OER Institute Self-Assessment, Vision-Setting, and Planning Resources CC BYCC BY Achieve 2013

OER InstituteSelf-Assessment, Vision-Setting,

and Planning Resources

CC BY Achieve 2013

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

• These slides and related documents are based on exercises completed by seven states at the Open Educational Resources (OER) Institute in Chicago in November 2012

• Information and exercises were created by Achieve and the U.S. Education Delivery Institute (EDI), to help states consider their current progress and begin to create a plan for implementing OER

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Introduction

For this effort, we suggest that there are five key areas on which to focus your planning

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Setting a vision for OER

Creating a plan for implementation

Building an OER system

Communicating with and training educators

Monitoring progress and collecting feedback

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The OER Planning Framework includes templates to accompany the enclosed exercises to help your state begin to create a plan. These slides are meant to provide you with key definitions and ideas for completing the exercises.

The planning framework is organized as follows:I. Reflecting on the current progress of OER initiatives – p.2II. Setting a vision for OER – p.4III. Creating a plan for implementation and building the OER system – p. 6IV. Communicating with and training educators – p. 12V. Monitoring progress and collecting feedback – p. 16

To help you consider your plans…

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Self-assessment……………………………………………….Slide 6Setting a vision for OER…………………………………….Slide 9Creating a plan for implementation………………….Slide 19Building an OER system…………………………………….Slide 35Communicating with and training educators…….Slide 39Monitoring progress and collecting feedback……Slide 46Identifying next steps……………………………………….Slide 52

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Table of Contents

Begin by reflecting on the status of current OER work, using the following self-assessment

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Vote 1-4 indicating the extent to which you agree with the statements below (1=Strongly Disagree; 4= Strongly Agree)


• We have a clear idea of what we want to do regarding Open Educational Resources• We understand how we expect OER to impact classrooms and how OER fit into our larger plans

for implementation of college and career ready standards• The necessary people know, understand, and share our vision for our state’s OER system


• We have identified the most important stakeholders to be engaged and informed of OER; we know what our key messages will be and have considered how those messages will reach each of our stakeholder groups

• We have considered how we will communicate the availability of the tool and train those in the field on using the technology and assessing quality


• We have mechanisms in place to regularly monitor our progress on implementing our OER plan• We have identified feedback loops to collect information as to whether OER are having their

intended impact in the field


• We have a clear plan for gathering materials, defining and ensuring quality, and making materials available to educators

• The plan includes a clear timeline for implementation and we have adequate resources to implement it

• The plan has a clear owner and the relevant people know and understand the plan

Self-Assessment: Our Current Status on OER Initiatives


• We have created or have access to a venue for sharing open educational resources• We have identified sources and methods for collecting and/or creating appropriate open

educational resources• We know how we will assess the quality of resources (including rubrics, responsible parties)• We understand how our OER system will interact with those in other states

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What How Materials

▪Review the first row of the self-assessment and consider where your state falls on a scale of 1-4.

▪Individually ▪Self-assessment (slide 7)

▪Planning framework template p. 3

▪5

Time

Exercise: Reflect on the current status of OER initiatives

▪Discuss your votes and your rationale and try to come to consensus about the state’s current progress.

▪In state teams ▪10

▪Repeat the process with the remaining four rows of the self-assessment.

▪In state teams ▪25

▪Reflect on your final votes, discuss: ▪In state teams ▪10

▪Do they indicate any particular areas of strength for your team?

▪Any challenges?

▪Based on these results, where should your team focus your work moving forward?


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A strong vision has several important characteristics:

• It is lofty or ambitious in nature

• It creates a sense of urgency among stakeholders

• Leaders believe it is attainable

• It captures the moral imperative of the work

• It can be summarized into one or more metrics that can be tracked over time

• It is shared widely and at all levels

A vision will help you answer the question “what are we trying to do?”

1 Setting a vision for OER

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Specific• Does it have a clear definition?• Is it straightforward to understand?• Can it be easily generated without complex calculations?

Measurable• Is it easy to measure? Do people agree on measurement?• Do we have or can we collect the data required?• Can it be benchmarked against outside data?

Realistic• Is it connected to the strategy?• Are there benchmarks that suggest a target like this has been

achieved elsewhere?

