1. Communities of Practice Institute
September 13, 2017
Local District South

2. Meeting Objectives Deepen understanding of Community of Practice work
Communicate logistical matters
Coherence: Reflect on last year’s work, analyze data, consider SPSA
Identify Problems of Practice, form Community of Practice clusters
Begin planning two cycles for and completing the planning template

3. Why are you here?
CoP is an optional program in this final year of transition to the new accountability system, so:
Your school has chosen to be here!
As a school that implemented Communities of Practice (CoP) in , you were given the option to participate in this final year of the program.

4. What’s the same and what’s different?
Same as
New in
Plan and implement 2 PDSA cycles and collect and maintain evidence of implementation.
Submit completed justification plan and budget for approval to LD Title I Coordinator and Director/Facilitator.
Funds for approved plans will be located at school site (7V744).
SAAs must track and input all expenses and time-reporting by district deadlines and maintain control sheets.
Any use of funds not reflected in plans or exceeding the allocation cannot be charged to the program and will be the fiscal responsibility of the school site general fund.
Schools must document the practice and what was learned and submit a “CoP Sharing Practice” report to FSEP by May 31st (will be shared publicly).
Local District South will hold a mid-year CoP meeting (January date TBD) for schools to share practice formally.
Plans must be approved and sent to LD South by September 22nd for Cycle 1, and January 26th for Cycle 2 or FSEP will repurpose the funds.

5. What happens within a Community of Practice?
Identify and focus on a problem of practice that:
is rooted in data
aims to reduce the achievement gap for a specific subgroup (based on the identified subgroup determining your eligibility for this program)
is aligned and coherent with the school plan (SPSA)
Develop goals related to the problem of practice and track progress toward those goals
Engage in the PLAN-DO-STUDY-ACT (PDSA) Cycle of Inquiry two times during the year
Document activities throughout the cycle and collect evidence pertaining to the effectiveness of the work within the cycle
Meet with other schools in the Community of Practice (i.e., your cluster)
Share key learning and feedback from each cycle with the School Site Council (SSC)
Refer to PDSA and PoP Handouts
These are the activities that you will participate in in the CoP-- you will have a facilitator from your LD to support you.

6. What is a Problem of Practice (PoP)?
What it is
What it is NOT
A measurable, objective and data-based statement describing an actionable challenge that the school will tackle to improve student performance for the identified subgroup e.g., “Based on observations, our students with disabilities do not fully participate in activities and group discussions in our general education classes.” Ideally, the PoP is narrow enough (i.e., based on enough data and information) such that a potential solution or hypothesis can be identified to be “tested”.
A subjective or high-inference statement describing a solution or intervention e.g., “Our school has low proficiency rates for students with disabilities indicating that we must do co-teaching.” Nor is it a challenge that is beyond the school’s control to improve.
You may have a different Problem of Practice from other schools in your cluster as long as there is space for shared learning around a common challenge.

7. Developing Goals
Identify measurable goals that will help you track progress against your problem of practice. At least some of your goals should be about student progress:
Short-Term Goals should be measured at the end of Cycle 1.
Intermediate Goals should be measured at the end of Cycle 2.
Long-Term Goals can be measured at the end of the School Year.
Determine what data must be collected during the cycle to be able to determine if goals are met. Examples might include:
Formative assessments
Student work samples
Completed observation tools

8. PLAN, DO, STUDY, ACT (PDSA)
-Define problem of practice
-Engage in shared professional learning to explore possible solutions
-Decide on intervention strategies
-Plan evidence collection
-Implement intervention strategies
-Collect Evidence
-Based upon the evidence collected, decide which interventions worked, which did not and where there are gaps in the intervention strategies
-Decide what to do next
-Reflect on implementation using the evidence collected
-Share learnings with colleagues in the CoP
Note that the activities in the justification plans should mirror these components of the cycle. Ex. Professional Development should be in Plan, and Implementing in the classroom should be in “Do”
ACT
STUDY

9. Critical Dates and Policies
SAMPLE
Critical Dates and Policies
Cycle 1 Justification plans and budgets are due to the Title I Coordinators, Lorraine (elementary) or Robert (secondary) by September 22, Revisions will be accepted on a rolling basis, but must be done in order to use funds differently or if dates are changed.
If schools are submitting the Cycle 2 plan after completing Cycle 1, plans and budgets are due January 26, If a school misses the deadline, it will be removed from the program, though they still must complete the Sharing Practice Report based on Cycle 1.
All activities must be completed by May 26, 2018.
CoP Sharing Practice Report due to by May 31, 2018.
Funding Use:
All time reporting must be reported by June 21 for classified and June 25 for certificated employees.
All receiver transactions (Goods Receipt) must be entered into SAP for goods received and services rendered (contracts) by June 30, 2018.
If above deadlines are not met, incurred costs will be the responsibility of the school site general funds.
*Note: if FSEP does not receive an approved plan by the deadlines, the school will be removed from the program and FSEP will repurpose the funds.

