Sustainability in Inclusive Innovation: District-Community Solutions, Mindsets, and Practices

This paper examines the factors that supported sustainability under Inclusive Innovation, an R&D model where students, families, communities, and teachers engage with school and district leaders, researchers, and solution providers to co-research an educational challenge in context and to co-develop solutions to the challenge, with intentional goals to benefit students from historically and systematically excluded communities. Key sustainability factors include garnering buy-in at all levels of the system, iterating to improve implementation, embedding changes in existing structures, and concretely demonstrating the benefits of the solution. In addition, the paper describes the mindsets participants developed and incorporated into their practices as a result of engaging in Inclusive Innovation. These mindsets reflect the Inclusive Innovation Core Tenets of valuing student voice and leadership, context expertise, and pursuing continuity of equity.