Convening of Professional Networks for Knowledge-Sharing and Collaboration in 2015

The foundation will act as a convener; facilitating cooperation, collaboration and mutual learning between different foundation programs

The foundation will act as a convener; facilitating cooperation, collaboration and mutual learning between different foundation programsEddie and Jules Trump Family Foundation

Grant amount

NIS 120,000

Grant term

1.5 years

Date of Approval

March 2015

Status

Completed

The Trump Foundation is unique in the sense that it is highly concentrated to achieve a very specific measurable goal – to improve teaching so that more students graduate their high school studies with mathematics and science majors. The foundation’s portfolio reflects this focus, and although each project acts independently, they all share the same goal. As a result, they seem to need to collaborate with each other in order not to duplicate development efforts, to coordinate the division of labor, to develop shared standards, and to jointly approach the Ministry of Education.In the Grantee Perception Report commissioned from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) in 2014, the foundation’s grantees and partners made it very clear to us that they expect us be proactive in bringing them together. 74% of the foundation’s partners said they would like us to increase our efforts to convene grantees and partners. When asked what types of events would be most useful to their organizations, 85% indicated that general knowledge sharing events would be most useful, and 81% reported that small groups focused on a particular topic would be even more effective.

Therefore, in order to respond to the need, and to increase effectiveness and encourage sustainability among the programs the foundation’s supports, we recommend that at this stage, we begin to act as a convener. We will do so by inviting a number of professional networks of grantees and partners, which will guide and facilitate cooperation, collaboration and mutual learning between different foundation programs. The role of a convener is one that strategic foundations around the world take upon themselves, as they acknowledge that they are able to bring everyone onboard and to provide an uncompetitive environment for sharing and collaborating.

The proposed plan will operate on an experimental basis in 2015, to allow us to closely monitor progress. The plan includes Cluster Networks, Exchange Fairs, Practitioners Affinity Groups, and a CEO Forum.

A. A Cluster Network is a network of players that operate similar programs in different localities and with different audiences. They will gain from sharing standards and expertise, and from pooling resources. In 2015 we intend to convene five cluster networks, each for a series of 4 sessions. In these sessions they will learn about each other’s work and about similar programs abroad; identify key areas for collaboration; develop a common language; and aim to prepare a joint paper of mutual standards; and to launch a shared evaluation of their programs.

The Cluster Networks in 2015 will include the following:

Clinical Teacher Residency Network, which already started in 2014, bringing together Oranim, Levinsky, Beit Berl and the Kibbutzim Colleges, and Tel Aviv University (Achva and Hertzog Colleges will join in 2015 if a grant for their program is approved). The main objectives for 2015 is to hold an international conference and to launch a shared evaluation of their programs in order to improve their performance;
Teachers Communities Network will include three different programs of the Weizmann Institute, University of Haifa, Kadima Mada and Branco Weiss. The main objective for 2015 is to arrive at a paper defining their joint professional standards, based on key-components of clinical teaching;
Diagnostic Assignments Network will convene the University of Haifa, two programs of the Weizmann Institute, Kadima Mada and Khan Academy. The main objective for 2015 is to reach an understanding of the crucial importance of working with teachers and addressing their demands, needs and circumstances;
Municipalities Network will assemble the cities of Haifa, Ashdod and Ra’anana (if a grant for their program is approved). The main objective for 2015 is to assist in developing a professional work culture of rigorous planning and monitoring, and removing barriers for collaboration;
Video-based Professional Development Network that we initiated in 2014 works in a different model, in which we commissioned the Davidson Institute to act as the convener. The main objective of 2015 is to share the lessons learned in the different programs.

During the year we intend to encourage the Cluster Networks to initiate conferences, websites, study visits and evaluations. As such initiatives materialize; we will ask them to submit a separate proposal to the foundation on a case by case basis, with the expectation that they invest their own resources in these activities as well.

B. An Exchange Fair is an encounter between developers and operators, who work on different stages of the ‘production line’, however aim to achieve the same goal. In these encounters, the developers (universities and educational institutions), who until now worked on small-scale pilot programs will be introduced to possible clients (municipalities, school networks and districts), and will learn how to adapt their products to specific needs and to larger scale consumption. The clients, who are used to primarily using their in-house capacity, will become acquainted with high-quality services which if harnessed will be able to significantly lift their standard of performance.

In 2015 we intend to convene two exchange fairs:

Workshop in which our partners in municipalities, school networks and districts will present their need as school operators; and developers of clinical teaching (Weizmann Institute, Haifa University, etc.) will present their diagnostics assessments, video-based professional development, communities of practice, etc.
Workshop in which development programs and integrators of teacher training and coaching will introduce their respective products and services, in order to encourage B2B collaboration to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

C .Practitioner Affinity Groups will be specialized workshops for key team members in the foundation’s portfolio programs, who share the same role and function across different programs. In these workshops, participants will be encouraged to expose and conceptualize their practices; to formulate standards and common language, and to learn from similar work of different programs. In 2015, we intend to convene a group of Instructional Coaches for New Teachers, and a group of Teachers using Newly Developed Materials and Methods, and others.

D. A CEO Forum, will be an annual exclusive gathering of leaders of organizations with which we collaborate. It will be used to get them more involved in leading our shared efforts; to acquire a deeper understanding of the foundation’s strategy and their important role in it; to facilitate direct collaboration between them; and to encourage them to scale-up and sustain our joint programs within their organizations and across the education system. A key-note speaker will be invited to the forum to inspire and guide the discussions.

It is hoped that in 2016, after a year of concerted convening effort of diverse characteristics, we will be in a better position to evaluate what works and what are the operating and financial implications of playing the role of convener. During the year we will keep track of the pros and cons of an in-house vs. an outsourced model and solicit feedback from participants relying on external evaluation of the convening process, in order to recommend on further steps.

* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 159

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