Topics of Inquiry

The following are the core strands of inquiry of the Essex County Learning Community. These strands emerged in conversation with the District Lead Teams in Cohort 1 and were prioritized by them as the most pressing areas of needed improvement.

Academics Tier 1

Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) is a term used to describe an evidence-based model of schooling that uses data-based problem-solving to integrate academic instruction and intervention. The integrated instruction and intervention is delivered to students in varying intensities (multiple tiers) based on student need. "Need-driven" decision-making seeks to ensure that district resources reach the appropriate students (schools) at the appropriate levels to accelerate the performance of ALL students to achieve and/or exceed proficiency. An ECLC topical team delved deeply into successful implementation of tier 1 instruction for all students. This team identified 3 goals toward success implementation of tier 1 academic support:

Identify Best practices that can be embedded across grade levels and content areas to make learning accessible and achievable for all students.
Integration of strategies across settings (Elementary, Middle and High School)
Understand and “move beyond theory” with action steps for school and student growth

They also identified “Must Haves” for successful implementation:

Collaborative Time for planning and data analysis
Professional Learning Community
High Quality, research-based curriculum across all content areas
Time- no pull outs in Tier 1 time
Quality Data and Evaluation
Differentiation/Strategies to engage students
Access for all Students

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Tier 1

Social and emotional learning (SEL) involves the processes through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. (CASEL 2012)
An ECLC topical team identified core principles for implementation of social and emotional learning at tier 1 which include:

Social-emotional skills are valuable and can be taught.
All adults are models of SEL for students.
SEL implementation requires collaboration by all district stakeholders.
District staff should have ownership for their community and be accountable for SEL.
Districts should have a clear vision statement and plan for SEL.
On-going support and professional development for SEL should be a district priority.
Staff may need explicit instruction from SEL specialists to support effective implementation.
SEL skills look different in grade levels and should be sequenced and aligned within a written curriculum.

This team also identified 10 teaching practices to promote SEL

Student-Centered Discipline
Teacher Language
Responsibility and Choice
Warmth and Support
Cooperative Learning
Classroom Discussions
Self-Reflection and Self-Assessment
Balanced Instruction
Academic Rigor and Expectations
Competence Building—Modeling, Practicing, Feedback, Coaching

Cultural Competence and Proficiency (CCP)

Cultural competence is the ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures. Cultural competence encompasses. being aware of one self and one's own world-view. developing positive attitudes towards cultural differences. gaining knowledge of different cultural practices and world-views. An ECLC topical team identified core principles of CCP:

Culture is a predominant force
People are served in varying degrees by the dominant culture. There is diversity within and between cultures.
Every group has unique culturally-defined needs.
People have personal identities and group identities
Marginalized populations have to be at least bicultural.
Families, as defined by culture, are the primary systems of support.
The diverse thought patterns of cultural groups influence how problems are defined and solved.
The absence of cultural competence anywhere is a threat to competent services everywhere.

They also identified essential elements toward gaining cultural competence and proficiency.

Assess Culture: Identify the cultural groups present in the system
Value Diversity: Develop an appreciation for the differences among and between groups
Manage the Dynamics of Difference: Learn to respond appropriately and effectively to the issues that arise in a diverse environment
Adapt to Diversity: Change and adopt new policies and practices that support diversity and inclusion
Institutionalize Cultural Knowledge: Drive the changes into the systems of the organization

Communications and Engagement

In school districts, effective communications and engagement efforts are critical to lasting change, and yet, these two domains are often treated as an afterthought or an option. The ECLC aims to help educators in all roles build an array of communications and engagement competencies. This includes, but is not limited to:

Meeting facilitation, primarily through the use of structured protocols and coaching
Storytelling and messaging for change, drawing on a large evidence base
Futures protocols and the creation of vision, mission and value statements
Communications planning to reach both internal and external stakeholders
Strategies for deep educator and staff engagement in the change process
Understanding and building authentic student engagement
Traditional and non-traditional strategies to engage family and community
Coaching on producing powerful school and district documents
Practical tips and examples of external outreach products, including media pitch letters, press releases, brochures, and website materials.
Tools for the evaluation of communications and engagement efforts

Change Leadership and Management

We often lose site of the fact that school districts and schools are highly complex organizations in which human-centered systems and structures must be established to enable the most effective conditions for change. The ECLC addresses these, among other, elements of change leadership and management:

Learning to distinguish between technical and adaptive challenges –and beginning to develop approaches to solving each kind in district and school settings
Exploring mindsets around difference and engaging in conversations to shift mindsets
Understanding the change process and the socialization of new ideas
Mastering the Data-based Inquiry Cycle
Practicing and building competency with difficult conversations
Designing thinking cycles with piloting, recalibrating and reflection
Exploring the framing and reframing of challenges
Learning collaborative processes and break existing siloes that have outlived their usefulness