Practicing Education:

A Communities of Practice Readiness Assessment

of the District of Columbia Public School System

CCTP - 675 Communities of Practice

Fall 2009
 Objectives
Baseline – current state of DCPS. We have a problem…

Assessment - what is missing? A peer-to-peer CoP

Recommendations – laying a COP framework for teachers.

GEORGETOWN CoP – growing and maintaining a DCPS CoP.

 Baseline
Problem: student performance levels within DCPS are far
below the national average. On a 2007 National Assessment
of Educational Practice, DCPS ranked last compared to states
and comparable urban districts.
Solution: "bad" teachers targeted as #1 obstacle hindering
system improvement. "Bad" teachers to be replaced with with
"good" ones.

Chancellor Rhee's
"battle against bad
teachers."
 BASELINE
Baseline

For the most part, reform has been a top-down affair

* from DCPS.dc.gov
Where are teacher voices?
This approach is problematic ...
 Baseline

Another problem: few resources for the practice of teaching

One teacher writes,

"While the [Professional Development] course was a waste of

time and money by DCPS, it served as a cautionary tale about
how NOT to teach as a new teacher….
adding,

I was happy meet quite a few veteran teachers who gave great
advice about "real life" in DCPS versus the PR version."

* From http://dcteachingfellow2009.blogspot.com/
 Baseline

Current approach has led to negative outcomes

Rhee is the face of "other" chronic trust issues
Teachers are galvanized against the system
Teachers fear for their jobs #1 concern
Practice of teaching negligible within current discourse

anti-union ad from The

Center for Union Facts.
 Assessment

Teachers are often taught more about subject matter than the practice of teaching.
Question how can the practice of teaching itself be improved?
Answer situational learning in which knowledge is transferred within context and
occurs through immersion in the activities of a discipline of study.

* from Daniel Andriessen's “Making Profit from Intellectual Capital,” Intellectual Capital Conference, Jakarta, March 8,
2005
 Assessment

Although new DCPS programs are still works in progress, the execution so far has
created and exacerbated existing issues that impact the potential success of
Communities of Practice. Good intentions cannot mask a culture lacking in trust and
respect.

DC Teaching
Fellows Intention Execution Impact

• Lack of trust
• Poor relationship
building
• Lack established
forums/tools for
collaboration
BETWEEN teachers
• Lack of
professionalism

The teaching fellows program was established in 2001. Comments in Execution section from anonymous teaching fellows blogger
More at http://dcteachingfellow2009.blogspot.com/. For more information go here:
http://teachers.net/states/dc/topic4/11.07.05.13.53.16.html
Other groups we’d like information about: Teachers Central to Leadership, Urban Education Leaders Internship Program
 Assessment

Communities of Practice: A Solution for DCPS?

In our analysis of DCPS, we propose a CoP model as a space for the situational
learning to occur.

Value of CoPs
Short Term Value
• Arena for problem solving
• Quick answers
• Reduced time & costs
• Improved decision quality
•
More perspectives
• Improved quality assurance
• Risk taking with backing
Long Term Value
• Strategic plan implementation
• Authority with clients
• Increased talent retention
• Benchmarking foundation
• Knowledge-based alliances
• Unplanned capabilities surface
• Capacity building for new options
Value of CoPs to
DCPS
• Teachers can share tacit insights
about teaching and the cultural
and social climate within a school
• Teachers can potentially convey
expectations and best practices
more effectively than a contracted
training course
• Teachers of different demographic
profiles with different skill-sets can
engage in mutual mentorship

From Professor Bedford’s CCTP 675 Course Material

 Visualizing CoPs

Using Etienne Wenger's visualization of a CoP to

model a DCPS CoP
Domain Practice
*Passion for teaching *Classroom resources
*Image from the outside based *Lack of shared resources
on Michelle Rhee, layoffs, and *Professional development
performance reviews *Digital divide
*Negotiating boundaries of *Top-down approach of DCPS
community
*Lack of cohesive identity

