Session 1 Facilitator’s Guide: Addressing Students’
Foundational Skills: Case Studies
Sequence of Sessions
Target for this Session

I can analyze and problem-solve systemic issues related to meeting students’ reading foundation and other skill needs.
High-Level Purpose of this Session

This session is for Leaders, NTI Members and returning NTI participants who are active users of the Modules. Participants use the World Cafe
Protocol to share problem solving strategies based on module usage case studies, including case studies that involve issues related to meeting
the Reading Foundations Standards (grades 3-5) and the use of the Recommended Text Lists in supplemental settings in grades 6-8. At the
end of the session, participants debrief the impact of a protocol on professional discussion and reflect on how they could use discussion
protocols in their own settings to build a healthy change culture.
Related Learning Experiences

This session is the foundation for all other NTI sessions that are to follow
Key Points

Implementation of the modules is most effective within the context of a change-focused culture that recognizes the difference between
technical change and adaptive change.

Protocols can help build a change-focused collaborative culture and support adaptive change.
Session Outcomes
What do we want participants to be able to do as a result of this session?
●
Grapple with implementation issues in a solutions-oriented way.
How will we know that they are able to do this?

Observation
● Recognize the impact of protocols to support professional,
collegial conversations.

Journal Entries
Session Overview
Section
Time
Overview
Prepared Resources
Facilitator Preparation
15
minutes
● Review overall purpose for
NTI, learning targets, journal.
● Participants “mix and
mingle” with quotes from
“The Perils of Adaptive
Change,” greeting along the
way.
 Introduce participants to
Norms for Collaboration as
means of reflecting on what
they just did.
 Introduce World Cafe
Protocol.






Journals
Facilitator’s Guide
PPT
Norms for Collaboration
World Café Protocol
“The Perils of Adaptive
Change,” Leadership on the
Line, Heifetz and Linskey, 2002.
(Specific quotes selected on put
on slips in envelopes).

2. World Café
Protocol:
Module
Implementation
Case Studies
related to Reading
Foundations and
Supporting Older
Struggling Readers.
35
minutes




Module Implementation Case
Study #1
Module Implementation Case
Study #2
World Café Protocol
3. Synthesis
10

Journals

1. Greetings and
Group Grounding


Participants work in groups.
Leader takes notes.
Participants change groups.
Leader stays behind.
Leader shares notes from
previous session. Additional
brainstorming.
● Participants debrief the



Review facilitation guide and
powerpoint.
Put “Perils of Adapative
Change” quotes out on tables.
Preview the case studies and
protocol.
Have plenty of chart paper on
hand for this protocol.
Pre-read the article.
minutes
impact of using a protocol to
dig deep into the module
implementation case
studies.
● Participants reflect on the
qualities of collaborative
culture/norms they
observed while working
through the protocol.
 Participants are directed
toward the article “The
Perils of Adaptive
Leadership,” Heifetz and
Linskey, 2002.

“The Perils of Adaptive
Leadership,” Heifetz and
Linskey, 2002.
Session Roadmap
Section1: Greetings and Group Grounding
Time: 9:45 to 10 a.m.
[15 minutes] In this section, you will prepare participants for the session and create a culture of
achievement.
Materials used include:
Time
Slide #/ Pic of Script/ Activity directions
Slide
GROUP
2 minutes
● Introduce yourself and tell a bit of background. If
Small groups at
relevant, share how your understanding of change and tables
perhaps the use of protocols have influenced you as a
professional.
2 minutes
● Introduce the learning targets and focus for the entire
NTI and highlight the target for this particular



Journals
Facilitator’s Guide
PPT
session. “I can analyze and problem-solve systemic
issues related to meeting students’ reading foundation
and other skill needs.”
4 minutes
● “Mix and Mingle.” Participants select one of the
quotes from the “Perils of Adaptive Change” from
the envelope on the table.
5 minutes
● Introduce the Norms for Collaboration. Discuss
briefly how norms enrich protocols and ensure that
conversations maintain a professional and collegial
tone while digging deeply into challenging issues.
● Ask participants to rate themselves on the Norms
Inventory based on how they just interacted in the
Mix and Mingle activity.
● Throughout the institute they will be asked to
participate in these types of collaborative activities.
Ask them to reflect on areas when they can improve
their habits.
2 minutes

Review the steps in the World Café Protocol.
Section 2: World Café Protocol
Time: 10 to 10:35 a.m.
[35 minutes] In this section, participants use the World Café Protocol to have structured discussions
about two implementation case studies.
Materials used include:
Time
15 minutes
Slide #/ Pic of
Slide
Script/ Activity directions


Divide tables of 10 into two groups of 5. (1 minute)
Each group of 5 selects a Recorder, who takes notes and
GROUP

World Café Protocol

Module Implementation Case
Studies #1 and #2




2 minutes
18 minutes
STAYS BEHIND when others rotate. In addition, they
select a facilitator and timekeeper. (1 minute)
The Module Implementation Case Studies are out on
tables and are copied on two different colors of paper
(#1 is blue, #2 is green). Participants begin with the
case study that is on the table that they are currently
seated at.
The Recorder sets up a piece of chart paper as follows:
o Case Study Number 1 or 2 at top. (Note to
facilitator: these are based on several common
issues we are seeing in the field).
o T-chart with “What are the issues” on one side
and “how can a change-focused culture be
built?” on the other side. (Note, these could be
prepared ahead of time and merely distributed).
Participants read the case study independently. (5
minutes)
Participants brainstorm answers to both questions at
the end of the case study while the Recorder takes
notes on the chart paper (use only the top half). (7
minutes)
Transition


The Recorder stays behind.
The rest of the group transitions to another table with
the other color case study at it. (They do not need to
stay together as a group).
New Rounds





The new group greets each other (2 minutes)
The participants read their new case study,
independently (5 minutes)
The leader (the person who stayed behind) reviews
what the last group said about the issues and
resolutions. (3 minutes)
The participants now brainstorm – stretching
beyond the ideas of the first group (5 minutes).
The group reviews all of the recommendations on the
second half of the chart (including the
recommendations done by the group before) and

selects one they feel would be most powerful. That gets
circled or starred. (2 minutes).
Session facilitators collect the charts for display in the
appropriate time and space.
Section 3: Synthesis
Time: 10:35 to 10:45
[10 minutes] In this session you will help participants reflect on and capture the problem solving they
just did and how that supports a change focused culture.
Materials used include:
Time
Slide #/ Pic of
Slide
Script/ Activity directions
6 minutes
Participants stay at the table they are currently at to debrief
the impact of using a protocol to dig deep into the module
implementation case studies.
 How did the protocol and norms build a foundation
for professional, solutions oriented conversation?
 What did you notice about your own self (your
comments, your behavior) during this protocol? How
is that similar or different than the way you interact
when there is no intentional protocol or norms in
place?
 How, if used over time, could processes like these
build schools’ capacity to engage in adaptive change?
3 minutes
Participants silently journal to capture their thinking – “What
is important to remember about building solution- oriented
cultures that are capable of adaptive change?
1 minute
Participants are directed toward the article “The Perils of
Adaptive Change” for future reading.
GROUP

Journals

PPT
Turnkey Materials Provided




Facilitator’s Guide and Powerpoint
“The Perils of Adaptive Change,” Leadership on the Line, Heifetz and Linskey, 2002. (Specific quotes selected on put on slips in envelopes).
World Café Protocol
Module Implementation Case Studies #1 and #2