Partnerships in the EMERGING gateway are focused around accessing and collecting data and putting in place the supports necessary for data-driven decision making such as: an accountability structure to organize the work, prioritized outcomes and baseline data, releasing a baseline report, capacity for data analysis, a value exchange for collaborative action networks, and the necessary financial and staff resources to support continuous improvement.
Theory of Action - Emerging
The Partnership operates with a fully-functional leadership table, anchor entity, and support teams whose roles and responsibilities are clearly defined through an accountability structure and partnership agreement.
Quality Benchmark:
The Partnership operates with a fully-functional leadership table, anchor entity, and support teams whose roles and responsibilities are clearly defined through an accountability structure and partnership agreement.
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: The Strive Partnership
The Strive Partnership put in place its Partnership Agreement to serve as an articulation of the shared commitment of the Partnership’s Executive Committee (leadership table) to improve education-based outcomes for every child, every step of the way, from cradle to career, in Cincinnati, Newport and Covington. The agreement, which is signed by each Executive Committee member, outlines the core beliefs and shared goals of the partnership, including using data to drive decision making and shared accountability, as well as expectations for Executive Committee members, including regular participation in meetings and participation on standing Strategy Teams.
Key Questions for Your Partnership:
- What are the roles and responsibilities outlined as part of the accountability structure?
- In what ways is the leadership table fulfilling its role and responsibilities?
- In what ways is the anchor entity fulfilling its role and responsibilities?
- In what ways are the support teams fulfilling their roles and responsibilities?
- How have partners formalized their membership in the Partnership?
The Partnership collects and disaggregates baseline data by key sub-populations for community level indicators and publicly releases in a baseline report to the community.
Quality Benchmark:
The Partnership collects and disaggregates baseline data by key sub-populations for community level indicators and publically releases in a baseline report to the community.
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: Albany Promise
In 2012, Albany Promise released its baseline report, which represents a snapshot of the local education data, and outlines goals and indicators that provide a broad view of student success from birth through college and into a career. The selection of these goals and indicators were informed by a review of similar community efforts as well as input from the Albany Promise data committee, a group comprised of a cross section of stakeholders organized by the Center for Human Services Research at the University at Albany. In addition to data for the City of Albany as a whole, the report includes disaggregated data for the Albany Promise key sub-populations and target neighborhoods.
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: All Hands Raised
A pervasive myth in Portland, OR was that when it came to education, everything was going just fine. The overall graduation rate in Portland Public Schools was assumed to be around 80% with only slight gaps separating white students and students of color. However, in recent years leaders began taking a deeper look and noticed an overall demographic shift in the region in that 1 in 2 students were people of color. They disaggregated education data with a greater level of focus and found significant gaps between white students and students of color across the cradle to career continuum. They identified an overall graduation rate for all students was actually closer to 50%, with gaps as large as 30 percentage points separating white students from students of color. The All Hands Raised Partnership focused in on these disparities in setting targets for overall improvement of their priority outcomes. These targets map out specific improvements for all students, and also include an accelerated rate of improvement for students of color to narrow the gaps that exist. Both the disaggregated data and accelerated targets will be included in the Partnership’s report card in 2013. The collective focus on equity among the six participating school districts and other members of the All Hands Raised Partnership have contributed to a 8 percentage point increase in graduation rates over the past three years, with Latino students, the region’s largest minority, helping to drive those gains with a 13 percentage point increase over the same period.
Key Questions for Your Partnership:
- When was the baseline report released?
- What are the community level outcomes/indicators in the baseline report?
- In what ways is data disaggregated in the baseline report card?
- How did the Partnership engage the community in the release of the report card?
- What key messages did the Partnership communicate to the community in the baseline report?
The Partnership builds necessary capacity for data support ensuring regular access to data for continuous improvement.
Quality Benchmark:
The Partnership builds necessary capacity for data support ensuring regular access to data for continuous improvement.
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: Milwaukee Succeeds
Once Milwaukee Succeeds decided on community-level outcomes and prioritized those that were the most pressing to address, they immediately partnered with an executive at GE who had previous experience coaching networks of providers and helping them build comprehensive action plans. These plans often focus initially on how best to collect data across all partners, but Milwaukee Succeeds is also working to use the data they already have – connecting achievement data to programmatic data. By identifying local expertise to support the partnership in their quest to use data more effectively, they were able to build the capacity needed to adopt the demanding level of rigor that is fundamentally critical for sustained success.