Community
*Support (or lack thereof) from
other teachers, administration,
parents
*Lack of private space and
time
*Balancing needs of the Union,
Teach for America, DC
Teaching Fellows

* from Wenger
 Assessment

Searching for existing CoPs: Establishing a CoP Baseline

Initial plan present a questionnaire to small portion of teaching community in order to get a
sense for how much teachers collaborate with one another on a regular basis.
Are you a member of a
We targeted three schools community of teachers?
• Shepherd Elementary School I do not mind letting
• HD Woodson High School teachers who teach my
• Johnson Middle School subject copy my lesson plan.

How often do you

collaborate with non-DCPS
Objectives teachers?
1. Assessing teacher willingness to collaborate with one another
2. Whether teachers collaborate already If time was set aside during
3. How often collaboration occurs the school day to use
collaborative online tools
4. Membership levels in teaching (or other) communities resources, how likely is it
5. Internet use & accessibility that you would use these
6. Willingness to use collaborative online resources resources?

* While we would have liked to measure the need for collaborative technology in all schools
throughout the city, we had limited resources and time.
 Assessment

Teachers who Blog

“we need to work together to create

positive and conducive teaching and
learning environments.

... poor planning that has continued to

make teaching and learning
difficult for teachers—both TFA and
veteran. There's way too much at
stake for those of us in the trenches
not to speak out and demand an
active role in DCPS reform. The
students of DCPS can't wait another 5
years to get things right.”

http://realeducationreformdc.blogspot.com/2009/10/rhee-
fires-229-teac...
 Assessment

Teach for America

*Facilitate teacher mentoring relationships
*Bridge gaps between administration and teachers
*Build trust between teachers

Could existing infrastructure and relationships

"There is the hidden racism that
some bring up. That’s because the
Teach for America crowd is seventy
percent white. That makes for
problems that people who are not
minorities don’t discern, but most
don’t voice the thoughts. We all
know that change has to come."
-Blog post by former DCPS teacher
between teachers in Teach for America
support CoPs in DCPS?
• TFA's ongoing teacher development and
Learning Teams form CoPs
• TFA teachers participate in a different
domain than other DCPS teachers
• Boundaries between TFA teachers and
DCPS teachers prevent CoP connections
from forming

From Teach for America's Matriculation Guide, teachfor.us (TFA blog platform),
amandadavenport.com
 Assessment

Setbacks and an Important Preliminary Finding

The tenor of the feedback we received from the DCPS forced us to reevaluate
the realities of applying Wenger's CoP framework to the DCPS context.

Constraints:

Time
Institutional Support
Respect
Trust
Bureaucracy
Awareness

These preliminary findings made us realize that research and recommendations

based on Community of Practice concepts and principles - particularly from
"outsiders" - are sensitive and need to be approached with diplomacy.
 Assessment
Further Setbacks: Divisions within DCPS that need to be transcended

There are a number of divisions that contribute to the lack of trust within the DCPS
community. Overcoming the divides that contribute to this mistrust is a fundamental
step to enabling the formation of Communities of Practice.

General Divisions
• Older versus younger (challenges mentor
and reverse-mentor relationships)
• Race (Rhee vs teachers; within teaching
community)
• Digital divide
• Philosophies about teaching (classical
education versus all the new tools)
• Knowledge about how to teach over Us VERSUS Them
knowledge about subject area mentality
• Teachers and mid-tier administration like
principals

Critical divisions within DCPS

• Old pay system versus new
• Teachers and district administration
• Teachers and principals
• Union membership
 Recommendations
Changing the focus from estrangement to improving practice of teaching
The "us versus them" mentality has created an environment in which the DCPS
stakeholders are focused more on the divisions within the community than on finding
commonalities and building knowledge to improving the practice of teaching.

The potential for sharing and learning exists, but the Chancellor’s approach to teachers,
the top-down focus of programs and guidelines, and the recent RIFFs reinforce the idea
that DCPS teachers are victims. This makes it difficult for them to recognize their
potential and the potential of Communities of Practice.
 Recommendations

General Challenges & Areas of Opportunity

Management Challenges

* find well-respected community members to coordinate community.

