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Introduction | (1) Book Reviews | (2) Print and Video Resources | (3) Online Resources | (4) Partnership Experiences

4 PARTNERSHIP EXPERIENCE (click here for the 27 page pdf file)

ABE Community Planning Partnerships Strengths and Needs June, 2000
How do our partnerships grow?

By Cathy Gannon & Ruth Schwendeman, Central MA SABES

BACKGROUND

In June 2000, SABES hosted a series of meetings How Does Your Partnership Grow? for programs funded by the Department of Education to develop community planning partnerships in their communities. These meetings were offered in response to requests from community planning coordinators for opportunities to share their successes, frustrations, and strategies for building and maintaining successful partnerships.

From 1997 to 2000, the Department of Education funded a total of 64 programs in five cycles or 'rounds.' Historically, program and staff development opportunities in community planning and partnership building were offered to programs according to the cycle of their funding or 'round'. At the time that the meetings were held, some programs from the first round had already been engaged in the community planning process for almost 4 years; others had started the process only 6 months before. The meetings in June were offered on a regional level with no restrictions on participation other than participants needed to have some experience in working with a community partnership.

Eighteen programs from around the state participated in the meetings held at Quinsigamond Community College, Bristol Community College, and the Adult Literacy Resource Institute (ALRI). In total, 23 practitioners, primarily program directors and community planning coordinators, attended. This was the first time that program staff from one round had a chance to meet other programs' staff members from their own regions who were in different rounds in a community planning event.

HOW DOES YOUR PARTNERSHIP GROW?

Goals

SABES wanted not only to provide a forum for discussion, but also to produce a written source of information that could be used by the participants and by SABES for future planning. The activities at the sessions were designed to do both things. The theme of the sessions How Does Your Partnership Grow? highlighted the developmental and process-oriented nature of partnership building. This theme guided all activities. The goals of the sessions were to give participants the opportunity to:

Reflect on the growth of their partnership
Share resources & best practices
Influence future community planning trainings
Lay a foundation for regional Community Planning Sharing Groups

Meeting Activities: Ranking & Exchange

Each meeting began with a ranking activity. In the first half of this activity, programs ranked the overall progress of their partnerships along a developmental continuum: beginning stage, growth stage, or mature stage. Then, they used this continuum to assess their progress in two broad areas of partnership activity: building and maintaining their partnerships and conducting the business of the partnership. In the second half of the meeting, participants shared their ideas on what makes a successful partnership, successful strategies in partnership building, and their frustrations.

Part I: Ranking Activities

The responses that participants gave for the ranking activities should be taken as a general indicator of partnership progress. The data gathering process changed and developed over time to better facilitate information sharing and reflection time. Additionally, the responses reflect the experiences of partnerships from different locales and time spent in the community planning process, with a variety of populations served. These points must be taken into consideration when reading the report.

A. Ranking Activity #1: How far along has our partnership come?

In this activity, programs evaluated their partnerships in terms of their overall progress and development. Approximately one quarter of the participants defined their partnerships as being at a beginning stage of growth. About 45 percent saw their partnerships as being in a period of growth while 30% identified their partnerships as well developed.

B. Ranking Activity #2: Partnership Building

In the second ranking activity, programs assessed their partnerships along a number of themes important to collaboration and partnership building processes. These themes included membership selection, recruitment and retention, trust, and a vision for the partnership. Participants also examined the issues of communicating with their partners and the community and assessed how effectively responsibility was shared within the partnership. Participants also reflected on the 'business' of their partnerships: conducting effective meetings, maintaining attendance, establishing agendas, and reaching decisions. The responses from participants attending all three meetings are shown below, by percentage.

Overall outcomes are shown below and the percentages represent all program responses.

Themes related to Partnership Building Percentage of Participants Responding:
Beginning Growth Mature

GETTING MEMBERS 15% 53% 32%

GETTING MEMBERS
W/APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY 18% 53% 29%

KEEPING MEMBERS 10% 58% 32%

SCHEDULING MEETINGS 10% 60% 30%

COMMUNICATION W/PARTNERS 15% 30% 55%

SETTING AGENDA 15% 50% 35%

REACHING DECISIONS 10% 30% 60%

BUILDING TRUST 07% 60% 33%

SHARED VISION 27% 47% 26%

SHARED RESPONSIBILITY 73% 20% 07%

Part II: Experience Sharing

The themes introduced in the ranking activities framed the discussion for the second half of the meetings. In their discussions, participants were forthcoming with their insights, observations, and questions to each other about their experience with community planning.

Following is a summary of their discussion. The summary highlights the strategies that participants found helpful in forming and maintaining their partnerships and the frustrations that they encountered during this process.

Membership: Getting Members/ Keeping Members/Getting Members with
Appropriate Authority

Successful Strategies

· Have a clear purpose for each meeting.
· Stress how the partnership benefits each partner.
· Develop all members' sense of ownership in the partnership.
· Give members the option to serve on boards for a specific period of time.
· Stress the idea of reciprocity.
· Keep people involved by having an action-oriented agenda at meetings.
· Get a celebrity or politician on board for PR purposes.

Frustrations

· It's difficult to get a diverse population of those involved to serve on boards. We want to include students, but participation can be intimidating to them.
· People who join the partnerships are too often driven by their own special
interests.
· When you are trying to expand your partnership, you need to do things
differently than in the past.
· You think you've gotten down some keys to success and then you find that with a different set of partners you have to do things differently.
· It's difficult to identify clear differences between the advisory board and the partnership.

Scheduling Meetings, Setting the Agenda, Reaching Decisions

Strategies

· Have quarterly meetings. Monthly meetings are too frequent.
· Limit meetings to 1.5 hours.
· Set the time of the meeting so it is convenient for the greatest number of
members.
· Offer food at meetings.
· Choose a location central to the ABE program and to all who will attend.
· Rotate the location of meetings.
· Have a job description for participants.
· Have co-chairs share the work.
· Keep a well-organized, simple agenda.
· Determine as a group what will make an effective meeting.
· Take minutes.
· Distribute minutes (get minutes out even if members didn't attend meeting).
· Set next date for meetings as a group.
· Stick to a schedule of meetings-same days and same times.
· Provide a format for open communication.
· Balance the needs of all members by controlling the agenda and the comment
time.
· Use a parking lot strategy to postpone comment on issues as they arise.
· Have strategic planning meetings.

