Tia Taylor:
Welcome, everyone. We just are really appreciative to have you all here today. It is the first discussion series on the ESSA Resource Allocation Review that we are really excited to be hosting out of the Comprehensive Center Program. And for those of you that don’t know, the Comprehensive Center Program is a federally funded network that is comprised of 19 regional centers. And I’m going to actually turn it over to Aaron Butler, who is the Region 9 Comprehensive Center director, to share a little bit more about the Comprehensive Center Program. Aaron.
Aaron Butler:
Thank you, Tia, and thank you, everybody for joining today. Just excited to see all the different states and regions represented. As Tia said I’m Aaron Butler. I’m the director for the Region 9 Comprehensive Center. We serve Illinois and Iowa right in the middle. And I also want to welcome you on behalf of Kate Wright and Candace Jones, who are the co-directors for the Region 15 Center, who are not able to join today. But the Comprehensive Centers are, as you can see, cover all 50 states and territories. We are of as part of a five-year grants to states to provide intensive capacity building state our capacity building support to our states.
And so, you can see the different numbers if you’re not aware of what your Comprehensive Center is. You can look it up on the compcenternetwork.org or you’ll reach out to anyone on the in the chat here. We can make sure that we connect you with your Comprehensive Center. But this session that we’re putting on today just really excited. It just shows the power of the Comprehensive Centers of how we can bring your two regions together to be able to share stories of their states on a really complex but really relevant and timely issue that a lot of states are facing right now. Been doing a lot of work with school improvement and finance and this resource allocation review, you know, discussions that are just so important right now, especially as we’re getting ready to go back into the next school year.
So, I’m just excited that, you know, that Region 9 and 15 are able to bring this to you and collaborate and, and hopefully, you know, get the word out and bring some more states next time. We’d love to continue to grow this series. And so, I’ll stop talking there and turn it over to the people who you’re really here to see and hear from. But just thank you for joining and, you know, continue to reach out to your Comprehensive Centers with any support that you need. So, thank you.
Tia Taylor:
Thank you so much, Aaron. And I am delighted to introduce to you the Region 9 and 15 team members that are responsible for putting this discussion series together. From Region 9, we have Kevin Junk and Isabella Hernandez who are joining who support the are supported by the American institute of Research or commonly known as AIR. We all know them as AIR. And then from the Region 15 Comprehensive Center supported by WestEd, we have Alicia Bowman, Corey Cornett, and my name is Tia Taylor. All right. Well, let’s get to it. I’m going to turn it over to Kevin, who is going to share more about why we are here and what we have planned for you today. Kevin.
Kevin Junk:
Thank you, Tia. So, we have three sessions coming up, today being the first one. We have another one in August, and one in September. And the topics are, today, we’re starting off with learning how other states are the, you know, pilot in implementing it. It’s coming up very fast upon us when we have to be implementing these within our SEAs. And, you know, we started talking about why do we need to be doing this so we can start learning from, as Aaron said, really collaborating between us and Region 15 and then you as states, also. So, you can learn from each other about what’s working, what’s not working. So, learning about how the other states are implementing the RAR process, including some tools and resources that you might have that other states could benefit from.
You know, we’re trying to increase the SEA capacity to engage LEAs in the RAR process, you know, and, you know, using a system approach to support the overall allocation of resources that align with students needs. We’re also looking to increase SEA capacity to support LEAs in the creation of policies, procedures, and practices that support sustainable resource allocation methods. And finally, we’re looking at creating shared learning space for SEAs to learn from and provide very valuable feedback to each other as you’re going through the resource allocation review yourselves in your own states.
So, we’re looking at session two is going to be exploring where and how the SEA RAR process can fit into the comprehensive school improvement planning process and the system of supports. And then our last session is going to be around discover ways in which ESSA, the ESSA RAR process can influence technical assistance and support provided to districts and schools as we continue to look at moving, you know, shifting the SEAs from being all compliance to how do you support those LEAs throughout your states.
Next slide, please. Looking at the session agenda today, you know, we’re going over the overall purpose. We have our panel, we have some panelists today going to talk to you about some what’s worked, what hasn’t worked, and where they are in the process. We’ll have a breakout activity and some final reflections. So, outcomes from today really looking at you guys being part of this. This is for you. We want discussions on how you’re piloting and implementing the RAR process.
We’re going to hopefully have some opportunities for cross state and small discussion and then share ideas and inspirations with each other so that, again, we can we’re learning from each other. It’s something new that we have to do and how do we do it and how do we do it effectively. So hopefully you’re at the right place and you’re excited. You’re as excited as we are about bringing this to you.
Alicia Bowman:
Hey, thank you. So, we are going to be now moving into our main event for today, which is our panel discussion. And so, I’m going to start out. Well, our panel discussion is going to be four questions. I’ll introduce our panelists in just a moment. And we’re we’ll have about maybe 10 minutes on each question. We’ll see. We’ll see how that goes with the time. And then you’ll go to small groups to have small group discussions of your own. So, without further ado, our panelists for today are from the Nevada Department of Education and the Utah State Board of Education. And I’m going to give them an opportunity to introduce themselves, just your name and what your role is at that at the department and your interest and your interest in developing the resource allocation review process in your state.
