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“You have to start before you feel ready. Your understanding of the problem will change over time and when you act on that problem the problem will change and so your understanding of that problem will change."

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“You have to start before you feel ready. Your understanding of the problem will change over time and when you act on that problem the problem will change and so your understanding of that problem will change."

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This can be scary for administrators when they do not feel ready to implement strategies. However, like the quote said, "You have to start before you feel ready." We will learn from our journey and make changes along the way. Jump in!

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"The biggest strength of continuous improvement is that it offers a path for systemic change, a way to build the capacity within the system, rather than building whole new systems."

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"The biggest strength of continuous improvement is that it offers a path for systemic change, a way to build the capacity within the system, rather than building whole new systems."

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So often in education, the pendulum swings and we throw the baby out with the bath water.  Continuous improvement is all about taking small, strategic actions that build up, potentially creating monumental positive change over time.

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"Empower those within a system to see themselves as the drivers of change"

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"Empower those within a system to see themselves as the drivers of change"

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This was a meaningful statement to me because I think that often educators in a large system feel powerless in decisions around change. Teachers can feel like administrators make those decisions for them. We try to involve them in the process but that often feels like a box that we are checking. It would be huge to have them feel empowered in this process of change.

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“Most schools and districts plan plan plan, then do, and then they never study,” Biag said.

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“Most schools and districts plan plan plan, then do, and then they never study,” Biag said.

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This resonated with me because a lot of times we don't collect relevant data to check the effectiveness of the measures we are implementing. So we don't truly know how successful these plans or programs are in supporting our students.

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Have humility - we don't have all the answers.

Get teachers involved identifying and solving problems and practice that matter to them.

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"People learn how to think about continuous improvement through the process of doing it. They get better at narrowing in on motivating, but achievable aim statements. They learn to include more voices in the information gathering stage. The “Plan, Do, Study, Act” cycles become second nature, and analyzing data gets less scary."   This resonates with me because we so often live in the "urgency of now", reacting to problems. I like to employ a strategy I learned from Brene Brown, where everyone at the able starts by writing what they feel is the problem. It's amazing how our perspectives differ. WIthout this process, we may be working at odds.

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"People learn how to think about continuous improvement through the process of doing it. They get better at narrowing in on motivating, but achievable aim statements. They learn to include more voices in the information gathering stage. The “Plan, Do, Study, Act” cycles become second nature, and analyzing data gets less scary."   This resonates with me because we so often live in the "urgency of now", reacting to problems. I like to employ a strategy I learned from Brene Brown, where everyone at the able starts by writing what they feel is the problem. It's amazing how our perspectives differ. WIthout this process, we may be working at odds.

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Understanding the problem requires valuing many types of knowledge. It means doing empathy interviews with participants int he system including teachings, staff, parents and students. 

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Understanding the problem requires valuing many types of knowledge. It means doing empathy interviews with participants int he system including teachings, staff, parents and students. 

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It is critical that I speak with students more often. I find that we tend to listen to adults and I need to do more to create conditions for student voice to be amplified.

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It is important to investigate those who are already achieving the desired result and learn from them.

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Do all of our teachers, students, and parents fully understand the problem we are trying to address and the urgency of that problem? Past successes in our district create an immunity to change that might be hampering that understanding and urgency.

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You have to have a lot of humility to come to the realization that you don’t have the answers, and that you’re going to learn your way into this,

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You have to have a lot of humility to come to the realization that you don’t have the answers, and that you’re going to learn your way into this,

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"Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem. "

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"Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem. "

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It is so important to listen and observe and empathize before moving forward with solutions.

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Understanding the.problem requires valuing many types of knowledge. Implanting some change ideas helps inform the problem.

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"Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem."

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"Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem."

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People learn how to think about continuous improvement through the process of doing it. 

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People learn how to think about continuous improvement through the process of doing it. 

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I reflect on this and how starting with data, trying out and asking questions and making tweaks, getting survey information from students, parents and staff is vey helpful.

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"Identifying and Solving Problems of Practice That Matter To Them"

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"Identifying and Solving Problems of Practice That Matter To Them"

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Creating a democratic process in which teachers are involved in identifying & solving problems of practice that matter to them.

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"Understanding the problem requires valuing many types of knowledge. It means doing empathy interviews with participants in the system including teachers, staff, parents, and students."

When we are engaging our stakeholders, are we truly listening or are we listening to what we want, need or expect to hear?