Frustrations

· There are too many meetings to attend.
· People come to your partnership meetings but then you have to reciprocate and
respond to their invitations.

Communication within Partnerships, Building Trust

Strategies

· Continue to stress how community needs are being served by the partnership.
· Build upon ties within the program and with the students and different agencies
they are already accessing.
· Be clear on the meaning of "self-interest" and the role it plays in partnership
building.
· Be responsive to the board members.
· Use e-mail.
· Use a listserv.
· Take time to share information about each member's organization at the
meetings.
· Make communication very personal by using specific names for mailings, etc.

Frustrations

· There are different levels of "partnershipping".
· It is necessary to find ways to streamline activities.

Having a Shared Vision

Strategies

· See community planning as a more effective use of resources.
· Understand that community planning allows for improved communication.
· Know that community planning offers better identification of needs within the
community.
· See that the partnership allows ABE providers to make contacts with the business sector.
· Realize that the partnership gives opportunities for alternative sources of
funding.
· Develop a mission and goals, and then really work within that framework.
· Develop a clear plan, which means that you must know what DOE expects in the
areas of accountability and product (which DOE doesn't change in mid-stream).
· Make a five-year plan using the DOE framework.
· Be persistent.
· Be a salesperson, raise awareness.
· Advertise the vision-get T-shirts made up
· Hook onto an already-present community planning partnership structure in the
community.
· Research what already exists in the community as far as community planning
goes.
· Get the BIG SIX - mayor, police, school, clergy, press, community
representatives like the Chamber of Commerce - involved.

Frustrations

· There is not enough money to cover the extensive time that partnership building takes.
· There is not enough time.

Sharing Responsibility

Strategies

· Assign specific tasks.
· Form sub-committees.
· Share resources such as space, personnel, supplies, volunteers, data and support
for each other on related issues, i.e. interpretation and translation services.
· Have the family network in the partnerships.
· Work with different partnerships on different activities.
· Remind partners that grant money is what keeps the partnership working. Use
this as leverage.
· Get students involved.
· Brainstorm what already exists as services within the community and then work
to formalize these relationships.
· Know when you need to hire consultants.
· Involve different facets of the community in partnership activities.
· Get into the community with field trips and use community members as guest
speakers.

Frustrations

· Building the partnership really is a full-time job. You have to give one person the responsibility to keep things going. If not, people and responsibility get spread too thin and a lot of things never happen.

Part III: Conclusions and Recommendations

A. Recommendations by Participants

In the session evaluations, participants were asked to identify areas in which either they personally or the field in general needed additional development opportunities to learn new skills or to strengthen existing skills. Participants were also given the opportunity to suggest activities or specific types of development opportunities to address areas of need. Since one goal of the sessions was to influence future trainings, participants also considered the needs of programs just beginning community planning. Such questions as "What do you wish you had known more about?" joined the "What do you need to know?" framing of the evaluation.

Their recommendations were:

In the area of Community Planning programs need to:

· Have a clear understanding of the history and goals of community planning.
· Learn strategies to get "buy in" from members as membership in partnerships
builds.
· Hire a manager to facilitate the partnership.
· Have more information on why non-ABE partnerships are necessary.
· Learn skills related to expanding or changing the membership of partnerships.
· Discuss specific topics in more depth (topics from ranking lists).

Suggested activities to address these needs include:

· Continued sharing time
· A follow-up reunion of participants to share successes, challenges
· Periodic meetings to share strategies
· Regional sharing group
· A web page or newsletter devoted to community planning
· More materials
· Peer coaching
· A study circle on the subject

B. Recommendations by Facilitators and Observers

The enthusiasm of session participants to attend these sessions, which in many cases involved driving long distances and increased work schedules, showed their commitment to the vision and mission of Community Planning. By meeting regionally, the programs were able to successfully focus on the similarities in issues, populations, and program needs and to begin building a network of support for themselves. Participants were eager to explore with their fellow community planning coordinators their strengths and weaknesses and to seek support from each other.

These sessions enabled community planning program staff to reflect upon their partnership's strengths and challenges and to develop a clearer sense of their future direction and areas for growth within their community. Information gathered improved SABES' ability to effectively address the training needs of ABE practitioners related to community planning. These sessions were also an opportunity for SABES Regional CP Coordinators to become more familiar with CP program staff and partnership building issues. Clearly the most important lesson learned from these sessions is that SABES should support programs in their efforts to reflect upon their partnership's strengths and challenges and in their efforts to develop a clearer sense of future direction for growth within their community.

Based upon both the feedback from the participants and the observations of the facilitators, several recommendations can be made which would positively affect the design and content of future development opportunities.

· Community Planning Sharing Groups should be established in each region. Participation in these groups should be encouraged for all partnership members and should include participants from both new and experienced Community Planning Partnerships. The agenda of the groups can be guided by the ranking categories used in these sessions.
· A listserv should be established to give programs an additional opportunity to learn from and support each other. Strategies, such as paid participant management of listserv discussion, to encourage participation should be explored.
· Programs experienced in Community Planning are a resource to all ABE programs and should be involved in the planning and presentation of trainings.
· A strong foundation for Community Planning Partnerships must be built upon a clear understanding of the reasons for the Community Planning Initiative, its vision, and its history in the ABE system. SABES should support ACLS in building this strong foundation.
· Partnerships should be supported in developing a common mission and vision earlier than in the past community planning process where vision and mission were not formally developed until strategic planning began.
· There should be increased emphasis on designing development opportunities, which would have appeal for and are scheduled to accommodate all partnership members.
· Opportunities should be developed which give ABE community planning coordinators and all partnership members the skills and strategies needed for reflection and evaluation.
· Although the ranking information gathered is only a general indicator of partnership development progress, it should be included in discussions about the effectiveness of the present ABE Community Planning process.

Looking at Community Planning as a developmental process appears to be an appropriate way to address the complexities of the process while still setting benchmarks for evaluating its effectiveness. This series of sessions with practitioners confirmed that building community partnerships and progressing through the community planning process requires a variety of skills - skills which must be refined and revisited as the experience of programs changes. Support for programs should include not only skill building opportunities but also opportunities that encourage self-evaluation and learning from each other's experiences.

