Collaborative Response

As we begin our journey with implementing Collaborative Response as a school-wide framework, it is rewarding to have so many excellent resources available to our leadership team and to our staff. We are excited about building a richer, deeper model for collaboration among all of our staff members and for being more intentional about supporting all of our students. Kurtis, Lorna and the Jigsaw Learning team have been invaluable in providing informative videos, templates, articles, and learning opportunities that are guiding our leadership team in leading professional development for our staff.

We engaged with Kurtis Hewson on PD regarding the collaborative support team meeting structure. As always the PD was excellent and provided us with insight and resources to continue to grow our practice within Collaborative Response.

Kurtis Hewson and his team at Jigsaw Learning have helped transform how we do our work in our school division. Their Collaborative Response process is used in our schools and by our leadership team to focus in on problems of practice. Through this work we have used consistent intentional structures such as collaboration days, collaboration teams, data analysis and continuums of support to address problems of practice at all levels of our organization. The use of common language at all levels has contributed to increased vulnerability and efficacy to collaborate to ensure we are providing our students with the necessary skills to achieve at high levels. We appreciate that the Collaborative Response process is organic in nature and can be adapted so that it supports the work in schools as well as at the system level.

For the first time in my professional career, I have weekly embedded time to collaborate with colleagues on students who need support. The ongoing dialogue has allowed for deep discussions about our students and the practices we use to deal with their challenges. It is enlightening to know that my colleagues are experiencing the same struggles and are willing to share their struggles and stories. Through these discussions, a culture of compassion has developed. We understand our students better. We understand our colleagues better. We understand our own teaching better. The trust required for this dialogue did take time to develop. It's easy to build a wall around egos and not admit when we don't have the answers for all our students. Being vulnerable and open during our meetings can only be reached if it is the norm for the process. Once sharing happens and students are discussed openly, the walls naturally start to crumble allowing for real talk about students. It is in these moments we can develop real ... Read more

We are very appreciative of the opportunity to work with, and learn from Kurtis Hewson and his team. We have had the good-fortune to work alongside him last year with a group of new principals; this year, we are working with Jigsaw Learning to support principals at our secondary schools. Kurtis and his team are incredibly professional, knowledgeable, organized, and supportive. They offer concrete school-based and realistic examples for leaders and teachers to learn from, and position the professional learning "just in time". Principals have indicated their professional learning with Jigsaw has been transformative in terms of how they support teachers, organize structures for learning in their schools, how they look at data, and how they best tier supports to ensure student success and achievement.

As we have all had to shift our learning during the pandemic, this provided our school division new opportunities to collaborate virtually with Kurtis Hewson and the Jigsaw Learning team. The individual attention and tailored professional development we have received in 'Collaborative Response' has been exceptional. Kurtis provides thorough and detailed agendas and resources which are all stored as google documents in a digital dashboard specific to our school division. The PD days are a strategic mix of instruction and opportunities for team collaboration. Most of all I appreciate the attention to relationship building. Kurtis and his team are always accessible and quick to answer any questions or concerns.

By embracing and engaging in Collaborative Response, we are continually increasing our ability to plan for and teach students in an individualized manner. In my administrative career, this model has easily been the most impactful structure that my schools have implemented.

Administrators and teachers will appreciate the structures and processes which can be easily integrated into their practice. With clear guidelines for everything from organizing student data, to planning efficient team meetings, the text "Collaborative Response: Three Foundational Components That Transform How We Respond to the Needs of Learners" is a fantastic resource for improving student learning.

In Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools our implementation of Collaborative Response in partnership with Jigsaw Learning, has had a transformative impact which has been remarkable.

We have evidence of the significant impact on collective teacher efficacy, a system-wide commitment to improvement, and the creation of powerful learning environments. Throughout the process, we have had significant support, involvement and commitment from our leadership teams who have been driving the implementation

Our approach to implementation empowers teachers, providing them with scaffolded support, guidance, and practical tools to excel in their roles. The collaborative framework encourages teamwork, fostering a culture of continuous growth and a shared commitment to student success. Through our partnership with Jigsaw Learning, we have witnessed a remarkable shift, where every stakeholder is actively engaged in creating an inclusive, innovative, and effective educational system.

We have been working with the Jigsaw Learning team for 3 years now, and are impressed with their ongoing teacher support and instructional coaching for teacher collaboration. They are very respectful and interested in Îyîniw Mâmtohnehicikan (Cree thinking) and Nehiyaw Pimatisiwin (Cree Ways of being). They work collaboratively with our teachers to offer support, coach and share ideas, plus they review the progress made in each school. Students really look forward to the CRM Focus time, as they have great success in these blocks.Their significant success was apparent in the first year that our school implemented the Collaborative Response Model. We started with 80% of our students needing urgent intervention and 0% of our students at/above benchmark. By the end of the first year, our urgent intervention numbers dropped to 43% and our at/above benchmark numbers increased by 12%.

Collaborative Response has allowed me to view through a different lens the way we can support all students and build capacity in our teachers through meaningful and effective professional discussions - while utilizing the time and talents of staff in our buildings. I appreciate the commitment of the Jigsaw Learning staff and their willingness to support our team through our Collaborative Response journey.

At Murwillumbah High School, we have reimagined our student support structures, placing the Collaborative Response process at the heart of our practice. Most notably, the development of our Continuum of Supports helped us to articulate the dynamic relationship between learning and wellbeing and develop dynamic and ever evolving strategies to ensure every student is known and valued. Through Collaborative Response, we use collective efficacy, at all tiers of the continuum, to deliver support for students. Long meetings focusing on deficits are gone, replaced by action, not discussion, based collaborations which are purposeful, focusing on classroom instructional strategies and learning dispositions to grow strengths and yet to be strengths in our students. Collaborative Response is a key driver of our school wide collaborative culture and has been a major contributor to our strong growth in external assessments of literacy and numeracy.

We had done Response to Intervention. We had done PLC work. We just felt like there was something not quite coherent about what we were doing. Then we found Collaborative Response!

Using a "Ready, Fire Aim" approach, we implemented Collaborative Response throughout our division with Kurtis Hewson and Jigsaw Learning's consultation, and the result has been transformational . We have established Collaborative Response as the framework for our division's organizational structure to support students. With the implementation of consistent, intentional structures such as the Collaborative Team Meetings, data analysis, and continuum of supports, we have seen increased efficacy, confidence, and collaboration at all levels of our organization. We are embracing a culture where staff rely on the strengths of their colleagues in a student-centred approach to inclusivity.

Collaborative Response has been instrumental in changing the lives of both staff and students at Ballina Coast High School. It has provided an explicit and collective framework to have conversations and action responses that lead to improved student learning outcomes. It has ensured that the individual learning needs of all students are recognised as every person's responsibility. The language and the Collaborative Response empower staff to share knowledge and quality practices and move Ballina Coast High School from silos of practice to creating success for our students.

Our district in coastal, rural, Maine has been actively implementing Collaborative Response for three years now, and each year we continue to grow and evolve through the implementation process. The Collaborative Response philosophy and approach served as the leverage that we needed after years of trying to get a district-wide RTI plan off the ground! The Collaborative Response approach has a focus on collaborative, student-centered conversations and also provides resources and support for our teachers, as the experts.

Collaborative Response gave our school the focus and framework needed to change the culture around how we identify and support all of our students. Providing meaningful and strategic tiered systems of supports, along with an emphasis on relationships, totally changed the game for our collaborative teams. This philosophical shift from the 'Me' to 'We' in the work we do has empowered all staff to initiate more student-centered conversations and consistently highlight celebrations. Collaborative Response was pivotal in this important work!