CCSC: Implementing the Data Wise Improvement Process Kate Hoens, Lauren Lewis, Whitney Wiegand NOTE TO FACILITATOR: • For detailed instructions on how to present the Data Wise Improvement Process to your team, please consult the presenter notes with each slide. • For an overview of the arc of this work, consult the lesson plan document. • The presenter notes are divided into a few different sections, where applicable: → Rationale: consult this section for the reasoning behind a particular activity, way of presenting information, etc. → Facilitation directions: this section provides detailed instructions for what to say in correspondence with a certain slide. Italicized notes indicate an opportunity to practice transparent facilitation so that the ILT can begin thinking about how they will adapt this process to their individual content teams. → Connection to ACE habits: this section is as stated. The ACE Habits of Mind are further explained on slide #5.

Step 1A: Organizing for Collaborative Work July, 2014 ILT Retreat Step 1A: Organizing for Collaborative Work July, 2014 RATIONALE: It’s important to start meetings on the right foot. Simple things like starting on time and welcoming participants to the session pay huge dividends in terms of showing the group your respect. In introducing the work, you should be forthcoming about why the team has been asked to engage in this work. The work will be more generative if the team is brought onto the same page for why you’re undertaking the Data Wise journey together. FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: Before the meeting: • Prior to the meeting you should have tapped someone to serve as note taker for the meeting and another person to serve as time keeper. Introduce these two roles, and the people doing them, to the group. (For a complete description of what the note taker and time keeper are expected to do, see the forthcoming book, Meeting Wise: Making the Most of Collaborative Time for Educators, by Kathryn Parker Boudett and Elizabeth A. City, p. 31.) • At least 1 week before the meeting, communicate to all ILT members that they should read the first chapter (Step 1) in Data Wise. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - During the meeting: • Start the meeting on time! • Because this is an early meeting in the summer planning period, take time to welcome group members back to the campus. • Explain that the team is working together to refocus our efforts with data by implementing the Data Wise Improvement Process. • The DWIP is designed with flexibility and individuality in mind. It is truly a process, and one that can and should be adapted to meet the needs of the school using it. At its core, it is about using all of the various types of data that a school can, and does, collect in a way that supports and improves student learning. It is about being smart and intentional with how we look at data, and what we choose to do with it. • Because the process is all about using data wisely, it prioritizes using evidence in asking and answering questions. In order to use evidence, we need to improve our ability to find it. • With this in mind, Data Wise also prizes inquiry. By asking, thoughtful, evidence-based questions of the data and of each other, we will be able to reach a more effective approach to using inquiry to guide our work with students.

Goals of this Meeting Model a Meeting Wise meeting. Refine our existing norms to support collaborative work. Get to know about each other as colleagues and team members. RATIONALE: It is important to orient the group toward their objectives in meeting. Knowing the goals allows team members to know what they should be putting attention toward in the meeting, and helps them to know that this is a thoughtfully designed and good use of their time.

Agenda 5 mins. Welcome 25 mins. Inquiring Introductions Protocol 10 mins. Norms comparison, modification 20 mins. Compass Points Protocol 10 mins. Looking back, looking ahead 5 mins. Plus delta RATIONALE: We can’t stress enough how important it is to be transparent as a facilitator. This is especially important considering the role of the ILT in going through the Data Wise process together as you simultaneously guide the full faculty through the process. By putting the agenda up for the group, you can show the intentionality in the meeting. By following the meeting goals slide with the agenda also helps to further illustrate how you will work together to achieve those goals.

ACE Habits of Mind Shared commitment to Action, assessment, and adjustment Intentional Collaboration Relentless focus on Evidence Data Wise, p. 6 FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • In pursuit of these objectives, we will also work toward building the ACE Habits of mind (Data Wise, p. 6). The ACE Habits are: Shared commitment to Action, assessment, and adjustment Intentional Collaboration Relentless focus on Evidence • The meeting goals on slide #3 above really focus in on the second habit, intentional collaboration, while simultaneously building comfort with using evidence and taking action. Boudett, K. P. (2016, January 11). Monday PowerPoint Slides [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from Harvard Graduate School of Education A310g Data Wise: Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning course website: https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/5497.