Participants:

Bristol Community College
June 13, 2000
ALRI

June 20, 2000 Quinsigamond Community College
June 29, 2000
The Literacy Center (North Attleboro)
ACCESS (Hyannis)
Blue Hills ABE (Canton)
Quincy Community Action Program,
Martha's Vineyard Adult Learning Program
Rockland Southcoastal Adult Learning Center
YMCA International Learning (Boston)
ABCD Learning Works (Boston)
Asian American Civic Association (Boston)
Community Action, Inc. (Haverhill) Devens Learning Center Quinsigamond Community College (Worcester)
Webster Adult Learning Center
Assabet Regional Technical School (Marlboro)
Massachusetts Career Development Institute (Westfield)
Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center
Lowell Adult Education Center
Everett Literacy Program

Meeting design & facilitation of the sessions in the Central and Southeast region: Cathy Gannon, Community Planning Specialist.

Meeting facilitation in the Boston region: Marie Hassett, Consultant

Data analysis & documentation: Ruth Schwendeman, a consultant at SABES Central MA.

Excerpts from COMMUNITY PLANNING IN ACTION

A collection of the experiences of Program Community Planning Coordinators and Partnership Members. MA Adult Basic Education Community Planning
July 2000 - June 2001

Introduction

Community Planning in Action is a collection of the experiences of ABE Community Planning Coordinators and Partnership Members during year one of the five year DOE grant cycle (July 2000-June 2001). The emphasis of Community Planning effort during this year was building community partnerships. Building partnerships meant different things to different programs - for many it meant formalizing long established community collaborations, for others it meant calling members to the "table" for the first time, and for still others it meant "mending fences" within the community before collaboration could move forward. You will see evidence in this collection of the dedication, creativity, and persistence of Community Planning Coordinators to make Community Planning work. Consistently their work is motivated by the potential of benefit to students, which is at the core of the Community Planning efforts.

This collection of experiences is organized into three sections. The first section contains in-depth descriptions gathered through interviews and personal accounts written by Community Planning Coordinators. The second section is a summary of the responses of many programs to some common questions about their work this past year. The third section contains the full text of the answers to the common questions and the contact information of the contributors. This third section is organized in alphabetical order by program or partnership name.

It is the intent that Community Planning in Action will be a valuable resource to those involved in community planning. Within these pages, hopefully you will find solutions to problems you have encountered, validation of your efforts, and contact information of other Community Planning Coordinators who can help you.

It was no small feat taking so many responses and organizing them for publication. Kudos and appreciation are extended to Joanne Harrington and Sue White, SABES Central staff. We would also like to thank all the Community Planning Coordinators who contributed so willingly to this collection. As we worked on this project we couldn't help but hum over and over again excerpts from Carly Simon's song "Nobody Does it Better".
"Nobody does it better…
Nobody does it half as good as you…
You're the best"

Thank you.

Lisa Deyo, SABES West
Cathy Gannon, SABES Central
Ruth Schwendeman, SABES Central
Michele Sedor, SABES West

Your questions or comments regarding Community Planning in Action are encouraged. Please contact:

Lisa Deyo ldeyo@hcc.mass.edu
Cathy Gannon cgannon@qcc.mass.edu

Section 1 Interviews and Personal Accounts

Lessons Learned: Community Action, Inc, Haverhill
by Nancy Tariot, Community Action, Inc.

A few years ago as part of an initiative in literacy sponsored by Senator John Tierney, an attempt was made to form a community partnership that included local businesses and ABE providers. The purpose of the partnership was to focus on the literacy needs of the adult population of Greater Haverhill and to bring together both literacy providers and community businesses to address these needs. At that time approximately 27% of the adult population did not have a high school diploma or GED. In addition, the number of non-English proficient households had increased and more children from non-English speaking families were being serviced by the school system. Senator John Tierney, who had a special interest in education, worked with communities within his district and lent his name and support to these neophyte partnerships. In some areas, a specific lead agency emerged that continued to pull the newly developed partnership together and push for more commitment from its members. In Haverhill, this did not happen. Once the Senator moved on to other issues, a strong leadership did not emerge. While there seemed to be some interest in a partnership or at least a dialogue among businesses, schools and ABE programs, there did not seem to be enough to sustain the momentum. Without a specific lead agency, the initiative died.

When the DOE made community partnership building part of the funding requirements for ABE programs, old contacts in Haverhill were resurrected. Both the Haverhill School Department and Community Action, Inc. received grants from the DOE for which a community partnership needed to be established. These two agencies, the Public Schools and Community Action, Inc., adult education programs were basically in the same position, a partnership had to be established to be in compliance with the funding requirements. The funder, Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE), wanted a community partnership focused on literacy and adult education. While this seemed to be a mutual goal, each funded organization had its own perception of what and how a community partnership should be formed, run and focused.

Working together to establish attainable goals and develop a vision for the future did not come easily. The initial meetings were forced, and not satisfying. An outside consultant was brought in to help the new partnership to focus on its purpose, prioritize its efforts and to think in terms of what could reasonably be attained in a short period of time to identify what must be worked towards over time.

What things were worth doing that were difficult to do?

Giving up a certain amount of control/ownership of the partnership and identifying mutual goals helped the funded partners include the other stakeholders.
Initially, in Haverhill, the two DOE funded entities sparred for leadership of the partnership. The DOE funding mechanism and the competitive nature of grants often work against the concept of working partnerships. Trust between and amongst competitors does not come easily and it can be difficult to expose both strengths and shortcomings to other agencies. A consultant was brought in to help the partnership work out its priorities and take a wider perspective on what the goals of the partnership should be. As the partners continued to flesh out the concepts of partnership and made an effort to identify the purpose of working together the conversations seemed to take a turn, making the leap from "my" program to "our" community. It became easier to talk about the goals of the "partnership", identify other potential partners and develop a strategy to enlist the support of other community entities.

Obtaining the interest and support of the political leadership in the community has been difficult. In Haverhill, the political leadership has not yet become involved in literacy issues. I believe that if a community partnership succeeds it will need to have the interest, support and input of the political body of the community. How this is accomplished is something about which I am still learning. Recently, a partnership wide graduation ceremony was held to honor all community members who had received their GEDs during the past year in any of the partnership programs. As a community wide activity, we were able to draw the Public School Superintendent, the mayor and a local representative to the ceremony.

