Creep (of the scope kind).

Feel free to press "Play" on this video as you read.  Fitting, no?

The Overview:

As an educator, one of the buzzwords used recently is "data."  Everything is about data: data-driven instruction, data walls, data systems, etc.  One way that our administrators attempted to use data was in having departments form data teams.  The point of the project accomplished by the data teams was to analyze literacy activities in our content areas and provide reports to be submitted to the school board.  In a whole-faculty meeting, our principal explained what a data was, the process for completing a data cycle, the basic idea of what she needed from each department and the deadline.

The Process:

The first step was for department teams to get together, determine group norms and roles, and decide on data team meeting dates.  From there we decided on the activity for which we were going to focus, what from the activity we were going to collect to analyze as data, and when to have that step completed by.  After the data collection, then we were to meet together to compare results, look for strengths/weakness/commonalities, and analyze what could be done to improve.  These notes would be recorded and submitted to our principal to be sent on to the school board.

The Creep:

For an English department busy with all our own job responsibilities, this already was going to be a daunting task.  When our team was at the point of compiling analyzed data into a report document in order to submit it, our principal gave each data team a form which she wanted us to use to provide all teams a consistent format for their reports.  This caused some problems because we were already approaching the requested deadline and this new format would require additional meeting time outside of the school day to reword things and provide additional information which was not indicated to us that we needed in the first place.

The Solution:

After having each of us review our notes to ensure that based on what our principal explained that we needed to provide her we did complete, our data team leader who was the senior teacher in the English department explained to our principal that in order to meet the deadline which she set we were going to submit our original report the way we created it and that a version using the form she gave us would be submitted later.  The leveraging points used were that based on the original content for the deliverable (data report), we had met all requirements on time and that we'd be happy to use her form but that her changing the requirements did not allow us with the time to be able to complete it and still meet the deadline.

The Meta-Analysis:

If I had been the project manager, knowing now what I do I might have asked my principal if there was a specific form template she strongly was considering asking each department to use.  The next thing I would have done would have been to communicate more frequently with our principal than our department did to ensure that what we were creating was meeting requirements in her opinion.  Doing this would have meant that if she had been giving approval all along, if she introduced the form, we could have gone back and said that she had giving approval to our process.  But in the moment, I would have made the same move as our data team leader in submitting the form we created so as to meet the deadline and explain to our principal that we would submit the data with her form but that it would come later.

The Conclusion:

Projects come in many forms with different requirements and deliverables.  Even if a project as simple as an analysis of student work can fall victim to scope creep.  No matter the scope creep though, solutions to these creepy moments can be found.

Some project budget resources. If you're feeling bored.

            This week in EDUC 6145, we are tasked with meditating on the sometimes difficult art of generating a project budget.  The beauty of the World Wide Web is that it connects individuals around the world with experts, individuals who have experience in a particular topic about which one is curious or needs more information.  The resources below seem to be worthwhile places to look for the project manager who many need some pointers in budget generation for projects.

TechRepulic:  "Creating Your Project Budget: Where to Begin?"  TechRepublic's website is a collection of various resources related to the world of information technology.  If one has a question somehow connected to IT, he or she is probably able to find an answer about it on this site.  As projects in IT are a reality, it would only make sense that there would be a "Project Budgets 101" style article on this site; there are a few of them, actually.  The one linked is the one I found to be the most helpful.  It is helpful because it spells out in clear terms all the important parts of a budget to consider (basics, project costs, risk assessments, etc.) and provides tips for how to incorporate each one piece in the budget.

Tuts+:  "6 Budget Planning Steps to Professional Project Estimates"  Sometimes I do well with accomplishing a task of I have a checklist that I can go through; this resource on planning professional project estimates from Tuts+ is more or less that.  One has to appreciate the amount an diversity of business and project related information on this site.  This article is just an example.  The information is laid out well and follows a logical pattern.  One of the most useful things about this article especially is the idea of being able to maintain higher budget numbers but simplify the presented information so that it does not overwhelm the client.

            I am not a professional at budget creation.  Who am I kidding?  I'm not even an amateur of the process.  Should I ever need help or information on doing it for a project, however, I will not hesitate to refer to either of the sources above.

Project "Post Mortem" Review: The Critical Thinking Rubric

         

            In the school where I teach, along with content area, we as teachers assess students on five different school-wide learning outcomes: Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Oral Communication, Work Ethic, and Written Communication.  In faculty meetings, we discussed the idea that critical thinking looks different depending upon the content area; we came to the conclusion that departments should each have their own rubric for critical thinking tasks.  With our principal's approval, over the next three months, departments were tasked with developing their own Critical Thinking rubric to use instead of the school-wide one.  At the conclusion of three months, we had a rubric that was about three quarters done; we never finished it.  We, as an English department, are using the school-wide rubric this year.
            At its onset, the project seemed as if it would be successful.  Each member of the English department was excited about the notion of autonomy in developing our own assessment piece for a department.  We were also excited about being able to meet as a small group instead of as a large faculty unit.  We all bought in to the process we were preparing to undertake.
            The project to develop an English department Critical Thinking rubric tanked for a few reasons.  The first reason was that there was no clear leader to be a type of project manager.for the group.  Simply having a project manager to be able to keep the group organized.  Portny et al. (2008) state that having a project manager who can keep the group on track "dramatically increase(s) their chances of success (p. 6).
            Another reason we did not succeed in the project is that we had a lack of vision for how to accomplish the project objectives, and many weeks were spent repeating the same steps and conversations over and over again.  We had defined what our final deliverable should look like, but we skipped the next step, which Greer (2010) explains as determining tasks and phases (p. 17).  We did not bother to create any type of accountability charts or planning calendars to ensure that every piece of the rubric was generated so that it could be revised and then finalized.  Making that necessary step would have contributed more so to our success.
            A final reason is that the point in the school calendar when we began the project was an inopportune time for we English teachers.  Tenth grade was preparing for graduation qualifying exams.  AP Language and Literature was preparing for AP exams.  Twelfth grade was working on getting seniors ready to graduate.  In short, we were all busy with things which in reality took a greater precedent than completing a rubric which our employment statuses would not have been in jeopardy if we didn't finish.
            It would have been nice to have finished an English Critical Thinking rubric, but it did not happen.  That said, this year has been off to a solid start and with the first trimester ending next week, I can honestly say that I do not think this year would be going much differently if we had finished it.

References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your      

            projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. 

            (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: 

            John Wiley & Sons, Inc.