* make sure people have time and encouragement.
* build on core values of the organization.
* focus on topics important to the community members.

Technical Challenges
* make it easy to contribute and access the community's knowledge and practices.

Community Challenges
* get key thought leaders involved.
* build personal relationships among community members.
* develop an active passionate core group.
* create forums for thinking together as well as systems for sharing information.
 Recommendations

To build that trust, we propose introducing a number of voluntary roles which can help
empower teachers and introduce a more horizontal, inclusive approach to improving
the practice of teaching. These roles provide the foundation for a number of
interconnected CoPs.

District Administration

Local Local Local

Administration Administration Administration

Local Local
Administration Administration
 Recommendations

Social Network Mapping

• Hierarchy does not reflect

Cole's central role in the
network

• Leaders in the hierarchy aren’t

necessarily the most
connected in a the network

• Hierarchy does not reflect

Kelly’s central role in the
network
 Recommendations
Role and Functions
Roles Primary Function
Within Description
a Network Practice...

Central Connector Weaving helping people meet each

other, ensuring access to to
information

Information Broker Coordinating Helping people plan and

implement collaborative
actions

Boundary Spanner Facilitating Helping others explore

potential shared identity and
value propositions
 Recommendations

Case Study: Highland Elementary School

Common planning period each day for common Grade-level teachers:
• formal and informal grade-team meetings at least two of these class perids
• ESOL and special education teachers often attended to help prepare accommodations for students they
pushed-in to work with.
• Math and literacy coaches often attended to review data, introduce new techniques, and help brainstorm
the most effective ways of presenting difficult material.
Developed Systems of Communication for students needing Intervetion:
• Data Dialogues: Quartelry Sessions where eachers met formally with the intervention teachers who
worked with students in their class to reviewe students’ specific progress
• Communication Logs: Biwweekly updates from intervention teachers regarding the to the progress of
each student
• Documentation from both data dialogues and communication logs were used when the literacy team
made recommendations about whether a student would benefit from entry into or exit from intervention
services.

Support for First- and second-year teachers

• Frequent formal meetings and informal interactions with other teachers and administrators to build their
skills and better understand the school’s instructional approach and culture

Culture of Compliance:
• Teachers were expected to follow the new systems their colleagues developed
• Community looked down on those "Doing their own thing"
 Recommendations
Case Study: Development Staff Community of Practice
Montgomery County Public Schools

• Voluntary cultural and diversity Shortcomings

training sessions led by district
teacher development staff for • Only open to development staff.
other teacher development staff Teachers were not invited to
who would then train teachers sessions.
who would voluntarily attend the
sessions One white staff member commented:
• Knowledge sharing website with “While the sessions are great I wish
monthly email tips, latest research there was a more efficient way to get
on teaching strategies in multi- the trainings to all our staff”
cultural class rooms, technology
awareness
• Training has been more effective
when teachers and staff elected
to participate on their own.
• “Building Commitment Not
Compliance has become a
hallmark of our work”
 Recommendations
Relationship builder
Relationship builders are critical enablers within a community who can help
overcome the divisions that may inhibit teachers from learning and sharing with
each other. These "additional duties" are voluntary, but the Community Managers
should put effort into identifying individuals who would be most helpful in developing
an organizational culture that is more amenable to a CoP.

What is the practice?

Identifying, organizing, and working
with other teachers to build trust and
facilitate learning environment
How does it help the DCPS?
Breaks down barriers which prevent
teachers from collaborating
effectively
Community Engagement
Strategies
*Plan in-person activities that
engage teachers within schools
*Identify most detrimental divsions
and work with Community
manager to develop activities to
help overcome those difficulties
*Facilitate teacher mentoring
relationships
*Bridge gaps between
administration and teachers
*Build trust between teachers
 Recommendations

Long Term Plans - Community Manager

Assign multiple managers per area to be the liaison for the area schools.