What do you feel were your important accomplishments?

During this first year of the Haverhill Partnership I think that we have established a core group of providers who feel that they are actually part of a greater organization. We have in the first year:
· Set up sub committees to focus on specific tasks, such as fund raising, publicity and marketing, and collecting and collating statistical information.
· Published a resource guide that identifies the various programs in the Greater Haverhill area.
· Invited business organizations through the Economic Development Council to dialogue with the ABE community to explore ways to approach workforce development needs.
· Developed a referral form that will allow us to both track an adult learner and be able to provide better referral services to him/her.
· Shared information and resources that will benefit provider programs and the students they serve.
· Agreed to coordinate the types of standardized assessments used to facilitate transferring students from one program to another.
· Identified activities that would involve all provider agencies.
· Organized a joint partnership graduation ceremony for GED recipients in the Amesbury/Greater Haverhill area.

What have you learned and how did you learn this?

Each program has an important role to perform and the needs of the student/client adults are better served if services can be coordinated. Quite simply, one program or agency cannot do it all for the literacy needs of the community population. The needs of the adult ABE/ESOL population are diverse and multi-dimensional. The support of the other agencies and resources within the community, interaction between and among these agencies, and recognition of appropriate available resources will improve the level of services, the ease of access, and identify the gaps which exist. As the needs and assets surveys are developed, we are still uncovering services that were not well known yet can provide additional resources. We also are able to be more visible within the communities. Businesses and industry are more aware of the services that can be offered to their employees and to them.

For a partnership to continue to build there needs to be a core group of active members who are committed to literacy and community improvement. One organization or individual will not succeed in maintaining a partnership or reaching its goals if there is no input or commitment from others within the community.

Is your hard work paying off?

The Haverhill partnership has come a long way since last summer. After some initial turmoil those who are on the partnership seem to be more willing to work together and are less rigid about their own personal perspective of what a partnership should be. We seem to be making progress in the area of focusing on the learner as a multi-dimensional being. There are many gaps in services, not all of which have been identified. However, we are increasing the awareness of those gaps and this may be the first step to addressing them.

Do you see changes in the services available to students?

This is the first official year of the partnership in Haverhill. We are referring students to other programs and are having more conversations with businesses than we had last year. We are still working to improve what we are doing. There are still many gaps that have not been addressed and many other players who need to be brought into the partnership. Our referral system to track students and provide information to providers needs work but we feel that in time such a system will reduce the frustration of adult learners and providers. Many times an individual has gone from program to program without leaving any trail of what has already been tried, provided or accomplished. People show up at a program and are administered the same assessments. Providers have asked the same questions at each program because there has been no contact between programs.

Referrals between partnerships have improved access to services. We are more easily able to send potential students to other communities for services that are not provided locally.

The biggest change this year is that there is beginning to be coordination of services community wide. Change in terms of services currently being offered will happen as more is learned about what is needed on a community wide basis.

Do you see changes in the role ABE plays in your community?

As of now the role of the ABE programs in the community has not changed but the partnerships are new and the first years are for ironing out some of the wrinkles. We have begun dialogues with the business community to uncover where the needs of adult students coincide with the needs of the business community. We have both the Public Schools and the Community College as partners. The programs our partners represent are diverse, from family literacy, to tutoring, occupational skills training, ESOL, workplace education, self-sufficiency training and GED prep. We still have much work to do if we are to speak the same language.

What was important about your Community Planning work this year?

This first year, most of the effort was put into developing a core group of involved people and programs. Those active on the current partnerships are providers and community agencies. The most important result of this first year of partnership has been the communication among providers. Most programs groaned when the community partnership became a requirement of the DOE funding. It hasn't been easy. It is another meeting to attend, another set of expectations to meet. However, it has allowed/forced a continuing dialogue among providers to take place. It has provided us with an impetus to look beyond the services we already provide and seek out the areas where we are not providing services.

Community Planning in Action: MCDI/Westfield
Interview with Kelly Cosenke and Sheila Kelly, MCDI/Westfield
by Michele Sedor, SABES Associate Coordinator

Spending time at the Massachusetts Career Development Institute (MCDI) in Westfield is to watch Community Planning in action. While I was there to talk to Sheila Kelly and Kelly Cosenke about their community planning experiences, I was treated to seeing community planning incorporated into conversations with community members who stopped by. A member of the business community set up a job interview for a student, although this wasn't his original purpose for coming to MCDI. A community-policing member stopped by just to say hello and ended up in a conversation about community planning. These two examples both happened in the span of the 50 minutes.

MCDI received a pilot community planning grant in 1997. Many of the community folks involved in that initial process faded away so when MCDI began working on community planning for the current five year funding cycle, they needed to start fresh. However, working in Westfield, described as a "small town in a big city" by Sheila, one never starts completely from scratch since so many people know each other.

In this current incarnation of community planning, MCDI is focusing on what works best for the Westfield community and, from that base, seeing how that works with what DOE wants. In the pilot project, they first concerned themselves with what DOE wanted and tried to make their community fit into that. Experience, however, has shown them that not only is that more difficult, it isn't as effective for their community.

For Sheila and Kelly, community planning has always existed; they are just formalizing what has been on going. Kelly is devoting one day a week solely to community planning; in fact, dedicating this time to the initiative has really paid off. In addition, at MCDI they work as a team on community planning. One of the most difficult things that Kelly confronted this year was going to a Chamber of Commerce "card exchange." This was due in large part to the differences in culture between adult education and the business community. However, Kelly made good contacts at that event, and these contacts have been sustained. She also learned the importance of working as a team; as a result, three people from MCDI went together to the next Chamber event. They are now official members of the Chamber and feel that connecting with businesses around workers' literacy skills and needs has been one of their major successes.

MCDI's partnership is based on one-on-one meetings that Sheila and Kelly have with representatives from organizations in the community. They found that this is what fits best with the Westfield community. People were willing to sit down and talk one-on-one in their own environments (in some cases while they were stuffing envelopes for a mass mailing) but had less time to devote to large group meetings at an off-site location. Through these meetings they have made new connections and reinforced old ones, thus re-establishing and reinforcing MCDI's role in the community.

