I. WORKING GROUPS

Context: We have gathered data from our needs/assets assessments through surveys, focus groups, and one-on-ones. Now we need to start organizing to formulate solutions to the areas of growth that have been identified through that data. 

Purpose: The working groups aim to use collaborative leadership models to identify workable, measurable solutions for the different areas of growth that we have identified through the assessment of our needs and assets of the various stakeholder groups. The working groups are ideally constituted of multiple educational partner groups to ensure multiple perspectives are reflected within the problem identification, the solution implementation, and the sustainability plan for meaningful solutions. 

Essential Components:

1. Needs & Assets Assessment Informed: Issue Identification based upon fully completed Needs & Assets Assessment (minimum 75% participation of staff, students, families, and community members). 

2. Root Cause Analysis: Working groups must engage in a root cause analysis of the issue they are going to tackle. Ideally, they ensure all stakeholders associated with the issue participate in the root cause analysis, which informs the selection of the solution to be implemented.  

3. SMART Goal Creation: The working group creates a clear SMART goal for the solution being implemented so that its efficacy can be evaluated. 

4. Action Plan: A clear action plan is created to identify who is doing what by when throughout the implementation of the solution in order to create clear expectations and accountability for the solution implementation. 

5. Tracking Data Collection: A plan for data collection throughout the implementation of the solution is created in order to identify data points in order to inform potential alterations to improve solution implementation. 

Site Working Group Implementation: 

Check out the working group topics, docs, & processes of our sites. 

General Process:

1. Identify Working Groups:

• Bucket Identification: The Community Schools Team of each site comes together to review the data from their needs and assets assessment. As they are reviewing, they look for major themes that are present across educational partner groups. From that process, they identify 1-4 major areas of growth for working groups to address. 

• Working Group Structure & Norms: The Community Schools Team for each site needs to come together to determine the structure and the norms for the working groups that will be utilized in year 2. Reference this document to see examples of structures and norms at SDUSD sites as well as scaffold your site's working group construction. 

  • • • Structure: How many working group(s) are you planning on utilizing (one, one for each area of growth, etc.)? Are the working group(s) going to be a new group or housed within a pre-existing leadership team or group (ex: ILT, Leader and Me, Equity Team, etc.)? 

      • Meeting Time/Frequency: When are your working group(s) meeting (after school, before school, during school, full day pull out with team, etc)? 

      • Composition: Are you planning on having groups be heterogeneously (priority-based) or homogeneously grouped (educational partner-based)? For example, see slides 42 & 43. 

      • Protocol: What is the protocol that you are following in the implementation of the working group? 5.3 - Working Group - Doc Template - SPSA Integration 

      • Communication: How will you communicate the invitation to the working group(s)? How are updates communicated to the educational partner groups? 

2. Recruitment/Onboarding/Rollout:

• Recruiting: Depending on whether your site chooses to do heterogeneous priority-based working groups or homogeneous educational partner-based working groups, different types of recruitment might need to occur. If you are utilizing homogenous groups, you might want to find a pre-existing group and see if they want to utilize the Community Schools strategy in the work they are already currently doing. If you are utilizing heterogeneous groups, you need to actively try to recruit different individuals from different educational partner groups. This document can help scaffold the recruiting work.

• Community Schools Working Group Charter: At your first meeting, determine the roles, norms, logistics, and communications by completing the CS Working Group Charter - Launch Checklist. 

3. Working Group Implementation: Secondary - Elementary  

• Component 1: Defining the Issue & Root Cause Analysis

  • • • Identify Pattern/Theme: According to the Needs & Assets Assessment,  what did the different stakeholders  (Students, Staff, Community/Family) say about our needs around the issue? Example.

      • Root Cause: Working group members identify the root cause of the issue they are addressing. Example. 

• COMPONENT 2: Problem Statement Creation & Stakeholder Identification

  • • • Create the Problem Statement: Construct a problem statement that clearly articulates the connection between the root cause and the evidence that we have from our data. Example.

      • Affected, Interested/Relevant Parties: Identify all of the groups that are related to the issue that the group is going to address. Make sure also to identify all pre-existing programs and solutions that are already being implemented to address your issue. 

      • Tracking Data Collection Plan: A plan is created to collect data on the solution to see if the solution is working at improving the community and addressing the solution. This data will be used to evaluate the solution at the end of the implementation timeline. Example.

• COMPONENT 3: Working Group Meeting - Solutions, Goal Setting, & Planning 

  • • • Identify Solutions: Working group members identifying research based solution to implement as a group that clearly addresses the issue and is aimed at improving the baseline data set. Example.

      • Solution Implementation Plan: Clearly idenfity who is doing what, when, and how when it comes to the implementation of the solution. Example.

      • Tracking Data Collection Plan: A plan is created to collect data on the solution to see if the solution is working at improving the community and addressing the solution. This data will be used to evaluate the solution at the end of the implementation timeline. Example.

4. Fidelity of Implementation/Transparency

• Community Schools Sub-Committee Member Coaches: Ensure Community Schools Sub-Committee members take lead within the working groups to ensure: (1) the following of consensus decision-making in the meetings, (2) completion of the steps of the working group protocol. 