Timely• Does it have a clear deadline?• Can it be measured at a frequency that will allow us to solve

problems and track success?

Ambitious• Does the target feel like a “stretch” from the current level of

performance?• Will it inspire your system to rise to a new challenge?

And can be translated into targets that are SMART


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Donald Berwick, doctor and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI):

“Here is what I think we should do. I think we should save 100,000 lives. And I think we should to that by June 14, 2006 – 18 months from today. Some is not a number; soon is not a time. Here’s the number: 100,000. Here’s the time: June 14, 2006 – 9 a.m.”


For example…

12Source: Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Switch, 2010, p.19-21.

IHI recommended six specific interventions for hospitals to help them achieve that vision.

Donald Berwick on June 14, 2006, at 9:00 a.m.:

“Hospitals enrolled in the 100,000 Lives Campaign have collectively prevented an estimated 122,300 avoidable deaths and, as importantly, have begun to institutionalize new standards of care that will continue to save lives and improve health outcomes in the future.”


For example…

13Source: Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Switch, 2010, p.19-21.

Vision Statement

▪A vision statement is inspirational and tells you where work is headed.

▪It communicates the aspiration, purpose, and values.

▪It answers the questions:

– What are we trying to do?

– Why are you doing what you are doing?

– What will be the impact on teachers and students?

Mission Statement

▪A mission statement describes the fundamental purpose and primary objectives.

▪It articulates purpose and defines how that purpose will be achieved.

▪It answers the questions:

– How do we intend to achieve our vision?

– What does the work look like?

– What are the key measures of success?

A vision is notably different than a mission statement


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Hilton Worldwide: Our vision is to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.

Nike:

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.*

*If you have a body, you are an athlete.

Marine Corps:

The Marine Corps of 2025 will fight and win our Nation’s battles with multicapable MAGTFs, either from the sea or in sustained operations ashore. Our unique role as the Nation’s force in readiness, along with our values, enduring ethos, and core competencies, will ensure we remain highly responsive to the needs of combatant commanders in an uncertain environment and against Irregular threats. Our future Corps will be increasingly reliant on naval deployment, preventative in approach, leaner in equipment, versatile in capabilities, and innovative in mindset. In an evolving and complex world, we will excel as the Nation’s expeditionary “force of choice.”

Additional examples of vision statements


15Source: http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/about/mission/; http://nikeinc.com/pages/about-nike-inc; http://www.quantico.usmc.mil

Arkansas’s Vision for Common Core:

All students in every Arkansas classroom will be engaged daily in rigorous learning experiences that build on students’ talents, challenge their skills and understandings, and develop their ability to reason, problem solve, collaborate, and communicate. Students will monitor their learning and direct their thinking to become productive and contributing team members. Students will grapple with complex texts and problems, construct viable arguments, and persist until solutions are identified and substantiated. Through these learning experiences, students will be confident in their preparation for success in their post-school lives, including college and career.

Adults who are also continuously learning will support students as they prepare for college and careers. They will understand the purpose of and utilize formative assessments to provide feedback and support to student learners. Instruction will be founded on best practices grounded in research or evidence. Stakeholders will convey and support the vision by providing learning opportunities through in-school and out-of-school settings that strengthen and assist student learners.

Additional examples of vision statements


16Source: http://commoncore.aetn.org/strategic-plan/CCSS%20Vision%20and%20Principles.pdf

A strong vision has several important characteristics:

The vision and the associated activities you expect will achieve your vision will become the foundation of your plan


Vision

Activ

ity

Activ

ity

Activ

ity

Activ

ity

Activ

ity

Activ

ity

Activ

ity

Plan

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Then complete the activity…

Exercise: Setting or articulating a vision for OER in your state

▪Keeping in mind the state’s current work on instructional materials, reflect on your ideal vision of OER in your state. Record your answer on a sticky note.

▪Discuss the various responses, what you like about others, and what you would change. Try to unite them into one common vision for your state and record that.

First, discuss…

▪Discuss in your state team and record notes on p.5 of the Planning Framework template:

▪What impact do you expect OER to have on teachers? On students?

▪How will you measure success for each group?

▪Who do you need to share this vision with?

▪How will you get them to buy in to the vision?

▪What plans and priorities already exist that you know of about curriculum, instructional materials, assessments, accountability, Race to the Top, etc.?

