1. Partnership Alignment, Collaboration and Continuous Improvement
Monique R. Fletcher,
Project Director

2. Session Objectives
Understand how a range of partnerships in the community school can promote high performance and alignment in school community partnerships
Identify strategies and tools for facilitating inclusive partnerships that lead to decisions and actions
Identify opportunities to enhance and develop partnerships that promote continuous improvement while strategically influencing partnerships with growth opportunities

3. Community Agreements Everyone is invited to participate
Step up/Step back
One Mic
Pay attention to impact
Support Risk Takers
Confidentiality
Use “I” statements
Be fully present
Have FUN!!!

4. Community of Minds

5. Benefits of Effective Partnerships
When schools/ organizations make effective use of partnerships, new opportunities are
created. Some of these benefits are as follows:
Promote equity and inclusion
Excellent strategy for serving more young people
Maximizing community resources around student success
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
Continuum of possibilities from light touch (Volunteering w/kids at the school) to intensive and long-term (community school partnerships)
Moving from co-location to integration
Moving from after-school to in-school

6. COMMUNITY SCHOOLS GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Principles (7) guide the community schools approach to school transformation, and provide a framework that undergirds each of the community school implementation standards.
1. PURSUE EQUITY—Educational excellence and equity are inseparable. Community schools work actively to identify and confront policies, practices and cultures that that keep students of different backgrounds and races from achieving equitable outcomes. Community schools proactively and intentionally empower those typically disempowered by barriers to participation

7. Equality vs Equity

8. Set Ground Rules Prepare Teams to Work Together
Anti-Oppressive Facilitation for Democratic Process
Modeling
Partner Meeting Agenda Template
Clarify Roles and Responsibilities
MOU
District policy on partnership
Cascading Goals/Priorities
Regular meetings with Principal leadership
Regular provider meetings
Priorities are promoted
Planning and professional development time

9. Time to Get to Know One Another
Tending to the relationship
“A student must learn to understand the motives of human beings-their illusions and their sufferings-to acquire a proper relationship to others and to the community.”
Albert Einstein, The New York Times (1952)
School assessment
Scavenger Hunt
Interview partners
Understand the strengths and needs of the community
Full picture from various perspectives
Begin the relationship building process
Inclusion

10. Snap Shot of Assessment
What database(s) does the school utilize?
Describe each system
System cable of sharing info electronically?
What info is inputted?
Who is responsible for inputting?
Who has access to what info?
How are reports generated?
What reports are generated?
How is the data used?
How is the data shared?
What info would staff like to know?
Mental Health Provided?
Internal/External program?
Agency name?
Program Description
Capacity
Outcomes
Activities
How many students participate?
What is the need (#/%)
How is need identified and/or assessed?
Eligibility requirements
Where do staff refer (external)
Barriers to students accessing

11. Get to Know… Stress Management
Find 2-3 members of the community and answer the following questions
What is your name?
Where are you from?
What do you like to do to relax?
What is one thing you do, that’s healthy, when you are about to lose your cool?

12. Plan Together Shared Decision making Diverse Stakeholders
What’s the problem/issue we need to address?
Oh! This is the problem/issue
How can we best address this problem/issue?
Narrow it down
Decide
Implement
Diverse Stakeholders
Who is present?
Who is not present?
Who is present and not speaking?
Who is present and won’t stop speaking?
Who does not feel invited?
Plan, Do, Study Act (PDSA)
Start small and build gradually
Be strategic

13. PDSA Cycles Plan Do Study Act
Cycles of learningPlan, Do, Study and Act (PDSA) phases.
Plan
Identify a challenge and set a goal
Design a change and how to measure success Do
Conduct the change
Collect data
Study
Analyze the data
Document what you learned
Act
Decide to scale, abandon or adapt the change
Share your learnings!

14. Learning using data the entire way
PDSA Cycles
Scale change to broader group
Study Do
Plan
Act
Test the change with a larger cohort
Develop a change and test with a small group
Learning using data the entire way
Adapted from “Learning to Improve”

15. 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

16. Partnership Assessment
Individual Assessment
Complete the Partnership Assessment Tool
Identify two partnerships you are interested in influencing
Assessment Priorities
Which partners are prioritized?
Opportunities to share strategy
Debrief
Any trends?
Share some strategy that works
What is something a partner at your table said that other people should hear?
How can this be used back home?

17. Health Insurance Project Case Study

18. Questions/Discussion
Themes Emerged
Aha Moment?
Goals for next steps
What will you do back home to influence partnerships?
Me!!
Monique R. Fletcher
Children’s Aid