To assist staff and school leaders as their systems move through the stages of change, the schools and districts that make up the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition developed the Organizational Self-Assessment Tool, or OSAT. This tool helps schools analyze the extent to which their current practices are aligned with the four components of the RISC Approach to Schooling: Standards-Based Design, Shared Vision, Leadership, and Continuous Improvement. The OSAT includes descriptions of levels of change for more concrete aspects of the RISC framework, such as assessments, as well as aspects of implementation that relate more closely to the skills and attributes of the individuals in the system, such as the extent to which leaders are adept at dealing with change.
An individual school or an entire school system that is engaged in adopting the RISC approach can use the OSAT to systematically check deployment of its school change plan and the organization’s relative strength in each of the components of the RISC model. Once an organization has determined its current level of implementation, action steps can be identified that address the criteria of the next level(s).
Two versions of the OSAT are offered here: a shorter version and a more-detailed version, in PDF.
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This tool is a shorter version of the longer, more detailed RISC Organizational Self-Assessment Tool. The purpose of the OSAT is to guide reflection on the extent to which your current practices are aligned to the four aspects of the RISC Approach to Schooling. The six indicators listed below are used to describe a continuum of implementation. Indicate your organization’s current level of performance by selecting the indicator that best describes your organization today.
Descriptions of each of the indicators:
Awareness (AW): The organization is interested in pursuing or believes that there is a need for these practices and processes.
Understanding (UN): The organization has begun researching and planning to formally address these practices and processes.
First Implementation (1st IM): The organization is working purposefully to formalize these practices and processes.
Routine Use (RO): The organization regularly uses these practices and processes as part of routine throughout the organization.
Refinement (RE): The organization has established cycle times and processes and has data to demonstrate positive growth trends for three or more years.
Replication (REP): The organization possesses the capacity and experience to assist other districts with these practices and processes.
STANDARDS-BASED DESIGN
| TRAITS |
AW
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UN
|
1ST IMP
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RO
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RE
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REP
|
|
| Overall | Strategic Planning: Organization policies, resources, and schedules are being aligned to the implementation of the standards-based system. Carnegie unit waiver is implemented with a transition plan for older students. | ||||||
| Standards | Input: Organizational activities foster student/parent ownership and understanding of standards. Stakeholders can explain the use of standards and identify differences from a traditional system. | ||||||
| Development & Deployment: The organization has developed, and made accessible to all stakeholders, local standards in traditional and non-traditional content-area levels. Students are placed in developmentally appropriate content-area levels. | |||||||
| Instruction |
Standards & Assessments: The organization implements procedures and policies (e.g., lesson planning, student progress through content-area levels, teacher/principal evaluation tools, recording and reporting procedures) requiring standards-based instruction in all content-area levels. | ||||||
| Instructional Model: The organization has implemented a systemic standards-based instructional model. Staff development focuses on specific instructional strategies, aligns to current research, and provides opportunities for stakeholder feedback. | |||||||
| Student Focus: The organization has integrated strategies and tools into the standards-based instructional model allowing staff and students to individualize learning experiences and increase levels of engagement. | |||||||
| Assessment | Development & Deployment: The organization has developed at least one assessment type for each content-area level. Systematized procedures and policies are in place to advance students. Principals, teachers, and students demonstrate understanding and use of the assessment processes and procedures. | ||||||
| Recording & Reporting | Input: The organization’s recording and reporting system processes and products reflect stakeholder input. | ||||||
| Development & Deployment: The organization has begun implementation of an electronic recording and reporting system. Stakeholders begin use of the system and demonstrate increased understanding of the recording and reporting process in a standards-based system. | |||||||
SHARED VISION
| TRAITS |
AW
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UN
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1ST IMP
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RO
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RE
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REP
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| Input & Communication: The organization has prioritized and communicated the input into focus areas; local standards reflect stakeholder input. | ||||||
| Strategic Planning: The organization begins implementation of a well-developed strategic plan aligned to the focus areas containing related KPIs and supporting action plans. | ||||||
| Performance: The organization implements action plans and KPIs for the focus-area objectives. Staff begin to use the focus areas in the action planning process (e.g., budget, curriculum, in-service schedule, committee work, school-year schedule, class schedule). |
LEADERSHIP
| TRAITS |
AW
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UN
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1ST IMP
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RO
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RE
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REP
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| Moral Purpose: The organization is courageous, confronts the brutal truth, and is willing to reinvent the organization for future opportunities. | ||||||
| Relationships: The organization has a systematic process to promote positive relationships among all stakeholders that positively impacts student learning and school culture. | ||||||
| Vision: The organization designs, delivers, and communicates stakeholders’ shared vision including systemic leadership development, performance-based systems, and continuous improvement. | ||||||
| Change Adept: The organization embraces the change process and promotes from its values and beliefs new innovations that inspire lively discussions about high-performing systems. | ||||||
| Results: The organization understands and applies processes for continuous improvement (e.g., PDSA) using the shared vision focus areas as the driving force for improvement. |
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
| TRAITS |
AW
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UN
|
1ST IMP
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RO
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RE
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REP
|
| Systemic & Systematic: The organization implements systemic continuous improvement strategies to increase performance in focus-area KPIs throughout the organization. Processes are becoming automatic or habitual. | ||||||
| Evaluation Criteria: The organization has begun to use evaluation criteria in strategic planning and daily work. | ||||||
| Cycle Times: The organization establishes cycle times for key processes aligned to focus-area KPIs. | ||||||
| Results: The organization implements plans to document results aligned to focus-area KPIs, Standards-Based Design, Shared Vision, and Leadership. |