Jeff Hoover:
I can go first. I’m Jeff Hoover with the State of Nevada Department Education. I live in Las Vegas, and I’ve been with the department for just over two years, initially working with CSI, TSI, and ATSI schools and the RAR process, and I just changed positions about a month ago. But from a RAR standpoint, I’m looking at using that process with the program that I’m working with now, which is Title 1 Part B. So, with neglected and delinquent and at-risk youth. So, with what I’ve worked with and with my colleagues and with WestEd looking at what I’ve learned and providing technical support for those schools that are receiving Title 1 D services.
Susan Ulrey:
I’m Susan Ulrey also with the Nevada Department of Education and Education Programs Professional for Title 1. And this is, I think, my 26th year in education and nine years here at the department. I am looking forward to really focusing on helping schools and LEAs understand the importance of how they allocate their resources. And to even go further on understanding that there are other resources to consider besides just financial resources. And so, I’m really excited to learn from others here today, as well, how their states might be implementing or helping their LEAs and schools to focus on their allocations.
Darryl Wyatt:
Hi everyone. I’m Darryl Wyatt. I’m the new person to the team. I joined a little bit less than a year ago last October. I have 30 years experience working for the LEA and school district, the last 22 years as a middle school and elementary principal. And, you know, for me it’s just helping to blend my background experience from the site level to learning all the rules and policies and laws that Susan and Jeff have been enlightening me with to see how we can best inform the schools to work with the LEAs to have that collaborative effort that we heard mentioned earlier. And to me, that’s all a big piece of this puzzle is just trying to communicate and keep everybody informed because, as I’ve shared with Susan and Jeff so many times, with this past knowledge, and there are so many things that I’ve learned about the state and fed level, about policies and rules of the operation that I didn’t know as site leader and principal even after 22 years. So, it’s just a matter of trying to get everybody as well informed as possible.
Alicia Bowman:
Thank you. So, pass it over to you, Max.
Max Lang:
I am Max Lang. I work for the Utah State Board of Education. I am the federal programs coordinator. About two years ago, I was working in school Improvement, CSI, TSI, ATSI schools, where we started the resource allocation review process. I’ve currently changed positions and administer Title 1 Part A, and Utah is a state that last year experienced a substantial decline in Title 1 funding. So, we are pursuing we are going to be looking to the resource allocation review to really streamline and focus resources to get the best bang for our bucks moving forward. Over to James.
James Martin:
Thanks, Max. I’m James Martin and I am with the Utah State Board of Education. I’m school improvement specialist there. I work primarily with TSI and ATSI schools, and I’ve been working on the resource allocation review process with our team and really care about helping schools. I was recently in a school and so just helping schools recognize resources that are different than what they have frequently labeled as resources and to think about how it might be able to use those resources differently. So, I’m excited to be able to support schools in that matter.
Alicia Bowman:
Okay. Thank you, everyone. And unfortunately, Tracy is not able to join us today because she’s ill. So, we’re going to go ahead and move on to our first question for the panelists. How do you define resource inequities and what is top-of-mind for you when you think about addressing resource inequities in education? Is there anyone that would like to start?
Darryl Wyatt:
I’ll chime in with that. Thank you. Thank you for that question. I think for me, inequities is attempting to give all the students the same thing, regardless of their individual specific needs. So top of my mind then would be to identify the specific resources to match the academic deficits of each student. Is that hard? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Definitely. So, as you know, as I mentioned, you know, coming out of the site level, I see where it’s really important for us from the SEA level to provide that, I guess, that communicative support for how we can be of some kind of assistance to the schools to make sure that they have all the things that they need to address all the subgroups, not just the one-size-fits-all type of mentality.
We have to make sure that we’re addressing specific student needs and that’s a huge challenge because it involves understanding the data. It includes making some tough choices, maybe with respect to staffing. You know, I’ll give a prime example. As a the middle school principal, I think, you know, in secondary, there’s always been this kind of mindset and mentality that, you know, as you, you know, become a veteran status and become a better teacher, well, then you get the opportunity to teach these great honor classes in these accelerated classes, thereby leaving the other classes for the less veteran, less experienced teachers. Not to say that they’re not having the same quality, but many times they lack some of the skills necessary to fine tune their instruction to meet the needs of everybody. And so, it’s trying to make those hard decisions in a philosophical shift, because I think as an institution, teachers have that mindset, you know, hey, I’ve paid my dues, I’ve earned my stripes.
I’ve been doing this for a number of years now. I want to teach, “the higher class” as well. We need to make sure that we’re finding the high-quality teachers for the underperforming students in these underperforming schools. We know by research it’s been clear and obvious for a couple of decades now, at least, that the most important qualities for, you know, student achievement is a high-quality teacher. But it also going along with that is a high-quality leader. So, we have to also make sure that we’re providing stability in these underperforming schools.
And, you know, I know in some districts like the district that I was a part of, it was very large. There was a lot of mobility, lots of opportunity for administrators to move on to different roles, which is wonderful because as professionals, we all want to take that next step. We all want to succeed. We all want to be recognized for the, you know, the things that we do. But to what end, you know, to what cost are we, you know, diminishing what’s at the school maybe just left and providing an unstable situation. So, I think for me, this is a very complex question in terms of just the philosophy that surrounds our institution that’s been there for decades and decades, that it’s really tough to chip through some of these things that are more cultural intent as opposed to anything based on research. It’s just a part of the process.
