1. Forging Effective Partnerships
Janice Chu-Zhu

2. Objectives
Learn effective strategies that support learning and strengthen partnerships between the school and other stakeholders
Use a variety of tools to assess the state of their partnerships and how to deepen their level of partnership
Explore potential challenges involved with and strategies needed in creating successful partnerships

3. Icebreaker
Two Minds

4. Schools Model What Society Should Be

5. Role as Principal’s Partner
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
Henry Ford

6. Trends in Public Education
Cradle to Career (i.e. college access for more
students—see USDOE Blueprint for America’s Public Schools)
Addressing social and emotional learning
Common Core State Standards
Emphasis: early literacy, chronic absence,
reading by third grade
Educating an increasingly diverse population of students (e.g. differentiated learning, portfolios, Response to Intervention)
Extending children’s learning opportunities past the traditional school day

7. Trends (continued)
Focusing on teacher effectiveness and developing new teacher evaluations
Reconstituting failing schools (Turnaround, SiG)
Crafting alternative governance, financing and management structures
Reaching out to better serve children and youth so that the needs of the whole child can be met (e.g. collective impact)
© Dr. Charles E. Basch

8. Why Partner with Schools?
Excellent strategy for serving more young people
Cost-effective approach (use of existing facilities)
Promote young people’s cognitive development as part of youth development
Increase coherence of young people’s experience
Help young people stay connected with school and understand relevance of academics
Help schools understand the realities of their students’ lives
Increase positive visibility of organization in community

9. Strategic Opportunity resides in the intersection of
Need and Capacity

10. Strategic Opportunities
Individually, write down five issues that currently concern your school regarding youth
In small groups decide on 1 issues that you want to work on together
Identify how your CBO could address these concerns
Report out – 1 strategy per table

11. Partnership between Schools and Community Based Organizations
Readiness - as an organization
Partnership Assessment Tool
Capacity -competencies of an organization)
Core Competencies Assessment Tool

12. Power of
Partnerships

13. George Washington HS Video “Power of Partnerships”

14. Effective Partnership Principles
Plan together from the start
Clarify the vision
Take time to get to know one another
Set ground rules
Start small and build gradually
Involve parents as partners
Clarify roles and responsibilities
Share decision-making
Prepare team members to work together
Stay flexible
Keep tending to the relationships
Be strategic

15. Deepening Partnerships
Break out into groups
In your group, list the steps or activities needed to constitute, strengthen, deepen or improve your partnership and include areas of concern and vulnerability
Report out

16. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change small portion of events, an in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
Robert F. Kennedy

17. Stakeholders Name your key Stakeholders
in your school
in your community
ID current & desired relationship
Write down an action step to help move from the current to desired state of relationship, keep in mind a strategic focus on how that person or persons can impact on outcomes for youth

18. Designing a Successful Pitch
ID key stakeholders to be involved
What are their issues, address them
Use data to support your pitch
Align with school/community/CBO priorities
Don’t over-promise, what is reasonable
Listen actively, highlight win-wins

19. Effective Negotiation
Getting to Yes!
Separate the people from the problem
Focus on INTERESTS, not positions
Invent options for mutual gain
Insist on using objective criteria

20. The Pitch Activity Break into smalls groups of three people
Each of you will have 5 min. to design your own pitch based on a current or possible situation.
Then pitch to someone in the group, the other will be the observer. Switch role for each pitch.
Give appropriate feedback on strengths and suggestions for improvement.

21. Action Plan Individual Activity
Take a few minutes and look at your strategic opportunity worksheet.
Pick a priority to work on that will have the most immediate impact on your work with schools.
Plan specific short and long-term action steps and strategies.

22. nationalcenterforcommunityschools.org