Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and operational changes that better serve students. But rather than operating under a charter that is completely independent from the district, these autonomous schools remain part of the district. Thus, autonomous district schools let districts try to do what charters have done in cities such as New Orleans and Indianapolis: grow high-quality, innovative schools and diversify public school options at scale. Given the increasing interest in and proliferation of autonomous district school initiatives, this report provides a framework, language, and specific examples to describe different approaches for implementing district autonomous schools; and highlights design decisions that affect the effectiveness and sustainability of autonomous district schools.