So that that’s how I would define the inequities is just not giving the students the specific items that they need in order to be successful, because we know all students are different.
Alicia Bowman:
Thank you. So, would anyone else like to respond to this question?
Jeff Hoover:
Yeah, if I can tell you, if I could chime in. My whole take on resource inequities is looking at the students, the students that are historically underserved. You know, the students that fall under Title 1 services and looking, like Susan said, beyond the funding. Because when we talk about resources, the first thing people think about a lot is just really the funding. But looking at, like Darryl said, the staffing, looking at the organization of time, the resources, the materials, curriculum. So, looking across the board at all things that are that the students need and how best to address those needs, what’s the appropriate way to do that? And looking at the data like Darryl had mentioned and so geared it to historically underserved students and identifying are they getting what they need to succeed academically. So that’s my take on that.
Alicia Bowman:
Thank you.
James Martin:
And I would just add that I think that what we found in Utah is that oftentimes resource inequities are caused by resources that have been in place for a while or resources that are part of the status quo of the organization. And we just keep writing school improvement plans to justify use of those resources. So, we start with resource first and then come up with a plan for justifying that. And so, trying to reverse that and really start with a needs assessment, good root cause analysis, and then coming up with the resources that make the most sense based on that and perhaps moving some of those resources around based upon the needs that emerge from a really good root cause analysis and needs assessment.
Jeff Hoover:
If I can circle back a second part of this as far as what’s at the top of my mind from an SEA standpoint is in working with the LEAs and with the schools from a resource from a RAR standpoint, is just providing the appropriate technical assistance that they need. And so this is a new process as far as linked with the continuous improvement process and just having the folks at the different levels, other folks here within the SEA and the LEA and school level to understand what resource inequity is all about and looking at how with this process, with the fresh lens and doing things differently instead of doing it the same way that it’s been done, you know, seeking different results and looking at the data to determine what those results might be.
So, looking at the top of my mind is just a technical assistance here. Like I said, within NDE, within the Nevada Department of Education with our LEAs with the schools, and then how best to attack the inequities that are there if we find that they’re there. So that’s the other part of that question I wanted to address.
Darryl Wyatt:
I can just if I can just add one, you know, one other comment with respect to the inequities, you know, and this was something that was, you know, brought to light by Alicia through one of our one of our sessions a few weeks back as we talked about different processes and structures to implement in the school, to try to make sure that we’re identifying the needs of all the subgroups. She reminded me of the all-important assessment piece that, okay, so yes, we understand that these are the deficits of the students. We recognize that we have to try something different.
Here’s the new structure, process, teacher, program that we’re going to use. But then do we go back to check that to see, okay, is this working? Have we identified, you know, some kind of remediation to help these students progress? So again, I think it’s you know, there’s a lot of complexities that go with it. And I think that’s one of the things that makes it as challenging as it is because there are so many dynamics and it’s constantly moving.
Alicia Bowman:
Hey, Max, it looks like you wanted to speak? I don’t know if you’re speaking. We’re like, okay, does anyone else have a response for this question? All right. We’re going to go ahead and move on to question number two. So, where are you in the design of your review process and what’s your overall approach to resource allocation?
Susan Ulrey:
Okay. So, I guess Nevada will go first again. I was going to see if Utah wanted to go first. Right now, where Nevada is at, we just finished doing a pilot with LEAs and principals, asking them the questions that we have developed with WestEd regarding a resource allocation review. We learned quite a bit from that pilot, and we were able to form our next steps from that. And so, for the next steps, we understand that we have a lot of work to do when it comes to making principals and LEAs aware of exactly what a resource allocation review is. So, we’re going to complete our RAR protocols with the WestEd and the guidance document for that and provide the training and technical assistance on what resource allocation review is. And we’ll be doing that with our CSI/MRI schools.
We also plan on implementing this guidance to a larger set of schools in the upcoming school year, the 23/24 school year. We also plan on revising our school performance plan. We already have an inequity section, but we realized through this process that we probably want to move that section to align more with their action steps, their root cause analysis. Like James had said, they do a root cause analysis and a needs assessment, but there isn’t a connection to their resources in the school performance plan we have. And so, we want to make that connection and make sure that the schools are seeing that connection in the LEAs. And then one of the last items for our next steps would be to provide the training, which I did say, to the principals and LEAs on the expectations of the resource allocation review.
So, we have a lot coming up in the next few months. We will be working with WestEd on our protocols and guidance document and hopefully learning a lot from the other states as well. And I don’t know if my team would like to add to anything with our next steps or where we’re at right now, but that’s what I have.
Jeff Hoover:
The only thing I’d like to add is in addition to the pilot that we did this year with a handful of schools and we’re looking at expanding that more in the next school year or two and ultimately finalizing the process for school year 24/25. But again, having a bigger pilot for this upcoming school year.
James Martin:
We participated in a pilot in Utah as well. We learned a lot from that process, but we also are like the cat in that one picture and are just jumping off the ledge and just throwing caution to the wind. We’re moving forward with our RAR process this coming school year. We feel like we’ve learned enough to get that in motion.
