NSTTAC Institute May 2, 2007 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

1. Transforming Transition at the National, State, and Local Levels through Communities of Practice: Strategies for Fostering Interagency Collaboration NSTTAC Institute May 2, 2007 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

2. Joanne Cashman, Director, IDEA Partnership at NASDSE Debra Grabill, Interagency Liaison and Consultant, NH Dept of Education Tina Greco, Program Specialist - Youth & Transition, NH Vocational Rehabilitation Joan Kester, Statewide Transition Specialist, PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Ellen Romett, Managing Director, PA Training & Technical Assistance Network Linda Maitrejean, Director, Wisconsin Statewide Transition Initiative (WSTI) Steve Gilles, Steve Gilles, Transition Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Working Across States and Stakeholders to Build Interagency Bridges for Youth:  The IDEA Partnership’s Community of Practice on Transition

3. What is the Practical Value of a Community of Practice? As we talk about Communities of Practice, we ask you to consider…. “Could a Community approach help address some of the persistent problems in transition?” “When you imagine what ‘could be’ in transition… might Community connections make it more likely?”

4. A way of working Involving those who do shared work Involving those that share issues Always asking “who isn’t here?” A way of learning Create new knowledge grounded in ‘doing the work’ Involve those who can advocate for and make change The Spirit of Community: We Are In This Together!

5. Policies are often not understood in the field We have ‘islands’ of effective practice, but effective practice is often not well distributed Sometimes effective practices often do not transfer across organizations. Practices often do not transfer across sites within the same organization. The Policy to Practice Gap

6. Those that ‘do the work’ have important insights to share. Those that are the ‘intended beneficiaries’ have important goals that must frame the future work. Transition outcomes are not ‘one system’ outcomes. We need each other! Real leadership means bringing practitioners and consumers into the work as allies Communities of Practice

7. Sharing Supporting Learning Involving the people that do the work Encouraging investments that move the work Translating learnings to policy Creating new relationships among policymakers, researchers, & implementers Communities of Practice

8. States Federal Agencies National Organizations National TA Centers The National Community of Practice

9. Changing outcomes for youth Making the research-to -practice connections Taking efforts to scale Improving the performance of state and local systems Making the most of the federal TA Investment New Eyes: Why Are Federal Agencies Interested in Communities of Practice?

10. OSERS and the Community • Learning from and with the states • Working across education (OSEP) and VR (RSA) • Learning what it will take to move policy to practice

11. Organizations as leverage for information spread Organizations as thought leaders and change agents Organizations as allies with SEAs to create opportunities to involve members in realchange Build sustainability by building understanding and involvement New Eyes: Why Are Professional Organizations Interested in Communities of Practice?

12. National Organizations and the Community • National Roles • State Roles • Communication Channels • Focus on New Ideas

13. Pennsylvania New Hampshire California Alabama Arizona Virginia Delaware Wisconsin North Dakota D.C. Communities in States

14. Build connections across agencies that share responsibility for transition age youth Make the connection between decisionmakers and those that do the work everyday Learn what works at the local level. Support sharing across sites Learn with states that face similar problems New Eyes: Why Are State Education Agencies (SEAs) interested in Communities of Practice?

15. Multi-scale Learning:Learning Loops Built through Community FEDERAL STATE LOCAL SITE INDIVIDUAL

16. Federal to State State to State The IDEA Partnership Community of Practice State to Federal State to Local Local to Local Local to State The Communication Structure

17. Learning Loops in the State Community:Communication Network and Learning What Works

18. Learning Loops in the Local Community:Sharing What Works and Creating Support Networks

19. Year-Round Communication Network: www.sharedwork.org • sharedwork.org is a website funded by the U. S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and sponsored by the IDEA Partnership at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) for the purpose of connecting stakeholders in the national Communities of Practice (CoP), participating states’ CoP and Practice Groups to develop their shared work.

20. Year-Round Communication Network: www.sharedwork.org This website is used to… • Announce new products developed. • Announce training events. • Disseminate the results of state pilot projects. • Share promising practices. • Encourage local-to-local sharing. • Seek input from the field on matters of shared interest that are being discussed by one or more of the Community of Practice partners. • Advise the development of the key national, state, regional, and local meetings. • Other opportunities that become evident as we communicate more routinely.  

21. Cross System Work Interagency Collaboration

22. Year-Round Strategy Creating An Environment where Local Stakeholders can Learn from One Another

23. Meaningful Youth Role Youth Leadership Youth Development

24. State to State Learning Around Issues Career Assessment Statewide Meetings Transportation High School Redesign

25. State to Local and Local to Local Learning Around Issues Shared Communication

26. Why Are Communities of Value? • Provide the support that individuals need • Respect the ‘expertise’ that individuals bring • Recognize the differences in the settings where people do their work • Seek commonality within differing viewpoints • Unite individuals in action • Focus on ‘learning’ • Use ‘learning’ to transform practice

27. Could a Communityapproach help address some of the persistent problems in transition?” “When you imagine what ‘could be’ in transition… might Community connections make it more likely?” Your Insights

28. Contact Information • Joanne Cashman, joanne.cashman@nasdse.org • Debra Grabill, debra.grabill@valley.net • Tina Greco, TGreco@ed.state.nh.us • Joan Kester, joakester@state.pa.us • Ellen Romett, eromett@pattan.net • Linda Maitrejean, lindam@cesa11.k12.wi.us • Steve Gilles, Steve.Gilles@dpi.state.wi.us

29. The IDEA Partnership More information on the Interagency Transition Community and other Cross-State/Cross Role Communities is now available at: www.ideapartnership.org or www.sharedwork.org …or call us toll free at: 1-877- IDEAINFo