SDP Cohort 16 Orientation

Join us as we kickoff the Strategic Data Project's Cohort 16 Orientation. During this session you will hear from SDP leadership and get a chance to learn more about your fellow cohort colleagues during a fun icebreaker activity.

OVERVIEW
Throughout this session, we will engage with the following goals:

• Get to know the other agencies in the network
• Engage with the essentials of good data strategy
• Set the stage for our collect efforts over the next two years

Reflect on your own work, the work of your agency, and the field of education at large. Are we asking the right questions? Do we have access to needed data? Are we fostering understanding through our data communication? Are we prepared for the future?  

PRE-WORK 
None

MATERIALS
To be posted

OVERVIEW
The key objectives of this session are to:

• Strengthen our understanding of “the strategic use of data” and what it looks like in action
• Assess the strategic use of data and identify both strengths and areas for growth for your agency
• Use the rubric’s “exemplary” category to identify the actions and improvements needed to make progress towards that goal

PRE-WORK 
None

MATERIALS

OVERVIEW
During the course of the Fellowship, Fellows will be expected to complete a “strategic data project” on behalf of their partners. Partners have a responsibility to help identify areas of challenge and points of leverage, and to help support and direct the Fellows.

BEFORE THE SESSION 
As pre-work for the "Framing the Problem" session, Fellows and Supervisors should sit down and have at least a preliminary conversation about this work—not necessarily the project ahead of them, but more about what they want to see change as a result.

PRE-WORK SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Fellows should submit 1-3 sentences about what is the problem the Fellows’ project should address. Upload your brief write-up to this Google Drive Folder by Wednesday, October 15. We will get to discuss and refine this further during Orientation.

Please use the following name convention when uploading your pre-work: Cohort 16 Orientation Pre-Work - Framing the Problem - First Name Last Name 

For some inspiration, there is an optional pre-reading, Chapter 3 of "Cage-Busting Leadership" by Rick Hess that you can find here.

OVERVIEW
If you're trying to solve a problem without knowing what's causing it, you're basically playing a game of chance. In this session, you'll learn how to increase your odds of solving whatever problem you are tackling by using a logic tree to uncover and validate root causes. Along the way, we'll make a pit stop to talk about intellectual humility.

PRE-WORK 
None

MATERIALS

OVERVIEW
In this session, we will learn about some of the theory and frameworks behind stakeholder engagement, identify your projects' interested parties (or "shareholders") and analyze the roles they might play in the success of your project. At the end of the session, fellows and their supervisors will walk away with the start of a customized, actionable stakeholder engagement plan.

PRE-WORK / BEFORE THE SESSION
Please read “Friend, Foe, Ally, Adversary…Or Something Else?”

As you read: Reflect on each of the mistakes identified in the reading. Try to think of an example from your work life for at least two. How did a relationship misclassification impact you, your work, and/or your team?

Consider the project your organization will undertake for the fellowship. Begin to think broadly about those who will be engaged in, impacted by, or decision makers for the work. How would you start to classify them.

MATERIALS
​To be posted

OVERVIEW

PRE-WORK 

MATERIALS

OVERVIEW

PRE-WORK 

MATERIALS

OVERVIEW
SDP Fellows will have the unique opportunity to engage in authentic teambuilding through our partners at Adventure Associates. These activities will have low physical input and build trust between fellows. All activities will be indoors and preserve personal space.
This program brings to life theories & models about team dynamics & role identification, featuring guided debriefs after each challenge. Fellows may engage in a series of mental & physical activities ranging from elaborate problem-solving to light-hearted contests.

Please wear your SDP T-Shirt for this session. Time is provided in the agenda for a quick break and change. 

PRE-WORK 
None

MATERIALS
None

OVERVIEW
The surprising value add of our work is not the rigor of the analysis itself but often our ability to translate complicated ideas into understandable data narratives. We spend a considerable amount of effort in that translation process alone. It’s important for us all to consider how our own stories and perspectives shape the ways we communicate about the world. To do that, we must practice introspection and empathy. This interactive session will ask you to reflect on your own story, hear some fundamental elements of storytelling and take away some important considerations such as the audience and intended impact of your storytelling. Bring your journals and pencils/pens and prepare to write!

BEFORE THE SESSION
Identify your favorite poem and be prepared to share its name and author.

PRE-WORK SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
None.

OVERVIEW
During this session, we’ll draw on the best practices for leading with data, even when facing some of the roadblocks that you are likely to experience during your time as an SDP fellow. We’ll learn from our cohort peers, expand our thinking on how to manage common challenges, and come away with new perspectives and fresh strategies to try to solve tensions that may arise with the people and groups you interact with in your workplace.

PRE-WORK
Please submit this one-question form and let us know what was the best work advice you have ever received. Please submit the form by October 18th. 

MATERIALS

• Handout - Problem Solving Scenarios (see 
• Slide Deck 

OVERVIEW
Your research questions will guide your analytic planning, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of findings. This cornerstone of research is deceptively simple, and is often what Fellows return to and refine throughout the Fellowship. This session will jumpstart that process, distinguishing between research objectives, agendas, and questions, discussing different types of research questions, applying insights to their capstone project and planning forward.

PRE-WORK
None

MATERIALS
To be posted

OVERVIEW
The consultancy protocol has two main purposes—to develop participants’ capacity to see and describe the dilemmas that are the essential material of their work, and to help each other understand and overcome the barriers holding us back.
If you are just settling in to your work as an SDP fellow, explore and modify this task to fit your context! What anticipatory questions might you have about your team? Access to data? Working styles?

BEFORE THE SESSION
In preparation for our "Consultancies" session, use the following five steps to draft a short (200-250 word) dilemma (or question about your work) and submit to this shared folder. You are welcome to include artifacts and any additional contextual information, but not required.
The goal is to prepare a concise focus question to present to a small group that advances your understanding of your capstone or your work at large. Fellows will be notified in advance if they are selected to present their dilemma.

Drafting Your Dilemma - Orientation 2024
Dilemma Protocol - Orientation 2024

Please see the documents linked at the bottom of this page for additional descriptive instructions and guidance.

Drafting Your Dilemma 

1. Identify your dilemma (Interpersonal, Organizational, Systemic).
2. Reflect by brainstorming or writing about your dilemma.
3. Frame a focus question.
4. Critique your focus question.
5. Draft your dilemma.

 
PRE-WORK SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Submit your dilemma to this shared folder using the convention FIRST_LAST_PROBLEMTYPE by Tuesday, October 10.
(ex. BLAKE_SARAH_ORGANIZATIONAL)

Please see the attached consultancy protocol and instructions for writing your dilemma.

EXAMPLES
For some ideas, please view samples of past C13 and C14 dilemmas. Some have been edited for brevity and location identifiers. Types of dilemmas were self selected (interpersonal, systemic, organizational)

Link to Examples Folder

OVERVIEW
As we wrap up our time together in Cambridge, let's reflect on a few major takeaways from our time together. The goals for this session are: 

• To surface what you’re eager for, and still wondering about
  
• To co-create what you want to see/learn/benefit from
  
• To remind what’s coming next, and to introduce you to our homebase for resources and reminders
  
• To express appreciation to our peers, for everything this week, and everything to come
  

PRE-WORK 
None

MATERIALS
​To be posted