We are thrilled to have Marla Muntner guest blog for us today. Marla has spent most of her professional life supporting teaching and learning—inside and outside of the classroom. She’s worked for newspapers, nonprofits, public schools, and education companies. As the former Marketing and Communications Manager for Teachstone, she thrived on creative work through designing instructional programs, managing complex projects, leading creative teams, and designing engaging communications materials.
Okay. Let’s get real. Change is hard. It causes stress, promotes resistance, and sometimes makes us want to retreat in defeat. But despite these obstacles, something drives humans to change, to improve our surroundings—to get better.
Changing whole systems is even more complex than individual change. Systems change requires aligning everyone’s unique reactions to change so all parties move in the same direction. If the systems changes you want to see focus on improving interactions, our theory of change might help:
- Learn—Build readiness for change by ensuring staff members understand the connections between interactions and children’s learning, what effective interactions look like (see the second video on our Videos Page for a sneak peek), and that they are capable of change.
- Measure—Use measurement to promote growth by ensuring it’s objective and conducted by trustworthy sources.
- Improve—Build on strengths, include constructive information, and provide aligned, ongoing professional support.
- Sustain—Promote continued growth by building a culture that supports and reinforce teachers’ work with children.
Find details on this theory of change in the new CLASS System Implementation Guide—and take a dive deep into the nuts and bolts of building readiness, developing observation protocols to fit your unique measurement needs, and finding best practices for using evidence-based professional development to meet your improvement goals.
Be the change agent you want to be. Give the Implementation Guide a read, and pass it on.