▪Are there opportunities to coordinate the OER work with these existing plans?


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“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”-

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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2 Creating a plan for implementation

We believe that a plan is necessary for successful implementation

A strong implementation plan should…

• Articulate a vision

• Identify the relevant strategies or activities

• Assign leadership

• Set targets and milestones

• Identify the chain through which strategies must reach the field

• Anticipate and prepare for risks

• Identify feedback loops for managing performance

• Describe the resources and support required

Characteristics of a strong implementation plan


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You have already started the vision piece of this work


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▪What portal or venue will you use to share resources? Is there an existing venue you can use?

▪How will you handle licensing/copyright? How “open” will materials be?

▪How will you address technology infrastructure challenges?

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▪How will you gather/create materials?▪How will you work with vendors in the environment of openness and

common standards?

▪How will you define quality? What rubrics will you use?▪How will you evaluate quality? Who will be responsible for

evaluating?

▪How will you work within or address curriculum and textbook adoption policies and funding restrictions?

▪Do you plan to collaborate and share resources with other states? If so, how?

Resources

Quality

Policy

Potential Collaboration

Access

It may help to consider these questions when creating your activities


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How Materials

▪Brainstorm: What are the major strategies or activities we have or need to put in place in order to achieve our OER vision

– Use the list of questions in the planning framework template p. 7 as a guide

▪Discuss the following:

▪In state teams

Exercise: Identifying and addressing our planning challenges

What

▪What policy barriers might we face in implementing these activities?

▪What other barriers or challenges are associated with each?

▪Keeping in mind the cross-state sessions, what key actions might we take to address those challenges?

▪What allies or stakeholders should we call upon?

▪Planning framework template

p. 7










You’re now a step closer to building a strong plan


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A delivery chain is the set of actors (people or organizations), and the relationships between them, through which a given system activity will be implemented.

A delivery chain has one question at its core: Starting from the policy intent of a leader in your system and ending with the front-line behaviors and practices that this policy is designed to influence, how – and through whom – does a system activity actually happen?

A delivery chain will help you explore the activities in your plan more deeply


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State Region/ County District School Classroom

Chief

Curriculum/ instruction team

TeachersPLC Facilitators

Principals

Curriculum directors

Regional committees

Sample delivery chain: Professional Development for CCSS

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1

15 150 400

700

65,000

The first step in constructing the delivery chain is to identify all of the key actors



Chief



PrincipalsCurriculum directors

Regional committees


1

1 15 150

400

400

65,000

Next, draw the single most important line of influence between the system and the student

Manage

Train

by 9

/20

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Train

by 1

2/2

01

1

Train

by 5

/20

12

Train

by 9

/20

13

Teachers

65,000

Be sure to identify the specific relationships represented by the arrows


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Chief



PrincipalsCurriculum directors

Regional committees


1

1 15 150

400

400

65,000

Then, identify and draw secondary lines connecting other actors that need to be involved

Manage

Train

by 9

/20

11

Train

by 1

2/2

01

1

Train

by 5

/20

12

Train

by 9

/20

13

Teachers

65,000

Approved providers

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PD instructors

25

Contract by

6/2012Manage

Teachers

65,000

Train by 9/2013

Principals

700

Give incentives to choose “approved” providers by 9/2011

Approve by

9/2011













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Weaknesses in chain Potential solutionsIndividual relationships

• Weak personal relationships• Low leverage

• Identify and replicate stronger relationships of this type

• Identify alternate routes to the end of the chain

Complexity • Too many actors necessary to get something done

• “Rationalize” chain• Identify alternate routes to the end of the

chain

Funding flows • Mismatch between resource flows and delivery chain

• Redesign chain to take advantage of leverage from resource flows

Feedback loops

• Few or no feedback loops • Create feedback loops• Use feedback loops to exert influence

Choke points • Over-reliance on a few key actors

• Build capacity/cooperation of key actors• Identify alternate routes to the end of the

chain

Once created, the delivery chain can help you with other parts of the planning process, such a identifying challenges


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How

▪Identify one key activity on which your team will focus

▪Identify the beginning and the end of the delivery chain for that activity, record them on cards or sticky notes

▪Brainstorm the other actors in the chain, record them on cards or sticky notes

▪Draw lines indicating the relationship between each; describe the relationships between each

▪Discuss:

▪In state teams

Exercise: Creating a delivery chain for one key activity

What

▪Are there any potential areas of weakness in the chain? Chokepoints? Broken connections?

