Post-equity audit leadership team interview protocol

OMB Number: 1850-0952 v.7; Expiration 11/30/2026

Attachment 3. MESA approach interview 3: Post-equity audit leadership team interview protocol

Note – text in italics is not to be read aloud.

The Making Equitable Schools Audit (MESA) research team will use the following protocol to conduct series of 30-minute interviews with audit participants and school leaders in order to answer research questions on the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of MESA. Interviews will be conducted after the 3 equity audit sessions have been completed and at the midpoint and end of the leadership coaching. For the equity audit, the interviews will be conducted with a sample of participating school leaders (up to four leaders) and a sample of participating teachers, non-instructional staff, and community members (up to four respondents). For the leadership coaching, the interviews will be conducted with participating school leaders (up to five leaders).

Participant name:		Interview date:
Participant school:		Start time:
Interviewer name:		End time:

Introduction

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. The purpose of the interview is to collect information about your experiences so far in participating in the MESA approach. Your feedback is important to us and will help MESA facilitators and coaches understand how the approach is working and how the audit and coaching sessions can be improved.

REL Midwest will maintain and protect the confidentiality of your responses. We will not use your name, the name of your school, or any information that could be used to identify you in any written reports based on the data. Your participation is voluntary, and you may withdraw at any time or choose not to answer a question.

I would like to record these interviews to ensure that we capture your responses. Your responses will be kept confidential, and the recording will not be shared with anyone outside of the MESA team. Do I have your permission to record? If Yes, start the recorder and then state your name, the date, and the interview participant’s name and school before you begin. If No, ask if it’s okay for you to take notes and then state your name, the date, and the interview participant’s name and school before you begin.

Do you have any questions before we begin?

The following questions are related to your experiences with the MESA training and coaching materials.

Item No.	Interview question
1	What do you think about the format of the MESA coaching sessions? As a reminder, there were four virtual coaching sessions with the full team: one each in April, May, June, and August. The first three sessions were roughly one hour long, and the fourth was about 90 minutes long. 1a. To what extent did the frequency and duration of the coaching sessions seem appropriate? Were there too many sessions, too few, or about the right amount? Were sessions too short, too long, or about right? 1b. Probe: How comfortable were you with sharing your thoughts and opinions during coaching sessions? 1c. Probe: How, if at all, could the team have helped you feel more comfortable?
2	We’re interested in how understandable and accessible the leadership coaching sessions were for participants. As a reminder, the leadership coaching sessions were the meetings that the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest held with the school team after the equity audit to dig into root cause categories and craft an implementation action plan. Can you tell us about your experience participating in the coaching sessions? 2a. Probe: Was the content of the sessions easy to understand? For example, do you feel like you understood the purpose of the coaching sessions? Do you feel you had clear next steps coming out of the coaching sessions? Please describe. 2b. Probe: How easy was it to attend and effectively engage in the sessions? 2c. Probe: What, if anything, would make the sessions easier to understand? Easier to access?
3	This is the Implementation Action Plan that was developed during the coaching sessions. [Share screen and link to show the Implementation Action Plan developed in sessions and walk through main components.] 3a. How clear is the Implementation Action Plan? To what extent is it relevant and actionable to your school’s context? 3b. How, if at all, are you personally engaged with or responsible for the Implementation Action Plan? 3c. To what extent do you feel that your voice was heard in the development of the action plan?
4	I want to ask you to reflect on specific elements of the coaching sessions. Here is a quick reminder of the topics and activities covered in each session [copy and paste bullet points below into chat]: Session 1 – reviewed key findings from the equity audit and conducted root cause analysis to identify the “whys” to each finding Session 2 – reviewed root cause categories in draft fishbone diagram, voted on priority categories for action planning, and brainstormed corrective strategies Session 3 – engaged in implementation action plan breakouts to identify specific action steps, responsible staff, and timeline for strategy implementation Session 4 – finalized detailed implementation plan for 2023/24 and ongoing leadership structure to move work forward after REL Midwest support ends What were the most useful elements of the coaching sessions? Probe 4a: What elements did you feel most engaged with? Probe 4b: What elements could be improved?
5	Please describe any supports or resources that helped you participate in the coaching sessions. These could include community networks, physical resources such as meeting space, or relationships with staff. 5a. What kind of communication did you receive about attending coaching? 5b. What motivated you to attend the coaching sessions?
6	What challenges, if any, did you experience in participating in the coaching sessions? 6a. Did you feel supported by the district and your broader community to participate in MESA? Why or why not? 6b. Are there any aspects of your community, district, and/or school (for example, competing obligations, lack of support) that you feel prevented you from participating in MESA? If yes, what are they? 6c. Did you experience any other barriers to accessing or participating in the coaching sessions?
7	How well do the MESA coaching session activities and materials align with other programs or initiatives happening at your school or district? Please provide an example. Probe: How is the Implementation Action Plan aligned with other programs or initiatives happening at your school?
8	What are some of your key takeaways from participating in the MESA coaching sessions? 7a. How do the concepts you discussed in the MESA coaching sessions apply to your work or life? 7b. Please describe what, if anything, you have started to or plan to do differently because of the MESA coaching sessions.
9	Is there anything that we didn’t ask you about that you want to let us know?