• Maintenance of Working Group Websites: Designated member(s) within the working group will host their completed graphic organizers that host the collected data as well as the solution implementation process. The sites will also highlight the meeting times/places so others can join in the work. 

5. Evaluation:

• COMPONENT 4: Solution Evaluation, Reflection, & Refinement 

  • • • Evaluate Solution - Working group analyzed the tracking data and reflects upon the solution implementation to see if they want to continue the solution or attempt to adopt a different strategy to address the issue. 

General Process:

1. Identify Working Groups:

• The Community Schools Team, during our pullout day went through the data of all the different educational partners once our needs and assets assessment was over and identified the top four largest areas of concern for our community. 

• We identified those areas of concern as needing working groups for the following year to identify the underlying causes as well as potential solutions and be the body for the implementation of those solutions. 

2. Piloting:

• First, after constructing the working group protocol (See below in folder), we piloted the working group protocol in our AP Government and American Politics class as a part of their civic engagement Project Based Learning (PBL) component for their class. 

• Ran through each of the four components and revised the protocol from one period to the next until the final version was previewed to the Community Schools Sub-Committee

• Had the students engage in reciprocal teaching, where the students taught the committee members about how to complete each of the different components in order for the sub-committee members to do two things: 

  • • • (1) - Have some of the prep work already complete for our identified working groups that will begin at the start of the following school year.

      • (2) - Have CSSC members familiar with the working group protocol so they can then be leads in pushing out and implementing the process in the working groups that they join the following year. 

3. Onboarding/Rollout:

• Meeting with the different academies during their shared prep meetings to show them the results of the needs and assets assessment (NAA/Listening Project) and highlight the highest areas of concern and/or growth. 

  • • • Purpose: Aim is to have the academies intentionally integrate the NAA into their project planning for the following year. 

• Scheduled an optional all-staff informational meeting where the Community Schools Coordinator and the Site Coach presented:

  • • • (1) - Highlighted already existing projects, work, and successes of Community Schools through out the year. 

      • (2) - The final summaries of the needs and assets assessment (Listening Project) where the top issues/areas of growth are identified. 

      • (3) - Preview the topics and expectations of the working groups. 

      • (4) - Push out a google form for those in attendance to sign-up for the working groups for next year.

4. Implementing: Protocol OVERVIEW

• Component 1: Community Schools Sub-Committee Prework - 

  • • • Recruit Members: Pre Have the Community Schools Sub-Committee complete "component one" of the working group protocol (see below in the folder) in order to intentionally recruit a diverse array of educational partners for the first meeting of the working group.

      • NOTE: Members should utilize the survey from the onboarding meeting as well as info from the needs and assets assessment to identify different educational partners to be a part of the working group. 

•  Component 2: Working Group Initial Meeting - Identifying Root Cause and Measuring Baseline -  

  • • • Role Selection: Each member identifies what role they want to take on in the working group ranging from solution implementation to data analysis and presentation. 

      • Root Cause: Working group members identify the root cause of the issue they are addressing 

      • Baseline Data: Working group members glean the baseline data from the needs and assets assessment and/or create a data gathering plan to identify the baseline data set that they want to try and change with their solution/intervention. 

• COMPONENT 3: Working Group Meeting - Solutions, Goal Setting, & Planning 

  • • • Identify Solutions: Working group members identifying research based solution to implement as a group that clearly addresses the issue and is aimed at improving the baseline data set. 

      • Solution Implementation Plan: Clearly idenfity who is doing what, when, and how when it comes to the implementation of the solution. 

      • Tracking Data Collection Plan: A plan is created to collect data on the solution to see if the solution is working at improving the community and addressing the solution. This data will be used to evaluate the solution at the end of the implementation timeline. 

5. Fidelity of Implementation/Transparency

• Community Schools Sub-Committee Member Coaches: Ensure Community Schools Sub-Committee members take lead within the working groups to ensure: (1) the following of consensus decision-making in the meetings, (2) completion of the steps of the working group protocol. 

• Maintenance of Working Group Websites: Designated member(s) within the working group will host their completed graphic organizers that host the collected data as well as the solution implementation process. The sites will also highlight the meeting times/places so others can join in the work. 

6. Evaluation:

• COMPONENT 4: Solution Evaluation, Reflection, & Refinement 

  • • • Evaluate Solution - Working group analyzed the tracking data and reflects upon the solution implementation to see if they want to continue the solution or attempt to adopt a different strategy to address the issue. 

Site Projects: Our site has adopted some continual projects within our community to offer service provision. Some of these projects originated from some classes Project Based Learning project (such as Hoover's Food Market from Elizebeth Lonnecker's English class) other projects originated from the Community Schools Sub-Committee and were adopted by different classes for the service implementation (for example the Hoover Pantry with Leticia Avelar's class). 

Current Hoover Site Projects: 

• Garden Project 

• Hoover Closet

• Hoover Market 

• Laundry Supports 

• Village United

• Zen Room