Identifying Promising Solutions
Once the school community has examined the evidence and reflected together on how to frame one or more problems, then the task is to identify practices, principles, and programs for the school to adopt and implement. The search for solutions to problems is difficult because schools are flooded with ideas—some good, others less useful, and some counterproductive. How then might leaders search effectively? The starting point is a firm grasp of the problem(s) that the school has framed together.
The choices schools make to address particular challenges are shaped by their conclusions about priority problems, values, past experiences, knowledge of and beliefs about effective practices, external pressures, perceptions of available resources, and the levels of confidence they have in their own capacity. That is a lot to take into account.
Of course, external demands for particular actions may reduce choices but the best defense against pressure to adopt unpromising programs and practices is evidence of better options and the rationality of the process by which decisions are made by the school community.
While choices about ways to solve enhance student learning and development need to take into account feasibility, initial deliberations should focus on optimal solutions. Estimates of difficulties are the enemy of new initiatives and are often wrong at first consideration. And, needed resources not available might be secured, especially when the new direction holds exceptional promise. In any event, before a school decides what it cannot do, it is useful to know what it should do, if possible.
A first exercise here is to become familiar with programs and practices that have been developed and validated by research in a manner similar to adoption of innovations in other fields. School leaders, however, cannot simply consult a menu of “promising practices,” match the right one to the particular problem(s) that the school has framed, then move smoothly into adoption and use. Rather they must use judgment in working out the “fit” of practices, programs, and principles to their particular schools and the students they serve. One of the challenges here is to know how much faith to place in claims that a given improvement strategy is “research-based”. Indeed, it is hard to find a program that is not “research-based” according to its advocates. To learn more about how to assess whether an intervention is backed by solid evidence CLICK HERE [Link
5i-2]
The phrase “promising practices” often refers to professional consensus among experts in the field, based on such criteria as best-evidence syntheses, which take into account the weight and character of evidence on a wide range of important matters related to the problems to be solved. Such knowledge may not be fully validated according to strict scientific principles, but it still serves as valuable guidance. Educators must become familiar with the character of evidence that undergirds particular programs in order to assess merit in relation to their schools’ needs.
Problem solvers search for solutions not only in research but through networks of expert colleagues, professional organizations and publications, district leaders, authoritative websites, research centers and local universities, and the experiences and practices of successful schools. Search is wide initially, then deep around those ideas that appear most promising. As well, search generates a set of alternatives that pose contrasts so that schools can weigh the relative value of alternatives. Contrast cases have the benefit of bringing out features of reforms that might otherwise remain submerged from view. For example, Connected Math or Everyday Math? Open Court or Success for All? Choices of these kinds must be appraised carefully by administrators, teachers and families.
Some resources for examining the potential effects of different strategies for addressing priority needs for improvement that are encompassed by the frames discussed above are provided in the resources for “learning more” in Step 5.1.
The choices schools make to address particular challenges are shaped by their conclusions about priority problems, values, past experiences, knowledge of and beliefs about effective practices, external pressures, perceptions of available resources, and the levels of confidence they have in their own capacity. That is a lot to take into account.
Of course, external demands for particular actions may reduce choices but the best defense against pressure to adopt unpromising programs and practices is evidence of better options and the rationality of the process by which decisions are made by the school community.
While choices about ways to solve enhance student learning and development need to take into account feasibility, initial deliberations should focus on optimal solutions. Estimates of difficulties are the enemy of new initiatives and are often wrong at first consideration. And, needed resources not available might be secured, especially when the new direction holds exceptional promise. In any event, before a school decides what it cannot do, it is useful to know what it should do, if possible.
A first exercise here is to become familiar with programs and practices that have been developed and validated by research in a manner similar to adoption of innovations in other fields. School leaders, however, cannot simply consult a menu of “promising practices,” match the right one to the particular problem(s) that the school has framed, then move smoothly into adoption and use. Rather they must use judgment in working out the “fit” of practices, programs, and principles to their particular schools and the students they serve. One of the challenges here is to know how much faith to place in claims that a given improvement strategy is “research-based”. Indeed, it is hard to find a program that is not “research-based” according to its advocates. To learn more about how to assess whether an intervention is backed by solid evidence CLICK HERE [Link
5i-2]
The phrase “promising practices” often refers to professional consensus among experts in the field, based on such criteria as best-evidence syntheses, which take into account the weight and character of evidence on a wide range of important matters related to the problems to be solved. Such knowledge may not be fully validated according to strict scientific principles, but it still serves as valuable guidance. Educators must become familiar with the character of evidence that undergirds particular programs in order to assess merit in relation to their schools’ needs.
Problem solvers search for solutions not only in research but through networks of expert colleagues, professional organizations and publications, district leaders, authoritative websites, research centers and local universities, and the experiences and practices of successful schools. Search is wide initially, then deep around those ideas that appear most promising. As well, search generates a set of alternatives that pose contrasts so that schools can weigh the relative value of alternatives. Contrast cases have the benefit of bringing out features of reforms that might otherwise remain submerged from view. For example, Connected Math or Everyday Math? Open Court or Success for All? Choices of these kinds must be appraised carefully by administrators, teachers and families.
Some resources for examining the potential effects of different strategies for addressing priority needs for improvement that are encompassed by the frames discussed above are provided in the resources for “learning more” in Step 5.1.