Sheila and Kelly feel that there are both difficulties to overcome and goals that they want to work towards meeting in the upcoming year. One difficulty is that sometimes it is necessary to work both during the day and in the evening to make the necessary community connections. Another is finding the time to document all that they do on a daily basis. Community planning goes on, but finding the time to write it all down is often impossible.

One goal that the partnership continues to work on is connecting more with one of the local hilltowns, both in terms of including community members in their partnership and in providing ABE services to that area. This is difficult due to lack of transportation in that area, but they are working on ways to make it work, including working with the local cable access stations. ESOL services are also in great need in the community and they are working with partnership members to try find a way to provide more services.

Sheila and Kelly point out that one of the major accomplishments this year is that there will be a community-wide calendar of various providers' events and services. In addition, they feel that they have made great connections with other organizations; in some cases finding out about things that they didn't know existed (for example, they are now part of a Russian Task Force). They also had a well-attended large group partnership meeting at the end of the fiscal year, bringing together students and many of the one-on-one contacts they made throughout the year. They will do these twice a year and continue to meet with folks regularly on a one-to-one basis.

When asked how they learned what they learned this year, both cited that the SABES Community Planning listserv was helpful as well as some of the SABES workshops and groups and the technical assistance they received from a community planning consultant. They said the most important thing they learned, however, was something they learned by themselves; that it's important to follow their instincts. They know what works best for their community. Watching them in action and listening to them talk about community planning; it's evident that this is true!

Lessons Learned: Plymouth Literacy Program, Plymouth
Interview with Evelyn Strawn, Plymouth Literacy Program
by Betty Vermette, Associate Coordinator, Southeast SABES

While interviewing Evelyn Strawn, I couldn't help but notice her enthusiasm about the community planning process that she engaged in during this past fiscal year.

The Plymouth Literacy Program, located in the Plymouth Public Library received a community-planning grant in November 2000. The Director of the ABE/ESOL volunteer program, MaryAnn Odell, has been an active member of community organizations throughout her career at the library. She is one of the core members of the Greater Plymouth Inter-Agency Council and her connections to social service providers, schools and the Career Center were very helpful as the project got underway. The first community planning meeting took place in January, 2001. Those invited signed off on a "Preliminary Community Profile of Adult Basic Education Assets and Needs, which was required in the grant. At that time there were thirteen "signers."

Although there were human service agencies and some schools involved, there were still several barriers that the group faced, such as trying to get non-traditional players involved. Part of the first meeting in January was devoted to discussing who else needed to be involved in the process. This discussion and attempts to expand membership continued throughout the year. Through a series of community planning meetings, the group learned to work as a team around community planning issues; a shared vision became the outcome, and a shared task was completed.

Through a group process, connections were made with the Career Center, DTA, Workforce Investment Board and the Chamber of Commerce. They also made connections with Quincy College and discovered that the college has a program that offers a home GED program to residents of the South Shore. As the group learned more about the community, it was discovered that women in a local homeless shelter (Kingston) needed access to information about obtaining their GED - Quincy College agreed to send a GED instructor to the shelter. Currently, the group has additional representation from the Plymouth County Jail and DSS, as well as from HeadStart where it was discovered that many of the parents of the toddlers had literacy issues. The Community Planning (CP) group has grown from thirteen to twenty-one participants and most of them attended all of the meetings.

Through a collective effort the CP group also learned that most of the employers and the Career Center staff were concerned about having sufficient training for the emerging Cape Verdean and Brazilian population in the greater Plymouth area. This is one of the issues that will be addressed in the months to come.

Several major conflicts were resolved, such as members coming with their own agendas (i.e. how to get services for their own population). It became possible to move discussions from specifics such as how the women from the homeless shelter get access to GED programs, to a more general focus on the unmet needs of the community. The group is now taking a leadership role in the community, and group members have discovered that they have a firm base to complete a comprehensive needs assessment.

Overall, the partners learned that persistence pays off. They are re-establishing themselves in the community, continuing to make new connections and reinforcing old ones.

Community Planning at the Southern Berkshire Educational Alliance
Interview with Paula Hatch-Sato, Southern Berkshire Educational Alliance
by Michele Sedor, SABES Associate Coordinator

One of the biggest obstacles facing the Southern Berkshire Educational Alliance (SBEA) Partnership is geography, according to Paula Hatch-Sato, Community Planning consultant. For many years, there were two ABE programs that served all of Southern Berkshire County, with the classroom sites located in Lee and Sheffield. During the last round of five-year funding from the Department of Education, the Lee program did not receive an award. As a result, one of the early needs identified by the SBEA Partnership was reinstating ABE services in the Lee-Lenox area, which is in the northern part of the partnership's geographically extensive area.

Although public transportation buses run from Lenox (at the northernmost reach of the partnership) through Lee and Great Barrington (the new ABE site), all the way south to Sheffield, many people were not able to make what would be for them a 2 hour round trip. Despite providing ABE buses from Lee to the Great Barrington site and including door-to-door service for many students, the still lengthy round trip made it impossible for some participants to add it onto their day. It seemed essential to the fledgling partnership to help close the gap in ABE services in South County. Therefore, the Alliance submitted a proposal to the Nellie Mae Foundation and was subsequently awarded funds to begin providing ESOL services in the Lee-Lenox area in the fall of 2001.

After achieving this major accomplishment, the partnership began to build upon and expand the relationships formed during the development and writing of both the DOE and the Nellie Mae proposals as well as broadening its scope and connecting with other community organizations and individuals. In many respects, people in the SBEA have been doing community planning all along; now they have a structure for formalizing and documenting what they do with whom. As Paula says, the partnership is "growing the list."

One of the most important things that was underscored during the partnership building process is that personal contacts are best. Media can be used as a complementary means of connecting with people but Paula asserts that it cannot take the place of personal connections that grow and strengthen as she and others in the Alliance network through the businesses, agencies and organizations in the communities they serve.

During her tenure as the community planning coordinator, Paula has been able to draw upon the experiences gained from her other position as the School to Career Coordinator for the four public school districts that define the same geographical area as the SBEA. From that position, she has gained a good understanding of the nature of the community as well as forging many connections, which have served the SBEA Partnership well. In addition, both positions have large and, at times, amorphous mandates. Paula has learned that it is necessary to take the most meaningful parts of the mandate for your particular community and spend energy on that.

