When designing change in a district, it is essential that leaders hear directly from students, families, teachers, and classified staff (i.e., those most impacted by teaching and learning). This guide from Stanford d.school will help you translate feedback into a clear problem your design team will address by framing problems as “How Might We?” questions.
Data from across four districts shows that no design team feels like they’ve got everything “right” in their district when it comes to equity and resiliency in teaching and learning. Major disruptive events – like the move to remote schooling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 – can further exacerbate challenges that already exist in a district. Reflecting on district strengths and challenges is an important first step to identify places for design teams to focus as they work to improve teaching and learning.
Phoenix Charter Academy Network began a design process to improve teaching and learning with a team of network leaders. As leaders reflected on their vision and pressing challenges, it became clear that there was a major need to focus on consistency in teaching, staff coaching, and professional learning. Understanding that staff development requires significant ownership from school leaders, the design team included school leadership in the design process. This approach ensured that those in charge of implementing a new approach to teacher development (i.e., school leaders) had a say in designing solutions; it also enabled school leaders to directly suggest and plan for design adaptations that reflect the unique needs of their schools and students.
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) began a design process to improve teaching and learning with a team consisting of the superintendent and a diverse group of cabinet members, all strongly committed to the district’s goal to “listen to and engage with all stakeholders (family, community, staff) in order to better understand and respond to the needs of [the] community.” Initially, the team planned to regularly engage a broader set of people (students, teachers, families) to provide input. However, the team eventually decided to deepen their approach, and they invited teachers and students to more directly participate in the work – eventually hosting a teacher- and student-centered design session. This approach demonstrated the team’s deep commitment to prioritizing the voices of teachers and students; it also showed the team’s willingness to adapt its process over time as it learned more about what this work would take.
Mastery Charter Schools began a design process to improve teaching and learning with a team of academic executives. Important among the charter network’s mission and values is the weight they place on equity: “We disrupt systemic racism and the inequities that limit our students’ choices. We nurture a culture where all staff, students, and families are seen and valued.” As a team, they reflected on whether their composition would honor that commitment. When the group self-identified limitations to their perspectives and experiences, they took steps to include the voices of staff with vantage into the lives of students – especially those most marginalized. This approach ensured that the teachers and students closest to challenges in the district had a say in designing solutions. It also helped the team develop a design that could actually be used day-to-day, as teachers and students could provide an “on-the-ground” perspective to inform the work.
When Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) began a design process to improve teaching and learning, they started with a set of leaders from their Teaching and Learning team; all were strongly committed to the district’s vision for equity – to “develop a system that assures all students have equity of voices, resources, opportunities, and expectations.” As team members reflected on their own identities, they realized they would need to include other voices at the table, especially given the incomplete set of perspectives represented by their predominantly white, male group of district-level administrators. This led the group to engage a much larger, more diverse set of students and teachers in the design process. This approach broadened the set of voices that helped shape important district efforts. It also helped the team more quickly understand the day-to-day realities of their current approach to teaching and learning, as the students and teachers that the team engaged live that reality every day.
These discussion questions support the process of building a diverse design team. For more information on this process, explore the strategy card: Activity: Build a Diverse Design Team.
PDF version of Activity: Build a Diverse Design Team
This resource guide is based on a three-session series to support leaders in building staff capacity for implementing remote and distance learning models. It is openly licensed (free!) and includes concrete resources to begin designing and launching effective remote learning. Each session includes a set of slides that contain basic information on the topic and can also be used in team professional learning sessions. This document also includes playlists of additional resources and artifacts to accompany each session that teams can explore.
Washington Leadership Academy focuses on the importance of always growing, staying open to feedback, and trying to improve the world. It has committed to sharing its operation resources openly. In this guide, you will find resources around:
