Developing a Theory of Practice Improvement: Driver Diagrams

Monday, March 2, 2015

The Improvement Journey

2

Problem

P D

S A

Understand the

problem

See the system

Set an aim Develop a theory of

improvement

Test changes

Spread changes

Identify measures

3

WEAK  RELATIONSHIP    WITH  PRINCIPAL  

INADEQUATE  FEEDBACK  

INEFFECTIVE  RECRUITING,  HIRING  &  PLACEMENT  SYSTEMS  

LACK  OF  PROFESSIONAL    COMMUNITY  

INEFFECTIVE  PROFESSIONAL    DEVELOPMENT  

TURNOVER  RATES  FOR  NEW  TEACHERS  ARE  HIGH  AND  NEW  TEACHERS  ARE  NOT  EFFECTIVE  FAST  

ENOUGH  

POOR  WORKING  CONDITIONS  

Lack of attention to relational practices in the induction and

development of principals.

New teachers low priority on principals’ time

Weak or absent culture of trust district-wide

High principal turnover

No common language about good teaching

Not connected to resources to improve

Those giving feedback lack expertise

Feedback is experienced as isolated and/or evaluative events

Mismatch between teacher background

and initial assignments

Lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities (e.g HR, principal, etc.)

Lack of information necessary for good

school-teacher match

Processes not timely

Lack of communication between prep programs

and districts

“It’s not my job” Lack of collective responsibility for students and their achievement Inadequate time,

resources and structures

Each new teacher invents curriculum

No concept of arc of teacher dev

Not connected to student learning

Not differentiated by needs of individual teachers

Lack of coherence

Environment not safe

Facilities inadequate

No breaks

Table activity: Generating change ideas (10m)

Imagine that you are part of a K-12 school district task force to improve teacher retention

• Independently brainstorm change ideas on the problem area you worked on before

• Share change ideas in your group – Group similar ideas together

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Tips  on  changes  •  If  you  wanted  to  take  away  this  

cause,  what  would  you  do?  •  A  change  is  concrete  –  something  

that  can  be  done  

Prioritizing change ideas

•  Individually, decide which change idea you think the team should start with

•  Report out to the whole group using Poll Everywhere

If I want to improve new teacher retention and efficacy, then I need to focus on [principal feedback], and one way to do that is to _________________.

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Table discussion (5m)

§ How did you decide what to work on first? § How is this decision-making process similar/

different to improvement efforts you’ve been involved in?

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How do we improve teacher retention and efficacy?

It’s  the  TRAINING  

It’s  a  HUMAN  RESOURCE  issue  

It’s  MOTIVATION  

It’s  PROFESSIONAL  LEARNING  

It’s  an  INSTITUTIONAL  LEADERSHIP  

failure  

Teacher  Educa?on  Programs  

Performance  Incen?ves  

Recruitment  policies  

PD  +  Faculty  Inquiry  Groups  

Principal  training  

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Improvement Aspirations

Current Performance

Change Ideas

Goal  AIM  

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Theory of Practice Improvement

Current Performance

Theory of Practice

Improvement

“Probably wrong and definitely incomplete”

Goal  AIM  

Why a Theory of Practice Improvement?

§ Creates a common language § Focuses improvement efforts on the most

important parts of the system

§ Shows how changes are related to the aim & how different projects fit into a larger portfolio of work § Explicates the theory of practice improvement

so it can be tested

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Driver Diagram Basics

 AIM    

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

-Outcomes -Gap you are trying to close

Primary Drivers •  3 to 5 •  Similar grain size •  High leverage •  Based on evidence &

expertise

Secondary  Drivers  

Secondary  Drivers:    •  The  necessary  and  

sufficient  to  move  primary  drivers  

•  Norms,  processes,  structures,  etc.  