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You’ve got to think about this as a learning journey. If you really had the answers to this problem we wouldn’t be talking about it.

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You’ve got to think about this as a learning journey. If you really had the answers to this problem we wouldn’t be talking about it.

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I always try to engage with the journey and not get too tied into a certain destination or outcome.

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Most Schools and Districts plan, plan, plan, then do, then they never study. This happens in our classrooms too, as teachers plan do plan do and we can help them make time to intentionally study and act.

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Most Schools and Districts plan, plan, plan, then do, then they never study. This happens in our classrooms too, as teachers plan do plan do and we can help them make time to intentionally study and act.

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Working Collectively as an Elementary Team

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Working Collectively as an Elementary Team

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"The basic tenets of the process involve understanding the problem, defining a manageable goal, identifying the drivers that could help reach that goal, and then testing small ideas to change those drivers."

I am curious as to the common problems we are noticing across our schools. Perhaps it is building decoding skills in our elementary aged students (which has lasting impacts on secondary students as well). What is manageable in establishing a goal for our students? 90% of students performing at standard? Granted, it may look different across sites. What are ways we can test what is working outside of our new pilot adoptions? Are there strategies (successes?) at some sites that we should replicate/test at other sites?

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As someone who feels the desire to jump to solutions, I really like and appreciate the implementation science aspect of this article.  I like the structure of understanding the problem, defining a manageable goal, identifying the drivers that could help reach that goal, and then testing small ideas to change those drivers.

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“You have to have a lot of humility to come to the realization that you don’t have the answers, and that you’re going to learn your way into this,” Biag said. “You’ve got to think about this as a learning journey. If you really had the answers to this problem we wouldn’t be talking about it.”

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Change ideas are not things like “more money” or “more staff.” “It’s an actual change of a process or the introduction of a new process,” Biag said.

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Change ideas are not things like “more money” or “more staff.” “It’s an actual change of a process or the introduction of a new process,” Biag said.

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I am reflecting on this and how important (and difficult) this piece is for certain staff to understand. It takes courage, effort and energy to make true change and right now, in the midst of what teachers are going through, this is hard to do.

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“What we’re trying to do is implement these tools and ways of thinking to empower people to engage in this work,” Biag said. And that means having a bias towards action.“You have to start before you feel ready. Your understanding of the problem will change over time and when you act on that problem the problem will change and so your understanding of that problem will change,”

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“What we’re trying to do is implement these tools and ways of thinking to empower people to engage in this work,” Biag said. And that means having a bias towards action.“You have to start before you feel ready. Your understanding of the problem will change over time and when you act on that problem the problem will change and so your understanding of that problem will change,”

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I often feel like I want it to be perfect before we attack it.  This year, we implemented some student support "solutions" and quickly realized we needed to change our course. We did, and I feel validated by this article.

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"Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem." 

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"Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem." 

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We're problem solvers, but too often we look at the surface problems and don't do the deep work.

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"In this process, the data is only worthwhile if it shines light on whether the change is working."

Inquiry Action Projects have the potential to bring grade levels together and to grow teachers' practice. The key is to be brave enough to admit when the innovation didn't work as expected. Taking shared risks takes trust.

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"Some ideas won’t work and will be abandoned. Others might seem promising, but more data is needed, so others in the network might try them too. Over time the change ideas that seem to really impact the drivers rise to the top."

We have been using the "spaghetti test" idea- throw everything at it and see what sticks- and this feels very much like that. Very validating!

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Too often when trying to improve something leaders jump to solutions before properly examining the problem.

This resonates with me because I want to find a solution and sometimes jump to wanting a "quick fix". The problem of moving from "most to all" is an age old one... there is no easy solution or quick fix.

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"All kids deserve an incredible education; and that can only happen by building on the strengths already found in the system." (last line of the article) - Continuous improvements support our students, those we are here to serve. Testing and building evidence (improvements) will add to the success and allow for us to evolve as everything around us evolves.

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“Most schools and districts plan plan plan, then do, and then they never study,” Biag said. He advocates that planning include a prediction because participants are more likely to compare a new strategy with the expected effect. If the change idea didn’t function as expected there’s a lot to learn there.

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“Most schools and districts plan plan plan, then do, and then they never study,” Biag said. He advocates that planning include a prediction because participants are more likely to compare a new strategy with the expected effect. If the change idea didn’t function as expected there’s a lot to learn there.

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I connected with this paragraph because it suggested making a prediction. I like how concrete that is and how it can help facilitate conversations that will continue the cycle.