National Meeting: 2015 National Meeting. Problem Solivng Discussions

                                                    SESSION

Alleviating Barriers to Build Coaching Capacity

Many districts are limited in their capacity to support personnel with assigned FTE for coaching.  When this is the situation, what barriers are created to scaling-up coaching at the district and state level? What possibilities exist to alleviate these barriers and create support for coaches?

Presenters:           Paula Crawford, Ed. D., SPDG Project Director, NC State

                                     Improvement Project (NC SIP), NC Department of Public            Instruction

                              Matt Hoskins, Math / NC SIP Leadership Development

                                    Consultant, Exceptional Children Division, NC Department of Public Instruction

Target Audience: Those with the desire to increase coaching capacity to support implementation of professional development.

System Level:       State, regional, district, building

Sustainability with Administrative Turnover

Site Leadership teams are an integral component of implementation of Check & Connect.  The districts within which we work are selected due to high dropout rates and low graduation rates, so Administrators are often being moved around.  We find that the 1^st Principal that requested Check & Connect as an intervention within their school and were excited and on board with us, are removed from their positions as the second year begins.  We then become a project that was ‘the other principal’s initiative.’ 

Can you help us strengthen our structure so we can ensure sustainability in these fragile environments?

Presenters:                Lael Engstrom, MSW, FL SPDG Check & Connect Project      

                                               Director

                                        Greg Gillman, L SPDG Check & Connect Project Facilitator

Target Audience:     Project Directors who find themselves working in schools with changes in Leadership, which creates new challenges for implementation.

System Level:           District, building

Overcoming The Negative Effects of Staff Turnover

Staff turnover is a consistent problem that causes concern with administrator commitment, staff buy-in, and implementation fidelity. This session will brainstorm ideas to assist external coaches and/or site teams to integrate the implementation process into a site’s educational system despite staff turnover.

Presenters:           Christa Knight, M.Ed., SPDG Project Director, OK

                              Cheryl Leever Huffman, M.Ed., SPDG External Evaluator, OK

Target Audience: SPDG Directors, External Coaches, Site Administrators and Site Coaches, External Evaluators

System Level:       State, building

Overcoming the Negative Effects of Staff Turnover

The Challenge of Sustainability at Professional Development Sites

Building programs that are sustainable requires a dynamic group of stakeholders, with different perspectives, and who understand the factors that influence a program’s capacity for sustainability. The program also needs a sustainability plan and a periodic summary sustainability report. New leadership, new staff, less money, consolidated school districts are just some of the challenges facing PD sites.  How do we prepare for the inevitable shift in the program which challenges sustainability?

Presenter:                  David Merves, Senior Evaluator Evergreen Evaluation & Consulting, External Evaluator, NH & DE

Target Audience: State Management Team, Regional Team and District Team

System Level:           State, regional, district

Moving from Building to District Support of MTSS

Site based MTSS implementation needs vs. District requirements proposes many challenges when scaling up a site based model.  Share your insights on the following challenges Montana has faced:

• Data management systems: Schools need discipline data for problem solving – yet the district requires them to use a system that does not support creating precise problem statement for discipline.  Costs and entry time are roadblocks to using 2 systems.
• Site based implementation requires specific training for professional development, yet the district planned professional development opportunities do not include the desired training the school needs.
• Innovative systems need skilled coaches to keep the process moving. There are no funds or training opportunities to support coaches.

Presenters:           Lori Newcomer, Ph.D, MTSS Implementation Team, MT SPDG

                              Marla Dewhirst, M.Ed. MTSS Implementation Team, MT

Target Audience: Building and District implementers

System Level:       District, building

Collaboration with the uninterested or unwilling?

State Department of Education are complex systems that often involve programs based on differing educational philosophies and practices. A challenge we face is trying to align initiative with those who represent and support different perspectives.  We know this will be better for our consumers, but it isn’t always easy to do.

Presenter:            Steve Goodman, Director, MI SPDG

Target Audience: SPDG Providers

System Level:       State

State-Level Collaboration and Scale-Up Capacity

Since moving to our state office almost two years ago, we have worked to create greater ownership and collaborative involvement with the implementation of MTSS across departments. Through the use of OSEP’s Leading by Convening document, we have seen great progress in state-level involvement in our project and have more collaboration than ever before. Some individual stakeholders have been responsive beyond the minimum of attending State Leadership Team meetings. Others have not attended meetings, or have attended and not been actively engaged in MTSS efforts. How can we create more meaningful collaborative engagement among State Leadership Team members and support team members to take greater ownership in leading the charge for implementation of MTSS across the state?

Presenters:           Devin Healey, EdS, SPDG Director, UT

                              Ginny Eggen, MS, SPDG Coordinator, UT

Target Audience: State level team members who have insight on fostering collaboration for scaling up implementation activities of state-level initiatives.

System Level:       State

The Collaboration Continuum

NASDSE LEading by Convening

UMTSS Collaboration Tool

UMTSS Systems Flow Chart

UMTSS Awareness Survey

Successfully Transitioning from a School to a District Support Model

The Georgia SPDG has supported the implementation of its GraduateFIRST framework in over 70 schools with great success.  In each of the schools, GraduateFIRST teams identified students who were at risk of academic failure and provided targeted supports to these students.  During the 2015 – 2016 school year, the SPDG will be transitioning to a district support model and will be supporting 50 districts as a component of Georgia’s State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP).  The Georgia SPDG team would like to learn strategies that your state has implemented to support the successful transition to a district support model.

Presenters:           Laura Brown, Ph.D., SPDG Director of College and Career                                         Readiness, GA

                              Kim Hartsell, Ed.S., External SPDG Evaluator, GA

Target Audience: State SPDG personnel who have transitioned from a school-based support model to a district model or personnel who are interested in making the shift to a district support model

System Level:       State, district

Activity  “The Mirage:  Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development”

In this activity participants will have a chance to read summaries of this professional development study and its recommendations.  They will then consider the questions provided and lead a short discussion with two other participants.

Presenter:            Jennifer Coffey, SPDG Program Lead, OSEP

Target Audience: State SPDG personnel who have transitioned from a school-based support model to a district model or personnel who are interested in making the shift to a district support model

System Level:       State, district, building