Measures of Progress Pilot: Supporting Partners’ Racial Equity Leadership Results

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In 2020, one of the new Measures of Progress developed by PSESD documented ways our staff can partner with districts and community organizations to lead with racial equity. Read on to learn more about what we’ve learned from our partners in our first year.

In 2020, the PSESD developed and piloted three new Measures of Progress (MOP).  One of the measures documented ways PSESD staff partner with districts and community organizations to lead with racial equity.

For this pilot, the measurement approach was developed by the Design Team, while the Pilot Group participated in pilot data collection, analysis, and reporting.  The data collection takes place each spring, and the overall results are included in the formal Report to the Community, with department-level results shared with each department to support learning and continuous improvement.

The survey format was simple, flexible, and anonymous, and also included an interview format option, as well.  Overall results from the pilot are included in the Report to the Community, while Pilot Group participants received results by department.  Thirty-nine partners responded across six Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) departments, with two-thirds from school districts, and with all fairly spread in their length of time working with PSESD.

The survey reveals that partners work with PSESD in a range of ways – for most, PSESD provides services, technical assistance, or convenes a group of which they are part.  From the 39 respondents, 35 answered the question about their expectation of a focus on racial equity.  Some partners addressed open-ended questions about actions taken, both helpful now and in the future—44% reported what has been helpful to their work with PSESD to support growth in racial equity knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors.  Six respondents shared that PSESD tools, resources, training, and events have been helpful, and the same number also noted that opportunities to connect have been helpful, as well. Forty-one percent of partners reported actions related to promoting racially equitable practices that they (or those they work with) have taken that were prompted or supported by their partnership with PSESD.  Thirty-eight percent reported changes in practice, and 19% reported improving access to services and opportunities, or focus on building positive relationships.  Thirty-three percent shared what PSESD could do to further support their racial equity leadership. We will use these themes to craft more closed-ended questions to support strong response rates upon rollout across the Agency.

In the pilot year, we asked several open-ended questions to allow us to shift to more closed-ended questions so we can streamline analysis.  Both overall and disaggregated results are helpful for understanding progress, while more detailed reporting is helpful for internal audiences and continuous improvement.  In 2021-22, we may consider a centralized survey distribution list to administer the survey, allowing for a more customized follow-up for a strong response rate.

Next steps include supporting Pilot Participants in reviewing and understanding department level results, revising questions based on pilot lessons, and a full rollout across the Agency, with data collection in spring 2022.