Success Factor 4: TIA rollout communication plan
Key Practice A
Key Practice A: District and school board leadership buy-in to TIA
Success Criteria
- District leadership and school board members are able to articulate understanding of TIA, including details around issuing designations at each of the three designation levels and potential implications for funding, etc.
Descriptive Indicators
- The robust communications plan anchored in a research based change management framework should be articulated to top leaders and school board members that explicitly provides the rationale for the evaluation change. It should include an extensive engagement plan as well as details of pathways for teachers to earn designations. TIA workshops for top level leaders with multiple opportunities to be informed, sense make and build consensus aligned to district priorities and goals, offers an opportunity to strengthen buy in at top levels of leadership at the onset of TIA
Best Practices
- Engage in Change Management workshops early on to communicate rationale for the evaluation change. Garner consensus and public commitment to follow through, identify potential risks and begin developing mitigation plans early in the design and roll out process. (The committee of leaders engaged in the change management process can be the communicators of the plan and the outcome of the sessions to the Board to show a broad level of support across departments and levels of employee)
- Create an approval timeline with key decisions, stakeholders and dates outlined
- Enroll stakeholders across the organization from key departments (e.g.Finance, Special Populations, Fine Arts), as well as campus leadership and teachers, in the early phases of change management to garner early support and understand the needs and perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups
- Offer ongoing workshops with high level overviews to understand how the designations work, general systems design and updates
- Provide printed and video materials to access and reference and serve as an instrument for information sharing
- Superintendent and district leadership should engage early with the Board to make sure there is a clear understanding of what the TIA is and what it is not, and to share the district’s initial thinking on how to implement
Lessons Learned
- Districts should develop a website dedicated to outlining the teacher incentive allotment, how it will be implemented district-wide and how it will impact teachers
- Publicly identify the voices who are contributing to the development of the teacher incentive allotment
- Clear and concise board presentations (in a public setting) should be given at key stages in the process (initiation of planning. Application submission, feedback from TEA on application/data verification)
Resources
Grand Prairie ISD’s teacher/community facing TIA communication | |
Dallas ISD School Board Presentation Teacher Incentive Allotment | Dallas ISD’s TIA Overview presented to the Board of Trustees |
Highlights are on pages: 245-250, 257-268, 270, and 297-322 |
Key Practice B
Key Practice B: Stakeholder communication
Success Criteria
- Establishing a schedule for regular communication to all stakeholders for each step of the rollout process
- Providing an opportunity for stakeholder feedback, based on communication releases
- Establishing clear communication around which groups of teachers on which campuses will be eligible to earn designations, according to district’s local designation system
Descriptive Indicators
- Creation of thorough communications strategy should be outlined to show how each key stakeholder (teachers, superintendents, principals, etc.) will be provided with multiple opportunities to be informed and to provide feedback in a cyclical manner across the district.
Best Practices
- Identify and organize stakeholders into groups based on their proximity to the impact and involvement in the new system, to determine how to best customize the strategy for their engagement and communications methods
- Outline when and how communication needs to take place with each stakeholder to ensure they are adequately informed, sufficiently understand and are provided with multiple opportunities to insert feedback.
- Identify “sponsors” (not appointments) as representatives within their given stakeholder group that are willing to deliver clear and credible messages, able to field questions from colleagues, and available to serve as a trusted liaison.
- Include a communications lead in the TIA system development team. This will help in the development of meaningful and timely materials, and the communications lead can help identify opportunities for stakeholder engagement.
- Create a district email to collect and respond to stakeholder and community questions and concerns
Lessons Learned
- Assemble a communications team whose primary responsibilities include assisting with stakeholder engagement, creating resources and forums to share information and leveraging existing departments within the district to implement these efforts.
- Provide printed and video materials for each target stakeholder group to access and reference to deepen knowledge, serve as instrument for information sharing, and provide a space for feedback and engagement.
- Districts should develop a website dedicated to outlining the teacher incentive allotment, how it will be implemented district-wide and how it will impact different stakeholders.
Resources
| •Best In Class’ Results Delivery •Dallas ISD’s Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI) Resources •Frisco ISD’s Teacher Incentive Allotment webpages | Highlight excerpts from pages 213 – 240, 250 – 253, 257 – 270, 304 – 322 Detailed resources from Dallas ISD on stakeholder communication and feedback processes Frequently asked questions and TIA overview from a fast-growth, suburban district |
Key Practice C
Key Practice C: Teacher-directed communication
Success Criteria
- Develop and implement communication plan to inform teachers, prior to the beginning of the data capture year, of the specific requirements for both teacher observation and student growth in order to be eligible to earn designations
- Helping teachers understand the performance descriptors for each TIA designation level (Recognized, Exemplary, Master) and providing supports to help teachers earn designations
- Ensuring that teachers are aware of how earning designations will affect their current salary, including details around how teachers’ pay may change, if applicable
Descriptive Indicators
- The comprehensive nature of the plan should be articulated thoroughly showing explicitly how teacher designations are defined and ways teachers can increase the likelihood of achieving a desired designation. Create an exhaustive engagement strategy to outline how each key stakeholder (teachers, superintendents, principals, etc.) will be provided with multiple opportunities to be informed, then concentrate on the areas where teachers will be targeted to ensure the message, the channel and the timing for each engagement has been adequately planned
Best Practices
- Outline when and how communication needs to take place with teachers to adequately inform and ensure they understand the impact of each TIA designation on their salary
- Offer multiple opportunities for teachers to receive trainings to understand how the designations work and apply within the system
- Identify teacher “sponsors” (not appointments) willing to deliver clear and credible messages, able to field questions from colleagues, and willing to serve as a trusted peer liaison
Lessons Learned
- Include a Communications leader whose primary responsibilities include assisting with teacher engagement, creating resources and forums to share information and leveraging existing departments within the district to assist with these efforts
- Provide printed and video materials for teachers to access and reference to deepen teacher knowledge and serve as instrument for information sharing
- Districts should develop a website dedicated to outlining the teacher incentive allotment, how it will be implemented district-wide and how it will impact teachers
Resources
Highlights are on pages 257 through 268 | |
Teacher (and leader) facing resources for Dallas ISD’s TEI system | |
Transformation Waco’s Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) website | District communication for TIA overview |