Inquiring Introductions Protocol This protocol provides us with: • an introduction to the Data Wise approach • an opportunity to practice honing our skills around inquiry and using evidence • a way to get to know each other better as colleagues and team members Data Wise, pp. 226-27 RATIONALE: The Inquiring Introductions Protocol exposes the team to the inquiry-based and evidence rooted mindset needed to use a Data Wise Process and provides a low stakes opportunity to begin practicing those skills. It also helps to support collaboration by enabling colleagues to get to know each other better. FACILITATION INSTRUCTIONS: • Break the ILT into 3 groups of 3 and ask them to move and sit with each other. • Distribute the Inquiring Introductions Protocol handout to each group member. Give team members a minute to read through the protocol instructions. Invite clarifying questions about the task. • Ask a member of each group to volunteer to serve as time keeper. • Have group members complete the protocol. This should take 15 minutes with each group member getting 5 minutes as the introducer. • Invite the whole group back together and ask team members: → What did you notice while completing this protocol? → What did you learn while completing this protocol? → What are you wondering now that you’ve completed this protocol? • The ILT can note the effectiveness of this Protocol in helping to expose team members to the Data Wise mindset. If it works well, it is a tool in the tool kit to bring to the department level meetings.

What did you notice while completing this protocol? [the notetaker should record the group’s responses here for the team to see] CONNECTION TO ACE HABITS: • C: Team members set a foundation for effective collaboration by learning about their colleagues and by practicing the inquiry and evidence-rooted mindsets they will need to use throughout this process. • E: This protocol helps to build group members’ capacity for relentlessly focusing on evidence. Furthermore, creating a public record of what team members noticed while completing the protocol gives the group evidence to draw from in future conversations about using an inquiry and evidence-rooted mindsets.

CCSC and Suggested Data Wise Norms CCSC NORMS [input existing norms] DATA WISE NORMS Take an inquiry stance Ground statements in evidence Assume positive intentions Stick to protocol (When the protocol is out there, try it. If someone steps out of protocol, name it.) Start and end on time Be present RATIONALE: Ultimately, norms work to support the work of the group by creating a framework in which to base interactions and the Data Wise process. They can create a sense of safety for participants who might be reaching out of their comfort zone in order to participate (Data Wise, p. 22). Norms can also be useful in moment of conflict by helping the group get to a place of productive tension. FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • Ask a group member to read the CCSC norms aloud for the group. • Reveal the suggested Data Wise norms. • Invite team members to share their ideas for norm modifications or additions based on the Data Wise list. → Does the team see any overlap? → Conflict? → Norms they’d like to adapt from the Data Wise list? • Make sure to display the CCSC norms and DW norms simultaneously, and to keep track of final decisions either in the document or on chart paper. Explain to team members that they can and should ask questions of their colleagues about ideas for norms. Take the pulse of the group before accepting modifications (using a majority affirmative vote to adopt changes). This is also a great opportunity to explain to the groups that the norms are a living document to revisit. So even though a list is being put on paper, it is open to change. • Have the notetaker read out loud the revised list of norms. CONNECTION TO THE ACE HABITS: • C: Norms about how the group will work together and support the process are essential for effective collaboration. Boudett, K. P., City, E. A., & Murnane, R. J. (Eds.). (2013). Data wise, revised and expanded edition: A step-by-step guide to using assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Compass Points Protocol RATIONALE: • This protocol is designed to help group members to identify their different work styles. Knowing this will enable the group to learn more about each other, and it will equip the team with a common language with which to talk about our work together. FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • Explain the rationale for the protocol to the group. • Group members will most likely see more than one compass point they identify with. Clarify that while this may be the case, each person must pick the one they most identify with in their approach to work. • Warn the team that, because the group is small, it may be that some compass points only have one representative. That’s OK! • This activity also provides an opportunity for transparent facilitation. By making the rationale visible to the ILT, members can think about how they might bring this protocol back to their work with content teams. Image and protocol available at: http://www.nsrfharmony.org/protocol/doc/north_south.pdf

