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SPDG Grant Updates

Evaluation Update

Evaluation graphic

UW-Madison researchers continue to evaluate and provide formative and summative feedback to DPI and participating schools around implementation and outcomes. Key activities being conducted by the evaluation team include:

  • Administration and analysis of the Family Engagement Survey
  • Continued refinement of the Coaching Competency Practice Profile
  • Pilot study of co-teaching practices in SPDG schools
  • Administration and comparison of the SPDG implementation rubric
  • Retrospective examination of outcomes (student performance and engagement) for SPDG schools and a set of comparison schools across the timeframe of the grant

Questions or comments about external evaluation activities can be directed to Brad Carl at Bradley.carl@wisc.edu.

Coaching Toolkit 

curriculum graphic

The DPI  SPDG team began drafting a set of tools over the summer of 2017 that directly align to the Coach Competency Practice Profile (CCPP). The objective of these tools is to inform a comprehensive coaching system to support individual coaches. Each of the tools provides data to both coaches and district leaders charged with developing a coaching system. For a detailed update on the progress to date on the toolkit, read the Coaching Toolkit Highlights.

Family Engagement

leading by convening logo

WI FACETS, the state’s Parent Training and Information Center, is a partner that provides educators with tools to engage families. FACETS and SPDG are in the second year of their Leading by Convening series for grant schools. Click here for a detailed report on the SPDG and WI FACETS Partnership 2017 Year End report.

The series moves participants through the nationally recognized Leading by Convening curriculum, developed by the IDEA Partnership. The curriculum has been adapted to fit the specific needs of schools trying to engage parents and family members in school and district-level leadership positions to improve student outcomes.

This year’s virtual meeting platform connects schools with family engagement coordinators from their CESAs. The meeting topics include:

  • Culturally responsive family engagement
  • Recruiting, training and retaining families
  • Impactful data sharing with families
  • Sustainability: Maintaining family and community connections after the grant

The series will conclude with in-person leadership training for families, where school staff and families are trained alongside one another to build relationships and increase buy-in from both sides. As a result of this training, family members are active participants in decision-making groups within participating schools. This has led to families feeling engaged, welcomed and their voices honored.

Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) Update

Seven IHEs received mini-grant continuation awards in fall of 2017. The grant awards will allow them to complete ongoing projects which provide clear connections between research and practice through both pre-service and in-service collaborations. For a detailed update on the progress of IHEs in SPDG, review the IHE update.