A woman and two children sitting at a table

Our Vision

Microschools are emerging as powerful engines for this future: flexible, community-rooted, and capable of personalizing learning in ways traditional systems cannot.

But for the microschool movement to fulfill its potential, the field needs a rigorous, real-time applied research hub that captures, tests, and spreads what works.

‍The Changemaker Innovation Hub exists to make the invisible visible by documenting the daily practices, conditions, and routines that strengthen instructional quality, whole-child development, school sustainability, and equitable access.

What We Do

Applied Research for Microschools

locally feltWe partner with microschools nationwide — including the Changemaker Network and independent schools — to study the most urgent, locally-felt challenges in learner-centered education.

Our approach is field-defined:
Grounded in lived experience.
Designed with practitioners.
Validated through diverse community contexts.
Shared openly across the movement.

We focus on five critical domains:

> > Instructional Quality in Small, Multi-Age Settings
> > Whole-Child Development & Measurement
> > Family Awareness & Enrollment Behavior
> > Founder Sustainability & Microschool Viability
> > Policy, Access & Ecosystem Conditions for Success

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Our Impact Goals

Advance Quality

Develop evidence-based instructional routines, whole-child measures, and learning frameworks grounded in real microschool environments.

Strengthen Viability

Identify staffing, pricing, and operational patterns that help microschools reach long-term sustainability — and reduce friction for families by generating insights on ESA navigation, enrollment behavior, and equitable funding pathways.

Expand Evidence

Build the tools, indicators, and research infrastructure the field needs to define — and measure — student success beyond traditional metrics.

Connect & Elevate

Create convenings, learning communities, case studies, and the annual Changemaker Innovation Awards to surface bright spots and accelerate shared learning.

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Why It Matters

Families want better options, and microschools are emerging as small, nimble, relationship-centered environments capable of deep personalization.

But the movement faces a critical gap:

There is no applied research infrastructure to test what works, document promising practices, and ensure quality and sustainability across microschools nationwide.

The Changemaker Innovation Hub fills that gap by:

  • Grounding innovation in real classrooms,
  • Generating insights that help microschools thrive.
  • Developing the measurement tools that define student success in learner-centered environments.

Looking Ahead

  • Year 1: Launch the Engine
    Build a repeatable applied research model, conduct multi-site discovery, and publish the first field briefs, early measurement tools, and bright-spot case studies. Use the Mind-Body-Soul Program as the flagship whole-child development framework.
  • Year 2: Deepen Research & Field Adoption
    ‍    Run structured tests of instructional routines, family engagement approaches, and sustainability patterns. Launch the Changemaker Innovation Awards and expand whole-child training, certification, and professional learning communities.
  • Year 3: Become the Field’s Applied R&D Partner
    Host convenings, sprints, and site visits; influence early policy conversations; and release validated measurement tools for whole-child growth, founder sustainability, and microschool quality.
    Year 10: Platform for Learner-Centered Innovation
    ‍    A trusted hub supporting thousands of microschools worldwide, defining quality, advancing opportunity, and strengthening a global learner-centered ecosystem.

Together, we can create a bold future for Microschools

One microschool, one community, and one child at a time.

Get Started
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