▪How would you address those challenges?

▪Colored cards or sticky notes

▪Markers

▪Flipchart paper

Materials Time

▪60












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How

▪For each of the priority activities you identified in Exercise IIIa, identify:

– Responsible owners

– Methods for reaching the field (delivery chain)

– Methods for measuring success

– Potential risks or challenges and plans for mitigating them

– Necessary resources

– Connection to the broader work of implementing college and career ready standards

▪In state teams

Exercise: Describing your activities

What

▪Flip chart paper

▪Markers

▪Planning framework template p.9

Materials Time

▪60

• The timeline will help you monitor whether your plan is on-track• It may be useful to start with an end date, then work backward

from there• Consider the following when establishing your timeline:

– Are any of your activities time-sensitive?– What timelines already exist for rolling out instructional

materials or professional development that you should be aware of?

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Finally, you should articulate the timeline – including key milestones – for your OER project

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How

▪For your overall plan, consider and record on the template:

– Who is responsible for the overall OER strategy?

– What is the timeline for implementing priority activities?

▪In state teams

Exercise: Plotting your timeline

What

▪Flip chart paper

▪Markers


Materials Time

▪60


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From making decisions about:

▪Access▪Resources▪Quality▪Policy▪Potential collaboration

This involves taking each element of your plan and putting it into action

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Finally, you will begin to put your plan into action

To creating, communicating, and changing:▪Access▪Resources▪Quality▪Policy▪Potential collaboration


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4 Communicating with and training educators

Consider what you want educators to be able to do, then consider how you can train them accordingly

• What role do you want teachers to play?

• Will they need to evaluate resources?

• Contribute resources?

• Access?

• What role do you want school and district leaders to play?

• Will they need to train teachers?

• Spread awareness of OER?

• Are there other educators who need to be involved? How?

Questions to consider

What will each group need to know and be able to do in order to fulfill those roles?

• Therefore what kind of training will each need?

• What training opportunities already exist or are scheduled that you can build upon?

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Then consider other stakeholders who need to be aware of OER

Types of stakeholders Questions to consider

▪Internal (inside your agency)

▪External (other players at the state level)

▪The field (players in the delivery chain)

▪Who is directly responsible for helping the work get done?

▪Who has indirect influence on the work or is influenced by it?

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Tailor your communications approach based on the stakeholders current level of support

Low

What is their level of support?

High

Ho

w c

riti

cal a

re t

hey

to

th

e w

ork

?

Hig

hL

ow

▪Invest to win them over

▪Make them your champions

▪Make sure they do not block the effort

▪Reach out if it will be helpful

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When tailoring your message to stakeholders, consider the following questions

1. Why are we changing?

2. Where are we going?

3. What will it change?

4. Why choose this course?

5. What does this mean for you?

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How

▪Consider how teachers should be engaged in the OER work:

– What role do you want them to play?

– What do they need to know, understand, or be able to do in order to play that role?

– What kind of training do they need in order to play that role? Are there existing training opportunities you can take advantage of?

▪Repeat the process for school and district leaders

▪Consider any other groups that will play key roles and need to be trained

▪In state teams

Exercise: Identifying the key roles of educators and planning to train them

What

▪Flip chart paper

▪Markers


Materials Time

▪60

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How

▪Brainstorm the stakeholders who will need to be aware of OER or communicated with in some way

▪For each stakeholder, identify:

– What is this stakeholder’s current level of engagement? High, medium, or low?

– Ideally, what would the engagement of this stakeholder look like?

– How will you engage this stakeholder?

– What is your core message to this stakeholder?

– How will you know the messages are reaching the stakeholder?

