Florida Network for School Improvement
The Florida Network for School Improvement (FNSI) is a community of schools focused on improving math proficiency for Black and Latino/a students and students experiencing poverty. Participating schools work together to address challenges related to student outcomes by employing continuous improvement cycles that aim to identify, test, and refine instructional strategies.
FNSI includes high schools and middle schools from the School District of Osceola County in central Florida. Network members include:
- High school Algebra I and Geometry teachers;
- Middle school math teachers;
- School-based math coaches;
- Principals and assistant principals who oversee math; and
- District administrators.
The network started in 2019 and is now in its fifth year. FNSI is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Network activities focus on improving instruction to increase student math proficiency. Teachers use plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles to test and refine evidence-based instructional routines aimed at supporting student engagement with and understanding of math.
- Plan – Create a plan for testing a new strategy
- Do – Implement the strategy and collect data (e.g., student work)
- Study – Analyze the data to determine whether the strategy achieved intended improvements
- Act – Decide how to modify the strategy for continued testing or how to adapt successful strategies into daily practice
School coaches and administrators engage in network activities designed to support and sustain teachers in their instructional improvement efforts.
AIR serves as the intermediary for the network, including the design and facilitation of all network activities. Our researchers draw on evaluation methods to support the improvement work, monitor network progress, and refine network activities over time.
AIR meets regularly with district administrators to ensure coherence among network activities, district initiatives, and curricular materials.
Photo: FNSI educators share insights at an in-person networking meeting
