Workshop 1: Focusing on Strategies for Long-Term Success

1. Please sit with your state/territory team members Workshop 1: Focusing on Strategies for Long-Term Success • 2016 SLDS Best Practices Conference • February 3, 2016

2. Welcome! Please introduce yourself • Name • Role • State/territory you represent

3. Workshop Purpose Today’s workshops are meant to help you: Think about the long term • How can you ensure that the SLDS efforts stay relevant, viable, and useful? Translate your state-specific challenges into strategies to be put into practice • How do you strategically address barriers to being successful in the long run? • What have other states done that may be applicable to your situation?

4. Workshop 1 Approach You will be working in multi-state teams to solve a problem as if you were a single state. Each team will receive a scenario. Your team’s job will be to use the actual roles of your team members to address the scenario. Each team will present its approach to the scenario and receive feedback.

5. Looking Ahead: Workshop 2 This afternoon, we will Build upon the scenarios discussed and shared in Workshop 1 Consider your own state-specific challenges and root causes Strategize your solutions as a state team Receive feedback from other states

6. Scenarios The scenarios you will be working through are common, real-world challenges to the success of SLDS efforts. They are meant to help you think through strategies to effectively navigate the work in the long term. Changes in Leadership: That’s Not What the Data Say Collaboration & Control: Ready! Set! Wait … Funding Your SLDS: Desperately Seeking Support

7. Instructions: Begin by working on your own During the first five minutes: Think about the scenario and consider the questions below from your own perspective. Jot down some notes to share with your group. • What is/are the problem(s) in this scenario? • What are the symptoms of the problem(s)? • Why are these problematic? • What do you consider to be the root or cause of the problem(s)? • What else do you need to know to ensure that you understand the issue?

8. Instructions: Follow with Team Work Use your individual responses to discuss and determine as a group • The problem • The root cause of the problem • Your assumptions about the scenario • The most effective strategies to address the problem Discuss a course of action and prepare a five-minutepresentation that addresses the questions above. Your group presenter(s) should identify the roles of the team members.

9. Share Out by Scenario: 10 min per team One team will share its approach, followed by the other team that received the same scenario. Share the real-life roles of the team members. Explain the root cause of the scenario. Describe your assumptions. Present strategies for addressing the problem, and how they would address the root cause. As the team presents, members of the second group with the same scenario should be prepared to respond with • The strongest aspects of the presentation • The biggest unanswered question or gap

10. Wrap Up During Workshop 2 this afternoon The remaining two teams will present their scenarios We will build upon the scenarios addressed You will consider your own challenges to long-term success and their root causes You will develop solutions with your state team and receive feedback from other participants

11. Workshop 2: Focusing on Strategies for Long-Term Success • 2016 SLDS Best Practices Conference • February 3, 2016

12. Workshop 2 In this session The remaining two teams will present We will build upon the scenarios addressed You will consider your own challenges to long-term success and their root causes You will develop solutions with your state team and receive feedback from other participants

13. Share Out by Scenario: 10 min per team One team will share its approach, followed by the other team that received the same scenario. Share the real-life roles of the team members. Explain the root cause of the scenario. Describe your assumptions. Present strategies for addressing the problem, and how they would address the root cause. As the team presents, members of the second group with the same scenario should be prepared to respond with • The strongest aspects of the presentation • The biggest unanswered question or gap

14. Debrief and Discuss Within your cross-state team, discuss the process that was used to address your scenario (5 min). Be prepared to share. How easy was it to develop strategies for your scenario? Have you experienced similar scenarios in your state? What were your challenges in coming up with viable strategies? Did you have the right people in your group? What would have made it easier to get to a solution for the scenario? How could the strategies support sustainability?

15. Elements of Sustainability Sustainability is the capacity to support a system or program over time with sufficient financial and human resources to meet current and future needs. … [Data system] sustainability is composed of four foundational aspects: broad and deep stakeholder support; widespread data use; long-term commitments of fiscal and human resources; and demonstrated return on investment. Cochenour, M., Chatis, C., Sellers, J., and Taylor, R. (2014). Early Childhood Integrated Data System Toolkit. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 16, 2015 from https://slds.grads360.org/#program/ecids-toolkit.

16. Barriers to SLDS Sustainability and Your State As a state/territory team, consider the four elements of sustainability Which of the four is the biggest challenge or risk to sustainability? Identify the root cause of this challenge. Describe some of the context or contributing factors. List any strategies you have already attempted. Write out your responses on your large sheet of paper with your state or territory name.

17. An Example: State of: Elation Biggest challenge or risk to sustainability: Ensuring widespread use. We have some early adopters of the SLDS who say they are using the reports, but our usage statistics are low and spotty. We can’t seem to generate broader interest in the reports and dashboards we’ve released. Root causes: We don’t have a common vision among the agency leadership and SLDS team for what widespread use of SLDS data means or looks like. We shared draft versions of the reports and dashboards with a focus group of our users before releasing them, but didn’t interact much with the users prior to (or after) that. Context and contributing factors: Agency leadership has been pretty hands off with the SLDS effort – leaving it to the implementation team. Strategies attempted: We have training videos on how to use the SLDS and the report from it on our website We offer users on-site training on the system, if they request it We insert reference to the SLDS dashboards & reports in regular communications that go out to our users

18. Gallery Walk Travel around the room as a state/territory team and review the other posters Put a Post-It note with your state abbreviation on other posters that have the same challenge to sustainability as you. Write a brief summary on other posters of a successful strategy that you have implemented to address the challenge. Include your state/territory abbreviation. Once you have provided feedback around the room, take a look at the comments provided for your poster.

19. Gallery Walk Discussion We will debrief and discuss the trends that emerged from the gallery walk. As we discuss, think about what you hear. Take notes based on the discussion so you can give a two-minute statement about what you learned and what you will do when you return to the office.

20. Moving Forward What have you learned? What will you do first?

21. Reminders Evening activities Demonstration kiosks start tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. • The District of Columbia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, and NCES will have kiosks • See conference program for details This presentation and materials are in the SLDS Best Practices Conference Community of Practice workspace on GRADS360° If you have questions, contact your SST POC or support@sst-slds.org