This posting is the third part of a four part series, aimed at sharing high-impact ideas and practices for consideration in relation to Establishing a District Collaborative Response. The following blogs make up the series and should be explored in this order:
- Establishing a District Collaborative Response
- Using Data to Inform a District Collaborative Response
- Conducting a District Collaborative Team Meeting
- Creating a District Continuum of Supports
At the heart of a District Collaborative Response lies the power of collaborative team meetings (CTMs)—structured conversations that drive meaningful support for schools. As part of the Collaborative Structures and Processes foundational component, CTMs provide a platform for district teams to review data, celebrate successes, identify key issues, and determine actionable next steps. In this blog, we outline the essential elements of effective collaborative team meetings, including
- how to establish a cycle of data gathering,
- prepare for the meetings, and
- maintain a clear, action-focused agenda
By embedding these structures and processes, districts can foster collective efficacy, ensuring that schools receive timely, targeted support aligned with divisional priorities.
Collaborative Response is comprised of three foundational components
- Collaborative Structures and Processes
- Data and Evidence
- Continuum of Supports.
Our primary focus in this blog is to clearly define the purpose and function of the collaborative team meeting for supporting schools, part of the Collaborative Structures and Processes foundational component.
Working with a number of school divisions, we’ve been using the same foundations within Collaborative Response to create an effective system of supports for schools while directing and deploying a divisional team to respond to the needs of each school based on district priorities and school needs. There are three essential components to this work and as you can guess, they parallel the three foundational components of Collaborative Response.
In the blog Establishing a District Collaborative Response, we shared the purpose, function and first steps to creating a district framework for supporting schools which is modeled after the Collaborative Response established in schools to support students. The second blog, Using Data to Inform a District Collaborative Response involves gathering data and evidence to inform the current successes and challenges for schools. Once the elements of defining priorities, identifying meaningful indicators of success, and implementing consistent data collection cycles, district teams can make informed decisions that lead to targeted, equitable support. Then it is time to host a District collaborative team meeting to determine those next steps.
Please refer to the Divisional Collaborative Response Workbook to reference the templates for collaborative team meeting agenda.
Collaborative Structures and Processes
The collaborative team meeting is only one component of Collaborative Structures and Processes. There are specific structures and processes that guide the collaborative capacity of the team and that ensure collective efficacy is realized through the efforts of the team. This is the structure that allows a team to increase their capacity as a learner and to share their knowledge and skill as an expert.
As part of an effective District Collaborative Response, nearly all of the considerations for collaborative team meetings for students are applicable when we shift the conversation to schools. The following list provides considerations for establishing a Collaborative Team Meeting:
Establish an Annual Cycle of Data Gathering and Collaborative Team Meetings - as described in District Collaborative Response it is important to establish your cycle of data gathering followed by a collaborative team meeting for each cycle. Mapping out each priority, cycle of data gathering and collaborative team meetings provides for a consistent, proactive approach to ensuring the support for all schools. The following template found in the Divisional Collaborative Response Workbook provides a format for ensuring your data and evidence have been gathered prior to your collaborative team meeting. It is essential that the cycle is mapped out for the entire year. It is difficult to attend to this process without a proactive plan for implementing the work.
Establish a Focus – Establish what the focus of the collaborative team meeting will be in alignment with your goals and priorities. This is discussed in detail in the blog Using Data to Inform a District Collaborative Response. As suggested, focusing on one priority to begin with will allow you to define and clarify your process within the narrowed focus of one priority. Over time, you will be able to map out your priority areas throughout the scope of a year to ensure you’ve had time to gather data on each area of improvement for the district.
Preparing for the Collaborative Team Meeting - In schools we encourage them to use a pre-meeting organizer that requires teachers to reflect on their data as evidence for who we should be talking about. In the District model, in preparation for the collaborative team meeting, all team members should have completed their data gathering cycle followed by completing the Divisional Priorities Overview which allows the team to determine where schools are in relation to the established priorities. Pre-determining the divisional priorities overview serves as the reflection on data to determine the level of supports that may be required by each school.
Establish a Consistent Agenda - The intentional design of an agenda and corresponding notes document are critical to the success of the collaborative team meeting. The following is an example of a consistent agenda used for the District collaborative team meeting. In the Divisional Collaborative Response Workbook, we have a sample agenda that could be used to guide the divisional collaborative team meeting. You’ll note that the agenda leads you through a very similar process to a school’s CTM.
Roles in Team Meetings - We repeatedly have seen a positive impact on the efficiency and overall flow of the meeting when roles are introduced, utilized and reinforced.
Establishing and Reinforcing Norms - Team norms are critical for the success of any collaborative team ensuring that we also are reinforcing norms as a function of bringing them to life throughout our meetings.
Focus on Impact During Celebrations – When sharing celebrations to start a collaborative team meeting, we always attempt to extract the why of the celebration to examine successes that are happening for schools.
Shifting to Key Issues - Ensuring the primary focus in the collaborative team meeting is shifted to key issues surfaced through an examination of an individual school then adding other schools to the identified key issue, allows the district team to deploy supports appropriately. A resulting action may surface that a particular area needs greater development for a number of schools (which has implications for professional learning) or perhaps one school requires multiple district team members to support.
An example of a key issue for a school may be “Principal struggling to find time to be in classrooms”. Once identified, the team would determine which schools this key issue could apply to and then begin brainstorming potential considerations to respond to this issue. During this conversation, it is important to not discount or discuss the merits of any particular suggestion. This section of the meeting is intended to be about exploring possibilities and generate potentially out of the box thinking. The following poster shows the key issue process for schools. For the divisional team, simply replace “student” with “school” in the graphic.
Action Focused - When the district team is directed through the process to identify follow up actions and commit to the supports they will employ for schools, we see improved results for everyone including our school improvement plans. The actions that are determined will have influence on the team or individual that will be deployed. Who is the most appropriate person on the district leadership team to support the school(s) in their area of need?
Collaborative team meetings are a vital mechanism for translating district goals into tangible school support. By establishing clear structures, maintaining a focus on impact, and driving action through consistent follow-up, districts can ensure that their Collaborative Response is not only systematic but also highly effective. Through regular cycles of data gathering, reflection, and collaborative problem-solving, district teams can respond proactively to school needs, fostering continuous improvement and ultimately enhancing student learning and well-being across the division.
In part four of this blog series, we will explore the process for Creating a Continuum of Supports to articulate our district response with the intention of supporting schools through the foundational components of Collaborative Response.
Email or if you have questions or something you wish to share related to the topic of supporting schools through a district Collaborative Response.
Collaborative Response Across a System
Are you still using Google docs, spreadsheets and One Note to record your meeting docs?
Join Jennifer as she walks through the Collaborative Team Meeting process in WeCollab, ensuring that multiple student profiles are updated with the determined supports and actions simultaneously through the collaborative conversation and that staff remain informed through transparent communication processes.