(OII) Magnets and School Turnarounds and (OS) Future Ready Leaders

Superintendent Interview Protocol

Beginning of the Interview

1. Introduce yourself: My name is [ ] and I am from American Institutes for Research. I will be interviewing you for the Future Ready Leaders study. Thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed. [Small talk as needed]

2. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology developed a set of personalized professional learning resources for district leaders to use to assess their district’s future readiness—its use of digital technologies for learning, teaching, and administration—as well as supports the leaders can use to help them lead their districts in becoming more future ready. Through the Future Ready Leaders Study, AIR is investigating how well the tool and supports accomplish their purpose. This interview is part of the data collection for the study. Your participation is critical and appreciated.

3. Do you have any questions about the study I could answer before we get started?

Answer Questions [Move on when no more questions.]

I see that you have signed the consent form, thank you. To review, it simply states that participation in data collection is voluntary. You may also stop the interview at any time. I see that you have also agreed to have this interview recorded. Is that correct? [If yes, hit record] [If no consent: I see that you would prefer that I not audio record this interview. I will instead take notes during our conversation.]

Great! Are we ready to get started?

The Office of Educational Technology launched the Personalized Professional Learning for Future Ready Leaders site in December 2015.

1. In what month did you first use the Personalized Professional Learning for Future Ready Leaders site?

2. Approximately how many times did you return to the site?

3. How much of the site’s self-assessment did you complete? None, a little, some, most, all?

   1. If at least a little, what, if anything has stayed in your mind?

4. How many of the site’s videos did you watch? None, a few, some, many, most, all?

   1. If at least a few, what if anything from the videos has stayed in your mind?

5. If at least something in response to 3a or 4a, what, if anything have you done or are you doing differently?

6. If doing something differently, what difference, if any, has it made in your district, schools, or classrooms?

Modify the following to reflect the answer given to 6: Three areas where superintendents’ thoughts, decisions, and actions are very important are district plans (e.g., improvement plan, strategic plan, or technology plan), the district budget, and the district educator hiring and evaluation policies. We are wondering whether your use of the Personalized Professional Learning for Future Ready Leaders site lead to changes in the following:

7. District plans? Y N If Y, what changes?

8. District budget? Y N If Y, what changes?

9. District educator hiring and evaluation policies? Y N If Y, what changes?

Follow up: when a change is noted, ask whether the changed plan, budget, or policy is on the district web site, and if not, whether it could be sent (if so, give mailing/emailing instructions

District plan website will send

District budget website will send

District educator hiring and evaluation policies website will send

Now that we’ve talked about specific applications of the information from the self-assessment and video playlist, we would like to finish up by getting your feedback on the general approach of the resources.

Perceptions of the approach

10. Overall, what is your opinion of the Personalized Professional Learning for Future Ready Leaders general approach to professional learning?

1. Have you used similar resources before?

2. Was observing stories from similar districts helpful? Different districts?

3. How important was it for you that the professional learning provided through Personalized Professional Learning for Future Ready Leaders involved your peers?

4. Was observing specific strategies employed by peers helpful?

5. Was the fact that

1. The videos were short helpful?

2. The videos were multi-modal helpful?

3. The videos were highly produced helpful?

11. What challenges, if any, are associated with this kind of approach to professional development? How could it be improved?

12. Any last thoughts you would like to share today?

Thank you very much for your time, and have a great day!