Innovative Education at VCSU

Valley City State University has established the Hub for Innovative Education; a statewide hub for collaboration, sharing and professional learning. VCSU’s Hub will deliver professional learning for educators that is focused on personalized, student-centered instruction and ensures equitable access so all students experience high-quality personalized learning opportunities.

The North Dakota Hub for Innovative Education and Personalized Learning

The North Dakota Hub for Innovative Education and Personalized Learning serves as the long-term home for the North Dakota Personalized Learning Network (NDPLN), a statewide, educator-driven learning community advancing personalized, competency-based learning across North Dakota.

Our Work

The Hub supports and accelerates personalized learning by:

Sustaining a statewide learning network where educators learn with and from one another through shared practice, reflection and collaboration.
Supporting school and district innovation through professional learning and coaching that is immediately useful and grounded in real classrooms.
Aligning K-12 and higher education to prepare current and future educators to design and lead learner-centered experiences.
Elevating educator voice and impact, sharing stories, lessons learned, and practical strategies from across North Dakota.
Exploring merging tools and approaches, including AI, to enhance responsive instruction and educator efficiency.

Find Your Entry Point into Personalized Learning

North Dakota’s innovation waivers create space for districts to design learning experiences that better serve students, while remaining accountable to high expectations.

North Dakota Personalized Learning Network (NDPLN)
Join a community of innovative educators reimagining learning together and explore learner-centered education in practice through stories, resources and professional learning opportunities from across North Dakota.

The North Dakota Learning Continuum
The ND Learning Continuum provides a shared framework for understanding learner progression and mastery. It supports districts in designing learning experiences that are flexible, transparent and focused on student growth over time.

North Dakota Innovation Guide
The North Dakota Innovation Guide outlines how flexible state policies can support personalized, competency-based learning. Developed in collaboration with KnowledgeWorks, the guide highlights pathways for using the Innovative Education Program and strategies for expanding learning beyond traditional classrooms.

Our Partners

In the news:

Our Scope of Work

The Hub will oversee the North Dakota Network for Personalized Learning as the statewide hub for collaboration, sharing and professional learning.
Ensure all content aligns with ND’s Key Elements of Personalized Learning and common vocabulary.
Establish and convene an advisory team to guide offerings, evaluation and success measures.
Highlight and share examples of classroom, building and district strategies to increase awareness and alignment.

Design and deliver differentiated leadership learning opportunities for administrators, principals and teacher-leaders.
Facilitate professional learning opportunities, available to role-alike groups such as educators, leaders and instructional coaches, provided by North Dakota districts, REAs, or vetted national organizations, with personalized learning experiences.
Explore credentialing opportunities for educators with recognition or compensation pathways.
Build capacity through role-specific learning cycles.

Deliver professional learning for educators focused on personalized, student-centered instruction.
Provide site visit structures for field-based learning; coordinate school visits and study tours.
Evaluate implementation of personalized learning strategies and their impact on student engagement, learner agency and mastery.
Ensure equitable access so all students experience high-quality personalized learning opportunities.

Leverage and expand partnerships with North Dakota Regional Education Associations, Career and Technical Education, higher education as well as state and national organizations.
Collaboration and leadership to execute the 2026 North Dakota Network for Personalized Learning Conference hosted by the Northern Cass Public School District.
Maintain an active website and communication channels, including social media, newsletters and media outreach.
Serve as a conduit for ND to engage with national innovation networks such as ExcelinEd, FullScale, CCSSO, KnowledgeWorks, 2Revolutions, and Mastery Transcript.
Present and showcase the North Dakota Network for Personalized Learning and personalized, student-centered instruction occurring throughout North Dakota at national events and conference.

Project legislative needs to sustain growth, such as credentialing pathways for educators.
Support districts in pursuing SB 2186 waivers and other flexibilities to drive innovation.
Produce annual project progress reports and respond to legislative requests.
Develop strategies to scale the number of participants and recognized personalized learning schools statewide.