One of the more difficult parts of the year was handling the disappointment people felt when the Lee program was not funded under the Department of Education grant. Despite this, people from that area still continued to be part of the partnership, which turned a difficulty into an accomplishment. Add that accomplishment onto the others mentioned in this article and you can see that the SBEA Partnership already has a solid base to build upon as they enter the second year of the Community Planning process.

Community Planning at Middlesex Community College, Adult Basic Education Program
Interview with Elizabeth "Betty" McKiernan, Middlesex Community College
by Cathy Gannon, SABES Community Planning Coordinator

Betty was hired as the Director of Middlesex Community College Adult Basic Education Program just two weeks before the DOE Directors' meeting last October. The first time that she heard about Community Planning was at that meeting. She was overwhelmed with information pertaining to her new job as Director and although she did attend the session on Community Planning she still did not have a clear idea of what ABE Community Planning was or should be. The role of Community Planning Coordinator became hers pretty much by default. Betty felt unprepared to hire someone else for the position because she had little idea of what that person would be involved in doing.

During our interview, Betty referred to her first year as Director as a "baptism by fire". Although that description also applies to her work as the Community Planning Coordinator she did find support from three sources: the SABES regional sharing group, the Lowell Community Planning Partnership, and ultimately her program's own Partnership.

Betty attended the SABES Community Planning Coordinator Sharing Group meetings in her region. Slowly the concept of community planning began to get clearer as she heard about the experiences of other coordinators, especially those who had been funded for Community Planning for several years. As Community Planning slowly moved it's way up the pile of "Director's Things To Do", Betty began contacting potential partners one by one. As she learned more, she could explain better what Community Planning was.

A very significant support for her Community Planning work was her participation as a member of the Lowell Adult Learning Center Community Planning Partnership as the Middlesex Community College representative. Because Middlesex CC has a campus in Lowell, Betty (as the ABE Program Director) is a member of the Lowell Partnership. This experience gave her confidence in her own efforts and some very practical experience in the development and maintaining of a partnership. She saw the fruits of partnering when she established connections with the Public Schools and a homeless shelter, which resulted in increased programming. She was still not convinced that she could "sell" the idea of a Community Planning Partnership to potential members nor was she convinced that she herself could facilitate a situation for partners where individual benefit would be evident and motivating. She continued to discover the community through making one on one contacts.

In February, Betty convened the first official meeting of the partnership. Although she felt driven by the DOE Community Planning First Year Plan, the impetus for the partnership to move forward was very evidently the result of the enthusiasm of the members, their willingness to work cooperatively, and their recognition that coming together supports them in their individual work. During the introductions at this first meeting, members were already arranging referrals and sharing resources! The lack of transportation in the community developed as a common concern and the discussion showed that partners realized that a solution was more likely to be found if they worked together. The Partnership itself became a support to Betty to continue the Community Planning work.

As time progressed, communication between the members improved and increased both at the meetings and outside of the meetings. Betty felt that the main accomplishment of the group was that they recognized each other's achievements, and discovered that they had common goals and faced common barriers. Signs of the group's approaching issues as a team began to develop.

Working through the Community Planning process this year also benefited Betty personally and professionally. She feels personal accomplishment because she worked through the concept of Community Planning from the very nebulous to something more concrete. Her Community Planning work helped with other aspects of her role as Program Director also. Building upon her foundation of ABE experience as an ESOL teacher she realized more clearly the role of the program in the community.

Betty is optimistic that dividends from the work of the Community Planning Partnership will continue to increase. The Partnerships work will result in strong linkages between the partners and between the college and the community. The work of the Community Planning Coordinator is not easy nor is success something that will come quickly…. Year #2 of the process is worth doing!

Lessons Learned: Somerville ABE Partnership
by Susan Riley, SCALE

SCALE has a long history of working with other partners in the community to improve services for their students. Representatives from SCALE were already active participants on boards, advisory boards, and planning teams of other agencies in Somerville and the surrounding communities. It was not difficult to get members to participate in the Community Planning Partnership. It was a challenge though to develop an agenda that would make the partnership have value for all members. Early on it was clear that we would have to come up with a reason for meeting beyond "I'll go to your meeting because you went to mine."

The current members of our partnership are Susan Barnard, SCALE; Rosemary Beaudry, Career Place; Carmen Miranda, Concilio Hispano; Susan Donnelly, Bunker Hill Community College; Hilda Gomez, Concilio Hispano; Dr. Maria Madrid, Somerville Family Network; Susan Riley, SCALE; Julia Schlam, Welcome Project (housed at Mystic View public housing); and Melissa McWhinney, Mayor's Office of Human Services. Some members of the partnership are well acquainted, have worked collaboratively over the past ten years in a variety of projects, and recognize our mutual dependence; other members are "new friends." The partnership members have jelled as a group, but we are planning to add several additional members for FY02. In particular, we hope to attract one member each from the local business community and the Department of Transitional Assistance.

The Somerville ABE Partnership spent its first meeting discussing the various options for our FY01 focus. Although several ideas were proposed, we were unified in one respect: we all wanted a concrete final product that would benefit, in a clear and direct way, current ABE students. Another important consideration, though slightly less so, was that participants wanted the partnership's work to somehow relate to their jobs and constituents. After some discussion we realized that we were in unanimous agreement that Somerville students needed a concise, easy-to-use mini guide to ABE services in Somerville and adjacent communities. Our plan has been endorsed by our program specialist. We have a working draft that will be completed by our July 13, 2001 meeting.

We found that the chief challenge in creating and maintaining an ABE partnership is that potential members are reluctant to participate in yet another group that is "all process and no product." Everyone in (or near) the ABE system is asked to participate in various working groups, committees, ad hoc groups and so on each year. People need to choose wisely since it's impossible to answer affirmatively each request for our time. We addressed these concerns by deciding early on to challenge ourselves to plan and execute within several months the mini guide. We also decided as a group to limit our meetings to 1 ½ hours. We experimented with midday Friday lunch meetings, but based on group input switched to a late day Friday meeting. Having the meeting as the last official act of the workweek seems to work better for most participants.