▪In state teams

Exercise: Planning for communications to key stakeholders

What

▪Flip chart paper

▪Markers


Materials Time

▪60


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Description Sample metrics

Processes and milestones

Extent to which the processes and milestones occur as they were intended to do

▪OER system available to educators when planned

▪Number of teachers and/or principals receiving training on OER

User satisfaction

Extent to which front line and/or end users have a positive view of the strategy’s impact on their work

▪Number of teachers and/or principals expressing satisfaction with available open educational resources

Impact on student outcomes

Extent to which students who are exposed to changed practices demonstrate better results than those who are not

▪Formative or summative assessment data, comparing teachers who regularly use OER with those who do not

Change in front line practice

Extent to which those near the “end” of the delivery chain change their practices as intended by the strategy

▪Self-reporting or observations of changed practice by teachers who use OER (versus those who have not)

▪Self-reporting of use of OER by teachers who received training (versus those who have not)

There are four main types of metrics that you can use to measure progress

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5 Monitoring progress and collecting feedback

Example measures from delivery chain (professional development, see slide 28-30) Potential ways to collect data

Number of districts undergoing training1 ▪Fold into district monthly reporting

Number of teachers trained by school officials2 ▪Fold into district monthly reporting▪Collect directly from schools

Number of teachers trained by approved providers

3 ▪ Include a requirement for reporting on this information in vendor contracts

Number of teachers satisfied with training4 ▪Add relevant questions to existing school climate survey

Number of teachers trained whose observed practices are changing

5 ▪Extrapolate from sample focus groups of principals, as well as existing principal advisory group

Difference in formative assessment gains for students with trained teachers vs. untrained

6 ▪Formative assessment data combined with survey self-reporting of adoption in classrooms

You can use the delivery chain you created earlier to inform the type of data you want to collect


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▪ Regularly scheduled checkpoints to assess if implementation is on track

▪ Engine that drives the work forward: Without routines, the work could stall or eventually fall off the agenda

▪ A source of structure and discipline to create order in complicated implementation work

▪ Monitor performance: Understand if the work is on track to deliver on the vision, based on data on implementation milestones and student outcomes

▪ Diagnose problems: Surface issues that are inhibiting progress and analyze data to pinpoint causes

▪ Address problems: Provide a venue to discuss and decide how to overcome challenges

What purpose do routines serve?

What are routines?

Once you have established metrics, you should consider how you will review progress on those metrics

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Routines are a good way to regularly monitor progress

▪Agreeing on a common purpose– Goals and outcomes (particularly teacher or student outcomes) anchor the

discussion– Agenda, key messages and discussion questions, and relevant data are clear,

concise, and well-prepared▪Arriving at a shared view of performance and progress

– A wide range of evidence is presented in a way that is clear, sharp, and consistent, including:▫Outcome data▫Leading indicator data▫Evidence on the quality of implementation

▪ Identifying and solving problems– All participants reflect on what barriers exist and what it will take to overcome

them▪Encouraging learning and collaboration

– Opportunities exist for learning and sharing across peers, including common challenges and best practices

▪ Identifying and committing to clear next steps– Next steps with responsible parties are identified– Next steps are tracked and become evidence of progress and performance in

future routines

Characteristics of strong routines

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How

▪Consider how you will measure the success of your OER work overall (should be inspired by the vision)

▪Determine any feedback loops you will use to know whether your activities are having their intended impact (should be pulled from the individual activity descriptions (Exercise IIIb), if you have completed them

▪Discuss:

– How often will we check in on our success?

– How will we check in (in person, by email, written note, phone call, other)?

– Who should be involved in these check-ins?

– Who is responsible?

– What data will be reviewed?

▪In state teams

Exercise: Discussing methods for monitoring progress and collecting feedback

What

▪Flip chart paper

▪Markers


Materials Time

▪80

How Materials

▪Reflect on your discussions you have had while completing these exercises:

– What are our immediate next steps to complete this plan and put it into action?

– Are there particular people we need to talk to? Discussions to have? Decisions to be made?

– Who is responsible for ensuring these next steps are completed? Are there deadlines?

▪ In state teams ▪15

Time

Exercise: Identifying our next steps

What▪Flip chart paper

Achieve and EDI created a workbook for Common Core implementation more broadly, which has additional narrative, examples, and exercises for planning and implementation:http://www.achieve.org/ImplementingCommonCore

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A reference for more information

http://www.achieve.org/ImplementingCommonCore

http://www.achieve.org/ImplementingCommonCore

Thank you!

www.achieve.org

www.deliveryinstitute.org

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http://www.achieve.org/

http://www.deliveryinstitute.org/

Documents

OER Institute Self-Assessment, Vision-Setting, and Planning Resources CC BYCC BY Achieve 2013