Tri-State Consortium
Background
A significant partnership (membership) for the district is with the Tri-State Consortium.
Founded in 1992, “the Tri-State Consortium is an alliance of [50-plus] public school districts committed to systems thinking and collaborative inquiry as pathways toward continuous improvement. Working together as colleagues and critical friends, we apply the standards of the Tri-State model to benchmark member districts' progress in advancing teaching and learning. Consortium members support each other through external peer review of programs and practices, study groups, conferences and topic-based seminars designed to deepen professional learning (Mission Statement).”
Hastings benefits directly from Tri-State through professional networks for administrators and teachers, site visits to member districts for specifically designed reviews and, in turn, site visits by Tri-State peer teams to review our work in Hastings. Please see the “Tri-State Report” section below for links to recent reports. I serve on the Steering Committee (i.e., Governing Board) of Tri-State with 15 other superintendents.
Tri-State Visits & Reports
Hastings has benefited from site visits over the years by Tri-State peer teams. Below we provide materials regarding to two most recent visits, March 2022 and November 2016.
Tri-State Consortium Site Visit – March 9-11, 2022
The March 2022 visit delved into the topic of collaboration. The Tri-State process entails an intensive several day visit, followed by a written report, and then a check-in two years later. Below are the links to the reports relevant to the collaboration inquiry.
Site Visit Report
A 12-member Tri-State team spent three days (March 9-11) on campus, meeting with staff, faculty, administrators, students and BOE members exploring Hastings’ effectiveness with collaboration and fostering a professional community for teachers and staff (Professional Standard for Education Leaders – Standard 7: Professional Community for Teachers and Staff). The interviews were supplemented by document evidence and information. Three essential questions were at the heart of the inquiry:
- To what extent, and in what areas, does the district have clear and well understood protocols for systemic communication in service to a professional community for teachers and staff?
- To what extent are stakeholder roles and responsibilities understood and adhered to in service to a professional community for teachers and staff, a shared vision and environment for change, and parent and community support?
- How might we strengthen protocols, structures and norms to enhance intradistrict collaboration in service to a professional community for teachers and staff?
The full report from the Tri-State team is available HERE. It lists “commendations” and “suggestions for consideration/action” regarding each of the essential questions. By way of summary, commendations noted that focusing the inquiry on collaboration and professional community was a bold move of honesty and transparency. Commendations also noted the energy, passion and honesty of individuals in the interviews, highlighting the student-centered, Hastings-dedicated, forward-looking staff and administration. The Tri-State report provided substantive suggestions for creating a stronger culture of collaboration to improve student impact. A central point of feedback from the Tri-State team:
- Hastings is primed for strengthening a culture of collaboration, which should be pursued in a tangible way through–
- Developing a Curriculum Review Cycle
- Creating a Portrait of a Hastings Graduate, using the inclusive framework spelled out in the RFP (they have seen it)
- Cultivating the Leadership Team to espouse and act on collaboration, by definitely taking responsibility for collaboration.
- Hastings will strengthen collaboration by making sure that pivotal planning and development efforts are pursued in a collaborative manner; we will learn to collaborate better by attempting to collaborate, with feedback loops for correction, on meaningful, shared priorities. In other words, we will improve collaboration by acting as much as possible in a shared, inclusive, distributive leadership manner.
Follow-Up Visit (Virtual) – March 14, 2024
Several Tri-State members, who had participated in the March 2022 visit, met virtually with administrators and faculty on March 14, 2024 to receive an update on progress with the topic of collaboration. Dr. Melissa Szymanski led the update with a comprehensive presentation, which had been developed in January-February 2024 by Department Chairs, administrators and faculty (listed early in the presentation document). The presentation provides a detailed review of work underway over the past two years in each of the original essential question areas. We recommend taking time to review the presentation.
Tri-States Consortium Site Visit - November 16-18, 2016
After well over a year of planning and preparation, Hastings Public Schools hosted a Tri-State visitation team from November 16th - November 18th, 2016. During their time in Hastings, the visitation team was tasked to critically review the district in three different areas. The district's Tri-State Steering Committee established three essential questions that we asked the visitation team to consider during their visit.
EQ#1: To what degree do students in the Hastings-on-Hudson School District demonstrate that they are engaged in their learning?
EQ#2: To what degree does the Hastings-on-Hudson School District integrate technology in meaningful ways to support student engagement?
EQ#3: To what extent do faculty, students, and parents within the Hastings-on-Hudson School District share a common understanding of what student engagement is in our classrooms?
This process proved to be an empowering experience for our faculty, staff, administration, students, and parents. More than 25 teachers, students, administrators, and parents volunteered to facilitate presentations to the members of the visitation team. During their time in Hastings, the visitation team performed classroom observations and held many focus groups. The final report, including findings and recommendations is attached below.
Reference Documents