Setting Priorities

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Setting Priorities

• Southwest Center for Accelerated Schools

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Setting Priorities
Purpose To determine the school's priorities and
establish Strategic Action Teams to solve the
most important barriers to achieving the school's
vision. Time Required One-half to full day
depending on school size. Participants All
staff plus school community representatives.
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• Materials
• Taking Stock Report (full report with data not
  just the summary report) one copy for each small
  group and School's Vision - one copy per
  participant
• Post-It Notes (several pads per group)
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Pens/pencils
• Small sticker dots in three different colors- at
  least 15 per participant

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Process

• Convene session in large area with tables and
  comfortable seating.
• 2. Describe the Setting Priorities purpose and
  the process that will be used. Clarify any
  concerns or questions participants may have.
• 3. Place participants in groups of six. Use a
  grouping method that will result in a cross
  representation of the school in each group.

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Room Set-up Tables may be round, rectangular or
other shapes. They must seat a minimum of six.
Six People per Table
One Chart per Table
Three Charts Around the Room
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Process

• 4. Participants briefly review the Taking Stock
  data and the school's Vision.
• Each small group will form pairs of participants.
  Assign two sections of the Taking Stock Report to
  each pair. Note This is based on there being six
  sections in the Taking Stock report. Schools with
  more or fewer sections should adjust accordingly.
• 6. Each pair compares the data in their assigned
  Taking Stock sections with the school's Vision.
  This will require meticulous attention to the
  details of the report.

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• Example of Participants with Taking Stock Report
  Sections
• Each table will have all sections, two per pair.
• Schools with fewer than six sections should
  adjust accordingly.

Staff/Leadership/Professional Development Section
and School Culture and Climate Section
Table
School Organization Section and Parent/Community
Involvement Section
Curriculum/Assessment Section and Instruction
Section
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Process

• Differences or gaps between where the school is
• (Taking Stock data) and where the school
  wishes to be (Vision) should be noted on Post-It
  notes. Write one difference per Post-It. Each
  pair will generate a substantial number of
  Post-It Notes.

Where we are.
Where we want to be.
Gaps
Vision Statement
Taking Stock Report
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Example of Gap Between the Vision Statement and
the Taking Stock Report
From the Vision Statement We envision a school
community where the students best interest
guides our every action in and out of the
classroom
GAP
From the Taking Stock Report, Instruction
Section Students work in groups or cooperatively
15 of the time. Students work individually 85
of the time
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Students are doing very little cooperative work
in the classroom.
Write the gap on a Post-It TM Note
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• Rotate all sections of the Taking Stock report,
  so that each pair has an opportunity to record
  the differences from each section.

Process
Curriculum/Assessment Section and Instruction
Section
School Organization Section and Parent/Community
Involvement Section
Staff/Leadership/Professional Development Section
and School Culture and Climate Section
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Process
9. When all three pairs have completed analyzing
all sections of the Taking Stock report, place
the Notes on the table for the entire group to
review. Each small group of six will have 30-50
or more Post-its. Eliminate or reword any items
that are solutions rather than problems (i.e.
words such as needs, could, should, would, if,
due to) in the item may indicate a solution.
Also eliminate duplications. 10. For large
schools, each small group will prioritize all of
the Post-It Notes beginning with those considered
to be the most critical barriers to achieving the
school's Vision. Select the top 15-20 most
critical barriers.
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11. Each small group will cluster their Post-Its
into Curriculum, Instruction, or Organization.
Organization
Curriculum
Instruction
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a. Place three blank sheets of chart paper on a
wall. The charts will be labeled Curriculum,
Instruction and Organization.
Curriculum
Instruction
Organization
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• Begin with the first item on one of the small
  groups charts and place it on one of the three
  charts where it fits best. (Curriculum,
  Instruction or Organization.)
• c. Ask the large group if anyone thinks
  something that is a critical barrier is not
  listed. This item may be added if the majority of
  the large group agrees. It is important to avoid
  a long list related to special interests.

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12. Once ail items are listed on one of the three
charts the group will cluster similar items
within each of the three cadres (Curriculum,
Instruction, Organization) beginning with the
most important barrier. Each cadre will have one
or more Strategic Action Teams (SAT). The number
of SATs will be determined by the size of the
school.
Instruction
A Strategic Action Team will have six to eight
members representing a cross-section of the
school community. These teams designed to respond
swiftly to the school's major challenges. They
will use the inquiry process to identify the root
causes of the challenge, research
scientifically-based solutions and create an
action plan for implementing the solution. The
action plan will include an evaluation plan to
assess the plan's effectiveness once it is
implemented.
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Setting Priorities
Instruction
Professional Development
Small schools (1-15 teachers) will have one
cadre, either Curriculum OR Instruction. Each
participant will receive one small sticker dot
and will place it on the priority challenge
cluster s/he thinks is the most important. The
item with the most dots is the priority the cadre
will work on first. In small schools the entire
cadre may work on a single priority challenge and
thus not have to create a SAT. In effect the
cadre becomes the SAT.
Student Engagement
Higher Order Thinking
Example This Schools first Cadre is
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiation
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Setting Priorities
Medium schools (16-45 teachers) will have two or
three cadres. If only two cadres are formed they
must be curriculum and instruction. Each of these
cadres may have one or more priority challenges.
If a cadre is small and has only one priority
challenge there will be no need to form a SAT.
The cadre will serve in that capacity. Each
participant will receive two small sticker dots
for each cadre and will place them on the
priority challenges in curriculum and two on the
sub- priorities challenge in instructions s/he
believes are the most important. The cadre will
form two Strategic Action Teams under each cadre
to work on the challenges first.
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Example of Medium School with Two Cadres
Instruction
Curriculum
Differentiation
Interdisciplinary Alignment
Student Engagement
Assessment
Professional Development
Rigor
Higher Order Thinking
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Setting Priorities
Large schools (46 teachers) will select two or
more challenges from Curriculum, Instruction and
Organization. Each participant will receive six
small sticker dots and will place two on the
sub-priorities challenge in Curriculum,
Instruction and Organization s/he believes is the
most important. A Strategic Action Team will be
formed to address each of these sub-priorities.
Very large schools will have several SATs under
each cadre.
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Example of Large or Medium School with Three
Cadres
Instruction
Curriculum
Organization
Differentiation
Interdisciplinary Alignment
Governance
Parental Involvement
Community Partnerships
Student Engagement
Climate
Assessment
Rigor
Professional Development
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Setting Priorities
13. The summary sheets representing the top
challenge areas will be given to the
cadres/strategic action teams to assist them in
exploring the challenge area. It is important to
keep all of the summary sheets for future
reference. Assure participants that when the
initial challenges are solved, the remaining
challenges will be addressed. The coach and
Leadership Team should keep a copy of these lists
in their permanent records for future reference.