EXPLORATIONAND ADOPTION

INSTALLATION INITIALIMPLEMENTATION

FULLIMPLEMENTATION

SUSTAINABILITYAND SCALE-UP

RATIONALEPartnerships between early childhood education (ECE) programs and kindergarten–12th grade (K–12) school districts create the foundation upon which a Birth-to-College (BTC)

alignment1 structure rests. At this point, organizations should have identified appropriate partners and have worked to establish initial relationships. Most importantly, partners should know what they seekto gain from alignment work and come to initial meetings about the partnership with a clear sense of direction with respect to the social organization of their schools or programs, learning priorities, and improvement goals. This will allow partners to begin the work of creating an individualized BTC model that will best serve the children, families, and staff in their community. Such work involves developing a shared vision and mission, understanding organizational similarities and differences in beliefs and practices, formulating strategies for addressing potential roadblocks or challenges, and creating a comprehensive framework with realistic goals, measurable outcomes, and viable action plans for moving alignment within the partnership forward. The joint work around these activities should focus on finding commonalities across schools and programs based on outcome data, site observations, and discussions, as well as determining the resources necessary to carry out the work. This guide outlines key decisions and strategies for beginning the process of installation for BTC align-ment through the establishment of joint vision, mission, goals, outcomes and processes. The authors also provide reflection questions to guide this work and offer examples from the BTC Collaborative.

KEY DECISIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATIONAt the earliest stages of exploration, adoption, and installation, input from all levels of leader-ship is crucial to success. However, as efforts move toward full implementation, it may

become important to divide the many and varied responsibilities of alignment by level of leadership. In subsequent guides, the authors will make the distinction between organizational and site leaders wherever applicable. The authors consider organizational leaders to be those individuals at the highest level of administrative responsibility (e.g., district, regional, institutional, grantee) whose concerns and efforts are focused more broadly on the overarching vision of alignment, not necessarily on the day-to-day

How do school and program leaders jointly establish a vision,goals, outcomes, and processes for birth-to-college alignment?

Written by: Leanne Beaudoin Ryan, Amanda Stein, Holly Lewandowski and Elizabeth Rothkopf

Implementation Guide for School and Program Leaders: Installation*

efforts of implementation. Conversely, site leaders are those individuals who are housed within individual schools (e.g., principals) or programs (e.g., program directors) and are responsible for organizing and implementing alignment efforts on a day-to-day basis.

GETTING STARTEDAll recommendations are based on the experiences of the BTC Collaborative. The authors have attempted to sequence these recommendations in a way that is logical for a reader unfamiliar with the BTC Collabora-tive and embarking upon the work of alignment in their own context. However, it is important to emphasizethat these recommendations are in no way prescriptive and should be informed entirely by your own circumstances and sequenced based on your own organizational and contextual priorities and needs.2

FORMALIZING PARTNERSHIPS● Establish a BTC Alignment Leadership Team: This cross-organizational team will build the foundation

upon which the whole BTC structure rests. Determine the individuals who need to be involved from the beginning during these decision-making and partnership-building phases. Key players should be a repre-sentative mix of administrators, directors, program leaders, faculty, and staff from the respective partners with equal representation from each organization. Even if these individuals cannot be physically present, they are still stakeholders and their opinions, ideas, beliefs, and recommendations are still valuable and should be sought out and incorporated into meetings. Ultimately, systems for bi-directional feedback for other stakeholders who may not be regular participants in these meetings should be established.

● Ensure Commitment From Leadership: Success is contingent upon endurance. Leaders can expect to allot a significant number of hours—which will vary depending upon the specific alignment areas and

goals you choose for your schools—to thinking through the practicalities and logistics of aligning standards and best practices across two or more organizations. This is especially important in the earliest stages of implementation. Once alignment is further along, leaders may be able to transition from active involvement to progress monitoring.

● Build Relational Trust: Plan to meet with partner organizations monthly for at least a year to build trust through sharing. For example, leaders should work on finding commonalities across their schools/

programs by providing partnership members with an orientation around the philosophies, structures, and practices of each school or program. Alternatively, trust may be built by identifying and respectfully

working through potential roadblocks to alignment (e.g., determining if there are any areas that will not align within each respective school/program).