And so, we have already contacted our superintendents across the state to let them know that the RAR process is taking place. We’ve decided which of our schools qualify for Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 status. We’ve defined that ourselves as Tier 1 is any school that has one student group in TSI/ATSI, and Tier 2 is any school that has two student groups in ATSI, and Tier 3 is any school that has three or more student groups in ATSI.
We also have Tier 3 districts that have 20% or more of their schools that are or excuse me, 20% or more of their student groups that are in ATSI status. So, for those Tier 3 districts, we are doing a face-to-face interview. And so, we’ve actually already got those schedules and have reached out to are reaching out to schools and districts to let them know about those so that we can start that process.
So, we’re, like I said, just jumping off the ledge and just hoping for the best. I’m sure we’ll learn a lot throughout this process, but we have a great team that are working on conducting these allocation reviews.
Max Lang:
I would just add just a bit of context to what Dr. Martin said there. We had actually started working with WestEd, before the pandemic, related to the resource allocation review, we had set up to begin piloting. And then of course, the pandemic put an abrupt stop to that. After the pandemic, we were identified to participate in a pilot monitoring process for the resource allocation review with ED.
And so going through that process, we are…We are going to be required to start actually doing our resource allocation reviews this upcoming school year. So, we’ve spent substantial time getting those draft resources, draft tools to use for the resource allocation review, getting those things ready to roll. And as Dr. Martin said, we have piloted this year, so we’re we feel confident that we’re going to learn a lot of lessons going into this year over.
Alicia Bowman:
Okay. Anyone else have any responses to this question? Anything else to add? All right. So, there’s there is a question in the chat about sharing the protocol questions that you guys have developed. Do you guys want to respond to that, or do you want to series? I was actually waiting to see if you were going to address that.
Susan Ulrey:
You had a process to distribute materials after the webinar. We could do it that way, no problem sharing them.
Alicia Bowman:
Okay. So, and I just want to say that we have developed we developed a protocol with Utah and then and then also worked with the Nevada Department of Education to look at that protocol and make it their own. And then there’s some substantial changes to the protocol as a result. So, they have different sets of questions that they are using as part of their process. And so, we had not set up for them to be shared during this webinar. So, we don’t have them like on deck for you guys and some of them are still in draft form with a lot of comments, but what we can do is make them available for you all after this after the session.
Okay, So there’s a question for Utah. Where within the school improvement lifecycle does the RAR take place? Upon initial identification of CSI/TSI schools or later?
James Martin:
I can answer that. We’re basing this particular RAR on 2022 results because we’re still waiting for 2023 results to be cultivated. So, I mean, they’re out there, but they’re not ready to be shared or ready to be applied to accountability roles in Utah. So, we’re basing it on 2022. And I don’t know whether that will be what we continue to do.
So, this will be the end of the lifecycle of school improvement for these schools because they’ve already been notified a year ago of their status. CCI schools are also undergoing a RAR, and so we may change that as things go forward. But for right now, because we’re just starting the RARs, this is the data that we have available.
And so, we’re trying to get it done in the early part of the school year. So that if we end up having different data that leads us to make different decisions, then we can do that maybe towards the end of the school year. But anyway, I hope that answers the question also.
Jeff Hoover:
But I can add from a Nevada standpoint is we have included the RAR process and embedding that within our school performance plans and so when you look at the schools with the applicable designations, having them address the resource allocations and determine if there’s inequities as part of their continuous improvement plan. And so that’s where it’s embedded with here in Nevada.
Alicia Bowman:
I have another question. Who’s the intended audience or recipients of the RAR when you’re SEA facilitates? What roles ideally are in the room?
Darryl Wyatt:
So, I from our process, I found that the RAR really is a professional learning opportunity. It’s not a problem-solving session. It’s not anything other than just an opportunity for us to sit down with a group of leaders from the SEA or from LEA, excuse me, and to really ask some probing questions that get them thinking and reflecting.
And it’s really a reflection process. And so, we don’t come to any conclusions or answers during it. We try to do some kind of a write up afterwards, just some additional questions that we have or some recommendations that we might have pulling out, by highlighting some of their strengths that they already have in place with the use of their resources.
But we leave the roles that they include in the LEA up to them. So, we have some recommendations like federal programs, directors, assistant superintendents, curriculum. We also recommend that they might have some teachers, parents, board members, just stakeholders around the table to engage in this conversation, which again is really about discovery rather than finding any answers.
In Nevada, our goal, as you know, many of our conversations have revolved around trying as much as possible to make the audience the site leadership team, the principal, administrators, those that are going to be mostly responsible for enacting any type of changes or making any kind of progress towards working towards some of those inequities. You know, the largest district, you know, Nevada is pretty unique.
There’s only seven districts. Each county is their own district. And the Clark County School district, you know, takes up, you know, probably about half to two thirds of the entire state in terms of population. So, it’s a little bit more unique and it’s very fast growing. So, there’s a lot of mobility. So therefore, you’re constantly trying to, you know, hit a moving target.
So, for us, it’s trying to get in front of the person that’s going to be closest to the decision-making. You know, I think ideally, we want to partner with the LEAs, which of course is what we intend to do, and we always make sure that they’re part of the dialog in the conversations. But for us, it’s for sure trying to make sure that those it’s closest to the students are at the table as often as possible.
