How to Get Started 
  
How to Get Started 

The success of the Community for Learning (CFL) program depends on the willingness of the district, school, and community to adopt the program as an integral part of their school improvement plan. It requires shared commitment among all stakeholders to make it work. Whether you are a parent, policymaker, government official, school administrator, teacher, education specialist, or community leader, you can help ensure that the process of getting CFL into your school and district takes place. The following is a general overview of the steps required to implement CFL. They will vary somewhat depending on the site. 

PHASE I: Getting the District or School on Board 

Step 1 

District officials, school administrators, or school staff should contact Temple University Center for Research in Human Development and Education (CRHDE) to learn more about the program.

Step 2 

Organize an information exchange meeting between a CFL representative from CRHDE and your district or school representatives to discuss the program and how it can be implemented in your school or district.  This will give the district an opportunity to pose questions and explore funding options. 

Step 3 

Once the school and district have decided to adopt the CFL program as part of their reform initiatives, the real work begins. District or school officials will need to establish a district 
leadership team that will work with CRHDE in developing an implementation plan based on a system of needs assessment and processes for providing implementation support to all 
participating schools. It is essential to assign a project coordinator from each district's Central Administration Office as a liaison between the CFL schools in the district and CRHDE. 

PHASE II:  District and School Level Needs  
Assessment and Planning 

Step 4 

Ensure that there is staff consensus and commitment for implementing CFL as an integral part of the school and district improvement plan. 

Step 5 

Conduct a thorough assessment to determine each district's and school's needs and assets as well as next steps. This requires discussions with the district leadership team, parents, school staff including special education teachers and other specialist professionals, school administrators, and community leaders. The guiding questions include: 

  • What resources are needed and/or are available to support a high degree of implementation?
  • How can resources be redeployed to support CFL implementation to better meet the needs of the students?
  • Who will take responsibility for monitoring the implementation progress of the CFL program in the district/school?
  • What are the benchmark indicators for determining 
  • program success?
Step 6 

Work with CRHDE's CFL implementation specialists to develop a site-specific plan for each school.  These plans will focus on delivery of instruction to meet the needs of diverse students and the development of a family/community involvement program that specifies ways children's learning can be supported by those outside the schools. 

PHASE III:  Moving Forward 

Step 7 

Put plans into action. After the district and/or school has adopted CFL and the Communities for Learning have completed the initial planning process, the first activity will be pre-implementation training of school staff and administrators. One full-time, on-site facilitator should be assigned to each school to provide implementation support to the staff. 

Step 8 

Monitor progress toward the objectives set out in the plans. This may take several forms, including regular progress review meetings among key stakeholders, program implementation measures, interviews of staff and students, self-assessment surveys, and a number of other gauges. 

Step 9 

Even if your school is implementing the plans it has outlined, the community needs to be sure that the ultimate goal of improving student achievement and learning success is being met. This means that student achievement needs to be measured against district/state standards on an ongoing basis.  Standards can include student performance assessments, district/state administered achievement test scores, and student attitudes toward learning.