Introduction
In Change Package #2, Organize the Change, you will learn some key mindsets and practices that influence continuous improvement work. You will also learn the steps in the improvement process, using a theory of change The Children’s Institute has found to be common in Oregon’s early learning settings.
Learning Topics
Organizing Your Team on the Problem of Practice
Based on years of experience with Early Works and with Early School Success, Children’s Institute has prepared two different paths for your team to work on.
Example 1
Are you starting a preschool?
Do you want to partner with a preschool?
[Theory of Change diagram for each Path]
Discussion?
Example 2
Early Works Problem of Practice
Do you have preschool, but want to create better transitions and alignment with Early School Success?
[Theory of Change diagram for each Path]
Discussion?
Understanding the “Root Causes” of the Problem of Practice
Solutionitis
In public education it has been long-standing practice to identify a problem and jump to a solution, sometimes with little input from the children, families, and communities experiencing the problem. The practice of jumping to solutions is troublesome because it excludes those who are being served, especially those who are being underserved or misserved. This practice often leads to solutions that are misaligned to community needs, resulting in damaged community trust and resources wasted on a solution that does not match need. Worse yet, sometimes a solution is identified and implemented without even exploring if there is a problem. This can happen when grant funds need to be spent quickly or forfeited, an educational leader is lured by a shiny solution that had success in a different context and community, or a parent or community member has an agenda and applies pressure to school leaders or school board members. In continuous improvement circles, this practice is referred to as “solutionitis”. Like any other “-itis”, it is a disease to be avoided.
Example:
Example: The curriculum adoption process in many school districts is heavily shaped by national publishers and a statewide timeline, not an examination of what’s working, for which children, and under what conditions. Concepts and content may not incorporate the perspectives, history and traditions of local communities.
Story from Lolich
Many problems are typically solved this way. A few people determine the problem and start to implement a solution right away.
In our process we are proposing that we gather voice and perspective to understand the problem and to…
Root Cause Analysis
Many problems are typically solved this way. A few people determine the problem and start to implement a solution right away.
In our process we are proposing that we gather voice and perspective to understand the problem and to…
Example:
Problem Statement:
Parents in our community are unaware of the neurological benefits of early learning programs.
Not Problem Statements:
Why doesn’t our community support early learning?
Children come to kindergarten unprepared.
Tip: Identify each root cause on a separate sticky note, or the virtual equivalent.
Story
Bathroom Mural story where at first with vandalism it was more punishment, monitoring, etc
.
The root cause they were working on was about addressing emotional disinvestment in the school. In other words, the teachers were focused on creating joy and engagement. The idea they came up with was designing and creating a bathroom mural.
This addressed the root cause and brought students and teachers into the problem solving process, rather than just describing or solving the problem among a few administrators.
Protocol
Root Cause Analysis
Empathy
Empathy Interviews
Now that the team has deeply unpacked the problem they are trying to solve, it is time to consider other perspectives. The team should ask, “What would those who are most impacted by this problem say about the root causes?” The team should consider the perspectives of children, families and community members, especially those who have been underserved and underrepresented. One method to engage others to weigh in on the problem is through a process called empathy interviews. Empathy interviews are a process to listen to and understand the perspectives, feelings and experiences of other people. The goal is not just to better understand the problem, but to connect with individuals experiencing the problem and using their experiences and wisdom when developing a solution. The focus bone helps shape and narrow the questions asked during the empathy interviews. It is critical for the interviewees to enter this process in the spirit of listening, learning and relationship building. Trust must be established and the interviewee must be very clear with the participant about confidentiality and how the interview data will be used. Treating this process as a transaction or misusing the information shared is harmful and tokenizing to the person being interviewed.
Our colleagues at Community Design Partners wrote a fantastic article in Learning Forward about empathy interviews that will help teams understand the purpose and prepare for the process. Read it here:
https://learningforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/tool-empathy-interviews.pdf
In advance of empathy interviews and observations, we recommend setting up a central data collection tool such as google forms. A central system will make later analysis of empathy data much easier.
Tips
is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s
Empathy Observations
If the root cause you are addressing requires gaining empathy for young children, empathy interviews are not likely to yield rich data that will help enrich your understanding of the problem. Gaining empathy for young children is also not a social norm in that young children are not often treated with respect, and their voices are not often included in problem solving.
Young children, however, are quite capable in communicating complex ideas and sharing their thoughts if the structure and format for their participation is done in a way that is developmentally appropriate* (define).
Young children are more likely to show you or demonstrate to you what they are thinking. When asked an empathy interview-style question, their responses are likely to be short and may not include a detailed story which is what empathy interviews are designed to do.
Protocol
Empathy Observations
Developing an Aim Statement and Theory of Change
Aligning Needs Statements to the Fishbone Diagram
The final step of this process is to map the needs statements back to the theory of change. Next, the team uses a structured process to determine which need to focus on first. One structure that is helpful to make this determination is to use an Effort/Impact matrix.
Team members use dots on the matrix to determine the impact and effort involved in addressing each need, and start with the highest impact, lowest effort need. Another simple structure is to allot a certain number of stars (high priority) and hearts (important) to each team member and allow them to vote on the needs they would like to address by placing their stars and hearts on a chart.
Change Idea
Once a need is established, an educator or group should determine a small change to address this need. The change should be small enough that an educator can implement it within a few days, easily measure the changes impact, 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.
Test the Change
Another thing for educators to keep in mind is that we are testing if the change is an improvement. In order to know this, we must keep consistent data on both process and outcomes.
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-subject?
This might be measured by focusing on 1-2 pairs in the classroom including students who have struggled the most with oral vocabulary.
By testing first, we learn a tremendous amount about the conditions for success.
Tips & Recommendations
- Spreadsheet for outreach
- Spreadsheet for data collection
- Empathy interviews take on average 20 minutes to conduct. Analysis should take 2-3 hours once all data is collected.
- Data saturation can happen after 3-5 interviews. The goal isn’t completion it’s to gain insight for people who have been surviving and people who have been thriving.
Discussion and Reflection Questions
- TBD