Jeff Hoover:
And also, to clarify, there’s 17 school districts in Nevada and we also have our state charter agencies, so the 18 LEAs. And then from an LEA standpoint, ideally the school improvement person or a rep from that department or whatever they make up might be for the district because like Darryl alluded to, we have Clark County, that’s the elephant as in the room when it comes to the districts where you might have departments and full-fledged, you know, army of individuals assigned to that department.
But then you have a smaller LEA where you have an individual that’s wearing different hats. So, the key person, the key area or key people we want to work with at the LEA level is the school improvement lead and whoever else they think should be involved in that. And then when it gets to the MRI, to more rigorous intervention schools providing more direct support and guidance from the SEA to those schools.
So being more hands on when it comes to the more rigorous intervention schools that will be newly designated September 15 here in Nevada for the 22/23 school year. And add on to something that James was saying so and where we are in the process. So, for school years, 19/20 and 20/21, we had a waiver from US ED as part of the accountability standpoint.
And so, our CSI schools are just now being evaluated to determine if they meet the exit criteria or will be designated MRI. So that feeds into this whole process, too.
Susan Ulrey:
I just want to add a little bit more to this. This is a big topic. This is also going to force us here at the state agency to work across the aisle with our other colleagues. And so, the audience for RAR could actually be your other programs. And that with the decreases that James mentioned that they had in Utah, we’ve also had some decreases here in Nevada with our with some of our other title funding.
And so that’s going to really force us to talk with each other and discuss what of the resources are available that we can then relay to the LEAs and the school site principals. I think it’s a great opportunity. It’s going to really help everyone shift the way they think, the way they work about the different resource allocations. We could even be reaching out to our communities and our community organizations just so that we know here’s what’s offered, here’s how we can get different resources to our students and families that need it the most.
So, I just wanted to add that this.
Jeff Hoover:
I’ve got some information I can add to what Susan said, but I’ll share that more with question number three with the challenges and stuff.
Max Lang:
I want to just add something. This is Max Lang from Utah. You know, we find through a lot of federal programs when we go out to do monitoring. Each of those federal programs involves some sort of needs assessment and planning process. And so, I think, you know, something that will be beneficial to spread out through the resource allocation review process is that schools who participate in needs assessment, root cause analysis, plan development plan, implementation that will also be considerate of the resource allocation review.
They can actually reach out, request, or demand the resources they need to meet the needs of the students in their schools. So, we really hope that this notice is appropriate Word to use trickles down to the schools, but we really hope that they really get involved in that process too. And I really like the comment that this is going to be an example for other programs, for all programs.
Fortunately, we have through the resource allocation review, Utah is participating in a project where we’re designing, it will be available to all LEAS, a needs assessment process and a plan development process. And the resource allocation review is embedded in both parts of that, the needs assessment and the plan development. So, I like that comment that it will spread across all programs as well.
Alicia Bowman:
We have a couple more questions in the chat. One is do you provide the data to LEAs for their review and if so, what data and in what form do to share it? And I’m assuming you’re talking about the resource data.
Jeff Hoover:
I was actually typing a response in there, but I just say it now. We as an SEA, we have an office, an accountability and assessment office that provides that data onto an accountability portal that is normally updated by September 15th. Again, for, in this case, the school year 22/23. So that information is provided and it’s accessible to the public.
But prior to being publicly released in mid-September, it is shared with the LEAs like in this time frame right now. As far as the preliminary results and some interaction back and forth between the LEAs and that particular office. But yes, the data is releasable and accessible to the LEAs, to the schools in mid-September, and it’s out of that information where they look to finalize their school performance plans, where the raw information will be, etc., etc..
So that’s how that works in Nevada.
Alicia Bowman:
Thank you.
Max Lang:
I would just say in Utah, something we have discovered. We do have a dashboard with that entails a number of data. But what we found in investigating this process is there are other data that are really important: FTE, staffing data, financial operations seem to be a different place. And so you have to go to a number of places to get all the data you would need to conduct the resource allocation review.
We are in the process now of trying to put a place for collaborate efforts across the sections in the agency so that all that data is automatically uploaded and available to the LEAs. But soon, soon we’re working on it every week right Tia?
Tia Taylor:
That’s right. Every week chipping away. It’s been a long process, but it’s going to be fantastic when it’s all finished.
Alicia Bowman:
and then one other question was, what’s with such a large undertaking? How many DOE staff are assigned to lead this process?
Susan Ulrey:
Okay, so. In Nevada, we have a small team of school improvement staff, which is why we will be reaching out to our other colleagues to help us with this allocation review. It takes a lot of time management and project planning to keep track of the different initiatives and tasks, action steps that we have to monitor for with the LEAs and the schools.
So, I think I have a great team and we do our best to continue that work, but it is difficult. We do have a small team.
Alicia Bowman:
James, I see you put a response in the in the chat. Did you want to respond out loud or maybe?
James Martin:
No, that’s just we just have a small team as well. Okay.
Alicia Bowman:
All right. So thank you all for the questions and panelists for your responses. How many LEAs are in Utah?
Max Lang:
There are 41 districts and 120-something charter LEAs.
