Critical Issues Process

Assessment of SSAC Program Effectiveness

•Cynthia Kuck, Concordia University Chicago

•October 2006

Recommendation 2:If the purpose of SSAC is to help a school in crisis (emergent problems or issues), then only those recommendations that are critical to a school’s survival should be noted.

Recommendation 3:Diagnostic reports should focus tightly on the critical issues facing a school. Other less critical issues should be left to the NLSA process.

Recommendation 9:Diagnostic reports for schools in crisis should be tightly focused on a limited number of issues that may or may not be related to each of the areas typically found in SSAC diagnostic reports …consideration should be given to a different report format.

Identify critical issues•targets … not “shotgun approach”

From SSAC Study… the most often cited “critical issues” …

•financial difficulties•declining enrollment•interpersonal conflicts in church and school•unclear mission or vision•ineffective (or no) strategic planning•ineffective (or no) marketing plan•unqualified and/or ineffective leadership•declining church support for school

Critical Issues ProcessRequires changes in …

•pre-visit•during the visit•report writing

Team D1 and D2 has tried this in four visits, modifying the process in each visit to be more effective.

Other teams have tried different aspects of the CI process.

Team D Model …

Pre-Visit

Try to identify “critical issues”

SSAC Narrative Critical Issues Survey (7-13)

•SSAC contact and “leaders” (application)•email address, phone•5 most important (or critical) issues•return within 3-4 weeks of visit

District Executive Survey (7-14)•same “issues”•rating, comments (7-15)•return within 3-4 weeks of visit

Pre-Visit: Identifying CI

School Board survey Teachers and staff survey

•get pre-visit input•provides more discussion time during focus groups

Online survey

Scope of critical issues may dictate some schedule changes

•personal interviews•focus groups

Team consensus on “critical issues”•send CI survey results to team prior to visit •Saturday: identify 2 or 3 targets … less is more•be flexible to change focus

Identifying Critical Issues

School 4

Declining Enrollment

Association Relationships

Leadership and Governance

School 3

Declining Enrollment

Changing Demographics

Leadership and Governance

School 2

Declining Enrollment

Finances

Junior High

School 1

Declining Enrollment

Finances

During the Visit

Personal interviews•share “critical issues” for input •how you determined “critical issues” •stay on topic•ask for other “issues” at end of discussion

During the Visit: Focus Groups

Share “critical issues” for input •how you determined “critical issues” •give summary overview of each issue•stay on topic•ask for other “issues” at end of discussion

During the Visit: Focus Groups

Gathering input•one issue at a time vs. 2-3 issues•put up all charts •list some items in multiple charts•be flexible to change focus

Ask leading question for input …•Declining Enrollment: What factors contribute to declining enrollment?•Finances: What is causing some financial stress or tension?

Consensus (group) vote on concerns … not critical issue

Writing the SSAC Report

Less is more … quality vs quantity

Team members write per “critical issue”•may have overlap of relationships, governance, or programs and personnel•focused writing

Writing the SSAC Report

Monday evening•work on one set of charts (critical issue) at a time•team consensus on concerns … limit to 3-4 per CI•determine who is most comfortable writing the respective CI concerns and recommendations

If there are 3 critical issues …•each team member writes on one CI•group consensus on commendations

If there are 2 critical issues …•two team members write on the critical issues •team member #3 writes commendations and serves as “editor”

Writing the SSAC Report

Declining Enrollment

No marketing or recruitment plan

Poor preschool to kindergarten transition

Limited remedial or enrichment programs

Association Relationships

No shared vision for the school

Church ownership and control … who’s in charge?

Poor communication between church and school

Church and school staff visibility

Leadership and Governance

Unclear roles and relationships

Decision-making and grievance procedures

Poor inter-staff and board communication

Writing the SSAC Report

Report format:•one section for commendations•one section for each critical issue

+ overview paragraphs state case for CI

Report summary:•major commendations•list each critical issue

+ summary paragraph (condensed overview)

Critical Issues ProcessSummary

•Helps keep critical issues focus for school

•Gives manageable number of recommendations … not too overwhelming

•More beneficial to school improvement