LessonsLearnedinDevelopingandImplementing
aContinuousImprovementModel
ChrisHarrison/ChrisRedding/StephanieBrown
ThisresearchwasconductedwithfundingfromtheInstituteofEducationSciences(R305C10023).TheopinionsexpressedarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheinstitutionswithwhichtheyareaffiliatedortheU.S.DepartmentofEducation.
TheNCSUPartnership• FiveResearchUniversities– VanderbiltUniversity,UniversityofNorthCarolina,FloridaStateUniversity,UniversityofWisconsin,GeorgiaStateUniversity
• Developer– EducationDevelopmentCenter(EDC)
• Twolargeurbandistricts– BrowardCountyPublicSchools(FL)– FortWorthIndependentSchoolDistrict(TX)
TheNCSU’sModelforImprovement
ASystematicStudyofOurProcess• BCPSandFWISDNCSUteamsengageinextensivedatacollection
throughoutprocess
• Dataanalyzedusinganalyticframeworkleveragingbothaprioricodesandconstructsemergingfromthedata– Text/photographsanalyzedusingNVivo 10– Audio“transcribed”usingreflectionformspromptingresearchersto
captureexcerptsandsynthesizeinformationrelatedtoanalyticframework.
• Analysiswasmulti-staged,proceedingroughlyinlinewiththe“phases”outlinedinthemodel.– Findingsfromeachphaseinformedtheanalysisofdatafrom
subsequentphases.
Overviewof“ProcessData”DataType BCPS FWISD Total
Meetingaudio 498hours 172hours 670hours
Feedbacksurveys 260 294 554
Fieldnotelogs 46 63 109
Artifacts 291 509 800
ReflectionForms 7 15 22
InterviewTranscripts
110 47 157
ChronologyoftheProcess
BuildingPASL
Phase1(Research)•Fall2011–Spring2012
Phase2(Design&Development)•Fall2012– Spring2014
Phase3(Implementation)• Fall2014– Spring
2015
Phase4(Scale)Fall2015- future
BuildingSOAR
Phase1(Research)•Fall2011–Spring2012
Phase2(Design&Development)•Spring2013–Summer2013
Phase3(PhasedImplementation)
• Fall2013– Spring2015
Phase4(Scale)Fall2015- future
ACloserLook:FindingsfromtheProcessinBCPS– Participantsintheprocessfounditdifficulttograpplewithquestionsofdesignanddevelopmentintheabsenceofclearinformationregardingcapacity,resources,andsupport.
– NegotiatingtheprocessofbringingthePASLinnovationtoan“implementable”statenecessitatedasystematicmethodfor“testing”ideas:PDSA• While"planning"and"doing"appearedtobesuccessfulaspectsofthePDSAprocess,significantquestionssurroundedtheprocessof"studying"and"acting”
ACloserLook:FindingsfromtheProcessinBCPS
• Shiftsinthedistrictenvironment,andlackofclarityregardingthebalancebetween“topdown”and“bottomup”natureofthework,requiredtheteamtore-thinktheroleandmembershipoftheDIDT.
EarlyLessonsfromImplementingtheProcessinBCPS
• Development,likedesign,mustoccurwithimplementationinmind
• Utilizingaframeworkforimplementationandscale-- likePDSA/ContinuousImprovement--requirescarefulplanningforandintegrationofthatframeworkfromthebeginningoftheprocess
ACloserLook:FindingsfromtheProcessinFWISD– AdaptationsfromtheBCPSProcess
• SIDTmemberswereintegratedearlierintheprocessforthedevelopmentworkwiththeinnovationschools.
• PDSAwasintroducedatthebeginningofthedevelopmentprocessenablingitsintegrationwithotherelementsofthedevelopmentprocess.
– Despitethefocusonacommondistrictteam,membersfromtheinnovationschoolsconsistentlythoughtaboutcreatingadesignthatwouldbeimplementedattheirschool.
– Initially,"planning"and"doing"weresuccessfulaspectsofthePDSAprocess,whileSIDTswerelesslikelytoengagein"studying"and"acting.”Overtime,thefocusofPDSAshiftedtotheimplementationofpracticesratherthanthetestingofpractices.
LessonsLearnedfromtheProcessinFWISD
• Theopennesstoconsensusinthedesignanddevelopmentprocesshelpedbuildcommitmenttotheinnovationdesign.Atthesametime,theinvolvementofmultipleschoolanddistrictstakeholderslimitedtheabilitytocreateaspecific,actionableinnovation.
• Allowingteamstofocusontheirschoolcontexthelpedtomovetowardsactionablepracticesbutdiminishedcommonalitiesacrosstheschools.
LessonsLearnedfromtheProcessinFWISD
• WhenintegratingPDSAintothedesignprocess,itisvitaltodistinguishbetweendataforimprovementandaccountability.– Implementationteamsrecognizedtheimportanceofoutcomedataindemonstratingtheeffectivenessoftheinnovationtosecuredistrictsupportforscaleup.
– Teamsweremorelikelytouseperceptualdataforimprovements.
OverarchingLessons
• Developmentinthecontextofpartnershiprequirescareful(andlikelycontinual)identification,management,andacquisitionofcapacityovertime.
• Withoutprocessesfacilitatinginter-organizationallearningandcommunication,theremaybetensionbetweenadaptinginnovationsindividualcontextsandscalingthemtonewcontexts.
OverarchingLessons
• Whilea"bottomup"emphasismayfacilitatebuy-in,depthofimplementation,andshiftinownership,"topdown"supportisimportantforsustainingimplementationandscale.
ConcludingThoughts• ImplementationoftheCenter’smodelforimprovementrequiredadaptationandlearningovertime.– Eachpartnerhadtoacquirenewcapacitiesastheprocessmovedfromphasetophase.
– Roleflexibilitybecameadefiningcharacteristicofthework.
• Whilethiskindofprocesshassignificantpromise,itmayrequireustore-conceptualizeinstitutionalboundariesinsometimesuncomfortableways.
QuestionsfortheFuture
• Aseachinnovationshiftstoward“scale”:– Howdotherolesofpractitionerpartners,developers,andresearcherschangeasweshiftfromtesting anddoing tosustainingandspreading?
– HowwillthepartnershipadaptastheformalstructureoftheCenterchanges?