● Take Stock of Pre-existing Structures and Processes: Determine how what you are trying to build can honor, support, and inform systems that are already in place, especially around staff professional collaboration and continuous improvement. It is important to note that this is not a “new” initiative. Rather,

it is about advancing and aligning the work of teaching children and supporting and engaging families.

● Seek Guidance: Consider hiring an expert group facilitator who is not engaged with the partnership to provide support at key points in time. This individual would be charged with guiding the processes of

building a solid foundation and creating a mission and vision, as well as aiding in the development of relational trust amongst the partners.

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● Define Mission3 and Vision4 Statements For Your Partnership: Your alignment leadership team will be responsible for developing a shared mission and vision for your partnership that will ultimately be

vetted with all relevant stakeholders. Mission and vision statements are important because they “situate [the] practical, technical aspects of the work in large-scale, long-term goals that emerge from common ground and extensive discussion between...organizations.”5

● Decide What to Align: Alignment can take myriad forms. Yet, planning, implementing,

and evaluating activities around alignment should be informed by the framework, created by Kauerz and Coffman,6 consisting of eight “categories of effort,” or “buckets.” These

categories deemed “essential to high quality and comprehensive Pre-K to 3rd grade approaches,” include: (1) cross-sector work,

(2) effective leadership, (3) staff effectiveness through intentional interactions and instruc-tional practices supported by collaborative, embedded professional development, (4) exploration of standards, curriculum, and learning

objectives, (5) supportive learning environment, (6) use of assessment and data-drive continuous improvement, (7) family support and engagement practices, and (8) continuity and pathways.

● Create a Strategic Plan:7 Such a plan should aim to lay out the long-term priorities of alignment; specifically, the “categories of effort” or “buckets” that respective partners have agreed to tackle.

STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS● Set Concrete Goals: Construct a detailed work plan8 for setting concrete goals within each “category

of effort,” where goals are set using the SMART criteria: (1) Specific, (2) Measurable, (3) Attainable, (4) Relevant, (5) Time-bound. Each goal area should have its own action plan that outlines not only the resources necessary to achieving that goal and the action steps or strategies for making progress, but also realistic timelines for achievement. Moreover, leaders should collaboratively determine measurable outcomes for tracking progress made toward each goal for each area of alignment. Monitoring the completion of these actions within the allotted timelines will help you to track where you are in your BTC alignment efforts.

● Start Small: Plan on focusing on only one or two “categories of effort” over the course of the first year or two. Alignment is a large undertaking. Administrators, teachers, family support specialists, and

direct service staff are already busy fulfilling their primary responsibilities within a school or program. Therefore, alignment efforts are best served through careful consideration and meticulous planning that will ensure initial success. Schools and programs may also ease into this process by choosing “categories of effort” that relate to areas where there may already be significant overlap among organizations.

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ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS● Plan Communications: Develop a plan for dynamic communication and information sharing across schools: Consider the benefits of the following: (1) web-based project management

tool(s), (2) monthly newsletters, (3) shared calendars, and (4) email blasts. While communities of practice9 may also support communication through information sharing, it is important to note that this is secondary to the main purpose of such meetings, which is to provide a forum for professional development and learning.

● Schedule Joint Work Time: A cross-organizational BTC Alignment Leadership Team would benefit from regularly scheduled joint work time to frequently revisit and modify goals. However, finding times

to meet can be a challenge due to the differences in calendars and timelines between ECE and K–12. Be willing to think creatively. Examples may include: (1) “brown bag” meetings once per month at lunch time, (2) professional development time (e.g. times when staff are on-site, but students and families are not), (3) meetings on early release or early close days, and (4) the incorporation of

technologies such as videotaped presentations or Skype calls. Lastly, consider dividing up the responsibility of hosting in-person joint work time, so that one organization is not unduly burdened by continually accommodating events and meetings.

● Delegate Responsibilities: There are innumerable aspects to successful alignment, each requiring time and attention. Consider forming sub-committees, task teams, or work groups to accomplish work

plans and action steps to make progress towards goals. This will help keep the work of alignment moving forward in a timely fashion.

