How Practia Works

This is a sample of the Practia system in action. In this example, the school year begins on September 1st.

Step #1 - Establishing Essential Conditions

The school community needs to collaboratively determine what Essential Conditions will be for the school. Depending on how much “pre-work” has already been done, this process may begin in Winter/early Spring. An early start ensures enough time to work thoroughly and collaboratively. This is an opportunity to leverage relationships with community-based organizations and the expertise that exists in the community. Again, it is critical to ensure that all voices are represented and heard. In this example, these are the essential conditions adults need to establish in order for students to be successful:

Consistent use of high quality, grade-level instructional materials, including
- associated professional learning on the effective use of such materials and
- support for students to access and learn the curriculum
Appropriate Learning Conditions, such as
- Sense of Belonging for students, staff, and families,
- Positive Classroom Climate, and
- Rigorous Expectations.

Step #2 - Build a Data System

The next step is to build a data system that allows the school to collect and report data on the Essential Conditions. More information is available on building a Practia Data System.

Since the data system does not include any sensitive information, it does not need to be an expensive product. One option is to build a Practia Data System is to use “Vibe Coding”, which allows users to develop software using regular language, not a programming language. In this example, the data system is built in a simple google spreadsheet. It includes the following components, based on the Essential Conditions:

Curricular Tracking – this data can be gathered directly from an online curriculum, showing how many grade level assignments students had access to.
Professional Learning – this can be compiled from school and district records, showing which teachers have engaged (and are currently engaged) in content-focused professional learning.
Student, family, and staff surveys – these surveys show how various members of the community are feeling about the school and their place in it.

In this example of a google spreadsheet, which you will see in Step #3 below, all metrics have been converted to a 10 point scale. This makes comparisons across the school easier. Additionally, the spreadsheet shows data that can be sorted by various levels: classroom, grade level. and whole school. This allows for decisions to be made regarding coaching and resource allocation.

Step #3 - Data Analytics

Two weeks into the school year (September 15th in this example), the first results from the Practia data system are available.

This system has collected and visualized data on:
- how students, families, and teachers are feeling about the first few days of school
  - Are students feeling engaged, challenged, and supported?
- the initial academic offerings of the school:
  - Are lessons using grade level materials?

Below is a screenshot of a mock up of the Practia data system. This data gives the teachers and school a clear roadmap for where resources need to be assigned and what types of coaching are needed.

Mock data from September 15, 20xx:

Step #4A - Resource Allocation

The school uses the Practia data to make decisions about resource allocation. Based on the mock data above:

More professional learning is needed for grades K, 1, and 5.
Instructional support is needed in grades 1 and 5
Students and families are not feeling good about classrooms 101, 102, and 201. And neither students, families, nor teachers are feeling good in 5th grade.
- The school needs to intervene immediately with SEL/sense of belonging activities and coaches.
For the classrooms where things are off to a good start, coaching should focus on maintaining the positive momentum.
- Even though there are areas of concern where additional resources need to be diverted, the school should not ignore places where things are going well.

Step #4B - Coaching

The data analytics provide the framework for all professional coaching.

● Instructional coaches push into classrooms like K-2, 101, 102, 501, and 502 to ensure high quality, grade level curriculum is being used with students.

● Instructional coaches also work with teachers in other classrooms to maintain standards and curricular integrity.

● There is a focus on school climate coaching and supports in classrooms where this is identified as a need, including 101, 102, 201, 501, and 502. This support can come from a variety of sources, including Climate Coaches, Instructional Coaches, school administrators, and peer support groups.

● In this example, some of the same classrooms are identified as areas of need for both instruction and climate/sense of belonging. This is not unusual and the recommended approach is to address this holistically. An effective, experienced coach can help the teacher to connect engaging, challenging curriculum with a sense of belonging.

○ In this school, based on the data, there may be peer experts at managing this. So, another recommendation would be to utilize peer expertise.

Step #5 - Ongoing Data Checkpoints

The Practia data dashboard is refreshed every two weeks. In this example, that means new data is shared on September 30, October 15, October 30, and so on.

Here is the Mock data from September 30, 20xx:

With this refreshed data, school (and district) leadership can make ongoing decisions about resource allocation and coaching:

The instructional support seemed to help, especially in Grade 5 and, to some extent, in Grade 1. Resources should continue to be deployed there. Additionally, the curricular focus has dropped off in Grade 4, so resources need to be deployed to get back on track.
- Note – this is another example of why it is important to allocate some resources to maintaining successful classrooms. Without care and support, these classrooms can experience difficulties.
The staff surveys indicate a drop off in some grades, especially grades K and 1. Coaches need to provide support, and should emphasize human-centered practices. When these teachers are feeling low or discouraged, it is essential that coaching centers the needs of people, including staff, students, and families. This is a critical opportunity for a coach to build the skills and mindset of school staff.

Using Practia, the school is addressing areas of need beginning in late September. This process should continue every two weeks during the school year. The school will know that conditions are right for student learning. Student assessments will be used to validate these conditions.

Step #6 - Student Assessments

Student assessments will be taken as usual in the Spring. If the school has kept up with ongoing data collection, coaching, and resource allocation, the school should have a clear sense of whether the conditions are ripe for student success. These summative students assessments will validate if the Essential Conditions are in place and necessary for learning.