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Collaborative Solution DiscoveryDiscover solutions … collaborativelyDiscover solutions … collaboratively
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One-size-fits-all solutions don’t work.
Solve the problem by creating problem-solvers.

Empower your staff to develop their own solutions to problems of practice. Create sustainable improvement, individual ownership, and cohesiveness across your entire school or system.

How it works

Collaborative Solution Discovery (CSD) offers a scalable process of four routines that guide you through defining success, assessing current practice, and developing your own continuous improvement cycle.

teachers
Teachers
principal
Principal
district leader
District Leader

At every stage, a team of teachers and other staff
take the lead, supported by school and district leaders

Click on each step to learn more.

CSD diagram

The Details

Impact

CSD integrates individual autonomy in a system-wide vision, maximizing individual agency, while creating coherence, consistency, and sustainability.

district leader

School/District

  • Coherence & consistency across the system
  • Sustainable impact on student learning & educator engagement
  • Individual creativity & collective agency
teachers

Teachers

  • Individual agency and collective efficacy to impact student learning
student

Student

Identity & agency as a

  • Critical thinker
  • Problem solver
  • Self-regulated learner

Testimonials

principal

Administrator

“We are closer to being on the same page. Teachers can implement the vision we’ve outlined while retaining their individuality. It helps to have a clearer picture of what we aspire for students.”

teacher

Teacher

“We have something to hold ourselves accountable to. We persevered through all our differences to come to a consensus! It feels like the work we have been doing boiled down to something manageable.”

teacher

Teacher

“I found value in having a clearer path to our ideal math student. Having a clear vision about our goal makes me feel more at ease about where to go next.”

Questions? Want to learn more?

Pre-Work

Frame your need for problem-solving

Frame your need for problem-solving
  • Principal

    Introduce the process to school-site staff and share your passion for the work.

  • District Leader

    Every problem-solving process begins with determining a focus. The definition of the problem itself and its solution will be addressed by the team.

Subway map

Routine 1

Imagine your ideal

Imagine your ideal
  • Teachers

    The team envisions what ideal student interactions will look like at each grade level, i.e., the sorts of interactions with teachers, tasks, and peers that demonstrate growth in student identity and agency.

  • Principal

    Set a student-focused frame for professional learning and collaborative inquiry across the system:

    Communicate to the team that this is not a ‘top-down’ process and that they are here as collaborators contributing a classroom and site-level perspective.

  • District Leader

    Set a student-focused frame for professional learning and collaborative inquiry across the system:

    Communicate to the principal that this is not a ‘top-down’ process and that they are here as collaborators contributing a system- and site-wide viewpoint.

Subway map

Routine 2

Measure the gap to current reality

Measure the gap
  • Teachers

    The team looks for their ideal interactions in multiple classrooms. This becomes a measurement tool to test and refine through multiple classroom observations.

  • Principal

    Communicate to all staff the collaborative, non-evaluative nature of the process and solidify the schedule.

  • District Leader

    Communicate to all staff the collaborative, non-evaluative nature of the process and solidify the schedule.

Subway map

Routine 3

Identify new practices

Identify new practices
  • Teachers

    Choose a new practice to implement and adapt it to fit your classroom.

  • Principal

    Provide time, resources, and professional learning routines to support teachers in growing their agency:

    Encourage the team to seek out diverse perspectives across the system in order to better understand the true nature of the problem.

  • District Leader

    Provide time, resources, and professional learning routines to support teachers in growing their agency:

    Connect the team to existing resources and initiatives related to their problem-solving focus.

Subway map

Routine 4

Adjust practice and iterate

Adjust practice and iterate
  • Teachers

    Continue adapting new practices by using the team’s observation and analysis to adjust and improve.

    Continue cycles of observation and adjustment until observation data shows growth.

  • Principal

    Use analysis of patterns and trends to provide teachers with guidance and support on implementing and adapting new practices.

  • District Leader

    Collaborate with site leaders to analyze patterns and trends in order to provide better support.

Subway map

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