Findings and Early Impacts From the Evaluation of the Learning Partners Program

• In Event: Interschool Collaborative Learning: A Vehicle for School Improvement

Abstract

Background:
The Learning Partners Program (LPP) is one of the NYC Department of Education’s new signature initiatives centered on interschool collaboration. The program matches a school with strong practices with two schools looking to build capacity. This triad of schools meets regularly to share and adapt practices with support from a central office-based facilitator. As a new NYC DOE priority area, it is critical to understand how LPP is implemented and the impacts this type of collaboration has on school communities. Internal evaluators from the NYC DOE conducted a formative evaluation of LPP to document implementation and begin to understand early impacts. Since LPP was in its first year of implementation in 2014-15, the research questions focused on process and identifying preliminary impacts. The paper provides an overview of the methodology, shares findings from year 1 of implementation, and discusses design of the year 2 evaluation.

Methods and Data: Evaluators used a mixed methods approach to inform current and future program implementation. Data sources included:
o Pre/post online surveys of all school-based participants that covered program experience; attitudes on empowerment and collaboration; and early impacts
o Observations of activities from a sample of triads and semi-structured interviews with principals and other team members from these triads
o Survey of school-based participants about the role of their facilitator
o Feedback forms collected after triad interschool visits
o Focus groups with LPP facilitators
o Observations and document review of program team meetings, events and activities
Evaluators analyzed quantitative and qualitative data and triangulated data sources in order to provide ongoing findings and recommendations. The results helped the program identify areas for programmatic improvement and initial impacts.

Results: We will share findings related to the process of implementation, participant attitudes regarding the program experience, and early impacts. Overall, survey respondents reported positive changes as a result of participation in LPP. These preliminary impacts included:
● Building leadership capacity: Assistant principals, teachers, and other staff took on leadership roles and developed capacity through LPP.
● Improved and new instructional practices. LPP team members observed and adapted new practices as individuals (i.e. teacher-to-teacher level) and as schools.
● School systems and processes. LPP introduced cycles of inquiry and in some cases, action planning to schools to help guide the school improvement process.
● Student performance or behavior improvements. Some triads that focused directly on student-related learning focus areas reported improvements in behavior and/or performance.

Findings on early impacts will be used to develop measures and data collection tools for the year 2 impact study. We will also discuss how we approached the challenge of measuring the impacts of a program that is highly tailored to individual school needs and centered on the idea of collaboration, a concept that can be difficult to quantify.
Significance: As one of this administration’s “signature initiatives,” there are high stakes around the success of the program, and that formative evaluation is a key lever for improving the program as it is being implemented.

Authors

• Elise Corwin, NYC Department of Education

• Lillian Dunn