Last Modified 3/2/2014 7:16:14 AM Delaware LEA Liaison Workshop Partnerships with LEAs: a common...

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Delaware LEA Liaison Workshop

Partnerships with LEAs: a common language for meeting facilitation

November 30, 2010

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2 ©2010 U.S. Education Delivery Institute

Today’s Agenda

Time Learning objective

1:00 – 1:10 Understand the context of today’s workshop

1:10 – 1:15 Outcomes, agenda, and agreements

1:15 – 1:40 Understand the basics of meeting facilitation

1:40 – 2:25 Practice facilitation skills

2:25 – 2:45 Understand how to prepare for a meeting

2:45 – 3:00 Prepare for next week’s meeting

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Today’s Agenda


Understand the context of today’s workshop

Outcomes, agenda, and agreements

Understand the basics of meeting facilitation

Practice facilitation skills

Understand how to prepare for a meeting

Prepare for next week’s meeting

1:00 – 1:10

1:10 – 1:15

1:15 – 1:40

1:40 – 2:25

2:25 – 2:45

2:45 – 3:00

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DDOE has developed a program of support to help districts produce plans for carrying out their ambitious reform agendas

▪ Provide LEAs with the time and resources that were not available during the 90 day planning period

▪ Help all LEAs further develop high impact, outcome-focused plans▪ Help all LEAs build the skills and capacity to successfully

implement their plans

Goals

Components

End product

Funding

▪ Chiefs’ meetings and county workshops▪ Readings and follow-up work▪ Visits to and from others who have done this work▪ Dedicated LEA liaisons and facilitators▪ Focus on critical “content” and “skill” areas

▪ LEAs’ complete Success Plans - with a clear description of which parts are funded by RTTT

▪ Improved understanding and capacity for LEAs and DDOE

▪ DDOE will not play “gotcha” with the final Race to the Top funding decision, and will make expectations as explicit as possible

▪ However, the Support Program is about much more than funding - it’s about Delaware’s comprehensive approach to improving student achievement

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Ongoing workshops focus on building skills and content expertise

Date Focus & Follow-up work

September 23

November 16

Activity

October 11, 12, or13 County workshop

December 6, 7, or 8 County workshop

December 14 Chief meeting

January 27 Chief meeting

February 7, 8, or 9 County workshop

February 24 Chief meeting

March – 7, 8, or 9

March 24 Chief meeting

April 1Revised Success Plans Due

•Content focus: Program overview•Skill focus: Understand the “delivery”

challenge•Follow-up work: Conduct LEA needs

assessment•Content focus: Effective teachers and leaders

•Skill focus: Plan for delivery•Follow-up work: Revise “teachers and

leaders” part of plan; prioritize activities and link activities to targets

•Content focus: Rigorous standards, curriculum, and assessments

•Skill focus: Drive delivery•Follow-up work: Revise “standards,

curriculum, and assessments” part of plan; establish routines to drive successful implementation•Content focus: Deep support for the lowest-achieving schools

•Skill focus: Create a delivery culture•Follow-up work: Revise “support for the

lowest-achieving schools” part of plan; develop communication strategies and sustainability plans Spring 2011 Plan refinement

October 28

Re-purposed time

Proposed new time


The basis of the skill-building component of LEA workshops is the delivery framework

A. Evaluate past and present performance

B. Understand drivers of performance and relevant activities

A. Establish routines to drive and monitor performance

B. Solve problems early and rigorously

C. Sustain and continually build momentum

A. Define your aspiration

B. Review the current state of delivery

C. Build the delivery unit

D. Establish a “guiding coalition”

2 3 41

Create an irreversible delivery culture

5

A. Build system capacity all the timeB. Communicate the delivery messageC. Develop high-quality relationships

B. Set targets and establish trajectories

A. Determine your reform strategy

C. Produce delivery plans

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The purpose of today’s workshop is to prepare you to partner with districts

Your role

▪You are a dedicated liaison to your assigned district▪You will serve as a thought-partner, facilitator, and link

between the district and state as they develop and refine their plans

▪You will be paired with a member of the leadership team to work with districts in producing strong plans

Expectations

▪You will be available to help districts lead team meetings, support one of their meetings, or just come to listen and to get to know your LEA better

▪You will communicate key messages from the state to districts and also bring feedback from districts to the state

