HOW TENNESSEE DEALT WITH CHANGES WITHOUT LOSING FOCUS DONNA PARKER AND CHITHRA PERUMAL, TENNESSEE SPDG Maintaining the Quality of the Management Plan: TN SIG to SPDG 1

TN SIG/SPDG Tennessee’s State Improvement Grant took a couple of years to really get off the ground. Submitted Spring 2002; start up began in A slow start and a start from scratch. During the first three years, the Directors of the grant changed three times. Tennessee’s new SPDG has a new director: that’s the 4 th leadership change. 2

How We Kept Our Focus The grant partners remained unchanged during SIG leadership changes. Many of the partners never “missed a beat” during these changes and many stepped up to share more of the leadership duty. One partner, the UT Center for Literacy Studies, evolved into a “hub” of activity for the grant. With their agreement, they have the ability to trouble- shoot and serve as a center of activity. The various partners have taken full ownership of their activities, so a staff change in Nashville doesn’t have too much of a negative impact. 3

SIG/SPDG Partners Center for Literacy Studies, UT Dept. of Theory and Practice, Teacher Ed, UT The IRIS Center, Peabody/Vanderbilt Early Childhood Center for Excellence, ETSU STEP (Support and Training for Exceptional Parents), TN’s Parent Training and Information Center Hardeman County, LEA demonstration site University of Kentucky, Human Development Institute- Evaluator Of course, TN State Department of Education 4

SIG to SPDG Transition Tennessee’s SPDG grant was written to hinge off of the successes of the SIG. As few changes in partners as possible. As much continuation of activity as possible, with improvements as lessons are learned. Some retention of State staff which provides consistency and a historical perspective. Promotion of shared leadership among partners. Maximized use of available resources. 5

Transition Recommendations Communicate any upcoming changes to established clients to reassure them. Identify all activities that can be continued and make sure they continue without a gap in service. Don’t lose ground. Maintain credibility. Train everyone about the new grant: what’s going to be the same, what’s different, what to expect, as well as what’s new. Explain why any changes are being made. Carefully maintain relationships with existing resources- you’ll be needing them soon. 6

SIG--Evaluation Perspective Management, leadership, collaboration—Objective 1 of the grant Collaborative logic model development System of feedback—monthly calls, bimonthly reports on progress measures, frequent conversations with the leadership team 7

SPDG—Evaluation Perspective Family and technology threads are woven to most initiatives Sustainability and scaling up provide opportunities for agencies to work together Frequent communication with partners and leadership 8

Transition Recommendations—Evaluation Perspective Emphasize collaboration formally—as an activity that is going to be evaluated, an output in the logic model etc. Provide opportunities for collaboration. Have a system of feedback 9