•  Use  to  plan  changes  &  interven?ons  

•  Not  always  needed  depending  on  scope  of  project  

 AIM    

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Driver Diagram Basics

•  Change  •  Change    •  Change    

Changes: •  Specific work

practices or interventions

Secondary  Drivers  

 AIM    

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Driver Diagram Basics

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School-based professional community

Feedback that supports improvement

Relationship btwn principals

and NTs

Hiring and placement

system

Professional development

for NTs

Increase new teacher

efficacy and retention

Goal

Changes Primary Drivers

Secondary Drivers Your

driver diagram

Working conditions

-­‐Timeliness  of  hiring  decisions  -­‐Right  info  in  Interview  process  -­‐Right  info    on  schools  to  candidates  -­‐Targeted  recruitment  

Teaching  task  as  part  of  an  interview  

Rapid Cycle Iterative Learning

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•  Change  •  Change    •  Change    

Secondary  Drivers  

Secondary  Drivers  

Secondary  Drivers  

Secondary  Drivers  

 AIM    

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

Primary  Driver  

•  Change  •  Change    •  Change    •  Change  •  Change    •  Change    

•  Change  •  Change    •  Change    

Test and refine

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Hiring and placement

system

Increase new teacher

efficacy and retention

Right  info  in  Interview  process    

Teaching  task  as  part  of  an  interview  

Overall  aim   Change  Idea  What  Happens  

HOW? HOW? HOW?

WHY? WHY? WHY?

ACTION EFFECT

In summary, a Driver Diagram:

§ Represents your theory of how to change the system

§ Needs to be explicit

§  Is a living document that should be iterative based on testing

§ Focuses the work on high leverage areas of change

§ Coordinates action across groups working in parallel

§ Creates a common language and a level of consensus about how to work together

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Some tips

• Quality of changes matter

• The driver diagram should be iterative

• A shared aim is important

• You don’t have to get it perfect, just get started!

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The problem

“We are eating our young

and nobody seems to care.”

Robert Hughes, President New Visions for Public Schools

Why?

A revolving door of human capital – This is a quality issue. Teachers with more than 3 years of

teaching experience are more effective than teachers with less than 3 years.

– This is a fiscal issue. There is a high monetary cost associated with teacher turnover for schools and districts.

– This is an equity issue. Teachers leave high minority, low SES, low performing schools at higher rates than other schools – students in these schools are disproportionately placed in novice teachers’ classrooms.

Building a Teaching Effectiveness Network (BTEN)

How can we support new teachers to get better faster… and hold onto them?

User Video

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BTEN:  Program  Improvement  Map  

Revised  01/19/11  Key:   Challenges  at  the  

TEACHER  level  Challenges  at  the  SCHOOL  level  

Challenges  at  the  DISTRICT  level  

INFORMATION  INFRASTRUCTURE    

LEARNING  TEACHING:  Knowledge,  Skills,  PracOces    

Recognize/appreciate/  develop  effec?ve  prac?ce  

Con?nuous  learning  from  work  with  students  to  improve  prac?ce  

Learn  the  organiza?onal  &  classroom  management  rou?nes  

Learn  the  instruc?onal  system  of  the  school  (pedagogy,  curriculum,  

assessments,  etc.)  

SYSTEM  SUPPORT,  GUIDANCE  &  ACCOUNTABILITY    

SOCIALIZATION  INTO  THE  TEACHER  ROLE  

Learn  to  operate  within  federal,  state  &  local  rules    

and  regula?ons  

CHALLENGE  SPACE  

Provide  tools,  data  visualiza?on  &  ?mely  analysis  to  diagnose  student  needs  &  document  student  

learning.  

Provide  tools,  data  visualiza?on  &  ?mely  analysis  to  inform  teacher  learning  &  make  consequen?al  

decisions.    

