In the last blog post, we talked about how it’s that time of year to begin planning for the 2017-2018 school year.  Dr. Dottie Critchlow is taking the SIP process one step further by modeling the collaborative inquiry process with her network principals to establish network improvement goals and plan.

The discussion began by activating prior knowledge with an activity entitled, Got it! Need It!.  Individuals identified what they knew about the SIP process and what they need to know (see below chart). 
 
We also discussed their vision for the network (see below chart).

During the exploring and discovering phase the critical part is to avoid making inferences and explanations about the data.  Instead, this phase is about sticking to just the facts and reporting observations. 
 
This phase begin with a brief overview of collaborative inquiry and a quick calibrating activity.   Principals then divided into small groups to make observations of their assigned data reports from the MNPS Data Warehouse.  The reports used for this session were:

Some excellent observations were made of the data (see below charts).

With the needs assessment complete, the principals then collaborated to develop SMART network improvement goals.  For the 2017-2018 school year, their goals are:

• Using the district literacy assessment, a decrease of x% of students in the lower quintile; an increase of x% of students will be at or above grade level; and an increase of x% of students will demonstrate growth in literacy by the end of the 2017-2018 school year.  (Note that exact percentages were not set as we wanted to wait to see which benchmark assessment will be used.)
• 100% of schools will develop and implement a comprehensive behavior plan by the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
  

With our latest temperatures, one would say that spring is in the air.  It’s also that time of year that School Improvement Planning (SIP) for the 2017-2018 school year takes place.  I was excited and honored to work with Two Rivers Middle Prep leadership team on February 9, 2017 with their SIP development.  Let me share how the collaborative inquiry process was used to facilitate the process.
 
Collaborative inquiry is a data-based team process that consciously uses the  collaborative learning cycle (activating and engaging, exploring and discovering, and organizing and integrating) and  the qualities of effective groups (fostering a culture of trust, maintaining a clear focus, taking collective responsibility and data-informed decision-making) (MNPS Community of Practice, 2016).
 
With this definition in mind, let me take you through the process.

• Activating and Engaging:  The leadership team began the conversation by brainstorming to answer the question, “What is your vision for Two Rivers Middle Prep?”  This brainstorming not only generated many great ideas, but allowed everyone to have a voice at the table and helped develop physiological safety for the remainder of the meeting. 
• Exploring and Discovering: Due to the time constraints for the meeting (1 hour), the bulk of our session was spent in this phase of collaborative inquiry.  During this phase, inferences and explanations are suspended and just observations are made.  Because of the larger number of data sets being used, the leadership team worked in smaller groups to record their observations on chart paper.  To see their work, please go to: http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/two-rivers-sip-process-feb-2017.html.
• Organizing and Integrating:  We didn’t get to this phase today as we plan to develop SMART goals at our next meeting on February 23.  However, we did leave the meeting with next steps and a reflection for this first meeting.
  

 
If you are interested in learning more, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Shelly Dunaway and/or Dr. Margie Johnson for more information.

During the September ELP (Executive Lead Principal) meeting for Dr Michelle Springer's network, they reviewed various sets of data around literacy achievement.  A request made by the principals in the network was to form a community of practice with representation from the schools to take a deep dive into literacy achievement.

With representatives identified, the Literacy Community of Practice (CoP) convened on January 24, 2017 for an all day meeting to discuss literacy not only with school representatives, but central office, high school, and community partner representatives. 

Using the collaborative inquiry process to plan for the day's conversations,  the CoP identified hopes, fears, and successes for their CoP.  Building upon the successes, the Literacy CoP for Dr. Springer's network is working to Shift the Narrative by leveraging the collaborative expertise in the CoP.

To learn more about the day, including top three barriers guiding the work, please go to: http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/dr-springer-literacy-cop.html.

You can also access other collaborative inquiry workshop materials at the Workshop Warehouse located at http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/workshop-warehouse.html

Reference:
Hattie, J. (Fall 2015).  What works in education: The politics of collaborative expertise.  London, UK: Pearson.  Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/corporate/global/pearson-dot-com/files/hattie/150526_ExpertiseWEB_V1.pdf

A demonstration that I have been doing for several audiences lately involves taking a piece of paper and having someone use his hand and then finger to push through the paper.  Give it a try.  Hold your hand out with finger wide while someone else holds a piece of paper. Try to push through the paper.  I’ve yet to have anyone push through it.
 
Now, try using your index finger to push through the paper.  Everyone is able to do it using one finger.  The moral of the demonstration is laser like focus allows the organization to be more effective. 
 
With this premise in mind, IT Creswell spent time during collaborative planning time revising their vision and mission statements.  Using the collaborative inquiry process, administrators, teachers, students, and support staff developed drafts of vision and mission statements.   The leadership team then reviewed and finalized the statements.  To learn more about there vision and mission statement development process, check out http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/it-creswell-vision-and-mission.html and/or contact Ms. Trellaney Lane to learn more.

Meetings are a great place for open dialogue and discussion about particular topics.  However, if you don’t plan carefully for the meeting, the meeting will end with all talk and no action.  This ending, or lack thereof, causes frustration for many people in organizations because time is a resource that can never be recovered.  Let me share how Apollo Middle Prep used the collaborative inquiry process and SEL culture and climate walkthrough data to move dialogue, to discussion, and to decision making.
 
To make impactful and sustainable change, a focus for MNPS is culture.  Therefore, several schools, including Apollo Middle Prep, are participating in the SEL Culture and Climate Walkthrough.  Of course, data has no meaning, but must be interpreted for it to have meaning (Lipton & Wellman, 2017).
 
For most people, culture is a sensitive topic as we all contribute to it, and it requires inward reflection to work to change it.  Using the collaborative inquiry process, Apollo Middle Prep was able to use the culture and climate data to not just talk about culture, but have dialogue, discussion, and decision making about it. 
 
Grade level teams first engaged in the topic by using a strategy called visual synectic by comparing culture to a picture of Walt Disney World.  This activity begins the dialogue about culture and fosters a psychologically safe environment.  During the exploring and discovering phase, discussion occurred as teachers and staff identified observations from the SEL culture and climate walkthrough data.  The observations were used to begin generating theories of causation.  Finally, this information was used by the Apollo Middle Prep’s leadership team to make action planning decisions for moving forward.  To learn more about their exciting work, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Shawn Lawrence, the Executive Principal at Apollo Middle Prep.
 
 
Reference:
Lipton, L. & Wellman, B. (2017).  Data-driven dialogue: A facilitator’s guide to collaborative inquiry, 2nd ed. Sherwood, CT: MiraVia, LLC.