Using Data to Involve and Create a Sense of Urgency

Facilitating Conversations About Data
with School Improvement Advisory Committees

Each public and accredited non-public school district in Iowa is required to have a School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) comprised of representatives of the fabric of the community. When facilitated well, this committee can provide your district with ambassadors who can explain what's happening in your school district with others. They are a critical group whose role in community engagement should not be overlooked.

But engaging and maintaining this group can be hard work. How do you make the meetings meaningful so that it doesn't feel like a "rubber stamp" group? How can conversations about data keep from becoming laden with education-ese and turning people off to attending? It can be done! And the results will be worth it.

How to maximize the effectiveness of the school improvement advisory committee:

• Within the membership requirements provided by the State, choose people from within the community who are "opinion leaders" of certain segments you need to reach. In other words, choose people who are willing to communicate with others in the community following each meeting in order to gather further input and communicate key ideas being discussed.
• Don't view meetings with the SIAC as a time to "data dump" massive amounts of information on members. Each meeting should include facilitated discussion time and an opportunity for community members to ask questions and dialogue with school representatives. Meetings shouldn't last more than 1-2 hours, max. Schedule a retreat if more time is needed (and if members, who probably have other obligations, are receptive to the idea).
• Keep it informal. Most parents and community members are coming on to the SIAC without a great deal of knowledge about education legislation, assessment, etc. Your job is to make them feel at ease, welcome and okay about wherever they are in the learning. Consider holding the meeting at a "neutral" location like a community center if you think it would help people feel more comfortable.
• Start on time, end on time. Never hold people past the end time you scheduled.
• Provide food, beverages and other "creature comforts" or conveniences like stretch breaks and even childcare. Make it easy for them to be there. People today are often over-booked, over-stretched and over-stimulated. The meeting climate should be a respite from that.

Consider downloading these sample agendas below as a start for planning a year's worth of SIAC committee meetings. Use what you know about good facilitation to develop processing activities where they are indicated in the agendas. Your local Area Education Agency consultant will be a good resource for assistance.