Compass Points Protocol What are the strengths of your style? (4 adjectives) What are the limitations of your style? (4 adjectives) What style do you find most difficult to work with and why? What do people from the other “directions” or styles need to know about you so you can work together effectively? What do you value about the other 3 styles? FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • Now that each person has oriented themselves on the compass, ask the groups to use the chart paper and marker where they gathered to answer these five questions. • Groups will have 10 minutes to complete the exercise. Explain this, and that the time keeper will provide a 2 minute warning. • Bring the team back together and have each group share their poster out. Invite team members to think about this as an opportunity to learn more about their colleagues and to find out strategies for better supporting each other as we move through the work. CONNECTION TO ACE HABITS: • C: By inviting team members to find out how the different compass points can be supported as the team works together, this activity further sets the stage for effective collaboration. It’s OK for team members to orient towards different points; the skill to cultivate is using this knowledge as an asset, not hinderance, to the team’s work together. Image and protocol available at: http://www.nsrfharmony.org/protocol/doc/north_south.pdf

Looking Back Goals for this meeting: How goals were supported: Model a Meeting Wise meeting. Refine our existing norms to support collaborative work. Get to know about each other as colleagues and team members. How goals were supported: Facilitator, note taker, time keeper roles; distributing agenda copies. Compared CCSC and Data Wise norms, modified our norms following a group conversation. Inquiring Introductions and Compass Points protocols. RATIONALE: By looking back at the work the group has taken on together, you have an opportunity to be transparent about how the activities in the meaning were designed to connect to the goals of the meeting. Providing this information also gives the team data to use when reflecting on their plus/deltas from the session. FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • Make sure to distribute copies of the meeting wise agenda, so that the whole group can further see how the meeting was planned. Make clear that the group will continue using the template as they move forward. CONNECTION TO ACE HABITS: • A: The group will have ended the meeting at a different place than where they started. The notes from the meeting and the norms both serve as artifacts that can remind the group of the actions you have taken together over the course of the session.

Looking Ahead At our next meeting: We will work together to create an inventory of the work around data we already have access to and have undertaken as a school, in order to help us better determine how Data Wise can support our work. FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • Introduce the group to the Data Wise swoosh, emphasizing that the work they just did was in service of meeting step 1: organize for collaborative work. • Explain that in the next session the team will continue on this step by specifically inventorying the data the school has access to, and by thinking critically about how that data has been used in the past. • Next steps: → Ask each member to re-read the step 1 chapter is Data Wise. → Decide on who will facilitate the next meeting, take notes, and keep time. Three different team members should fulfill these roles. Boudett, K. P., City, E. A., & Murnane, R. J. (Eds.). (2013). Data wise, revised and expanded edition: A step-by-step guide to using assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Plus Delta + ∆ [record pluses, to be shared at next session] [record deltas, to be shared at next session] RATIONALE: One thing that is important is getting data about what worked well, and what changes might be useful. Just like the entire Data Wise process is in pursuit of using data wisely to improve practice, this protocol allows you to do the same for your meetings (as long as you really use the information!). FACILITATION DIRECTIONS: • We’ll close all of our meetings with this protocol, inviting the group to reflect these two things. • I just reviewed with you the goals of this meeting, and how I went about designing the meeting to achieve those goals. This might provide a constructive starting point for thinking about your feedback. • We’ll share this feedback at our next meeting, along with any steps we took to account for the information you help generate. • Distribute index cards or create a Google form for team members to use in responding. • It’s great to practice using the plus delta, as it is certainly something that can and should be brought to the department meetings.