Roadmap for Schools

The following is a suggested timeline of activities to implement Partnerships for Literacy for two+ years. The timeline can be shortened or lengthened as needed.

Step 1: Prepare your School: August – December of Year 1 of Implementation

  • Schools begin by identifying a skilled coach that is familiar with the Partnerships for Literacy process.
  • Coach meets with the school leadership team to review the whole Partnerships for Literacy timeline and steps, and determine if the school is prepared to implement Partnerships for Literacy this school year.
  • Once the school’s leadership team has committed to the process, the coach arranges to meet to discuss all of the focused discussions between August – December. It is recommended that there are 4 conversations, but some schools have combined the conversations into 2 or 3 meetings instead of 4.

Step 2: Build a Team: January – February of Year 1 of Implementation

  • Coaches guide the school’s leadership through Building a Team (using the guide provided).
  • The school arranges a time for the newly formed team to meet, sends out personal invitations, and ensures that any barriers to participation are removed/reduced for families and school staff.

Step 3: Inventory Practices: March – April of Year 1 of Implementation

  • The Partnerships for Literacy Team meets, gets to know each other, and spends anywhere from 1-4 meetings to fully complete the Family & Community Engagement for Early Literacy Inventory. This becomes the school’s baseline, and each year this process is completed, the school can compare to the prior year’s inventory results.
  • In some schools, the coach plays a very active role in guiding the team through these early meetings. In other schools, the school leaders or another appointed team member will take on more of a facilitator’s role, leaving the coach to do more observing and reflecting for the team.

Step 4: Create/Redesign Action Steps: April – June of Year 1 of Implementation

  • The Partnerships for Literacy Team meets to create their Action Steps (using the guide provided). The team decides when to begin implementation of their steps. As a team, be sure to celebrate your progress. As a school and community, you now have a team with family voice making decisions that will support literacy!
  • The coach and the school leader complete the provided Coaching Service Delivery Plan.

Step 5: Implement and Track: June of Year 1 of Implementation – December of Year 2 of Implementation

  • The Partnerships for Literacy team agrees on a regular meeting schedule. It is recommended that teams meet monthly or every other month. The team’s role shifts to one that oversees and reviews information about how implementation is going at the school. For some teams or members on the team, they will also be directly responsible for implementing the action steps. It depends on what the action steps are.
  • The coach ensures that the team stays focused on their priorities, and on track for the year. This may involve additional meetings with the school leader and/or teachers/staff to understand and reduce barriers to progress.
  • The Partnerships for Literacy team may have lost members, in which case new members should be invited to be on the team.

Step 6: Review and Re-inventory Practices, Celebrate Successes: January – June of Year 2 of Implementation

  • While continuing implementation at the school, the team reviews their current action steps, assembles data on what is working and what is not working well.
  • The team completes the Family & Community Engagement for Early Literacy Inventory for the second time, and discusses successes, challenges, and changes from Year 1, and assigns a new set of priorities for the new school year.
  • At this point, it is a great idea to celebrate the successes of the year with anyone involved with developing or implementing the action steps. Be sure to include families in the celebration. Share the hopes for the coming year!
  • If the school has an external coach, the coach and school leader now determine a long-term strategy for the school’s coaching needs. They may be able to meet less often or not at all.

Step 7: Sustain Partnerships for Literacy: Year 2 and beyond. This process can be sustained for many years to come at little to no cost and many potential benefits for schools, families, and communities.

Download Roadmap (Word)