Another problem is that the value of the partnership is quite different for each member and some of us need the partnership more than others do! Clearly the benefit of an ABE partnership is obvious for SCALE and Concilio Hispano who are partnered for the DOE grant. It has been difficult, though, to engage some of the ABE providers who partnered with SCALE during the proposal process but were removed from the partnership when DOE revamped the proposed program design and money was awarded. For us who are recipients of DOE funding, the benefit is crystal clear: our funding depends on our willingness and ability to create a partnership not only of ABE providers but also from TAFDC (DTA), trainers, major employers, REBs, etc, and then to transform that heterogeneous collection of people into a group with a unified focus. In spite of the fact that the concept of a mandatory partnership occasionally seems burdensome to the adult learning centers, the group feels positive about the work that has been done thus far and credits the partnership as the catalyst for that work. For the other members, the benefit of the partnership may be less apparent. We have worked hard as a group to guarantee that an individual, representing an employer or interest group, benefits in some fashion. We all agreed to streamline interagency communication so that we would avoid misinformation or-even worse-- the dreaded voice-mail loop. Thus, for example, Susan Donnelly from Bunker Hill Community College knows that she can call me directly with any question about SCALE services. If I'm not the correct person to handle her request, I will take personal responsibility for connecting her to the right party. Accommodations of this type may seem insignificant, but they can actually save a great deal of very valuable time.

The Somerville ABE Partnership worked quite well this year, although there is always room for improvement. Focusing on one single project with a beginning, middle, and end helped to keep members on track and involved. Maintaining this camaraderie in FY02 as we tackle the Needs/Assets survey may well be a challenge. Somerville is a small city and there seems to be a general consensus about what services are needed for ABE students. There is concern that doing the assessment will in itself increase the demand for services; a demand that clearly is not being met. Partnership members may be less interested in participating in meetings if they feel they are only "re-creating the ABE wheel" and devoting many hours to discovering what we already know about our city. Engaging the services of a consultant to help us craft an appropriate strategy might be advisable.

Section 2 Summary - Program Community Planning Profiles

Background

Community Planning Program Profile Questionnaires were one of the three methods used to document the experiences of programs funded to participate in the ABE Community Planning initiative this year.

Questionnaires were sent via e-mail to the 103 people on the SABES Community Planning email distribution list. This list is open to "anyone with an interest in ABE Community Planning" and includes partnership members, ABE staff, SABES staff and others. The material reached approximately 95 programs statewide. Twenty eight responses were received.

In the profile, participants provided contact information for the benefit of other community planning coordinators and responded to the following items (see section 3 for full text):

1. Briefly describe your program's experience in collaborating within your community before this year.
2. Describe a milestone (an accomplishment) in the development of your partnership this year.
3. In the Community Planning process this year, what was worth doing that was difficult to do?
4. What is the most important thing you learned about ABE Community Planning this year?

In question one, the vast majority of respondents indicated that their programs had past experience in collaborating in their communities. Their collaboration experience ranged from formal to informal and most often focused on making referrals for other services needed by ABE students. Questions two through four were analyzed for patterns or themes. On the following pages, a summary of those themes is offered, along with responses to each question.

Summary of Findings: All Questions

Overall, the data revealed that programs have reached new success levels in terms of organizational efforts and completed projects. "Learning by doing" has allowed programs to develop skills specific to the task of effective community planning. There appears to be a stronger comfort level for carrying out stated goals and objectives.

Programs have learned how essential communication becomes in establishing and expanding partnerships. They report how clarity of purpose and mission help partnerships accomplish the proposed work on a day-to-day basis.

Finally, respondents repeatedly reported that the demands of time on the part of the members and the coordinator present an ongoing challenge in the community planning process. It is crucial that every action (meeting or contact) counts i.e. some action, decision, or plan should arise out of the interaction.

COMMUNITY PLANNING QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTION 2

Presented by Theme

Summary:

For question 2, each program identified a significant accomplishment for the year. In general, they reported specific efforts to establish and expand the range and depth of their contacts with other community providers. In a more formal way than in the past, partnerships clarified their own missions and goals and developed specific strategies for defining and meeting those objectives. In particular, one program discovered that applying for grant funding as a community provided a successful "leg up" in competing for limited funds.

Question #2:

Describe a milestone (an accomplishment) in the development of your partnership this year. Examples include: a shared vision was developed, a major conflict was resolved, a shared task was completed.

Theme: Partnership Development and Commitment

· Found an existing community group to join. C. Cordio
· Shared contact at our and other programs' meetings and on-line with more disparate groups. J. Breen
· Establishment of a closer working relationship with the other downtown service providers. M. Mello
· Established a healthy rapport with the other DOE funded programs in the city. E. Killilea
· Formed a committee that was willing to sit down and share ideas. M. McCarthy
· Formed the FCP Community Planning Task Force, made up of various representatives on Framingham Community Partners. K. Carroll Day
· Brought representatives together for the first time from a broad range of employers, educational systems: ABE providers, state employment & training agencies, other employers and training related service providers, and social service agencies. C. Chavanne
· Developed and strengthened a partnership with the community-based organizations that offer ABE services here. B. HighTower
· Increased significantly the level of enthusiasm and commitment. N. Broude
· Reached a Memorandum of Agreement …regarding GED referrals. M. Farma
· Divided the Council itself into two committees. Both committees exceeded their goals for Year 1. N. Broude
· Decided to organize two partnerships, after considering our options and the ways in which residents use services at multiple sites in two different counties. V. Nunez

Theme: Clarity of Purpose

· Created an updated/completed partnership vision and mission statement.
K. Dynice-Swanfeldt
· Developed a mission for the Task Force. K. Carroll Day
· Developed a shared vision. L. Ruizdeluzuriaga
· Reached consensus on both its own mission/structure and the establishment of a joint Advisory Council. P. Hyry
· Greater understanding by community agencies about the goals and multiple sites for ABE within Lowell community. E. Nugent
· Teamed with other organizations under the same grant to develop common goals and hire one consultant. K. Dunkelberg
· Created a list of projects and goals to be met for the coming year.
K. Dynice-Swanfeldt