Challenges

▪Making the most of your limited time with districts▪Being a helpful, thoughtful partner and facilitator without

knowing all the intricacies your district▪Establishing credibility with districts and their leadership

teamsToday’s training objectives

▪Understand your role as liaison▪Understand the basics of meeting facilitation▪Practice facilitation skills▪Understand how to prepare for a meeting

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Today’s Agenda








1:00 – 1:10

1:10 – 1:15

1:15 – 1:40

1:40 – 2:25

2:25 – 2:45

2:45 – 3:00

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A few fun facts about meetings…

▪Managers will spend over one-half of their working lives attending, conducting, preparing for, and following up on meetings

▪Over twenty million meetings take place every day in the United States alone

▪Almost one third of all meetings are considered unnecessary by the people who attend them

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Basic beliefs of the interaction method

▪Basic facts:– The interaction method is a

set of tools and processes for running meetings

– It consists of a specific set of practices that are particularly useful in certain situations

– It is not necessarily appropriate for all situations, but various principles of the interaction method can be helpful at various times

▪Basic beliefs:– People support what they

themselves create– Decision-making is improved

when based on group consensus

– Equal participation of all group members creates better outcomes for both individuals and the team

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Key meeting roles and components (1/3)

11

Facilitator

“I will serve as a neutral facilitator, only contributing my ideas when given the group’s permission. My aim is to keep the group on track to achieve your desired results. This is your meeting and I want to help make it work for you”

“I am here to keep a record of the meeting. I won’t contribute my ideas without asking. If I miss something important or write something incorrectly, please let me know. This is your written group memory”

Recorder

▪Helps group achieve their desired results and keeps them on track

▪Stays neutral▪Creates a safe environment for open

discussion▪Seeks maximum appropriate

participation from all group members▪Guides the process of the meeting and

make suggestions for alternatives

▪Records what happens in the meeting on newsprint

▪Stays neutral ▪Uses only key words and phrases rather

than whole sentences▪Captures distinct ideas by

– Writing in alternating dark colors– Highlighting with bright colors– Using bullets instead of numbers

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Group member

▪Contributes ideas▪Makes sure that the recorder writes ideas

down correctly▪States concerns openly▪Helps to create and abide by group

agreements▪Encourages participation of other members▪Maintains focus and stays on task▪Shares in decision making

Group leader (president or chair)

▪Calls for the meeting▪Recruits the facilitator▪Contributes ideas▪Acts as a group member, allowing the objective facilitator to

guide the meeting process

Group memory (flipchart or paper on wall)

▪Makes sure that everyone’s ideas are heard and recorded▪Keeps group focused on ideas rather than each other▪Helps the group focused on task▪Prevents people from repeating ideas▪Makes it easier for latecomers to catch up▪Encourages participation▪Focuses attention on one area – helps to avoid distractions

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Room arrange-ments

▪The arrangement of a room can either contribute or detract from a group’s effectiveness during a meeting. A room set-up tends to be helpful when it allows for– Wall space (or flip chart easel)– Placement of chairs so all group members

can focus– Enough space so members are not

crowded▪A semi-circle without tables is one way to do

this

Supplies

▪Newsprint▪Flat wall▪Masking tape▪Watercolor markers

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Tools for reaching agreement

14

Facilitators lead a group discussion through 3 stages on the way to reaching agreement – opening, narrowing and closing. In opening, as many ideas as possible are generated. In narrowing, these ideas are organized. In closing, the group makes decisions and reaches agreement . The model below shows techniques or ‘tools’ that can be used effectively in each of the stages

Opening • To gather

informationand ideas

• Brainstorm• Clarify

Closing tools• To reach agreement

• Negative poll

• Build up/ eliminate

• Both/and

Narrowing tools• To organize the information

• Eliminate dupli-cates

• Prioritize (N/3)

• Natural cut

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Today’s Agenda








1:00 – 1:10

1:10 – 1:15

1:15 – 1:40

1:40 – 2:25

2:25 – 2:45

2:45 – 3:00

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Roles for role plays

▪Superintendent of Schools▪Deputy Superintendent, Teaching & Learning▪Director, Data and Accountability▪Director, Secondary Curriculum and

Professional Development▪Director, Elementary Curriculum and Professional

Development▪Supervisor, Accountability and Assessment▪Director, Early Childhood Education Services▪Director, Staff Development▪Associate Director, Testing▪Board of Education President▪Director, School Improvement Services

LEA Team Members

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Exercise: Facilitation role play 1

What How Who

▪Brainstorm a list of all relevant actors at the following levels: – District– School– Classroom

▪Brainstorm (4)

▪Clarify (1)

▪Facilitator▪Recorder▪Group

▪5

Time

You, the liaison, have been asked to help districts brainstorm a list of all the major actors at the district, school, and classroom level necessary to effectively implement one of the required activities: common core standards. This will likely involve a common set of actors across all districts, e.g. teachers, principals. The desired outcome: a list of actors at all levels that reflects the input of all LEA team members.