● Encourage Cross-Pollination: Consider cultivating strategies that will encourage cross-pollination of beliefs, approaches, and practices that could readily lend themselves to potential “buckets” for

alignment, with the added benefit of developing mutual respect and understanding. Example strategies include: (1) inviting partner organizations to participate in your existing professional development activities, (2) providing opportunities for observations of classrooms, instructional approaches, and/or family events, as well as for staff to talk with one another, (3) jointly contemplating how current classroom practices impact student outcomes by examining student data, and (4) fostering opportuni-ties for conversation across the spectrum of individuals (i.e., teachers and staff) comprising the birth-to-3rd range in terms of both age and grade level.

● Stay Positive: Don’t get overly discouraged if progress is slow as this is complex work. If needed, chunk large goals into smaller, more accomplishable steps and set feasible timelines and expectations

for alignment progress. The National Implementation Research Network has found that 2–4 years are generally needed to achieve full implementation.

● Seek Feedback: Regularly gather feedback on the progress you are making from administrators, teachers, and staff, who are serving as members of alignment teams. In the event that these individuals

cannot be physically present for meetings, actively seek out opinions, ideas, beliefs, and recommenda-tions. Moreover, incorporate this information into any and all meetings. Input from all relevant stakeholders is valuable and should be treated as such.

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● Engage Parents: Get early input and buy-in from parents whose children would be involved on either the ECE or K–12 end of the partnership. Also, consider providing parents with a collaborative forum for discussion around what alignment is and how it will impact their children and families.

SELF-STUDYSchool and program leaders may use the following questions in their efforts to make progress during the installation stage of BTC alignment implementation:

• What are some specific goals or outcomes our school would like to achieve as a result of the BTC partnership?• What areas of alignment are most important to our school? • Are there significant areas of overlap between our school(s) and program(s) that can be considered as starting points for alignment?• What resources are needed for each area of alignment?• How will mutual trust between schools and programs be fostered?• What process will be used to delegate responsibilities for executing work plans and action steps?• What strategies will be used to encourage cross-pollination across schools and programs?

WINDOW TO THE BIRTH-TO-COLLEGE COLLABORATIVEThis Window to the BTC Collaborative provides examples of the ways the BTC Collaborative attempted to begin working toward cross-organizational alignment. Initial efforts were focused

at both the leadership and practitioner levels. Leaders focused on building the trust and shared language necessary for co-creating the shared mission and vision of the Collaborative, while practitionersfocused on alignment within the domains of family engagement and social support, as well as teaching and education.

LEADERSSTRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPSOnce a partnership was established, stakeholders from each organization came together to strengthen these ties. Stakeholders participated in cross-organizational site visits—facilitated by teaching staff—meant to encourage mutual respect and understanding of the systems and processes within each organization. Additionally, there were retreats, where leaders focused on relationship building, as wellas crafting the mission and vision of the BTC Collaborative. Lastly, leaders visited Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland to observe alignment in action.

These shared experiences fostered a bond that allowed strategic planning for alignment to move forward. Stakeholders began the process of co-creating the shared mission and vision of the BTC Collaborative, representing the goals and aspirations of the partnership. To this end, a cross-organizational BTC Alignment Leadership Team (i.e. called the “working group”) comprised of educators, administrators, family support specialists, and researchers from each organization was formed. These individuals

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committed to a series of ten three-hour meetings that took place over the course of nine months and were facilitated by a creative management expert from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. These meetings focused on trust building, as well as developing the shared languagenecessary to create a roadmap that could realize a BTC approach to public education.

To learn more about the early work in establishing joint goals and developing action plans to achieve those goals, please refer to the first BTC Collaborative teaching case study, teaching notes, and companion video entitled Working Together to Build a Birth-to-College Approach to Public Education: Forming a Partnership Between the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute and the Ounce of Prevention Fund.

FAMILIESPARENT ADVISORY COMMITTEEThe BTC Collaborative has worked to actively engage parents through the creation of the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). This committee was comprised of parent representatives from each of the three participating schools, who met with family support staff and other key stake-holders on a regular basis during the school year. The purpose of the PAC was to provide input to members of leadership with respectto the BTC implementation process, including goals, desired outcomes, and progress to date. Specifically, PAC members worked together to (1)identify common needs and goals among the parents of students enrolled at either the Ounce of Prevention Fund’s Educare School or the two pre-K–5th campuses of the UChicago Charter School, Donoghue, and North Kenwood/Oakland; (2) provide the family engagement staff within the school with feedback and insight from a parent’s perspective on the partnership’s process, policies, and initiatives to ensure that the needs of parents and their families are included as decisions are made; (3) bring up existing and emerging issues expressed by parents at the school they represent; and (4) serve as an advisory, rather than a decision-making body, that makes recommendations, encourages brainstorming, and provides opportunities for parent involvement on committees.

