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PROGRAM PRACTICE:
Train School Teams to Support Choice Programs
After Monadnock Region Public Schools of Choice was awarded the Volunteer Public School Choice (VPSC) grant, Vision to Action Forums were held to involve the local community and solicit input for the development of choice programs. An outcome of these forums was the creation of design teams, a cross-section of community, district, and school staff volunteers who are responsible for either creating a choice program at their school or creating a choice school within their own district. The first design team was established in 2004.
Through continuing support and training, the MRPSOC staff helps teams navigate through the steps needed to establish and sustain a choice program at their site. This ongoing support provides the opportunity to incorporate learning from other teams’ experiences “so that they didn’t feel like they were going through this completely blindly and everybody is making the same mistake,” notes Dixie Gurian, MRPSOC director. MRPSOC staff is available to work directly with teams and provide any technical assistance needed. A 3 to 5-day TREK training session is offered by MRPSOC during the summer and, throughout the year, monthly Dine and Discuss support sessions allow team members to interact with veteran members from across the region’s schools and learn about their individual programs. A monthly newsletter keeps design team members informed of the district’s activities. As part of the district’s support efforts, MRPSOC created a rubric to help design teams evaluate their work. The process ultimately informs the portfolios displaying their work that design teams are required to submit to the MRPSOC at the end of the year. MRPSOC attributes much of their choice program’s success to the training provided and believes it is critical for a design team’s early efforts to have proper training for their work regardless of what skills or enthusiasm might be apparent.
MRPSOC cites positive outcomes for this training, including team cohesiveness and whole-hearted investment in the district’s choice programs. “They get really excited about the program. It gives them a chance to meet and talk about what they’re doing. It’s like a small learning community for the teachers,” states the director. The training has not only provided a new understanding of the realities and difficulties involved in implementing choice for team members, but has also served to bring about more clarity about the team members’ own learning styles and teamwork needed. As a result, team members have greater appreciation of No Child Left Behind and what the funding from this legislation has provided for their programs. Because of this increased awareness and continued teamwork, MRPSOC believes that design teams will play a critical role in sustaining choice programs after federal funding is no longer available.
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