Exercise: Defining Your State’s Role

Objectives  Understand the role that your state plays in supporting standards implementation through:  systems of professional development  curricular and instructional materials transitions  leadership development  communications  advocacy and coalition building  Identify the real and perceived barriers or challenges within your state education agency to supporting standards implementation.

Levers & Functions  Levers  Policy/guidance  Funding  Capacity-building  Monitoring  Coordination  Functions for Communications & Advocacy  Coordination  Planning  Delivery  Identifying Key Stakeholders

 Require that local education agencies, regional service providers, vendors or others adopt or provide the necessary materials and supports, along with strong quality control mechanisms.  Provide materials and supports directly to schools, in partnership with school districts, regional service providers, vendors, institutions of higher education, professional associations, other states or additional organizations.  Guide educators, administrators and other service providers with advice and support on how to make the best use of high-quality, aligned, voluntary resources in their day-to-day work—including by developing examples, templates and models, identifying resource experts, convening and training educators and providing advice on using tools. Example: Different State Roles for Curricular and Instructional Materials Transition

No one approach will work best for all parts of implementation or for all states  The most effective approach may be to combine strategies, considering:  state-level capacity  local needs  partnerships  other resources available  Regardless of the approach, state actions need to be pursued with a clear articulation for how the work helps districts and schools:  What are the assumptions about what educators need, and why does the state think its actions will make a difference?  What authority and incentives are in place (or not) to support the effective use of a particular approach?  States should have a clear “logic model” that undergirds the choices they have made and the resources and tools they invest in to build capacity.

Discussion Questions  How has this lever/function been relied on historically for standards implementation?  If it has been avoided, why?  What has it looked like when this lever/function has been used successfully?  What made it successful?  What has it looked like when this lever/function has been used unsuccessfully?  What lessons were learned from that experience?