To date, the PAC has focused its energies on issues such as increasing parent involvement and improving the transition from prekindergarten to kindergarten, as well as recruiting and retaining new families. To learn more about the roles that parents see themselves playing in their children’s education, please refer to the third BTC Collaborative teaching case study and companion video entitled Voices of Parents on Raising and Educating Their Children from Birth to College.

TEACHERSSTUDENT ASSESSMENTSTEP (Strategic Teaching and Evaluation of Progress) is a literacy assessment for diagnosing and monitoring children’s early literacy development that defines the developmental pathway of early literacy and allows

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educators to track the progress of pre-k–3rd grade students as they learn to read using research-based milestones. Since reading is taught using evidence to inform instruction, educators are able to createtargeted interventions for students, especially those who may need extra reading support. STEP iscurrently the primary literacy assessment tool of the UChicago Charter School in elementary grade levels. Stakeholders considered STEP as a potential point of alignment between Educare and the Donoghue and North Kenwood/Oakland (NKO) campuses of the UChicago Charter School. In 2011, leaders begana series of discussions that ultimately led to Educare’s adoption of the tool. At that point, NKO and Donoghue literacy coordinators trained Educare preschool teachers on administering and scoring the STEP during a day-long professional development workshop. The literacy coordinators provided additional support and a follow-up training once Educare teachers had experience with the tool. Educare teachers have continued to administer the STEP since then—in the fall and spring of each year—and have refined their practice of using data from the STEP to individualize literacy support and learning for preschool children.

SUMMARYThe purpose of this guide for leaders is to move from the “why” (i.e., exploration and adoption) to the “how” (i.e., installation) of alignment. The authors make recommendations about the

practical steps for beginning this process based on the experiences of the BTC Collaborative. Firstly, partners must form a cross-organizational BTC Alignment Leadership Team—comprised of relevant stakeholders with equal representation from each organization—to carry out the work of alignment. Members should be given ample opportunities to coalesce in a way that focuses on building mutual trust, respect, and understanding. A strong foundation—built on such principles—is crucial to success.

Secondly, partners must consider the practicalities of alignment. Examples include determining what alignment should look like, co-creating a mission and vision to realize this interpretation, and planning for the “work” of alignment through goal setting and the delegation of responsibilities. In the next guide for leaders, the authors build on this initial stage of installation by addressing alignment in terms of the importance of establishing a seamless pathway for children and families between ECE programs and K–12 schools.

FOR MORE ON THIS SUBJECTAlliance for Early Success and Child Trends. (2013). The Research Base for a Birth through Eight State Policy Framework. http://earlysuccess.org/sites/default/files/website_files/files/ChT-Alliance%20R%20at%20a%20Glance%20v9%20wactive%20links.pdf

Beaudoin-Ryan, L., Nash, R.S., & Wing, L.C. (2013). Voices of Parents on Raising and Educating Their Children from Birth to College: A Teaching Case Study (Research Report No. 3). Retrieved from the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute: http://uei.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/Birth-to-College_FinalCaseStudy_ ParentVoice.pdf

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Bryk, A.S. & Schneider, B. (2003). “Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for School Reform.” Educational Leadership, Vol. 60, No. 6, 40–45.

