Essential Conditions
A foundational component of Practia is that the school identify what essential conditions need to be present. This page is a guide to helping schools understand and agree upon essential conditions. Here are a couple of key concepts to help understand Essential Conditions:
- Community Engagement – connecting with all members of the school community in order to determine a shared vision.
- Locus of Control – the Essential Conditions need to be something within the power of the adults in the school to improve.
- Data Collection – the school will be collecting data on how the adults are doing.
Community Engagement
Essential conditions must be determined in an open, collaborative environment in which all members of the school community are welcomed and respected. School Improvement efforts have a long tradition of limited participation with a focus on those in the community with social capital. Given that history, it is not a surprise that so many school improvement efforts have failed to have transformative effects. There are many tools, supports, and systems to help schools engage with everyone in the community. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge and understand that this work is not simple or easy. It requires asking difficult questions, such as “who’s voice is not present at this table?” and then taking action to engage with those voices. It often requires those in positions of power within a school to recognize their privilege and use it to lift voices of the underrepresented. Only through this type of meaningful engagement will schools be able to work with their communities and identify Essential Conditions.
Locus of Control
An essential condition needs to be something that the school has control over. It is critical that the school identify conditions within their control and not outcomes. The first stage of the Practia process is collaboratively developing these essential conditions. Here are some tests to help determine the difference between an essential condition and an outcome:
Test | Key Question | If “Yes,” It’s Likely an… |
Causality Test | Does this lead to something else improving? | Essential Condition |
Change Test | Is this the change you want to see? | Outcome |
Control Test | Can you put it in place or directly control it? | Essential Condition |
Evidence Test | Is it measured by student or system performance data (not just presence or process)? | Outcome |
Durability Test | Is it something you sustain over time to keep outcomes strong? | Essential Condition |
Data Collection
Another foundational component of Practia is the ability to collect data that measures or explores the Essential Conditions. It may seem necessary to determine Essential Conditions for which there are easy data solutions. However, this is misguided, a distortion of Practia, and will not result in the desired improvements. Essential conditions are just that – essential – and not dependent on what data sources are available. Once the Essential Conditions have been established, then the school can figure out what types of data sources might be appropriate to use. This will likely produce rich discussions about types of data and opportunities for growth.
While it is not possible to anticipate all Essential Conditions, here are some examples of Essential Conditions and data sources. (For more help with figuring out data sources, see Support Packages.)
|
Essential Condition |
Data Source |
|
Everyone (students, staff, families) feels a sense of Belonging |
Surveys, such as Panorama ● Given every other week starting at the beginning of the school year |
|
Grade level curriculum implementation with fidelity and integrity |
Curricular Progress ● Available directly for many programs with an online component ● Can keep track of which lessons the teacher assigned |
|
The school emphasizes analytical thinking over memorization |
Analysis of all assignment and assessment questions to determine what proportion require analytical thinking. |
Data Sources in the Future/Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Practia also recognizes that options not currently available may be ready for use in the future, or that not everyone is comfortable with possibilities for data collection. It is clear that the development and proliferation of AI Tools is growing at incredible speed. It may be possible to collect data on things like the types of questions a teacher asks just by having AI to “listen” to a classroom and categorize the types of questions a teacher asks or how much time the teacher is talking. At the same time, this type of “intrusive” AI may be concerning and may be an undesirable use of technology. Practia does not rely on AI technology but recognizes there may be additional use cases in the future.