Overview
The Student Success Network Improvement Lab is a learning-to-action program designed to build capacity in member organizations to:
- use data to improve
- partner with youth in decision-making, and
- integrate SEL into program model
...through preparing practitioners and managers from youth-serving organizations with tools and support to lead organizational improvement efforts.
Fall Bootcamp: October 8 & 10, 2019
IMPROVING TOGETHER.
This month's Improvement Lab: Fall Bootcamp was a blast and the perfect way to kick off a year of SSN programming! Thank you so much to all the practitioners and leaders who joined us for the journey!
This year, our team wants to support you in solving some of the sticky, persistent challenges that you think are standing in the way of even stronger organizations and outcomes.
We practiced skills in Data Use to Improve Outcomes, SEL Integration, and Youth Adult Partnership. As member organizations moved through an improvement plan process, SSN provided capacity building tools and support in each of these three areas.
See below for a recap of questions we explored and materials we used and consider how you can use them in your own organization.
View the Fall Bootcamp powerpoint here.
1. What can we learn from our data?
2. What root causes may be contributing to our challenge?
3. What can we learn about developing youth SEL from the Network?
MATERIALS:
SEL Promising Practices (Resource Library Page)
4. What does youth adult partnership look like?
5. What are my organizational strengths and opportunities for improvement?
MATERIALS:
6. How do I engage my community?
7. What challenges should we take on, and what tools should we use?
Session 2: November 13, 2019
MOVING FORWARD, MAKING PROGRESS.
At our second Improvement Lab session, we:
- Learned about foundations for youth SEL development, including youth-adult partnership in decision-making;
- Practiced using Improvement Science tools, including driver diagrams and PDSA cycles;
- Built relationships with each other
See below for a recap of topics we explored, materials we used and consider how you can use them to build on your improvement plan process.
View the full November Session powerpoint here.
FOUNDATIONS FROM THE NETWORK
To inspire Improvement Lab participants with possible strategies, Bright Spot practitioners shared their first-hand experiences from the field. Thank you to Jhodessa & Karla from Center for Family Life (SCO), Gustavo & Emily from Goddard Riverside Community Center, Heather & Keith from Good Shepherd Services, Andre & Toni from YMCA: Leaders Club for sharing your experiences and perspectives at our panel.
“Start small - that’s something that SSN helped me see and invest in relationship building.” - Karla from Center for Family Life (SCO) on implementing change at your organization
“Get to know your staff and participants first and then get into your material.” - Keith from Good Shepherd on how to integrate Space to Grow
“When they came (to our program), they had someone to come to.” - Toni from YMCA on Youth-Adult Partnership
The panel was the perfect way to showcase the Network expertise and introduce our new Foundations for Youth SEL Development. In this tool, we captured six foundations that “Bright Spot” practitioners see as building blocks of an environment that supports youth SEL development. This document is a reflection tool, meant for program leaders and practitioners who want to integrate social-emotional learning practices and approaches into their programs to create supportive learning environments.
Session 3: January 27, 2020
POWER, ALLYSHIP, & YOUTH-ADULT PARTNERSHIP
At our third Improvement Lab: Youth-Adult Summit participants had the opportunity to share, learn different perspectives, and put the spotlight on youth, particularly those in our Elevating Youth Voice program!
At our session, we:
- Exchanged tangible strategies, including partnering with youth, to advance improvement plans
- Aligned around shared visions for youth-adult partnership in organizations
- Analyzed and discussed power dynamics within youth-adult relationships
- Reflected on our role in, and developed pathways to authentic partnerships
View the full January Session powerpoint here.
See below for a recap of our busy day together, topics we explored, materials we used, and consider how might you strengthen youth adult partnership in your organization?
STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER
After aligning around definitions and understanding power in Allyship, we needed to hear from young people.
We participated in a Power Sharing Tour, where practitioners and youth discussed what power-sharing looks like in various work streams in your organizations. Some emerging themes from that we wanted to highlight are:
Key emerging themes included:
- Education and transparency are key: being transparent about the organizational processes and practices is an essential step to building a strong partnership.
- Share the stories behind the numbers with youth: quantitative data can and should be supplemented with qualitative data.
- We can learn by asking: Ask young people what they want, and use that to inform your actions.
The complete list of ideas that participants came up with is included here.
NETWORKING TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
We also practiced active listening in a Fishbowl Discussion that touched on the challenges, successes, and aspirations that come with building authentic youth-adult partnerships.
The amazing Elevating Youth Voice Fellows really took the lead, asking questions and sharing insights with each other, and with adults!
Youth stressed the importance of feeling ownership in their organizations, and shared how relationship building and creating a shared sense of safety are integral to an ownership mentality.
The fishbowl conversation laid the foundation for afternoon activities that stimulated ideas for how to apply key workshop concepts in your improvement plans.
Staying on track:
MATERIALS:
Feedback:
Many of participants shared how important it was to hear from young people in the network, and that you’d benefit from channeling their input into your plans. Here is a snapshot of the feedback we received from participants across key categories including the usefulness of strategies imparted and the extent to which you feel more prepared to engage youth in the continuous improvement process.
More outcomes can be found here.
Session 4: April 15, 2020
RACIAL EQUITY, SEL, & CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Conversations were rich during our April 15th Lab as we considered how continuous reflections, while making decisions, and prioritizing strategies to address the root causes of opportunity gaps, can help us apply a racial equity lens in our Network.
Members agreed that each of our decisions and actions can perpetuate the same inequities we are trying to address, so we have to continuously challenge our biases and identify our blind spots.
Although our gathering was virtual, our learning and exchanges helped us build our collective muscle for continuous reflection and shape our definition of collective impact.
During the Lab, we worked on:
- Strengthening our understanding of key racial equity concepts
- Constructing a shared vision for advancing racial equity in our Network
- Elevating a racial equity lens in our approach to continuous improvement, towards closing opportunity gaps
View the full session slides here.
Applying a racial equity lens to our work:
MATERIALS:
Improvement Lab Slides & Recap the session on your own!
Foundations for Youth SEL Development While Practicing Physical Distancing SSN’s reflection tool for supporting the social-emotional well-being of young people during the pandemic.
SEL As a Lever for Equity (CASEL) Resources that examine how CASEL’s core SEL competencies reflect issues of equity, including programs and practices that support the development of the competencies to promote educational equity.
SEL & Equity Pitfalls & Recommendations National Equity Project highlights several pitfalls and recommendations for educators, and education partners, seeking to implement SEL to make progress on equity and inclusion.
COVID-19 - Racial Equity & Social Justice Resources This list includes information that can help communities and activists as they work to understand and respond to the moment and for the long haul.
College Success & Culturally Responsive Curriculum Opportunity Network’s tools for culturally responsive learning materials.
Visit our Eventbrite Page to keep up with the Improvement Lab dates.
This is our Network.
#SSNImprovementLab
