The Odyssey Initiative

The Odyssey Initiative is a plan to tour the best schools and classrooms in the 50 states to observe and document what is already working in American schools. Upon completing this research, we will use our findings to inform the creation of our own school model to be opened in 2014 in Brooklyn, New York. Throughout the tour, we will produce, on our website, a catalog of our findings. This catalog will include brief and accessible narrative recaps (blogs) of the lessons and systems observed at these exemplar schools. We will also have videos and pictures demonstrating the effective practices we see being implemented in schools, and make it possible for individuals and educators to replicate these strategies within their own pedagogy. After identifying successful instructional and structural teaching practices, we will put these practices into action at a new K-8 public school in Brooklyn, New York. We will also share these examples virtually through a web portal. Our first step towards uncovering the practices that lead to academic success is to travel across the 50 states to identify, record and publicize how amazing teachers, programs, and schools are positively impacting the academic lives of America's children.