Present:

Neal Grandgenett, Rich Cupich, Sue Arkfeld, Betty Foster, Beth Dwyer,

Carl Clark, John Carlson

Background

At the request of the Community Discovered project director, the evaluation team facilitated a one day focus group meeting on the topic of using experienced participants to assist new participants in the coming year. This "Blue Ribbon Panel" was composed of participants who had made earlier suggestions on the topic, or who now agreed to commit a day to further thinking on the topic. The main purpose of this panel was to provide general recommendations to the project staff, who would then determine if individual recommendations were feasible for implementation.

Question for Panel Discussion

How might more experienced participants assist new participants during the coming year?

Discussion Process

In order to facilitate the brainstorming process, the panel dialogue was focused into a three phase discussion. Phase 1 involved the identification of "challenges" which are facing the project in the area of new participant activities. Phase 2 involved the identification of "solutions," which in essence were good ideas that the project might build upon in the evolution of new participant activities. Finally, Phase 3 involved the formulation of individual recommendations for project staff consideration.

Challenges (Phase 1)

In brainstorming the challenges which face new participants, the following were identified:

1. There is difficulty at times in finding CD resources for particular applications.

1. There can be fragmented expertise of support, since no individual can do everything.

1. Paperwork in the project can be substantial.

1. Project goals are fairly extensive and can be individually challenging.

1. It can be difficult to use constructivism in teaching or in a traditional workshop format.

1. Time constraints often face individual teachers.

1. Technical support and equipment delay can exist at an individual site.

1. Participant expectations can at times be unclear, related to lesson plans, personal and professional growth plans, partner work, computer knowledge, and constructivist learning.

1. More school district and state involvement may be needed for supporting individual participants.

1. It may be important for new participants to be aware of special funds or funding opportunities.

1. Knowing the job description for coordinators can be a problem for new participants. What is it they are supposed to do?

1. New participants are confronted with platform issues, such as Macs or PCs at an individual site.

1. Human resources for participants may be unclear. The human resources available, with a list of expertise that they have, may need to be made available to participants in list form.

1. The listserv for participants may need to be redefined, since they are hesitant to ask for help from a large group of unknown people.

1. The new participants may be unable to get the help they need from an individual site coordinator. Could coordinators stay in one area or work in one area of expertise?

Solutions (Phase 2)

In brainstorming good ideas that the project might draw upon, the

following ideas were shared with the group:

1. Strive for organized, practical, and hands-on workshops. A menu of presentation options? Draw upon participants as experts when possible.

1. Draw upon student expertise when possible, perhaps in joint training activities.

1. Encourage site coordinators to examine input carefully and respond quickly to new participants.

1. Have every CD person list what they have worked on and are currently involved in developing.

1. Hold a CD focused grant writing workshop.

1. Encourage the school building computer experts to work more closely with CD participants.

1. Have computer representatives at a building assist in teaching technology classes.

1. Examine the potential to better connect with Prairie Visions in their periodic activities.

1. Consider the sharing of well-done lesson plans with all participants.

1. Consider the redefinition of the listserv to be more problem solving oriented.

1. Explore the possibility of mini-conferences for new participants and experienced participants.

1. Restructure the two week summer training to be more flexible.

1. Reinforce that an in-depth modeling experience is critical in workshops for new participants.

1. Consider an enhanced connection with art clubs.

1. Consider traveling lesson shows by participants.

1. Consider mentor assignments for individual new participants.

1. Consider a skill level self check upon entry into the program by new participants.

1. Encourage new participants to set their own self training goals and figure out how to meet them after a self evaluation.

1. Consider an enhanced use of phone conferencing for new participants.

Recommendations (Phase 3)

Upon an open dialogue facilitated by Phases 1 and 2, the group sought to provide specific recommendations to the project staff which might take advantage of the expertise of experienced participants in the support of new participants in the Community Discovered project. The specific recommendations consisted of the following and were combined into 10 individual suggestions:

1. Establish a web page of human resources available within the project. Considerable expertise exists within the many participants, site coordinators, and partners now working on the project. A web page identifying the expertise available from each potential human resource would be very useful to new participants as well as more experienced participants.

1. Make Site Coordinator job descriptions clearer to new participants, as well as all participants within the project. It would help new participants to draw more effectively upon site coordinators as a resource, if their job descriptions were more clearly established and reinforced at a local site. In particular, group and on-site planning needs to help reinforce the process for project communication strategies, unit development support strategies, modeling strategies, and ongoing site based focus within the project.

1. Evolve into more options for summer inservice activities, to permit a more individualized summer training process. As the project membership grows, so does the variability of the expertise and training needs for individual participants, especially new participants. A "menu approach" to summer inservice may permit more flexibility to the individual participants. Some participants may desire or need more training within a single area, such as provided by Prairie Visions. However, the menu approach would need to be structured to ensure that each participant had at least some essential training in each focus area (art, technology, constructivism, interdisciplinary teaching), and selections may need to be considered or approved by the site coordinator. External, but excellent training opportunities, such as the Cox Multimedia Academy, might be better tapped in this way as well.

1. Provide a grant writing workshop. Many new participants, as well as experienced ones, would like to expand upon their ideas but need additional funding. A Community Discovered Grant Writing Workshop might help participants identify opportunities for funding and extending their individual efforts.

1. Redefine the listserv process to be more focused on problem solving. As the membership in the project grows, new participants are less willing to ask for help on a large e-mail scale basis. The main listserv may need to evolve into announcement facilitator, with smaller group e-mail addresses (perhaps off a web page) for requesting help on individual questions (technology, art, museums, etc.). Participants could then share their preferred answer to their problem as a listserv announcement, retaining the use of the listserv for project communication.

1. Enhance the project efforts in using local expertise related to support of participant efforts and endorsers at a particular site. Each site should develop a resource or mentor list (or web page) that might be drawn upon by that site. In particular, such resources as local clubs, artists, and professionals residing within an area might be more fully tapped to support new participants.

1. Promote model lessons more substantially within the project, perhaps by a traveling "lesson show." New participants often learn best by observing a model lesson already created by an experienced participants. By promoting the success of this end product for the project, new participants may also achieve an enhanced vision for their own project related objectives.

1. Provide an "executive summary" or "critical checklist" related to the project activities for the coming year. Although the project handbook is an excellent, and valuable resource, it may be overwhelming to new participants. A single checklist of critical deadlines and outcomes expected by participants would be a valuable document for all participants, and decrease the "paperwork overload" some project participants may feel. The checklist could also be web based and link to particular templates to complete for each deadline.

1. Assign a "mentor" to new participants as well as have them select a "partner." The best "mentor" or "adviser" for a new participant may actually exist at a different site, and may be different than a partner that they select. If an experienced mentor was assigned by the project, they might e-mail the mentor occasionally to touch base, discuss project related ideas, or simply seek advice.

1. In some workshops, evolve toward less general topic workshops, into more focused, administrative support activities reflecting specific CD goals. As the CD project continues to grow, and the variety of training options increases, it will be important for the limited CD contact time in workshops to focus directly on CD goals, and especially with new participants. For example, a CD workshop might result in a tentative participant unit outline at the end of the day, or a tentative growth plan, etc. New participants will then be more clearly focused on CD goals after each training session.