The DN OPS Team: Balancing Collaboration and Organizational Priorities

Introductions:

Session Objectives: After completing this session, participants will be able to: 1.Clearly define the role and responsibilities of the Diplomas Now Operations Team, including how to include all citywide support staff (i.e. Instructional Facilitators, S4s, etc..) 2.Recognize how to effectively partner with their DN team to achieve both individual organizational and DN goals. 3.Understand how the DN Operations Team interacts and integrates with other local Diplomas Now teams, including each school team, the local executive team and the DNIST- especially to help solve and troubleshoot implementation challenges.

The DN Multiplex !

Agenda 1.Define Diplomas Now Operations Team 2.Review DN and CY Goals 3.Describe each of the DN Teams 4.Examine the OPs team relationship to each of the DN Teams 5.Develop some key action steps to take back to local OPs team 6.Reflect and Evaluation

National Exec Team DNIST Local Exec Team Local Ops Team School Team Standard Team Structures *in applicable cities

Unpacking the Roles on the DN Operations Team

Who Sits on the DN Operations Team? Comprised of: CY ProServe Director(s) TDS Field Manager CIS Executive Director/Program Director New this year! TDS Instructional Facilitators – Math and Reading TDS School and Students Support Services Facilitators (S4)

Responsible for ensuring the quality of the City Year services provided at each site Engages in district-level planning and implementation that supports effective execution at each school Engages in school-level planning and implementation that supports effective execution at each school Ensures AmeriCorps goals are met Oversees City Year trainings for corps and program staff Oversees City Year Program Managers, Team Leaders and Corps Members The ProServe Director

Responsible for ensuring the quality of the services provided by Talent Development at each school. Works with the school district to create a district- level implementation support plan Reviews the student outcomes and fidelity of implementation metrics at each site Provides accountability and support to each school team with regards to meeting their individual school’s goals. Typically oversees STFs The Field Manager

Responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of the Communities In Schools components of the Diplomas Now model at each site Provides ongoing, job-embedded professional development for each of the CIS site coordinators Develops new partnerships with community organizations and stakeholders that can enhance each school’s resource map Oversees the Site Coordinators at each school The CIS ED / PD

Two Talent Development instructional facilitators (1 math, 1 language arts) Focus on integrating Diplomas Now’s curriculum and instructional supports with district-level curriculum and instructional resources and requirements Provide ongoing job-embedded professional development to the math and language arts coaches at each school Assist sites in troubleshooting instructional or curricular barriers to implementation, including work with teacher and corps members The Instructional Facilitators

School and Student Support Services facilitator – learn it! Focus on integrating Diplomas Now’s data, climate, and culture supports with district resources and requirements in these areas Provides ongoing job-embedded professional development to the school transformation facilitator at each of the schools in a district Assists sites in remedying barriers to implementation that are related to data systems, climate, and culture The S4

Spotlight – 2 Specific Challenges Wearing multiple hats as a City Year ProServe Director – who also happens to oversee some DN schools Working in a city that may be missing one or more of the Ops-level positions, because of hiring, budget, or capacity constraints

Break into groups of 5 Each person will take one role from the Ops Team – CY ProServe Director – TDS FM – CIS ED/PD – TDS IF – TDS S4 Prepare a second Elevator Speech on the role of that person, specifically within the collaborative, and include one sentence about the value-add of that position to DN Share with your group Elevator Speeches

The DN Ops Team – Whole Team Functions

City-level teams are responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Diplomas Now program components Monitoring should look at the implementation of the program structure as well as the implementation of projects, activities, and initiatives proposed or supported by the Diplomas Now team Members of city-level teams visit schools regularly to see Diplomas Now teams in actions, engage with teams during their regular meetings Check-in with school leadership to ensure that the work documented in the School Transformation Plan is occurring in an effective, efficient manner, and that this work is aligned with the mission, vision, and education plan of the school Understanding the Ops Team as a Whole

City-level teams will often be the first line of defense when a school-based team needs to troubleshoot a challenging issue or a barrier to implementation Troubleshooting should occur with solution-oriented, collaborative mind-set City-level team will often advocate on behalf of the school- based team with school and/or district personnel around specific issues. Or, city-level team will make the Executive Team aware of larger or more complex challenges that will involve problem solving with the district at a higher level.

