission of the Implementation Grant Application in January 2020.

Read about this exciting initiative and what it means for Rhode Island schools in our latest official announcement, and join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #XQRI.

Questions about how to get involved? Contact XQRI@ride.ri.gov.

XQ+RI Design Camps

Learn more about XQ+RI Design Camps

WHO IS ON THE DESIGN TEAM?

The XQ+RI process includes school design teams that are composed of a broad set of stakeholders including students, families, community and higher education partners, as well as district educators.

Core Project Team: This is the group of 4-5 individuals responsible for driving forward the process. Their responsibilities include building a plan, monitoring progress, coordinating across other groups, synthesizing iterations of the design and generally ensuring the conditions are in place for this process to be successful.
Community Design Team: This broader group of 6-12 individuals is a diverse collection of stakeholders responsible for advancing the design. They will seek out inspiration, engage others, regularly meet to synthesize learnings and generate ideas, bring those ideas back into the world to test, and get feedback.
Community Stakeholders: There will be many individuals in your system who will play critical roles in the creation or implementation of your design. This might include additional educators, parents, students, community members.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

School Design Teams awarded the planning grant will participate in six convenings (Design Camp) that are focused on helping each team develop their ideas through an engaging process while building their final Implementation Grant application. Below is a timeline and brief description of the work ahead:

WHEN ARE THE XQ+RI DESIGN CAMPS?

August 15-16 (Thurs/Fri): Core Project Team Convening 1

Building Coalitions of diverse stakeholders in your community.
Create a plan, timeline, and structures to manage the work.

October 10-11 (Fri/Sat): Core Project Team Convening 2

Investigate local context through empathy interviews, conduct an educational opportunity audit, seek inspiration from unlikely places, dig into current research on teaching and learning, and more.

December 6-7 (Fri/Sat): Core Project Team Convening 3

Focus on student experiences, clarify elements such as curriculum, schedules, staffing, space.
Run short pilots to learn what works and what needs to be tweaked.

January 27-28 (Mon/Tue): Core Project Team Convening 4

Build the roadmap to implement your plan.
Explore best practices in managing change and innovation and reflect on what conditions for innovation you will need to strengthen to support your journey.
Create and review strong implementation grant application.

Contact XQRI@ride.ri.gov for more information or questions.

XQ+RI Implementation Grant Application

Coming Soon!

Thank you for your interest in the XQ+RI Implementation Grant. The Implementation Grant is open only to XQ+RI Planning Grant recipients.

XQ+RI Resources

XQ+RI School Design Teams awarded the Planning Grant Only

Visit the Homebase for XQ+RI DESIGN CAMP.

Please review the below resources if you are interested in learning more about the XQ+RI Challenge:

XQ+RI OVERVIEW AND TIMELINE

XQ Institute: Rhode Island's partner in this challenge has built a series of helpful resources for anyone interested in reimagining their high school. Several broad categories are provided to guide the user experience.
XQ Design Principles
XQ Learner Goals (English) / XQ Learner Goals (Spanish)
XQ Learner Outcome Areas
Educational Opportunity Audit: Design Teams that are awarded a Planning Grant will undergo an Educational Opportunity Audit that combines information about student experience, school practices, and system policies to create a comprehensive audit report.
Getting to Know Our Students and Our School: A reflection guide used at Design Days to support a team to use RI Data Snapshot Data to ground the vision process.
Envisioning a School Built for the Future: Use this tool to pull everything together and get one more step closer to your school vision.

The XQ+RI User Guide is a step-by-step guide to help rethink high schools across Rhode Island. It also provides a deeper dive into the "Discover Modules".

XQ+RI Timeline + Partners

XQ:RI is sponsored and supported by the following partners:

Project Timeline

PHASE 1 PLANNING GRANT

March 2019: XQ+RI Design Days
April - May 2019: Teams work on planning grant applications
May 24, 2019: Planning Grant Applications due
June 2019: Planning Grant winners announced
July - December 2019: Planning cohort teams work on implementation grant applications

FEBRUARY 2020: IMPLEMENTATION GRANT APPLICATIONS DUE

PHASE 2 IMPLEMENTATION GRANT

XQ + RI Design Days August 2020 - January 2021
August 15-16 (Thurs/Fri): Core Project Team Convening 1
October 10-11 (Fri/Sat): Core Project Team Convening 2
December 6-7 (Fri/Sat): Core Project Team Convening 3
January 27-28 (Mon/Tue): Core Project Team Convening 4

FEBRUARY 2020: IMPLEMENTATION GRANT WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Contact XQRI@ride.ri.gov for more information or questions

What People Are Saying

“This is an exciting moment to be a leader in education in Rhode Island,” Angélica Infante-Green, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, said. “I am deeply impressed by the depth of planning contained in these proposals, and by the teams’ willingness to take bold action to improve outcomes for students. I am also impressed by the diversity of this list, both geographically and in terms of student populations.”