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Stephanie Wiechmann
The question for Muncie Community Schools since 2018 has been what is innovation? In 2019, officials defined innovation as improving things that other districts do well, but MCS does poorly or not at all. Ball State president, Geoffrey Mearns, said the General Assembly wanted the district to experiment.

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Geoffrey Mearns
They know that this is a laboratory for innovation and experimentation, and they understand that some of those innovative efforts will not succeed. Which is not a bad thing.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
The final plan for the future of MCS will combine several existing programs together to drive the district toward its goal of a cradle to career model. On the list is offering every Muncie child pre-kindergarten education that aligns to the highest state standard. The district will use the National Project Lead the Way rubric to focus curriculum on literacy, math and science training for teachers, will use the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching program and rely heavily on Ball State University trainers and resources.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
Student progress baselines will be shown by how many students pass the state standardized I-LEARN exam. MCS says it will continually use ideas tried and verified by what it calls similarly situated, high performing, high poverty districts. The plan says it's a living document that will be adopted during its expected run of 5 to 7 years. By year four, its goal is to create what it calls a sustainable and innovative national model of academic excellence at all levels.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
In Muncie. Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.