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Exercise: Facilitation role play 2

What How Who

▪Brainstorm a list of key messages to communicate to schools about common core adoption

▪Brainstorm (3)

▪Clarify (1)


▪4

Time

Situation: You, the liaison, have now been asked to help districts think about how they will communicate common core standards adoption to their schools. You will facilitate a brainstorming session to capture all of the messages the LEA team deems important with regard to common core, but will need to help them pare this list down. The desired outcome: a list of no more than three key messages that reflect the LEA team’s top communications goals.

▪Narrow the list to the LEA’s top three messages


▪6▪Prioritize N/3 (3)

▪Discuss and agree (3)

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Preventions are an important way to keep your meeting on track before things become difficult

Preventions

Expectations and agreements

▪Brainstorm at the beginning of group interaction▪Refer back to lists posted on wall to keep group on

track

Assigned roles ▪Common understanding of roles (e.g., facilitator is in charge of process) makes meeting run more smoothly

Role modeling ▪Demonstrate the behaviors that you want to see in the group, e.g., not interrupting the person who is speaking, starting on time

Up front agreements ▪At the beginning of the meeting, get agreement on the objectives, agenda, timing, ground rules, etc.

Icebreaker ▪A short activity at the beginning of an interaction can relax tension and help group members work together

Validation ▪Establish a practice of validating the contribution of each member of the group (e.g., “three claps on three”)

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When things do become difficult, interventions are important tools for your toolkit (1/2)

Interventions

Ask or say what is going on

▪ If the group is encountering a difficulty, name it for them

▪“It looks like we are getting stuck on this issue. Can we postpone discussion until later?

Focus using questions ▪“That’s a good point – but how does it relate to what we’re discussing right now?”

Parking lot ▪Keep a piece of paper on the wall to put ideas that are important but not a part of today’s agenda

▪Allows people to see that their ideas are being dealt with, even if it is not in this meeting

Confronting difficult group members

▪Accept: “OK, let’s build on that…”▪Legitimize: “Good point,” “Valid concern,” etc. – then

choose:– Deal with OR– Defer: “Can we talk about that in a future

meeting?”

Boomerang ▪Return a question to the person who asked it or to the team so that the Facilitative Leader does not take responsibility for answering all questions

▪Example: – Team member: “How can we meet that

schedule?”– Facilitator: “What do you think will get in the

way?”

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When things do become difficult, interventions are important tools for your toolkit (2/2)

Interventions

Enforce process agreements

▪Refer back to the agreements that the group has signed

▪“We all agreed that we would not check our blackberries during sessions – I’d like to ask that we all honor that agreement”

▪“I see what you’re saying, but it sounds like you’re talking about a problem. Since we agreed to talk about solutions, can we please focus there?”

Pace the discussion ▪ Identify issues for further discussion and refer them to future meetings so that the group can move on now

▪“Would anyone object if we moved on to the next point?”

Build understanding ▪Ask questions. Rephrase what has been said, and invite other interpretations

▪Link comments back to the meeting objectives and agenda so that everyone understands where they are in the process

Maintain participation ▪Monitor airtime and invite suggestions from reluctant participants

▪“Does anyone who hasn’t spoken want to comment? Al or Jo, what do you think about . . .?”