Alicia Bowman:
Yeah. All right. Let’s move on to question number three. And that is what barriers or challenges have you faced, or do you anticipate?
Jeff Hoover:
I could jump right out there. One thing that we’ve faced is we didn’t bring in other offices, other teams into this process early enough. And so that’s one thing that I would advise if folks were looking for advice, is to bring in other folks within your team. You know, in our case the Title 1 team, like Susan had mentioned across the aisle so other folks within the state agency and then with the LEAs too.
So, we didn’t bring in more people early enough in the process. And then the other thing that we faced as our team, former team that I was on and it’s still my team will always be my team, is the turnover. So, our first level, second level and third level supervisors for our team changed. And then on the team itself, I was the one holdover.
So that’s changed too with the five of us, I believe it is. And so just the dynamics associated with change at the SEA level and on our team let alone, any changes that will occur at the LEA level and then with the schools that have these designations. So, the it’s such a changeover and just having to relearn or re-orientate folks to what this process is all about being new anyway.
And so that’s one of the difficulties, is getting more people involved earlier. And then also the transitory nature of folks at all levels that SEA, LEA, and also at the schools. Those are a couple of things I wanted to identify.
Susan Ulrey:
Thank you, Jeff. I wanted to add to that. I agree about the turnovers and the changes in the SEA/LEA levels, but I think one of the challenges that resonated for me during the pilot that we held in May and then also when we were looking at the results, was that the LEAs and principals are really focused on their resources that they’ve always been focused on and even resources that they don’t have control over.
And so, I think the challenge is going to be to help them shift to thinking about different resources besides funding, besides staffing. There is a nationwide teacher shortage. We cannot control that. So, we really have to come up with strategies, ideas, innovative ideas to help our LEAs and principals move beyond just thinking about that body in the classroom, which we absolutely need.
But since we can’t control that, what can we do to get resources out to our kids, out to our staff, our LEAs? What can we do? How can we bring in community organizations to help in these areas? So, I think that’s going to be one of the very priority challenges coming into this next school year as we implement the RAR.
James Martin:
One of the challenges is just helping LEAs to shift from this as part of compliance to this is maybe something that we do all the time, and this is just a regular part of our planning process to look at our resources in very deep ways and really uncover where we might not be serving all of our students well.
So, to me, that’s a barrier that we have to overcome. It just seems like you know, another compliance thing and I think LEAs sometimes react accordingly to that. But how do we shift that focus from, you know, this is about checking a box to this is how we do business. Same thing with, you know, school improvement, planning and writing any, you know, doing a needs assessment root cause analysis.
I mean, that’s all really part of the continuous improvement cycle. But, you know, shifting people’s focus from I have to do this to I do this because it’s the right thing to do is a challenge.
Jeff Hoover:
And James brings up a good point because in working with this process and with the LEAs and sharing what’s going on is the take that I have where folks are looking at this as just another program, something else we have to do, etc., etc., as opposed to being embedded in the processes or the requirements that they already.
And then just looking at this as a floor for enhancing student achievement, enhancing student outcomes, so not a compliance piece and just something we have to do because we have to do it and then check it off. But really trying to move the needle, trying to look at what is this all about and improving student outcomes. So, if we have that as our north star and work from there, it’s a little bit better as opposed to, okay, this too shall pass.
You know, this is what everybody’s talking about right now, but next year it will be something different or etc. But also, to be fair is when you’re looking at this at school level and especially at the smaller schools or the smaller districts, is like the key thing that they’re dealing with is the day-to-day challenge of what’s going on at that school.
And so, when you’re looking at this, it’s almost like, okay, that’s something that I know we need to do. But, you know, there’s something else going on at my building on my campus right now. We’ll get to it when we get to it. So, it’s just a matter of establishing the priority, making this a priority at the school level, and also LEA that okay, this is something that needs to be done and it’s all about enhancing student outcomes. So just that paradigm shift that needs to occur also and that’s a challenge.
Darryl Wyatt:
Yeah. And if I can piggyback off of, you know, what Jeff was talking about and you know, I think a large thing and I’m not sure if it’s the challenge or if it’s a barrier, but one of the, you know, conversations, things that we’ve been talking about is just that building of that relationship. We really haven’t been into the buildings because of COVID for multiple years.
So, you know, now we’re talking about getting back into the building and, you know, basically introducing ourselves to these people face-to-face as opposed to virtually. So, we want them to understand that we really do want to be their partner and we want this to be a collaborative process. So, I think, you know, kind of adding on to what Jeff said, you know, in terms of, hey, this is, you know, something else on your plate In most incident in in most cases, these are things that at least in some structure are already being done in many of these buildings.
So, for me, it’s just trying to help them structure, organize, and prioritize to get things moving in the right direction. But in order to do that, they’re going to have to, you know, have a relationship with those of us that they’re working with at the NDE level.
Max Lang:
This is Max Lang from Utah. I just want to circle back to something that Dr. Martin said at the beginning. You know, a lot of times funding and resources are designated just because they always have been done that way. And I think something that I anticipate through this process is very difficult conversations regarding what someone’s role in a school is or a district has always been.
