Part A. 

Describe your Capstone Challenge and how you identified it. 

Kalispell Public Schools has long struggled to recruit and retain self contained special education teachers.  In my tenure in the district, in self contained, I have witnessed and participated in the turnover of many qualified staff due to the demands of the position.  Collaborations with peers with both life skills and behavioral peers across grade levels have given me a personal understanding of the various struggles we all face in trying to navigate doing this work and having positive lives outside.  I have had the privilege of connecting with district level administration and they have expressed the challenges in finding and retaining qualified people for these positions. Underlying this turnover, was the idea that self contained teachers do not feel supported, especially because our context is so different.  Even when the district (buildings, etc) provides support for all teachers such as more meaningful professional development opportunities, etc, those of this in this group don’t feel like they apply to us.  Because of this, it is easy to feel isolated, lonely, and in some cases disrespected.   

1. Describe your diverse stakeholders and how you selected them, such as colleagues, parents, students, association members, community members, state or local partners, etc.  

In beginning to brainstorm project ideas, I thought about two different ways that I can support the self contained teacher: this included group connections via a monthly group and the implementation of a stipend that could help incentive those who take on the position.  In order to take these approaches, I needed to have the support of building and district level administration, as well as various members of the budgeting and negotiations teams.  The cohort was designed to help teachers with a variety of different levels of experience who in various different levels of self contained programs (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12), including both our life skills and emotional behavioral disorder programs.  

2. Why is it important for your diverse stakeholders that the Capstone Challenge be addressed?  Even though it is the staff and students in these programs are the most affected by burnout and turnover, this is a problem that affects all levels of personnel, especially those involved in hiring, supervising and retaining these people.  The response to this complex of a problem must be multi-fold.  

3. In what ways will addressing the Capstone Challenge promote or support the foundational competencies?  Schools are always needing to continue their growth in promoting equity, not only among students, but also for staff.  In many regions of the country, due to the demanding nature of the work, special education teachers are compensated differently.  This is not the case in Montana, and teachers in these positions, especially those in self contained programs, face unique and often unjust challenges.  By acknowledging these differences and developing practices that are commensurate with national trends equity, morale and retention of self contained teachers will improve, as thus so will their approaches to colleagues and students alike.  

4. Is it your intention to broaden the existing vision, values and/or culture of the association or to create a cultural shift?  Explain. It’s hard to say, I think this project could be both because we are ultimately making our local negotiations team (union, plus committee) aware of policies/changes that have happened throughout Montana which will broaden their existing vision, but to codify the stipend proposal (and commit to having a long standing self contained group that is PIR credit bearing) will make it an expected norm for years and contracts to come, which will hopefully change how these programs are viewed and supported.  

5. Why might this strategy be a viable solution for your Capstone Challenge? In the midst of so many proposals during this negotiations year, and so many challenges faced by all public school teachers, for the self contained proposal to be brought to be made visible (given priority) is very important.  Not only will this create the cultural shift detailed in the last question, but also, I hope will inspire other special educators and/or classified union (paraprofessionals) to pursue their own proposals.  

Part B.  

1. On which two Overarching Competencies will you focus in addressing your Capstone Challenge?  Why are they relevant? I will work on Interpersonal and Personal Effectiveness, as I will have to grow and gain confidence in my own skills to have the most influence.  

2. If your foundational competency is not Explore and Challenge Inequity, please explain?  Why is it important? My foundational competency is to challenge inequity faced by self contained teachers and our students.  In order for school environments to become more inclusive these differences must be understood and embraced.  

3. Which Leadership Pathway competency will you focus on in your Capstone Challenge?  Why is it relevant? Although I think my work can fit into both the instructional and policy leadership pathways, my chief goal is to change the policy via our contract by affecting the next (and future) collective bargaining agreements, so policy will be the most relevant pathway for me.  

4. With whom will you work in addressing your Capstone Challenge?  Who else might you recruit beyond your own cultural and/or professional identity group? I will need to work with a variety of people: I am fortunate to have developed many relationships throughout my time at KPS, including not only peers in self contained programming but also union leadership, school board members, and special education leadership: I will need to appopriately leverage these relationships to elicit all of their support to make this plan work.  

5. Which resources (such as, people, money, programs, time and space, etc.) do you have to address in your Capstone Challenge?   What resources will you need?  How will you obtain them? I will mainly need to leverage existing relationships.  I will need to find spaces for self contained cohort meetings, utilize best practices in formatting for our meetings so that they can remain safe and productive.  I will also need to consult effective proposals and language contained within past CBAs to know how to effectively write an actionable document.  I will obtain all of these by utilizing communication skills.