Theme: Partnership Activities and Successes

· Became recognized by two agencies: the public schools and public library, that they [will] consider adult literacy as part of their own mandates and entertain that at some future date they might provide classroom space to the program. This response is new and previously unthought of. E. Noss
· Development of a list of "key" constituents who could make a helpful contribution to the collaboration as well as benefit from membership. The fresh ideas of new members along with the experience of former members energized the group. I. Istrate
· Fully funded as a community for a $500,000 grant--were told that our proposal was the strongest because it was truly a community partnership. K. Carroll Day
· Established a web site documenting adult education programs. K. Chaparian
· Consolidated a list of community support services in Maynard and Hudson. This would be used to develop a brochure to hand students, patients, etc. K. Pervier
· Carried out our first "Learner-Teacher Day" which provided a range of learner feedback about ABE programs and other community institutions (what's helpful and what's missing) that we probably could not have achieved in any other way. P. Hyry
· Wrote a grant together. This was a wonderful collaboration. T. Stone
· Began identifying the indicators for which we will collect data and conduct analyses.
K. Carroll Day
· Developed a community assessment as well as compiled the results to share.
M. McCarthy
· Developed three instruments for assessment as well as a procedure and time line for assessment. N. Broude
COMMUNITY PLANNING QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTION 3

Presented by Theme

Summary:

In this section, programs identified the community planning efforts that were worth doing but difficult to accomplish. Participants indicated that maintaining and expanding partnerships is a time-intensive, sometimes difficult task, as well as an on-going process. In addition, they reported that it is a necessary challenge to fine tune the process of identifying and working with partners, using resources, and seeking assistance and advice.

Question #3:

In the Community Planning process this year, what was worth doing that was difficult to do?

Theme: Establishing, Expanding and Maintaining the Partnership

· Forming the Partnership and making new connections. C. Cordio
· Establishment of a larger partnership to include individuals outside the education community. K. Chaparian
· Expanding the partnership with the right membership. K. Dynice-Swanfeldt
· Getting busy people to commit to sit down together. M. McCarthy
· Meeting with the group which included line staff. M. Farma
· Developing an approach that would attract new members and encourage them to become involved in the work of the partnership… establishing a rapport with potential members was valuable… a common understanding of purpose was established. I. Istrate
· Gaining cooperation and support from community leaders. K. Pervier
· Getting together with our grant partners to work on Community Planning…a challenge because we were all new to the process and didn't know how to divide up the area that we're working in. V. Nunez
· Defining the future of the committee. T. Stone

Theme: Doing the Work

· Being honest and up front about what hasn't worked in the past and taking the risk to trust the partners involved. E. Killilea
· Keeping up with the workload. J. Breen
· Keeping and maintaining momentum. K. Chaparian
· Simply understanding what it was we had to do. K. Dunkelberg
· Learning the language of "state educese". C. Chavanne
· Developing an action plan to complete the community assessment.
L. Ruizdeluzuriaga

Theme: Time

· The process is very time consuming. M. Mello
· The time and energy that was spent internally on planning and preparing. N. Broude
· The process takes time. E. Nugent
· Trying to find days/times for working together as a community planning task force. K.Carroll Day

Theme: Other Issues

· Being the Community Planner for two programs is very difficult. I have to keep in mind the activities, the strengths and weaknesses of both while representing both optimally.
B. HighTower
· Locating the person we wanted to conduct CP over the five-year period - a
person with the planning, research and organizing/facilitating skills who was
also already recognized for being actively committed to the…community. E. Noss

COMMUNITY PLANNING QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTION 4

Presented by Theme

Summary:

In question 4, participants identified and reflected on the most important thing they learned about ABE Community Planning during the year. In essence, they noted that community planning is not a strict discipline, but one that requires persistence as well as people skills. A willingness to develop relationships is essential, as is an awareness of the importance of personal contact. Participants learned that both open discussion and sharing information promote the growth of the partnership.

Question #4:

What is the most important thing you learned about ABE Community Planning this year? How did you learn it?

Theme: Maintaining the Partnership

· Community Planning will always change…I need to keep the core group intact and allow for the flow of other members. C. Cordio
· Keeping all members interested and involved … [is] the most important thing I learned this year. K. Dynice-Swanfeldt
· Developing contacts and "selling" the partnership [is] done by constant contact with agencies throughout the city. K. Chaparian
· E-mails are great communication tools. However, personal reminders (phone calls) are crucial to remind busy people why our meetings are essential to all. E. Nugent
· Have learned that it takes a large amount of cajoling, pleading and all manner of asking to get folk to make a commitment. B. HighTower
· People in adult basic education need a formal opportunity to share what's working, what's not, what's frustrating, and how it can be fixed in an open discussion….The overall education, problem solving, and networking that can result are well worth the effort.
C. Chavanne
· Community planning requires time. It requires having an agenda that is clear and specific but that is open to new ideas and challenges within the partnership….[and] seeing a human face amid the busy clutter of papers and programs. I. Istrate

Theme: The Nature of Community Planning

· Community planning is not an exact science… there is no fixed plan or template… each community has to find its own way to the naming of the vision and the steps to moving toward the vision. E. Killilea
· Community planning…is a similar effort to those being undertaken or mandated by other programs and funding sources….It makes sense to do them in a concerted effort.
K. Carroll Day
· The ABE planning process does not have to seek to address all facets of community needs. It is possible to focus on the ABE specific needs of citizens and employers and address those needs without taking responsibility for needs outside the scope of ABE and barriers to ABE participation. L. Ruizdeluzuriaga
· Sharing the information is just as important as obtaining the information. This exchange … allows the various entities in the community to uncover more effective solutions, share ideas, and explore new directions. C. Chavanne

Theme: Time

· My last meeting is scheduled for this Friday, June 1. I am finding that this is a difficult time for people to fit into their schedule. From now on, I will plan my meetings no later than May. K. Pervier
· Everyone involved is busy and scrambling to keep up with their individual workloads.
J. Breen
· Community planning is very time consuming, and it takes resources and expertise. M. Mello

Theme: The Community and Community Resources

· It [is] a challenge to identify who in the community is actually underserved/ undereducated. N. Broude
· There are numerous resources that can assist adult education students and teachers and that some of those resources are actually free. T. Stone
· There are many needs in the community… but they (the agencies) are not coordinated. People are not aware what other agencies are doing. M. McCarthy

Theme: Other Issues

· DOE Program monitors are more flexible in their interpretations than I had been led to believe. M. Farma
· We are fortunate to have found a very qualified consultant to get our project moving.
K. Dunkelberg