Lipman Community

Community Collaboration/In-service: RESOURCES AFTER HIGH SCHOOL 1
Topic Collaboration
Paradise Unified School district and the greater community has an abundancy of
resources available for families in need. Unfortunately, many families and even school staff are
wholly unaware of the resources available for families. Early in the 2016-2017 school year I
examined a variety of sources to determine the perceived concerns and need of staff and families.
I consulted my direct supervisor, the school psychologist at the high school who is familiar with
many of the districts families. I collaborated with the director of special services in the district
who frequently addresses family concerns. After collaboration with stakeholders and family
advocates, I created the following topics for an information-night:
De-escalating difficult behavior (PACE): presented by Matt McLaughlin
Resources for students after high school: presented by multiple venders
Resources for families in crisis: presented by Paradise Ridge Family Resource Center
Alcohol drug and violence prevention: Presented by Community Prevention Initiative
I included these options in a survey. Those staff members who attended my first in-service (on
building resiliency for students experiencing trauma) were asked to fill out this survey. I
requested that as they fill out the survey, to keep in mind not only their concerns, but the
common concerns families have discussed with them. The results of that survey are presented in
the graph below:

RESOURCES AFTER HIGH SCHOOL 2
Votes
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
De-esculating Resources after HS Resources for Crisis Prevention
Votes
Most staff members thought that an information-night pertaining to de-escalating difficult
behaviors would be most beneficial for staff and families. Once this data was confirmed, I
reached out to the potential service-provider, Matt McLaughlin. Mr. McLaughlin explained
that he would be unable to find the time to provide services to the paradise unified school
district this year. Therefore, the second-most rated option (resources for students after high
school), was chosen as the focus. When it was determined that this was to be the topic,
multiple stakeholders got in contact with me and recommended that I narrow the focus to
resources after high school for disabled populations.
Project Planning
To ensure that I was excessing the most useful resources, I first consulted with a special
education teacher working at the districts adult school for students with severe disabilities. I
inquired of her what resources she was already familiar with. The special education teacher
provided me with a list of resources. I contacted service providers from each agency and
collaborated with each to determine who and when everyone could come together to conduct
an information-night for the district.
I collaborated with the above mentioned special education teacher and the Districts
director of special services to delegate out the preparatory activities necessary to conduct the
information-night, such as creating and sending out invitation letters, buying refreshments,
and reserving a space for the night. I coordinated all activities by checking in on service-
providers and staff members to see where everyone was in the process, or if anyone needed
assistance. In addition to coordinating the community resources, I also planned and provided
supplementary information for any agencies that were unable to send service providers.
There were three agencies who were unable to send service providers. I reviewed the
services they provided by interviewing service providers, examining online resources, and
visiting service sites. I put together a power-point presentation and a packet of information
summarizing agencies and resources available.
Project Delivery
The information-night took place at the districts adult school. Both staff and families
attended the event. I introduced the service providers in attendance and had them present
their information first. Afterward, I presented the information for the agencies that could not
attend. Time was reserved for questions and answers at the end, and many families stayed to
speak to the different service providers.

Community-Collaboration Feedback
After the event, I asked attendees to fill out an evaluation form. The following is a summary of
the evaluations:
Attendees were asked questions about the presentation Content. Content questions included:
1. Was based on credible, up-to-date information
a. 0% of attendees disagreed
b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed
c. 17% of attendees mostly agreed
d. 83% of attendees strongly agreed
2. Was well organized
3. Was a comprehensive treatment of the topic
4. Was easy to understand

5. Visual aids, handouts, and oral presentation clarified content
Attendees were asked questions about the presenters. Presenter questions included:
1. Was well-prepared
2. Used teaching methods appropriate for the audience
3. Was knowledgeable of the subject matter

4. Engaged participants in learning
5. Related program content to real world situations
Attendees were asked questions about the information outcomes. Outcome questions included:
1. Was relevant to my needs
2. Enhanced my knowledge
3. Could be applied to practical situations I encounter
4. Helped to Establish a connection with a local agency
Overall it appeared the service providers content was well received. It seems the
attendees were receptive to methods the presenters used to deliver content. Attendees
overwhelmingly communicated that this information was helpful and pertinent. Attendees were
also asked to answer questions pertaining to what they liked best about the presenters content,
and what changes they would have found useful.
As it pertains to what was liked about the presentation, one attendee commented that
This is a great idea. Parents need to know their options for after school. A few attendees
commented that all the information was needed. Another enjoyed that presenters made
information short and concise.
Some of the recommendations included having presenters use language that was less
technical and more accessible. Another attendee commented that they would have liked to see a
breakdown of services available for each specific type of disability. Overall however, most
attendees did not leave corrective feedback.