Key Questions for Your Partnership:
- What data capacity needs have been identified by the Partnership?
- How were these data capacity needs met by the Partnership?
- In what ways has data been made regularly available to appropriate partners when needed for continuous improvement?
The Partnership prioritizes a subset of community level outcomes/ indicators for initial focus and identifies champions to support Collaborative Action Networks.
Quality Benchmark:
The Partnership prioritizes a subset of community level outcomes/ indicators for initial focus and identifies champions to support Collaborative Action Networks.
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: Milwaukee Succeeds
Milwaukee Succeeds knew that they could not tackle every outcome along the cradle to career pipeline at once, so recognizing that third-grade reading is a bellwether for student achievement and that in Milwaukee only 15% of third graders are proficient or advanced in literacy on Wisconsin standardized tests, they began by prioritizing third-grade reading as their first outcome of focus. With this focus, Milwaukee Succeeds was able to build on existing momentum in the community geared toward raising third-grade literacy rates. As networks around this outcome evolved, the partnership gradually added more networks across three additional outcome areas. This approach will better aid the partnership in its intention to have ten networks over the course of a year and half, impacting students from cradle to career.
Key Questions for Your Partnership:
- What subset of community level outcomes/indicators has been prioritized by the Partnership?
- What criteria were used to prioritize the subset of community level outcomes/indicators?
- How was data used to determine prioritization?
- Who has been identified to serve as champions to support the initial Collaborative Action Networks?
- What is the role/responsibility of these champions?
The Partnership outlines supports and expectations in a value exchange for the Collaborative Action Networks. A continuous improvement process is selected.
Quality Benchmark:
The Partnership outlines supports and expectations in a value exchange for the Collaborative Action Networks. A continuous improvement process is selected.
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: Albany Promise
Albany Promise in Albany, NY has convened action teams around priority outcomes. Before engaging these action teams, the partnership developed a clear set of expectations on what the action teams do as well as their ideal composition. The partnership further defined the interactions between the action teams and the broader partnership through a value exchange. This value exchange lists the benefits an action team will receive from the partnership (i.e. hands-on facilitation, training and technical assistance to develop/implement shared action plan) and the expectations of the action team to deliver to the partnership (i.e. develop and implement a shared action plan to improve an outcome & address disparities). The Albany Promise action teams are utilizing the Strive collaborative action process, which is a social sector adaptation of six sigma, as their continuous improvement methodology to use data to inform actions and strategies.
Key Questions for Your Partnership:
- What are the supports and expectation the Partnership has for the Collaborative Action Networks that are outlined in the value exchange?
- How were these supports and expectations defined and communicated?
- What continuous improvement process has the Partnership selected?
- What evidence is there that the continuous improvement methodology selected includes:
a. Incorporating the voice of the customer
b. Being improvement focused
c. Being inclusiveness
d. Making data-based decisions
- Is there local expertise in the selected continuous improvement process?
Quality Benchmark:
The Partnership secures funding for multiple years and has in place all the necessary key staff roles: project director, data manager, and facilitator(s).
Partnership that Exemplifies Quality Benchmark: Learn to Earn
The Learn to Earn Dayton partnership in Dayton, Ohio developed a business plan to court key funders in the area. The plan is anchored with the goals and corresponding performance metrics the partnership plans to achieve. The plan includes a budget for three years of operation, outlining current funding, projected funding needs and potential sources of revenue. Also included is an organizational chart outlining Learn to Earn Dayton's plans to leverage partnerships with entities such as regional higher education institutions and local foundations, including the Dayton area's community foundation, to build capacity and a staffing plan that includes an Executive Director, a data management team, facilitators for key outcome areas, communications staff and administrative support.
Key Questions for Your Partnership:
- What funding has been secured to sustain the Partnership, including funding for the anchor entity and staff?
- What are the names and titles of staff hired to support the work of the Partnership?
- What are the job descriptions and FTE for the staffing roles currently in place?
- How will the Partnership ensure that the staff roles will be fully funded (on a full-time basis) for multiple years?
STRIVE PARTNERSHIP
- STRIVE
- One W. Fourth Street
- Cincinnati, OH 45202
- 513.929.1145
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