A Year of Continuous Improvement and 50 Minutes at NCAN 2021
By Aaron Hawn, Director of Research and Evaluation at SL Network
Earlier this fall, SL Network took its lessons on continuous improvement on the virtual road to the 2021 Virtual NCAN Conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Rebuilding for Postsecondary Equity,” a task that SL Network has been taking on in its schools throughout (and despite) the pandemic.
Our team of panelists—Jon Roure (Executive Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer), Ivanna Jimenez (Senior Manager, College Access), and Dr. Erin Grogan (Grasshopper Consulting)—shared the story of their continuous improvement work over the last year leading school-based directors of college counseling (DCCs), as they looked for ways to make their already strong outcomes for students even stronger.
Starting in November 2020, with the help of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a group of our DCCs who work within ten of our CollegeBound Initiative partner high schools participated in “Plan, Do, Study, Act” (PDSA) cycles, a common protocol of continuous improvement. Counselors identified a problem in their schools, planned a solution, carried it out, studied the results, and decided whether, in the future, they would adopt that solution, adapt it, or abandon it altogether. DCCs were enthusiastic about these “PDSAs” and welcomed the chance to focus their attention and efforts on some of the students most in need of an extra boost in their college applications.
While each DCC might have focused their efforts on only a dozen students in their schools, the reach of these solutions was considerable. By the end, over 200 students were impacted by PDSA cycles and those students ended up submitting more four-year college applications than other SL Network students with similar GPAs. Not only were the gains for these students measurable and important, but the gains in knowledge for SL Network of what works and what doesn’t work will likely impact cohorts of students for years to come.
Lessons shared at NCAN 2021
Once our panelists had provided a quick overview of continuous improvement at SL Network, Ivanna walked through some of the more successful strategies tested across the network including:
- Start early: Not as in early in 12th grade, but early in high school. Give students time to come to terms with ideas like leaving home for college or finding the right college match and fit. Support students with early wins through instant decision days and early acceptance.
- Recognize the power of encouragement: Students who are less successful in high school may need to feel some intentional, personalized care from DCCs before feeling like college (and the college application process) is meant for them too.
- Use peers to make college real: Stories from high school alumni and other near-peers can make the possibility of college more concrete, more desirable, and make college applications just a little easier to complete.
- Get feedback: Use quick surveys and polls to identify which students are disconnected from the college process in order to get them the attention they need before it’s too late.
After sharing these strategies, Jon, Erin, and Ivanna wrapped up the presentation, with their own nuggets from the continuous improvement process and the lessons they walked away with after a year of leading PDSA cycles across a diverse network of schools:
- Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Some participants may want to hold out for the perfect goal or the perfect solution, but in the end there’s no learning without a little risk and uncertainty.
- Try something new. Just increasing the intensity, trying more of the same old approach, may feel comfortable, but it cuts off the chance for a different approach that will work for the students who need it most.
- Don’t be afraid to focus. Of course, we want to serve all students, but zooming in with the right lens can lead to truly actionable insight.
By the end of the session, questions from the audience made it clear that there was a range of work in continuous improvement happening across the country. Some organizations were brand-new to continuous improvement and looking for the broad strokes of the process, while others were nodding along with the panelists and asking familiar questions. All of them were trying to find a way forward and the skills to adapt and learn in exceptional times.
If you are interested in learning more about continuous improvement, take a look at some of the resources below or get in touch with me at [email protected]
Continuous Improvement Resources
- General resource webpage from Shift Consulting Group
- Comprehensive Workbook from the Puget Sound Continuous Improvement Series
- Improvement Networks for Equity Reflection Tool
- Continuous Improvement in Education: A Toolkit for Schools and Districts, REL-Northeast