So, they go get funding to just continue that particular role or that person in that role, and it may or may not meet the needs of the students in the school. So, it’s an entire change in the system and the structure of how the school operates or how the LEA operates, even the state. So, I think that’s going to just be maybe a tougher conversation in certain areas, probably not every day or every school, but there will be those schools and LEAs.
Alicia Bowman:
All right. Thank you. And we’re going to go to our final question. What has gone well or what would you like to celebrate about your process so far?
Jeff Hoover:
I can’t seem to shut up. I would like to celebrate Darryl being part of the team now and Susan and with Darryl in the experiences that he’s had at the school level. As you know, going up the last I think it was July, August, when he retired. And then, Susan, with the school turnaround experience she had with state grants involving lower performing schools, having that expertise as part of the Nevada team is puts us in a good place.
And so, I just like to celebrate that that as a success and what they bring to the table for our team, let alone the supports being provided to the LEAs. So, I chalk that up as something to celebrate.
Susan Ulrey:
Thank you, Jeff. I think the team we have together now at in Nevada is a great team. Ready to get in there with all of our school experience, school-level experience and state-level experience. I would just like to celebrate the fact that we are it feels like we are now moving forward with implementing systems and frameworks into supporting our underperforming schools.
It’s always been a passion of mine and Darryl to be in Title 1 schools to help out families and students to show them what their potential can be. And just being in this position now, that’s what we’re celebrating is that we have a good, solid team. And I do want to mention we do have one other teammate on here and it’s Brittney Adams and she’s our quiet project manager who keeps us on task.
And I didn’t see our other teammate Reggie yet. He might be in a different meeting that coincided with this right now, but we do have a good, solid team right now and we’re really looking forward to moving this forward. And our WestEd team, Alicia and Tia to give a shout out to them for being patient with us and retraining every time a new person came on our team and they’ve just been really great.
So those are small accomplishments at our state level. I also want to celebrate the districts and school principals that participated in our pilot. They didn’t have to; it was, is, voluntary, and they took their time from their very busy days and schedules to do that with us. And so that’s that part of the collaboration that we are looking forward to with all of our LEAs and principals.
James Martin:
I can jump in. I appreciate the opportunity to work with such great thought partners from WestEd and also on our team. It’s been great to just learn about the process, and it’s all been new to me, and it’s been an enjoyable experience. I would say that one of the things that I like to celebrate about our processes has been guided by Tia.
You know, in thinking about the RAR process, you know, beyond that, like what supports do we have in place for the schools once they come to that discovery place, once they realize, we do need to realign our resources or do something differently, what supports do we have in place then for them to learn how to do that, in what ways might work best?
And so, we’re now in a place where we’re thinking through that process and supports that we provide to schools and LEAs once they’ve done some of this reflection and realize they want to maybe go a different direction.
Max Lang:
This is Max Lang from Utah. I guess I would also add that I think with the help from our friends at WestEd and we identified leadership in our agency early on and as we moved through the process, we’ve had it be a part of the conversation in multiple sections of our agency, whether it be data and statistics or assessment/accountability, financial operations.
There’s representation of the RAR process in those conversations. So, I don’t know if they would have been previously, but now they are. And I think it’s due to this particular process we’ve gone to now being identified to do a compliance monitoring from the Department of Ed also facilitates that conversation in a broader way, but it is happening, so I’m happy about that over.
Darryl Wyatt:
And I would just like to echo, you know, all of the comments that I’ve heard and just kind of, you know, building off of what Max said, I would just like to celebrate the fact that this is a focus, this is of critical importance and it really is a highlight, you know, not just of our team, but of the department.
And by such, it’s becoming a highlight and a focus of the LEAs and, you know, trickling down to the schools and, you know, again, I’ll echo what you know, Susan and Jeff said as well. It’s just been tremendous for me to work with Susan and Jeff and with Brittany and just opportunity to learn all the intricate items and components that either I just took for granted or I just didn’t know.
You know, I didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes in so many cases. You know, I was just so focused on the day-to-day operations and, you know, and later on, you know, when COVID came along, it was it was survival. You know, it was just a matter of trying to survive and think on your feet and get things done.
So, having them share with me what you know, what are the business rules, what does the SEA law say about this, that and the other thing? You know, that to me is a huge celebration. And having this at the forefront of the conversations around education in our state right now is a huge celebration. You know. And then finally, the other thing I’d like to add is just the, you know, the wonderful flexibility that Jeff and Susan and Brittany and our entire department, you know, has had regarding, you know, RAR and just our growing pains that we have gone through as a small team with, you know, experience from different avenues.
And I think that’s what builds I think that’s what creates our strength is the fact that we do have different flavors of experience in different capacities that we’re able to see things from different perspectives. And, you know, I’ve been very blessed because they’ve been very easy to work with. And in accepting if I would offer a different perspective or say, well, you know how we thought about this, and it’s like, yeah, okay, let’s try to go in this direction.
So, they’ve been very easy to work with. We’ve been very flexible as our team has kind of fluctuated with, you know, with Jeff leaving recently, you know, and from what I understand from recent meetings will probably be getting somebody new into that role. So, it’s just that continually evolving process and I’m just very grateful to be able to work with such knowledgeable professional people that, you know, are interested in progress and not necessarily a particular state of mind.