Practice: improving state of

relationships between teachers,
school, and district administration Characteristics
• Well-respected
community member
o Voted on by local
Healing Relationships - the
Community Manager teachers
o Approved by

Outcomes: administration
help administration, esp. district • Knows how to bridge
level, regain some credibility racial/age, education
gaps
 Recommendations
Knowledge Managers
A knowledge manager would be critical to ensuring that the wiki educator site is
organized and linked in ways to enhance discoverability. They would also be critical to
facilitating the use of the site and helping new teachers understand what types of
contributions would most help build the resource.

Characteristics of knowledge managers

What is the practice?

* organizing knowledge
* enhancing discoverability
Job Description, duties, and
How does it help the DCPS? execution
* "making it easy for teachers to * modeling desired behaviors
*contribute and access the community's * developing "culture"
knowledge and practice" * providing feedback to
contributors
Sustainment needs * identifying strong contributors
* administrative support and adding them to the
* technical support knowledge management
group
Community Engagement Strategies * volunteer to participate on the
* new teachers side
* experienced teachers
 Recommendations
A simple, existing collaborative space

New teachers spend a disproportionate amount of their time developing new lesson
plans. Because those efforts are not captured, teaching standards continue to
evolve, and the DCPS’ turnover rate is high, the teaching community is often
reinventing lesson plans from scratch.

Teachers throughout the US should be urged to use wiki-educator.org to help build a

repository of sample lesson plans and the talk sections as a forum to discuss different
approaches. The site’s usability could be improved significantly if a knowledge
manager would organize information to improve discoverability.
 Recommendations

Real- time Online Collaboration

• Generate ideas spontaneously in real time
• Immediate support Network
• Connect across multiple practices
• Sense of vibrant community
• Identify Commonalities, Background etc
• Easy reference point for skill and personality
 Recommendations

Recommendations for further research

Wenger's theories and to the practice of

establishing/assessing CoP's overall.

Where is Wenger's theory

lacking? Potential
Disciplines/Methodologies
• not a lot about intentionally developing CoPs
• discussion of different roles of individual CoP

•
members is lacking in detail * Social Network Analysis
solution: using SNA to flesh out the different
types of members within CoP * Philosophy
• Raising consciousness - Paolo Friere and
Charles Taylor
* Communications (online tools)
 Recommendations
Recommendations

Proposed alternative to Wenger's current CoP stages of

development

DCPS CoP

Time

Realization Building trust and Active CoP Improvement of practice;

relationships; ongoing participation in
identifying and online community
solidifying domain
 Recommendations

How do we introduce CoPs to the teaching community?

Outreach efforts, intended to establishing trust.

finding individuals whose interests are grounded in the teaching profession as well as
growing CoP.

Anthropological approach 'participant observation' & interaction though establishment of

relationship with community members.

Argument that top-down approach. Official recognition must come at some point, difficult to
say when (certainly after the CoP is at coalescing phase of CoP cycle).

Exploring other communities that have a personal and social involvement, with legitimate ties
to the African-American communities. Including: academics, public school students, extra-
curricular activities.

6 week education programs at Georgetown for all teachers, especially those less familiar with
online environment.

expanding ownership and accountability throughout the African American.

Reorientation of focus toward harnessing and growing teacher potential.

Town Hall meetings - who are the community leaders at the local level?
 Future Objectives: Growing Georgetown CoP

Building a DCPS CoP In Person

Continuing to nurture emerging Georgetown CoP.

Searching for

Funding for Georgetown CoP.

Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
National Science Foundation.

Continued research to add to Georgetown CoP learning.

Development of online and offline tools for collaboration and knowledge management.

In the long run, we want to expand the CoP to include wider communities within the DCPS. Including
parents and middle level administrators.

Incentives for teachers - what are they? We need further research

6 week education programs at Georgetown for all teachers, especially those less familiar with online
environment.