In-Service Feedback
In addition to the feedback for the presenters, I also requested that everyone separately fill out
feedback for my portion of the presentation. The comments and ratings were very similar and are
summarized below:
Attendees were asked questions about the presentation Content. Content questions included:
1. Was based on credible, up-to-date information
2. Was well organized
3. Was a comprehensive treatment of the topic
4. Was easy to understand
5. Visual aids, handouts, and oral presentation clarified content
Attendees were asked questions about the presenter. Presenter questions included:
6. Was well-prepared
7. Used teaching methods appropriate for the audience
8. Was knowledgeable of the subject matter

9. Engaged participants in learning
10. Related program content to real world situations
Attendees were asked questions about the information outcomes. Outcome questions included:
5. Was relevant to the needs of my classroom or students
6. Could be applied to practical situations I encounter
7. Enhanced my professional knowledge or/expertise

8. Contributed to achieving my personal or professional goals
Overall it appeared the content as I presented it was well received. My methods of content
delivery were overall well received. However, it appears that I did not engage the audience, or
make the information as interactive as it could have been. Additionally, while the outcome of the
information was overall well received, it appears I did not target the audiences personal goals as
well as the service providers had.
Attendees also provided me with additional comments and recommendations. Some of
the feedback provided included the comment, The handout you provided has contact info well
need. Many attendees wrote similar comments to those for the service providers, explaining that
this information has been long sought after and is much needed. One attendee provided the
recommendation to deliver a longer elaboration on what type of information the service
providers were going to present that day.

Summary and conclusions
Post-project data reflected that overall, staff and families were not aware of resources
available to them relative to post-high school services, and attendees of the information-
night found the material extremely helpful. Some methods I used to design this project were
useful and contributed to the success of the overall project. Not all aspects of the project
were ideal or contributed to the overall perceived satisfaction from attendees. In the future,
when I construct a similar project I would like to make some modifications.
An aspect that was useful in revealing the districts needs was one of the initial steps in
the project. Collaborating with key stakeholders and others that have frequent contact with
families proved to be a contributor to the overall success of the project. On the other hand,
the method of gathering data on level of topic importance should be improved. I created a
survey that was complex and not straight forward, as it was geared towards the interests of
both teachers and parents. In the future, I will want to create a separate survey for the
opinion of parents or of staff. Additionally, I obtained family opinions from a third party,
asking teachers to rate topics based on parent concerns expressed to them. I did so due to
time constraints and the lag time of getting families to return paperwork. This is not the most
accurate method of gathering opinions. It would have been best to directly ask parents, given
the appropriate amount of time.
Coordinating the project and delegating duties to multiple parties contributed to the
success of the information-night. The amount of service providers, and the time allotted to
each also contributed to a concise and manageable delivery of information. A few attendees
expressed concerns about the terms and language used during the presentation. I believe this
was a final area that could be approved upon in future projects. During my coordinating
efforts, I will want to prep service providers to present material in an easy to understand
format, or to provide definitions.
Overall the project was a success. I have learned from this experience, and will take with
me the components that went well. I will improve upon methods and components that did
not work well. I hope to take part in more community projects such as this in the future!

Lipman Community

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Community Collaboration/In-service: RESOURCES AFTER HIGH SCHOOL 1

advocates, I created the following topics for an information-night:

De-escalating difficult behavior (PACE): presented by Matt McLaughlin

Resources for students after high school: presented by multiple venders

Alcohol drug and violence prevention: Presented by Community Prevention Initiative

the graph below:

Most staff members thought that an information-night pertaining to de-escalating difficult

resources after high school for disabled populations.

an information-night for the district.

summarizing agencies and resources available.

speak to the different service providers.

1. Was based on credible, up-to-date information

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 17% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 83% of attendees strongly agreed

2. Was well organized

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 29% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 71% of attendees strongly agreed

3. Was a comprehensive treatment of the topic

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 33% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 67% of attendees strongly agreed

4. Was easy to understand

b. 14% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 14% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 72% of attendees strongly agreed

5. Visual aids, handouts, and oral presentation clarified content

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 14% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 86% of attendees strongly agreed

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 0% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 100% of attendees strongly agreed

2. Used teaching methods appropriate for the audience

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 43% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 57% of attendees strongly agreed

3. Was knowledgeable of the subject matter

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 29% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 71% of attendees strongly agreed

4. Engaged participants in learning

b. 14% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 29% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 57% of attendees strongly agreed

5. Related program content to real world situations

b. 14% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 29% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 57% of attendees strongly agreed

1. Was relevant to my needs

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 29% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 71% of attendees strongly agreed

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 29% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 71% of attendees strongly agreed

3. Could be applied to practical situations I encounter

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed

c. 14% of attendees mostly agreed

d. 86% of attendees strongly agreed

4. Helped to Establish a connection with a local agency

b. 0% of attendees slightly agreed