Blog #4

Abby Kretsch

April 10, 2012

Blog #4

I brought up an issue at my internship site about the consistency and thoroughness of our work on attendance at the school. I pointed out that we had not called all of the families who we had set out to call, and had not followed through on the small-scale intervention that we had planned on. I also tried to point out that we were taking credit for progress and were using this progress as rationale for expanding the intervention to other schools. However, in the process we had not followed through with the protocol we had developed and were basically doing a sloppy job. I also brought up the fact that we were misrepresenting some of the work we had done. I am detailed oriented and the way that we explained some of the data was, in my opinion, not entirely accurate. At the time, this issue was either not understood or not acknowledged. The issue was not ripe enough. People seemed excited about the momentum of the project and the initial progress we had made and wanted to expand it prior to completing the work at the pilot site. They may also have been more concerned with portraying the work of the organization well, rather than adhering to the limitations of the data. As an intern, I struggled to know my place in the situation, and after raising the issue gently, I let it go and continued with the work.

Later, this issue continued to eat at me and it started to—in my opinion—detract from authenticity of the work that we were doing. It felt like we were coasting forward for far too long on work that we had done several months previously. Again the issue of expanding the project came up, with additional schools wanting to get on board. I brought up the fact again that we had not finished our work at the pilot school and that expanding might be premature. I reiterated that we had a choice, to either do a small piece of the work well or to take on a larger scale project without the capacity to do so. At this point, the issue had ripened and people were more receptive to discussing this issue. I also brought it up more assertively and was candid with how I felt about the project. People responded to this and we were able to come to a consensus about how we wanted to proceed. It can be difficult to balance the need to operate within the constraints of our capacity and resources with the desire to implement a promising intervention in order to reach as many students as possible.

I was able to bring this issue up because I was feeling more competent in my role on the project team. I have realized that I possess skills and perspectives as a result of my experience and education that allow me to bring assets to the group that others may not possess. I have realized that it is my responsibility to use my unique background in order to bring up views that others may not see or consider because they have been trained differently, have different skills or different agendas.  When we all bring these perspectives to the table, we can combine them into generate an effective work plan. When I started my internship I felt that I should sit back and observe others do this and that I was there only to learn. Now I feel that I have a role in the group and a contribution that will not be given unless I bring it to the table. I have a more balanced approach. I am still there to learn but also to contribute and I must have the humility to realize that my contributions are no better or worse than those of my coworkers.

In response to the Katzman article, if I were a superintendent of a district, I would be worried about the proposed change in the flow of power, since effectively this new arrangement between the state, the school and the SSOs removes the district from the equation. This new arrangement gives schools more control over how to spend the funding and takes this decision making power away from the district. Therefore, I, as the district superintendent, have lost my decision making power. This means that I am potentially a strong force that could stand in the way of innovative change. However, if I can find a new role in facilitating the decision making of the schools and collaborating with them in their process of selecting SSOs, then I might be able to get on board with the change.

challenges as seen from the balcony

One adaptive challenge has been to think about the best way to communicate with the people that we (my project team at my internship) are attempting to serve. We have been designing and implementing a program to help support families in getting their children to school on time. We have had to put ourselves in their shoes as best as we can, in order to think about what might be the best way to approach these families and offer help. We learned the hard way that what we think is an effective and supportive way to reach out with families is not necessarily perceived that way by them. We drafted a letter to the parents of children who were chronically absent and let them know that someone would be contacting them from Family Service of Rhode Island in order to talk with them about barriers and solutions. However, many of the families thought that we were talking about the Department of Youth and Families and were frightened because they thought they were being reported to the authorities for not caring for their children adequately. We then had to explain to frightened and angry parents what our organization is and reassure them that we were not here to punish but rather to help them. Ultimately, we were able to remedy the situation. However, it caused some hardship that could have been avoided had we considered more carefully the tone of the letter. In drafting a second version, we consulted with a parent, some school employees, the Parent Engagement office of PPSD and some other community stakeholders. By soliciting help from numerous, we were able to revise the letter to convey our mission more accurately and hopefully foster a more trusting relationship.

