Scope
Through this project, the Region 5 CC will partner with the four states in the region to facilitate organized conversations between peers around common problems of practice. The state leaders will convene quarterly to share information, improve their skills, and actively work on advancing the general knowledge of the domain determined to be the focus of each of the meetings.
High-Leverage Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the challenges that states were already facing related to human capital development and staffing. During an initial session held in Fall 2020, representatives from all four states in the region expressed an interest in the Region 5 CC supporting peer-to-peer learning opportunities for states to discuss these issues with their colleagues in other states. Potential topics the states identified include:
- Effective recruitment and hiring strategies;
- Addressing staffing needs related to retirements, shortages of substitutes, and other gaps;
- Providing professional learning opportunities, particularly related to remote learning and new teacher roles and expectations
- Supporting the unique needs of educators during this time, including teachers in their first year
- Renewed focus on diversity, equity and inclusion
Through this project, the Region 5 CC team will support regional State Educational Agency (SEA) leaders in continuous improvement of their educator development and support systems, related to common educational problems of practice experienced.
The peer-to-peer conversations will center around informal conversations between state peers to share and discuss challenges related to human capital and staffing, particularly those that have been emphasized as system complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the current educational ecosystem. Conversations will focus on barriers encountered, building peer knowledge, sharing both successful and failed approaches to overcome barriers, acting as thought partners for probable solutions and reflecting on implementation of those proposed solutions.
Approach to Capacity Building Services
Region 5 staff will convene peer-to-peer conversations facilitated around common problems of practice to support SEA leaders in increasing their knowledge about effective strategies for retaining a high-quality and diverse educator workforce and knowledge about the state of the educator workforce. The peer-to-peer learning sessions will allow SEA leaders in identifying gaps in student access to a high-quality and diverse educator workforce within their states. Through shared learning opportunities, states will connect with other state leaders, discuss barriers and potentially promising results, and identify effective strategies for potential implementation.
