Once a need is established, the team should design and determine a small change to test that can start to address this need. Be sure that anyone expected to participate in a test of the change idea is part of the design. The change should be small enough that an educator can implement it within a few days, easily measure the impact of the change, and know within 3-6 weeks if the change should be adopted, adapted, or abandoned.
Because testing a change this small tends to be counter-cultural in education, there are a few useful mindsets to consider. The first mindset is to keep the change small. In the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, the author identifies the importance of tiny changes to create lasting impact. We use the metaphor of grain size. Often educators want to overhaul the entire grain silo. We encourage them to think about a tiny bushel, or even each grain, as a tiny change.
To help you plan and test your change idea we propose using a simple planning sheet that will help your team get specific about your idea. This planning sheet is broken down into 3 sections as seen in the example below.
Section A: The Idea
Get clear on what specifically you want to try by taking your prioritized ideas from conceptual to specific. When you can clearly predict the impact of your idea on the needs you are addressing, your planning will become more intentional and your data collection methods will more easily fall into place. Remember, we are hoping that our ideas and actions are not just different but result in an improvement.
Example:
Change Idea Concept: Give children an opportunity to express themselves
Specifically, our idea is to: Provide sidewalk chalk to a group of children to put a piece of art on the common walkway at the entrance of the school
The goal of the change idea: If we allow children to share who they are through art, we predict there will be an increased sense of belonging throughout our school community.
Section B: The Plan
Remember to start small and then grow the idea as you learn. Build out a plan with as much detail as possible. This will help you stay organized and will also help you make adaptations to your idea after you have tried it and collected data to analyze.
Example:
Who: Children in first grade to start
What: Each class will get a bucket of sidewalk chalk and guidance to “Stay positive and express yourself!”
Where and When: September 13, 20, 27. We will divide each 1st-grade classroom into three groups, using parent volunteers and support staff to supervise the activity. Each group will spend 15 minutes after lunch on their assigned date decorating a portion of the walkway into the school.
How:
- Alicia will buy 12 buckets of sidewalk chalk from Dollar Tree
- Devon, Alicia, and Mario will pitch the idea to the Principal
- Alexander and Ale will check in with each 1st-grade teacher this week to explain the idea and coordinate times
- Only those with teachers who agree will participate
Section C: Data and Measurement
How will you know if your prediction came true? There are many different ways to collect data as you test your idea. You can send an electronic survey, post a piece of chart paper in the front of your classroom and have children mark their responses, or interview those who participated. The key is to keep it simple and collect only the data you need.
Example:
Who will we collect data from? Children in first grade who participated
When will we collect the data? In the first week of October
What data collection method will we use? We will survey the children orally; an adult will use a Google Form to capture responses.
What are the questions we are going to ask?
The survey will include these statements:
- I was able to express myself during the sidewalk chalk activity (not at all, a little, somewhat, very much)
- I learned something new about someone by looking at the sidewalk chalk expressions (not at all, a little, somewhat, very much)
- I would like to see this activity continue and spread (yes, no). Why?
- I think this activity built a sense of community or belonging (not at all, a little, somewhat, very much)
Keep in mind that we are testing if a change is an improvement. In order to know this, we must keep consistent data on both process and outcomes. For example, if an educator is testing a new pair-share strategy, the process measure might be: Did the educator implement the pair-share strategy (daily, weekly, or on any agreed-upon schedule)? The outcome measure might be: Did students talk more? Did they stay on topic? This might be measured by focusing on 1-2 pairs in the classroom including students who have struggled the most with oral vocabulary.
The obvious benefit of testing a small change is that it mitigates cost – both in educator energy and in school and district resources. Full-scale adoption of a change, without knowing if it works, for whom, and under what conditions, is expensive. By testing first, we learn a tremendous amount about the conditions for success.
Continuous Cycles
The term “continuous improvement” implies that testing ideas and learning from them never stops. Once a change idea cycle is complete, a new cycle starts. Following the adopt, adapt, abandon guidance, new cycles may build upon what has already been tested, or may start in an entirely new content area or grade level. The beauty of this process is its flexible nature.