A technical challenge I have faced has been developing an effective way of tracking and measuring the attendance data on the students that we served. I was given raw numbers of days absent and tardy, but needed to devise a system for storing that information in the most efficient way. This has been a process of trial and error and I have adapted and added to our database as the project has continued. As we added more information, I have needed to reorganize our data in ways that allow for us to detect progress and identify challenges that persist. I have also needed to adapt the data in order for it to be used for different purposes by different people. I have needed to provide information for press releases and news articles and have had to generate numbers that can most efficiently be used for these purposes. As new uses and needs for data arise, I continue to calculate new information and adjust the numbers in ways that will allow us to examine our project from various angles.

Another technical challenge has been trying to increase the number of parents who attend workshops at the school on attendance. This has required us to look at what stands in the way of parents attending and identify ways to increase the likelihood that they will be able to attend. This has meant that we have had to hold the workshops at several different times throughout the day, in order to accommodate people’s schedules. We learned through trial and error that the morning was the best attended, that the evening is difficult and that we need to move our afternoon session to a more convenient time, such as right after school. We also provided childcare and Spanish interpreters, to accommodate the needs to the parents who we want to attend these meetings. We realized that both of these services facilitate parent attendance, and also that we need some additional supports for refugee families who are new to the area and are facing their own set of cultural barriers. This is all information that we will then apply when we hold our next round of attendance workshops.

Reflection #1: Life Context

10/17/11

The chapter describes several components of a “life context” that are relevant to the internship experience. The ones that apply most directly to my life are academics, friends, family, and caring for myself. Most of these components have the ability to be both assets and liabilities. If I am able to create a balance among them, they will all support the work I am doing in my internship. They will be assets in helping me to have a meaningful experience and to be a valuable worker. There is also the chance that some of these components could be liabilities in that they will draw my time and attention away from my work without providing me with any benefit. I will discuss several of these components in the following entry, as well as the ways that they have to potential to be both assets and liabilities.

My academic commitments are primarily an asset to my internship experience. While my classes do demand a certain amount of time to complete the work, they are also closely aligned with the work I am doing in my internship. Spending time on class work does not detract from time spent working on my internship, since the material augments my work at the Providence Children’s Initiative and builds my understanding of the context in which I work. In fact, some of the material we are covering in class will be essential in completing my internship project successfully. In addition, since I am only able to take two classes this semester, the academic demands of classes can be fulfilled in the time I am not working at my internship.

My friends and family are also primarily assets of my life context, although there are instances when they could be liabilities as well. My friends and family are extremely supportive of and interested in my work at my internship. They are intelligent and successful people who inquire about my work and are willing and able to engage in meaningful discussions. These relationships are mutually beneficial, as we each rely on one another in order to meet the demands of our work. I have tried in the past to manage my life without accessing the support of friends and family and have not been successful. As a result, I make a point to ask for help, feedback, comfort and companionship when I feel it is necessary. The potential liability of these relationships comes from the time it takes to maintain them, as well as the joy I get from spending time with them. There may be times where I will need to sacrifice some of this time in order to complete my work. There are also times where I am unable to meet commitments to my family and friends that I have been able to in the past. This is a potential source of stress, as I will need to readjust the balance of my time. While this is a potential liability, if I am able to do this then I will be able to maintain these supportive and affirming relationships.

In my current life context, I engage in certain activities in order to maintain my physical and mental health. These activities are foundations of my life that allow me to live a productive, fulfilling life. I am able to be a student and a worker because I am committed to maintaining a level of health that allows me to function and to thrive. These activities are assets, as they provide me with tools for dealing with all aspects of my life, including work, school and relationships. The benefits that I receive from this discipline are essential to my success and productivity. In this respect these activities will enable me to be successful as an intern. The potential liability of this area is that these activities require a time commitment that needs to be scheduled around my work, school and personal commitments. This can be a source of stress and I am unable to find a proper balance then one or more of these areas may suffer. With the right balance, the time I spend caring for myself will increase my productivity and facilitate a successful internship experience. Ideally by reflecting on these areas of my life context, I will be able to maximize their ability to be assets and minimize the liabilities.