Fixsen, D.L., Naoom, S.F., Blase, K.A., Friedman, R.M., & Wallace, F. (2005). “Implementation Research:A Synthesis of the Literature.” Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, The National Implementation Research Network (FMHI Publication No. 231). http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/sites/nirn.fpg.unc.edu/files/resources/NIRN-MonographFull-01-2005.pdf

Hayden, P., Frederick, L., & Smith, B.J. (2003). A Roadmap for Facilitating Collaborative Teams. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

Kauerz, K., & Coffman, J. (2013). Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK–3rd Grade Approaches. Seattle: College of Education, University of Washington. http://depts.washington.edu/pthru3/PreK-3rd_Framework_Legal paper.pdf

New America Foundation. (2009). Fighting Fade-Out Through PreK-3rd Reform. http://fcd-us.org/resources/fighting-fade-out-through-prek-3rd-reform

New School Foundation and Foundation for Child Development. (2010). Prekindergarten–3rd Grade: A New Beginning for American Education. http://www.prek-3rd.org/index.html

Ping, R.M., Nash, R.S., & Wing, L.C. (2010). Working Together to Build a Birth-to-College Approach to Public Education: Forming a Partnership Between the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute and the Ounce of Prevention Fund (Research Report No. 1). Retrieved from the Foundation for Child Development: http://fcd-us.org/resources/case-study-working-together-build-birth-college-approach-public-education

PreK-3rd National Work Group. (February 29, 2012). “Progress and Possibilities: The PreK–3rd Approach” (webinar). http://www.prek-3rdgradenationalworkgroup.org/node/9

Ritchie, S., & Crawford, G. (2009). Issues in PreK–3rd education: Time is of the essence (#5) Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, FPG Child Development Institute, FirstSchool.

NOTES* These guides were organized and informed by the framework on program implementation created by

the National Implementation Research Network. “Installation” is the process of preparing to “begin implementing an evidence-based practice or program.” That is, “structural supports necessary to initiate the program are put in place (e.g., ensuring the availability of funding streams, creating reporting frameworks, outlining outcome expectations).”

1 For an in-depth discussion of alignment, including a review of possible areas of alignment, please refer to Stein, A., Beaudoin-Ryan, L., Lewandowski, H., & Rothkopf, E. (2014). Implementation Guide

For Program & School Leaders: What is birth-to-college alignment? How do school and program

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leaders get started? Retrieved from the Ounce of Prevention Fund’s Birth-to-College Collaborative website: theOunce.org/BTCToolkit and Kauerz, K., & Coffman, J. (2013). Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK-3rd Grade Approaches. Seattle: College of Education,

University of Washington. http://depts.washington.edu/pthru3/PreK-3rd_Framework_Legal paper.pdf2 For additional information on how the BTC Collaborative developed its mission, vision, and initial

goals, please refer to the teaching case study and its accompanying video entitled Working Together to Build a Birth-to-College Approach to Public Education: Forming a Partnership Between the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute and the Ounce of Prevention Fund https://uei.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/FCD%20UEI%20CaseStudy%20%231.pdf

3 “A mission statement is defined as “an announcement of what your organization or partnership does today and why it exists.” The mission statement of the BTC Collaborative is “to align and co-create instructional approaches—as well as academic and social supports—to accelerate student learning, while honoring and building upon the strengths of the families served.”

4 A vision statement is defined as “a snapshot of what your organization or partnership plans to accomplish in the future.” A vision statement takes into account the current status of the organizations, and serves to point the direction of where the partnership wishes to go. The vision statement of the

BTC Collaborative is “to build a model of public education that begins at birth and creates success in school, college and life.”

5 Ping, R.M., Nash, R.S., & Wing, L.C. (2010). Working Together to Build a Birth-to-College Approach to Public Education: Forming a Partnership Between the University of Chicago Urban Education

Institute and the Ounce of Prevention Fund (Research Report No. 1). Retrieved from the Foundation for Child Development: http://fcd-us.org/resources/case-study-working-together-build-birth-college-ap-proach-public-education

6 Kauerz, K., & Coffman, J. (2013). Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK–3rd Grade Approaches. Seattle, WA: College of Education, University of Washington.

7 Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. By strategic plan, we mean a long-term plan for alignment that will occur over a 3–5 year time period and guide the work of the partnership.8 By work plan, the authors mean a shorter-term—more “nuts & bolts”—plan for alignment that is usually

executable within a one-year time period.9 Ritchie & Crawford (2009) loosely define communities of practice in the following way: “the knowledge teachers need to teach well emanates from systematic inquiries about teaching, learners and learning, curriculum, schools and schooling. This knowledge is constructed collectively in local and

broader communities that require sustained collaboration to work on problems or issues encountered in daily practice.”

9© 2014 Ounce of Prevention Fund and Urban Education Institute. All rights reserved.theOunce.org/BTCToolkit