Linking Communication Protocols SPDG National Meeting 2016 Anna Harms & Julie Morrison October 12th, 2016

Contact Anna Harms Julie Morrison Michigan SPDG, Internal Evaluator aharms@miblsimtss.org Julie Morrison Ohio and Michigan SPDG, External Evaluator julie.morrison@uc.edu Materials developed by MIBLSI (special thanks to Assistant Director, Kimberly St. Martin)

What is a Communication Plan and Why Do We Need It?

Communication Plan Formal process or system for gathering and disseminating important information specific to a common focus that has been mutually agreed upon by all groups / teams who will be impacted by its use

Applications Within the SPDG, internally Between the SPDG staff and local partners (schools, districts, ISDs) Between the SPDG staff and other agencies Within districts Between schools, districts, ISDs

District Capacity Assessment (DCA) Item 10. District Implementation Team uses a communication plan Read the item scoring guide Highlight or underline the criteria your district has met What score would you give your organization?

Components of a Communication Plan

Groups / Teams There are several considerations for including groups / teams or staff to the communication plan.

Forming Groups / Teams: Consideration #1 Team’s / group’s overlap in the components of an integrated behavior and reading MTSS model

Forming Groups / Teams: Consideration #2 Leadership groups / teams that have the ability to remove barriers impeding people’s use of the MTSS components (e.g., central office, administrative team)

Forming Groups / Teams: Consideration #3 People in critical roles who will be in a supporting role for MTSS components

Forming Groups / Teams: Consideration #4 Other groups / teams that can influence professional development, curriculum and assessment decisions since the MTSS work touches on curriculum, instruction, intervention and assessment.

Communication Designees Consider the following: The information that needs to be gathered “from” and disseminated “to” might suggest one DIT member over others; especially if there are follow-up questions that would require deeper knowledge about the information Easy access to the team or members of the team Ability to follow through with communication shortly following team meetings (1-2 days)

Timelines and Format Considerations General rule of thumb: 3-5 business days for responding to challenges; 20 business days for addressing challenges (e.g., either eliminating the challenge or starting to address the challenge with other groups / teams, or entities) Format Gathering information: email, face-to-face, phone call Responding to challenges: email

Benefits of a Communication Survey Regular opportunity to assess the effectiveness of communication Refinements are done based on data Conveys the message that communication is important Reduces comments about poor communication since the survey data and transparency about refinements based on data are provided on a regular basis