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Today’s Agenda








1:00 – 1:10

1:10 – 1:15

1:15 – 1:40

1:40 – 2:25

2:25 – 2:45

2:45 – 3:00

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The most important tool for workshop design is an agenda

Example: Partial agenda for today’s workshop

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Time Learning Objective Activities Person(s) responsible

Materials

0900 – 0910

■ Understand the context for today’s workshop and roles as liaisons

■ Present (5) ■ Fac■ Fac, Grp

■ Slides with expectations for program, overview of LEA support program, definition of delivery

■ Flipchart■ Markers

0910 – 0915

■ Create shared expectations and agreements

■ Welcome, introductions, review outcomes (3)

■ Brainstorm expectations (3)

■ Brainstorm agreements (4)

■ Fac ■ Fac, Grp■ Fac, Grp

■ Slides■ Flipchart■ Markers

0915 – 0940

■ Understand the basics of meeting facilitation

■ Brainstorm characteristics of good and bad meetings (2)

■ Present Interaction Method (23)

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac

■ Slides:– Introduction– Key meeting

roles– Tools for

reaching agreement

Knowledge

Decision

Knowledge

To design an agenda, lead with the learning objectives

A learning objective is one of the following that you would like your audience to have at the end of the meeting:▪Knowledge about something (e.g., a lesson, a process relevant to their work)▪Improvement in a specific skill (e.g., using the LEA planning template)▪A changed attitude (e.g., support for the Race to the Top agenda)▪A decision (e.g., agreement on priority goals)

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Once you have determined your objectives, you can design the right activities to help you meet them


Materials

0900 – 0910





0910 – 0915







0915 – 0940




■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac


roles– Tools for

reaching agreement

Activities should be time-bound and can include:▪Presentation by the facilitator or by others▪An interactive process led by the facilitator, such as Q&A, a plenary discussion

with one or more question prompts, or the various facilitative tools for reaching agreement (e.g., Brainstorm, Clarify, Prioritize N/3, etc.)

▪An exercise that breaks the audience up into individuals or teams and prompts them to work on a hypothetical or real set of issues (e.g., “fill out section A of the template”)

Activities should be designed to maximize interactivity, with only as much presentation as is absolutely necessary

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Finally, fill in the remainder of the agenda


Materials

0900 – 0910





0910 – 0915







0915 – 0940




■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac


roles– Tools for

reaching agreement

Keep in mind:▪Feel free to revise learning objectives and activities if you discover that there is

not sufficient time for everything▪Your materials list can be a helpful guide for preparing the rest of the meeting,

including both presentations and logistics

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Many agendas will share some common elements at the beginning and end

Common elements of agendas


Materials

Beginning ■ Understand context■ Understand outcomes■ Create and/or affirm

expectations and/or agreements

■ Present/Q&A

■ Present/Q&A

■ Brainstorm■ Clarify■ Agree

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac, Grp


Middle ■ TBD ■ TBD ■ TBD ■ TBDEnd ■ Evaluate the meeting ■ Brainstorm positive

elements■ Brainstorm what to

do differently next time

■ Clarify

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac, Grp

■ Fac, Grp


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Exercise: design an agenda for an LEA team meeting

What How Who

▪Create a list of learning objectives for the meeting, noting whether each is a knowledge, skill, attitude, or decision

▪Brainstorm▪Clarify

▪Groups of 2 ▪5

Time

Situation: District X has asked you, the liaison, to help them create an agenda for an important meeting that the LEA team will be holding next week with the principals of all of the schools. A few key facts:▪The district has drafted 3 priority Race to the Top goals and a clear

strategy for achieving them, but the principals have not yet signed on. The principals are skeptical of the Race to the Top agenda, so this might be an uphill climb

▪The overarching goal of the meeting is for the principals to buy in to this agenda (possibly with their feedback incorporated) – but the team needs your help to flesh out the specific learning objectives and activities that will help them achieve this goal

▪Assign at least one activity to each learning objective

▪Brainstorm▪Clarify

▪Groups of 2 ▪5

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Today’s Agenda








1:00 – 1:10

1:10 – 1:15

1:15 – 1:40

1:40 – 2:25

2:25 – 2:45

2:45 – 3:00


Next month’s workshops will be held on December 6, 7, and 8

Draft December workshop agenda

8:30-8:35 Welcome, update, agenda overview

8:35-8:45 Discuss potential “new” and existing activities based on LEAs’ needs, PLC time, and the TLEU human capital framework

8:45-9:45 Facilitated breakout: discuss potential “new” activities

9:45-10:10 Cross-LEA sharing

10:10-10:20 Break

10:20-10:25 Discuss selecting, prioritizing and removing activities

10:25-11:05 Facilitated breakout: select, prioritize, and remove activities

11:05-11:25 Cross-LEA sharing

11:25-11:30 Wrap-up

Thank You

Last Modified 3/2/2014 7:16:14 AM Delaware LEA Liaison Workshop Partnerships with LEAs: a common...

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