Alicia Bowman:
Thank you, everyone. Thank you. And I’d like to thank all of our panelists for having for answering these questions and sharing your thoughts and experience. I’m going to pass it over to my colleague Cory, who’s going to take you to your breakout rooms.
Corey Cornett:
Thank you, Alicia. We’re really looking forward to hearing from you. And we know that sometimes folks drop off the call. But I want to just extend a huge invite to please stay on our call today, not just for the breakout, but also because we have a little bit of more information once we come back from our breakout. And we also want to hear from you.
We want to hear from your voice. Please feel free to utilize this time to have a candid discussion with the colleagues that are on the call. We have some sample prompts that we’ve dropped into the Zoom chat, and they’re also on the screen as well, including how does resource allocation impact the work that you do? What insights have you taken away from the panel today and do you have any ideas or suggestions to share?
So, these are just some samples. So, if you’d like to have think of some for your own, that would be totally fine as well. We’re going to take a breakout session for approximately 15 minutes. During that time, you know, please feel free to engage with your colleagues. If you’re not able to use your camera, you can use the Zoom chat.
When we come back, we will share some of the ideas that have originated during the breakout session. And then we have a little bit more information to share today. So, what we’d like to do now is on the next slide, we’d like to just hear from a few folks, just for a few minutes, what might be a highlight that came up for you today.
Maybe another question. You have an idea or a suggestion and you’re welcome to turn your microphone on. Or if you’d like to drop it in the Zoom chat, that would be okay too.
Les Koch:
I’ll give it a shot. This is Les Koch Title 1 Director Wyoming Department of Education. I sense this, and look, Wyoming is the least populated state.
We have 48 school districts, some of our counties, which follow mostly county lines. So, some of our counties have one town, and that’s obviously where the school is. Our budgets are relatively small compared to the colossal budgets I’ve seen from other much more densely populated states. And just to hear the complexity that the states that I was in some of the breakout with was quite amazing.
The number of schools, number of charter school LEAs. We’re just getting one started, right now we have none. We have 48 school districts, a state, maybe a 10th, if not a maybe a 16th of the size of Wyoming, has over 200 school districts. And that just a very complex, different focus compared with population in Wyoming compared to other states.
Thank you for the time.
Corey Cornett:
Thank you. That’s really great. Your comment highlights the complexity of this important task, and we really appreciate that. Kirsten shared in the Zoom chat. Kristen, would you like to elaborate a little bit? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.
Kristen Danusis:
Sure. I always like to talk. Yvonne was extremely helpful and we talked about the way in which they have identified which of their districts with CSI schools are selected to participate within the resource allocation review process. And then as an aside, she was sharing a model that they use to hire coaches for each of their identified CSI schools.
And so, we talked a little bit about that as well. So not directly related to this but related to the work as a whole.
Corey Cornett:
Definitely related. And I think that’s one of the things that we got to hear from Dr. Ulrey in Nevada earlier when she was explaining that it’s important to not just work within your own office but extending the working of the resource allocation review to working in the other offices as well within your state agency. Absolutely, keenly important.
We know that you have lots of other ideas and we’d love that feedback. So, as we move through the rest of our presentation and get you closed out today in the right amount of time, please feel free to drop some of your ideas, your thoughts, and your inspiration into the Zoom chat, especially if there’s anything that you would like for our team to consider or possibly bring to a future session.
We’d love to hear from that as well, and with that, I’m going to turn it over, turn that over to my colleague Tia.
Tia Taylor:
Thank you so much, Cory, and thank you all again so much for participating today. We can’t thank you enough for all of the amazing things that you do kids each and every day. And we know and understand firsthand all of the complexities and the countless initiatives and requirements that you all deal with and have to manage and administer each and every day.
And we just wanted to share in our final reflections here, you know, we feel really strongly that this resource allocation review is an opportunity to design a process that really provides that throughline to keep kids at the center of our work. So, Alicia, if you want to, this is our little closing slide, and you know, we have all these plans that schools and districts are responsible for developing. We have all these plans that that you all as SEA leads, are responsible for providing input and feedback on.
And we are all here to help support with that process. But really, if we can, through this process, see that as a way to really keep that connection. We would we I absolutely believe that this is the opportunity to do that. Before we go, we have some resources we would like to share with all of you today, I think Cory is going to throw that a link to the chat where you can find the latest and greatest list on the resource allocation review from our friends at the department.
They’ve issued their first dear colleague letter on the Title 1 resource equity provisions and how to add some guidance that they are providing on the resource allocation review itself. We have the properties of effective resource allocation systems, which was developed by our colleagues from the Region 9 Comprehensive Center to help identify resources and the four properties of an effective resource allocation system.
And we have a couple of resources from the Region 15 Comprehensive Center, including an infographic around design principles and considerations, as well as a resource for helping leaders identify educational resources beyond funding. And just thank you again to our panelists from Nevada and Utah for sharing your experience today. Susan, Darryl, Jeff, thank you. Max and James, thank you so much.
Thank you, Brianna, for working all of the behind-the-scenes magic that you do. We could not do these things without you. And thank you to my colleagues from Region 9, Kevin and Isabella, and Region 15, of course, Alicia and Cory, It’s an absolute honor to work with you, and we’ll see you all next time. Thank you, everyone.