Adopt  ethical  stance  rela?ve  to  students   Cope  with  workload  &  pace  

Learn  how  to  access  resources  of  the  school  &  system  

IMMEDIATE  WORK  ENVIRONMENT    

Suppor?ve  rela?onship  with  principal   Professional,  collegial  work  environment  

Appropriate  resources  including  ?me  for  planning,  enactment,  reflec?on,  du?es  

Environment  that  is  physically  safe  

Hiring  &  ini?al  placement  procedures  that  take  teacher  capaci?es  &  school  needs  into  account  

System  of  incen?ves,  rewards,  consequences,  including  leadership  &  career  advancement    opportuni?es  for  teachers  

Integrated  professional  development    resources  for  socializa?on  into  teaching  &  

learning  teaching    

Ar?culate  the  instruc?onal  system  (including  curriculum)  

Ongoing  evalua?on  of  the  performance  of  the  overall  human  resources  system      

A  system-­‐wide  environment  of  trust  that  enables  professional  learning  

Understanding  of  student,    family,  community  context  &  teacher’s  

connec?on  to  it  

Formal  evalua?ons  &  feedback  processes  

Develop  pedagogy  and  content  knowledge  specific  to  assignment  

Develop  a  trajectory  of  effec?ve  student  learning  over  ?me  

Develop  a  trajectory  of  effec?ve  teacher  growth  over  ?me  

24  

School-based professional community

Feedback that supports improvement

Relationship btwn principals

and NTs

Hiring and placement

system

Professional development

for NTs

Increase new teacher

efficacy and retention

Goal

Changes Primary Drivers

Secondary Drivers

BTEN

25

Baltimore

Austin School

School

School

School

BTEN STRUCTURE

MEMBERS

New Visions

School

School

BTEN  Hub  

Carnegie  AFT  Aspen  IHI  

26  

School-based professional community

Feedback that supports improvement

Relationship btwn principals

and NTs

Hiring and placement

system

Professional development

for NTs

Increase new teacher

efficacy and retention

Goal

Changes Primary Drivers

Secondary Drivers

BTEN

AusOn  

BalOmore  

New  Visions  

28  

School-based professional community

Feedback that supports improvement

Relationship btwn principals

and NTs

Hiring and placement

system

Professional development

for NTs

Increase new teacher

efficacy and retention

-­‐Timeliness  of  hiring  decisions  -­‐Right  info  in  Interview  process  -­‐Right  info    on  schools  to  candidates  -­‐Targeted  recruitment  

Teaching  task  as  part  of  an  interview  

Goal

Changes Primary Drivers

Secondary Drivers

BTEN

Primary Drivers

Secondary Drivers

Changes

School-based professional community

Feedback that supports improvement

Relationship btwn principals

and NTs

Hiring and placement

system

Professional development

for NTs 29  

Feedback

Coordination

Support

2  week  feedback  &  support  process  

Conversa?on  protocols  

Coordina?on  mee?ngs  

Online  tool  to  track  feedback  &  

support  

Feedback that supports improvement

Increase new teacher

efficacy and retention

Primary Drivers

Secondary Drivers

Building a Theory of Practice Improvement

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Iden?fy  problem    

Map  broad  understanding  of  the  system  

 Chose  a  par?cular  angle  

Build  out  individual  drivers  

Leadership System analysis -Research

-New Teachers -District & school Leaders

-Unions

Leadership Expert Convening Testing

90-day cycle

Develop  specific  changes  

Revise based on learning

Viewing Processes: Teacher Feedback Process

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 Principal  

assigns  BT  to  Case  Manager  and  Support  Provider  

 

Principal  has  ini?al  

conference  with  BT  to  iden?fy  focus  area  

BT  ready  for  observa?on?  

BT  meets  indicator  

of  success?  

 Every  two  weeks  

 

NO    

NO  

YES    

YES  

Case  Manager  has  follow-­‐up  conference  with  BT  

Case  Manager  observes  

BT                    

Case  Manager  has  post-­‐

observa?on  Conference  with  BT  

Support  provider  works  with  BT  

Support  provider  works  with  BT  

Case  Manager  and  BT  

determine  next  focus  

area            

Principal  assesses  BT  performance  

Principal,  Case  Manager,  Support  

Provider  meet  regularly  to  communicate  about  BT’s  progress  

Within  48  hrs.  

The Improvement Journey

32

Problem

P D

S A

Understand the

problem

See the system

Set an aim Develop a theory of

improvement

Test changes

Spread changes

Identify measures