One theory I now see in practice often is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The premise of Maslow's theory is we need to have basic needs met BEFORE we can be in a psychological state for learning. Not only have I seen this theory in action at MNPS but with one of my own sons. Hence, the reason I'm excited about the work that the MNPS SEL department is leading in our district. Schools that are working to develop a safe, welcoming culture and climate are well on their way to increasing student success. I share about this collaboration not only to applaud them for their work in supporting student basic needs to foster learning, but to highlight how they have embedded the collaborative inquiry in their work. If your school chooses to have a culture and climate walkthrough using the tool that the SEL department developed through collaboration with national experts, then the collaborative inquiry process is used to analyze the data and develop next steps. To see an example of the collaborative inquiry process in action, please see the below minutes from Goodlettsville Elementary school's walkthrough. Babs Freeman-Lotis, from the SEL department, facilitated the discussion. Do you have examples or ideas for how the collaborative inquiry process might be used? If so, please feel free to contact Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.
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Collaboration Spotlight: SIP Development at Two Rivers & East Nashville Magnet Middle Preps3/21/2017 On February 9, 2017, Two Rivers Middle leadership team began the journey of developing their SIP goals for 2017-2018, which will be used to guide their budgeting. After that meeting, two more meetings were held. The next meeting occurred on February 23, 2017 to develop draft SIP goals. The final meeting was held on March 9, 2017 to solicit feedback and finalize the 2017-2018 SIP goals. The collaborative inquiry process was used to facilitate each meeting.
To read more about their work, please check it out HERE. East Nashville Magnet Middle Prep also used the collaborative inquiry process for developing their SIP goals. However, they took a different approach by first having common planning time teams make data observations. The East Nashville Magnet Middle leadership team then used the observations to develop SIP goals for 2017-2018. Again, the SIP will be informing the budgeting process at East. Read more about East Nashville Magnet Middle's journey HERE. One great thing about the collaborative inquiry process is the fact that it can be used in different contexts and different ways to support schools. If you want to learn more about the collaborative inquiry process or have a great example to share with us, please contact Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org. 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. Activating and Engaging 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). Exploring and Discovering 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). Organizing and Integrating |
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Workshop Resources
sip_planning_feb23_2017.pptx | |
File Size: | 13302 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
It’s that Time of Year…..School Improvement Planning
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.
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
Vision and Mission Statement Development
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.
Dialogue, Discussion, 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.
The best technique I found for changing my practice was by experiencing the strategy and collaborating with other teachers. Also, a theme that is surfacing as a powerful principle of supporting student success is collaborative professionalism. However, how do we foster collaborative professionalism as a way that we do work and not an additional task added to the overflowing plates of educators?
With these ideas in mind, it’s the main reason why the collaborative inquiry process is taught by immersing school staff in a collaborative experience with the process.
On January 4, 2017, Margaret Allen Middle and Head Magnet Middle had the opportunity to experience the collaborative inquiry process while reviewing the culture and climate walkthrough data. You can read more about their experiences by clicking on their names..
Also, If you and/or your school are interested in learning more about collaborative inquiry and how it can support student success, please feel free to reach out to Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.
Reference:
Sharratt, L. (Fall 2016). Setting the table for collaborative professionalism. Principal Connections, 20(1), 34-37. Retrieved from http://www.lynsharratt.com/pdf/collective_professionalism.pdf
If you want to fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
~African Proverb
While following the conference hashtag, #ICSEI2017, on Twitter, one of my colleagues from Belgium shared the above quote. Needless to say, I loved it and completely agree with it.
I remember June 4, 2014 when a diverse group of 41 educators and community partners across the district came together to begin discussing data use and the barriers to having effective data use practices in MNPS. Several barriers (at least 33) were identified at this time. Using a consensus building protocol, we narrowed the focus to the top 3, which were:
- lack of a common language
- lack of trust throughout the organization
- lack of leadership modeling (“walking the walk”)
Another committee was convened during 2015 to develop an evaluation plan for collaborative inquiry. If we expected schools to use data for making informed decisions, then we needed to “walk the walk.” A Teacher Data Use Survey, interviews, focus groups, and observations were used to collect data to answer the below questions:
- How and where is collaborative inquiry occurring in MNPS schools and with what fidelity?
- How does the culture of MNPS support collaborative inquiry and promote the integration of collaborative inquiry as essential to the work of the district?
- What preparation and support needed to implement collaborative inquiry are teachers and administrators receiving?
- Is collaborative inquiry making a difference for teaching and learning in MNPS?
The MNPS Collaborative Inquiry has only been able to get as far as it has because we are doing it together. If you have a collaborative inquiry success story to share OR need any collaborative inquiry support, please feel free to contact Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.
(Goddard, Hoy, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2004).
While you can access the presentation below, here’s an overview of what was shared:
- Dr. Stephanie Wilkerson, REL AP liaison, provided an overview of RELs and the technical assistance that REL AP provided MNPS in helping us support evidence-based data use practices. She shared about the fishbone used to identify barriers, the logic models created to overcome the top three barriers, and how that data informed the district creation on the MNPS Innovation Configuration Map (IC Map) for Collaborative Inquiry. To learn more, go HERE.
- Dr. Margie Johnson, MNPS Business Intelligence Coordinator, shared the Data-informed Decision Making Ecosystem, the model created to drive the data use capacity building work here in MNPS, and modeled the collaborative inquiry process for participants during the Tale of Two Data Meetings using data provided by Dr. Mary Laurens Seely, MNPS Data Coach Coordinator.
- The school level tips and tricks were shared by three building principals—Dr. Craig Hammond, West End Middle; Dr. Erin Anderson, Wright Middle; and Dr. Shelly Dunaway, Two Rivers Middle. They shared how they implemented the collaborative inquiry process in their schools. By using the IC Map for Collaborative Inquiry as a common language, each principal was able to provide differentiated professional learning supports, such as a book study, modeling, coaching, etc.
If you are interested in learning more, please feel free to reach out to one of us at
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Goddard, R. G., Hoy, W.K., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2004). Collective efficacy: Theoretical development, empirical evidence, and future directions. Educational Researchers, 33, 2-13.
Johnson, M. (2016). Experience from the field. Excerpt obtained from How to Make Data Work: A Guide for Educational Leaders, pp. 171.
Lipton, L. & Wellman, B. (2012). Got data? Now what? Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
dec_6_mnps_collab_inquiry.pdf | |
File Size: | 6289 kb |
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