NSTTAC Institute May 2, 2007 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. 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. May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Working Across States and Stakeholders to Build Interagency Bridges for Youth:  The IDEA Partnership’s Community of Practice on Transition 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

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?” May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

The Spirit of Community: We Are In This Together! 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

The Policy to Practice Gap 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. May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

Communities of Practice 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

Communities of Practice 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

The National Community of Practice States Federal Agencies National Organizations National TA Centers May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE New Eyes: Why Are Federal Agencies Interested in Communities of Practice? 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE New Eyes: Why Are Professional Organizations Interested in Communities of Practice? 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 real change Build sustainability by building understanding and involvement May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

National Organizations and the Community National Roles State Roles Communication Channels Focus on New Ideas May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Communities in States Pennsylvania New Hampshire California Alabama Arizona Virginia Delaware Wisconsin North Dakota D.C. May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE New Eyes: Why Are State Education Agencies (SEAs) interested in Communities of Practice? 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

Multi-scale Learning: Learning Loops Built through Community FEDERAL STATE LOCAL SITE INDIVIDUAL May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

The Communication Structure The IDEA Partnership Community of Practice State to State State to Local Local to Local Local to State Federal to State State to Federal May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Learning Loops in the State Community: Communication Network and Learning What Works May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Learning Loops in the Local Community: Sharing What Works and Creating Support Networks May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

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. May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

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.   May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Cross System Work Interagency Collaboration Lead by Joan Kester & Ellen Romett (PA) May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Year-Round Strategy Creating An Environment where Local Stakeholders can Learn from One Another May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

Youth Leadership Youth Development Meaningful Youth Role Youth Leadership Youth Development State to Local Connections – Joan & Stacie (PA) Using Sharedwork to do real work (Joan, Stacie, & Kevin) States supporting States (NH, WI, PA) May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

State to State Learning Around Issues Career Assessment Statewide Meetings Transportation High School Redesign May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

State to Local and Local to Local Learning Around Issues Shared Communication Meaningful Youth Involvement – Christine Cashman (NASDSE), Josie Badger (PA), Joan Kester (PA), Linda Maitrejean (WI), and Jane Razeghi (DCDT) Family Engagement/Outreach to Families from Diverse Backgrounds – Joan Badger (PA), Heather Thalheimer (NH), Al Perez (Fiesta Educativa) High School Redesign – Jay Engeln (NASSP) May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE Your Insights 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?” May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE 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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE

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 May 2, 2007 IDEA Partnership @ NASDSE