KEYS 2.0 School, District and Association Readiness Issues

1. KEYS 2.0School, District and Association Readiness Issues Jacques Nacson, Ph.D. National Education Association New Products & Programs Department jnacson@nea.org Baltimore, MD July30-31, 2008

2. Organization of Presentation • Readiness issues for district-wide KEYS implementation (sequence of events and guiding questions) • Readiness issues for successful KEYS implementation at the school level (flow chart of events and guiding questions) • Readiness issues at the state and local affiliate levels (building capacity to support the initiative)

3. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested Events • Awareness and Information • Commitments and Agreements • Infrastructure and Organization • Training and Technical Assistance • Sustainability

4. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested EventsAwareness and Information • UniServ director or local association leader brings KEYS to the attention of the superintendent • KEYS presentations (orientation sessions) are made to association representatives and to a district leadership team that includes representation of all stakeholders

5. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested EventsCommitments and Agreements • Ground rules and norms • Purpose of the initiative • Intended use of the data • Access to the data • Resources dedicated to the KEYS efforts • Dissemination of information • Implementation design and timelines • Memorandum of Understanding

6. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested EventsInfrastructure and Organization • The district leadership team (DLT): structure and function • Identifying and defining the roles of the district facilitators • Appointing a district/association resource team to support school KEYS implementation and improvement • The school leadership team (SLT): structure and function

7. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested EventsTraining and Technical Assistance • KEYS basic training of SLTs (school facilitators) and DLT (especially the district/association resource team) • SLTs (school facilitators) introduce KEYS to school staff (KEYS orientation) • School facilitators register the schools by completing an online demographic form • Window open (21+10 days) for school staff to complete KEYS survey (80% response rate) • School facilitators monitor response status • Survey results are generated when window closes

8. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested EventsTraining and Technical Assistance (Cont’d) • KEYS basic data analysis training of SLTs (school facilitators) and DLT (especially the district/association resource team) • SLTs review, analyze and prioritize school data and draw preliminary observations • SLTs share results with school staff and others as appropriate and seek feedback • SLTs incorporate feedback and integrate findings into school improvement plans with proposed action plans • SLTs share plans with school staff and others as appropriate and seek feedback • SLTs incorporate feedback and prepare plans for implementation

9. KEYS District-Wide ImplementationSequence of Suggested EventsSustainability • Supports to sustain school implementation and improvement efforts • The role of the district and the district – association resource team • The role of external KEYS coaches (cost implications) • NEA KEYS advanced training and KEYS Institute • State affiliates trainings and technical assistance offerings

10. Facilitation/Coaching Process External facilitators can keep the process on track and enhance the ability of participants to reach decisions External facilitators communicate with the internal facilitators- generally two per building Also members of the process team 11/1/2014 10

11. District-Wide Readiness IssuesGuiding Questions • Is the local association informed and ready to participate and commit as a partner? • Is the school board informed and ready to participate and commit as a partner? • Is the central administration informed and ready to participate and commit as a partner? • Have the principals been informed and ready to participate and commit as partners?

12. District-Wide Readiness Issues Guiding Questions (Cont’d) • Has a partnership committee (district Leadership Team) been established to define ground rules and commitments memorialized into a partnership agreement? • Has the motivation for deciding to use KEYS been clearly explored? • Have other options for the intended purpose for using KEYS been explored?

13. District-Wide Readiness Issues Guiding Questions (Cont’d) • Are the resources and commitments needed for using KEYS successfully in the schools available and secured? • Are outside stakeholder groups such as parent organizations, business and community groups supportive? • Has the partnership committee established KEYS related goals, timelines and responsibility commitments?

14. The Need for the School Leadership Team (SLT) To keep the process alive Can be cheerleaders for change Inspire a learning community Assists internal facilitators in creating appropriate events to forestall problems and improve decision-making Develops processes to support the decisions made by the staff 11/1/2014 14

15. Flow Chart of Suggested Activities/Processes For KEYS Implementation at the Schools School Community Completes KEYS Survey ? Created a School Leadership Team (SLT) and identified internal facilitators No Yes ? SLT trained in KEYS processes and in turn provides an orientation to staff, parents and community as appropriate. No Yes SLT (school facilitators) register school and provide support to KEYS survey respondents. ? No Yes SLT trained in KEYS analysis of data, carries out preliminary review and interpretation of findings and reports to the staff and others, as appropriate. ? No Yes SLT integrates recommendations and feedback from school staff and others and develops a preliminary action plan to address priority issues . ? No Yes SLT shares preliminary improvement plan based on KEYS data and other data sources with school staff and community and seeks feedback. ? No Yes School improvement plan is modified based on feedback, approved and ready for implementation and evaluation. ? No Yes School Improvement Plan Implemented and Evaluated

16. KEYS School Readiness IssuesGuiding Questions • Has the School Leadership Team (SLT) been formed and have the internal facilitators been identified and trained? • Have the participating schools been fully briefed on the initiative and are the staff ready to commit to the process? • Have the participating schools created the infrastructure needed to support the KEYS school improvement process? • Have achievable goals related to the KEYS process been established, with a timeline and responsibility assignments?

17. Making Connections Training can be focused on the internal facilitators to improve their facilitation/coaching skills Additional training can be provided to members of the school leadership team Research on relevant educational topics Increased understanding of KEYS and the KEYS support system Team members/internal facilitators from different school have opportunities to collaborate 11/1/2014 17

18. Building Association Capacity to Support KEYS • Individual differences among state affiliates (staffing levels, strategic objectives, policy priorities, internal dynamics and supports, program interests and predispositions) • The role and the inclinations of the UniServ directors • Shifting the burden on to the district resource teams with local association support • The issues of creating cadres of KEYS facilitators and alignment of NEA programs (e.g., C.A.R.E. Cadres) • KEYS “coaches” • NEA NPP supports

19. Building State Affiliate CapacityMoving forward • Assess your capacity • Set a clear goal • Have a plan to achieve the goal • Set your targets • Resource the plan (or leverage other resources) • Communicate effectively to garner stakeholders’ support