10. Additional resources Area Resource Comments Community of Practice
$40,000 per school
Funds will be allocated to the school site to implement approved justification plan and budget (7V744)
Social-Emotional Learning
Central office will offer PD and support
Division of Instruction will issue guidance, which includes identifying lead teachers to participate and lead the work.
Intervention/Credit Recovery during the school year
Per pupil allocation to schools
Beyond the Bell will issue guidance in the fall via memorandum
Note: The school eligibility list for Beyond the Bell’s K-8 Summer ELOS will be updated based on California School Dashboard results in the fall, and so schools opting into CoP may or may not receive those resources.
CoP work and funding is one of many ways that LAUSD Title I funds are used to support your school in addressing the needs of your identified subgroup and struggling students. As you consider your CoP work, we want to ensure you understand the full suite of resources your school has so that you can lead the work coherently.

11. Reflecting and Identifying Challenges
As you reflect on the implementation of CoP work, identify “Glows” and “Grows” and consider:
Were the right people involved? Were the activities high-leverage? Have practice or behaviors changed in a positive way?
As you analyze your data consider:
Did you meet your CoP goals?
Did you impact your focus subgroup?
Review the Goals and Objectives section of your Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA)
What topic or intervention idea for CoP might be coherent and synergistic with your school’s plan and/or needs assessment findings?
Based on the above, chart out your ongoing challenge areas, keeping in mind the subgroup for which you were identified.

12. Planning Time: Complete the PDSA Justification Template
Work with your school team or cluster to determine key actions in each aspect of PDSA for each cycle.
Plan: What data led to the PoP, do you need PD or might you all agree to a practice or activity where you already have some capacity, what observation tools need to be created, what planning time is required, etc.
Do: What will you do in the classroom that will address the PoP? Are there other actions (e.g., grade level meeting practices, etc.) that will support the intervention? What data will you collect to show implementation and student progress?
Study: Who will participate in reviewing the data to determine if goals were met? How long will it take and when will it occur?
Act: Who will participate in determining next steps based on findings? How will the information be shared, and with whom? What will be done with the learnings? How long will it take?
Don’t forget: Determine when you will meet with your cluster colleagues- during P, D, S, and/or A. Set those meeting dates!

13. Planning Time: Plan Approval Criteria
As you complete your plan and budget, please review against the approval criteria below:
Problem of Practice (PoP) is based on data and the reason the school was identified
Goals (short and long-term) are based on data and the reason the school was identified.
The planned activities and data collection are directly aligned to the goals such that schools will be able to determine if goals are met at the end of each cycle.
Each aspect of the PDSA cycle is appropriately addressed.
It is clear how and when the Community of Practice (i.e., cluster) will convene to share learning.
The plan is within the budget allocation of $40,000 per school.
The budget and justification reflect activities and costs for the CoP Institute (unless the LD is underwriting expenses through other funds).
The budget adjustment matches the activities and expenses on the justification form.
Budgeted items are Title I allowable and are appropriate and reasonable for the activity based on allowable items in budget adjustment request (i.e., budget handbook).
Appropriate dates are provided (e.g., no broader than a week, in order of PDSA, “Do” occurs while school is in session, Admin X-time only on Saturday or off-basis, etc.)
School plan assures that the CoP Practice Sharing Report will be completed and submitted to FSEP by May 31, 2018.

14. Immediate Next Steps
Submit justification and budget planning documents to LD South, Lorraine (elementary) or Robert (secondary) by September 22,
Look for an updated memoranda:
Division of Instruction- Health Education Programs for more information on the Social-Emotional Learning resources.
Beyond the Bell- for more information on intervention/credit recovery during the school year.
Make connections with your colleagues and make this work as meaningful and high-leverage as possible!

15. Communities of Practice Institute
Local District South
Robert Oye (310)
Lorraine Torres (310)