Supporting implementation of Local Executive vision at school site: Manages administrative relationships Liaison between school based team and local executive team Manages school based staff Ensures quality execution of the model First line of support for trouble-shooting and problem-solving implementation challenges Boiling Down the Responsibilities of the Ops Team

Get into groups of 3 Write a team/collaborative description for a city-wide Ops Team. – What are they responsible for? – How are they held accountable? – Who do they interact with? – What are they measured on? Check for Understanding

Leveraging DN to Achieve Organizational and Collaborative Goals

The DN Goals Overall EWI Distribution: At least 67% (two-thirds) of students within DN focus grades have no EWIs at the end of the school year. Attendance Of students that were off-track at any data point: 50% or more move on-track Behavior Of students that were off-track at any data point: 50% or more move on-track ELA/Literacy Of students that were off-track at any data point: 50% or more move on-track Math Of students that were off-track at any data point: 50% or more move on-track

In schools: 9th grade on-time promotion Closing achievement gaps in math and reading( this is better way to say what I wrote earlier) Increasing strong sense of community between students In districts/cities: Growing TDS presence in schools and districts Understanding Our Partners – TDS priorities in FY14

Understanding Our Partners – CIS Priorities in FY14

DN Goals – HPG and IOGs AmeriCorps Dosage and Achievement Goals 1.How have we improved this past year in aligning the above two goals? 2.What do we need to do better this year to push our alignment even more? City Year Goals and Organizational Priorities

The DN Ops Team Meeting

At least bi-weekly meetings with the full Ops team – What are the advantages to this? What are the challenges? Clear roles assigned in the meeting (facilitator, recorder, etc.) – Who is doing this well? Where are we not seeing these norms implemented? Information (data, school-level info, upcoming school/district info) shared prior to the meeting – Who is doing this well? Where are we not seeing these norms implemented? Clear action steps coming out of the meeting Understanding of how/when to share info with full Exec Team and request support, etc. What Does an Ops Team Meeting Look Like?

How would you like to see your Ops Team Meetings improve over the next year? How can you utilize Ops Team Meetings to better support schools and school teams? Ops Team Meeting Improvement

Getting Support

Standard Team Structures National Exec Team DNIST Local Exec Team Local Ops Team School Team *in applicable cities

Pop Quiz! Who are the members of the Exec Team? How does the Ops team fit into the Exec Team? The Local Executive Team

Local Vision and Strategy for DN, including district strategy Local fundraising and Sustainability for DN Connections to organizational national leaders in DN Ultimately accountable for the success of DN in their city Troubleshoot and help resolve major conflicts/school issues, as elevated by the Ops team The Local Executive Team

Where do you and your city need to improve in working with the your Exec Team? Interacting with the Exec Team

Pop Quiz! Who is on the DNIST? Who is your DNIST rep? Be Nice to DNIST!

Doubling down on implementation and school level support Working more closely with Ops teams Remaining as members of Exec Teams, but will play smaller role in facilitating/operating Standardizing travel schedule to cities and schools DNIST in FY14

What do you need from the DNIST as a whole, and your DNIST rep in FY14 to successfully implement DN and increase student achievement? DNIST in FY14

Case Scenarios

Get into groups of 3-4 You will receive a common issue / challenge faced by DN Ops Teams On Flipchart paper, describe how you would react/solve the issue in your position (CY ProServe Director) and describe how the Ops team should respond overall Highlight any resources you would use or would want to use Closing Activity – Case Scenarios

Ensure DN trainings for all DN staff are set Ensure SOY All-city meeting/retreat is set Timeline established for STP completion/review/feedback Opening Strong plans for each school, using baseline/EOY data where possible – incorporated into the STP Key Next Steps in Your Cities