SKILLS & COMPETENCY TRAINING SYLLABUS

CPRL aims to prepare its students to becomeskilled generalists. Skilled generalists areskilledinsofar as they have specialized knowledge and a particular way of organizing and evaluating information that is often associated with their professional training and degree. Skilled generalists have a second set of skills, less commonly addressed in professional schools: they are able to work in teams to aggregate their disparate knowledge and competencies to address “wicked,” or multidimensional problems that they would be unable to solve using only their own, profession-specific expertise. That skill, in turn, makes themgeneralistsin their ability and disposition to tackle a broad range of unfamiliar, and exceptionally challenging problems.

In an iterative series of exercises over the past several years, CPRL faculty, staff, and students have identified four sets of core Skilled Generalists competencies: project management, problem solving, client engagement and effective communication, and team building and teamwork. Each competency has approximately six sub-competencies.

The goal ofskills and competency trainingis to help students develop these competencies and sub-competencies and provide them with training that will be of use in their project work and in their careers to follow. We begin the semester by orienting students to the concept of a skilled generalist and introducing them to their role as a client-centered consultant or researcher. We then provide students with an overview of the problem-solving process by asking them to solve a common, vexing educational problem in two hours: how to meaningfully engage families in their children’s education.

Sessions that follow this overview drill down on key steps and components of the problem-solving process. Session content draws on social science research methods, client-centered clinical and consulting practice, design thinking, systems thinking, improvement science, and institutional/evolutionary learning.

All skills and competency sessions are hands-on, practice-based, and connected to project work and seminar content. We recognize that each of you enters CPRL with your own particular set of competencies and areas for further development in your preparation to be skilled generalists. We strongly encourage you to be present, focused, and deeply engaged at all skills and competency sessions, sharing your knowledge and expertise with your peers andtaking risks—trying out new actions, roles, competencies, and even personas and being willing to make mistakes in the process of deepening your professional development.

Course Faculty:

Elizabeth Chu, , JG 535

Course Teaching Assistant:

Katie Smits,

Grading:

CPRL has a variety of arrangements with participating graduate schools as to the allocation of credits to particular courses. For some graduate schools, all of the credits are counted towards a single course; for other schools, the credits are divided among multiple courses or subject areas. Please be in touch with the registrar at your school to determine how the credits are allocated. Similarly, CPRL uses each partner school’s grading system (e.g., A, B, C, or H, HP, P) and curve in awarding grades. In skills, your grade is based upon the following criteria:

  • Conscientiousness of participation in sessions,
  • Willingness to experiment with new skills and take chances, and
  • Quality of feedback to other students.

Session Objectives and Assignments

Skills Session 1: The Skilled Generalist (Jan. 17)

Facilitators:Liz Chu

Objectives:

  1. Define what it means to be a professional and a Skilled Generalist.
  2. Introduce the skills we will be building over the course of the CPRL program.

Readings:

  1. Skilled Generalist Handout
  2. Project Expectations

Skills Session 2: The Problem-Solving Process: The Design Cycle (Jan. 19)

Facilitator:Adam Royalty, Columbia Entrepreneurship

Location: The Design Studio, Riverside Church, Room 430 (entrance on 120th between Claremont and Riverside Drive)

Objectives:

  1. Gain an overview of the problem-solving process by addressing a multidimensional problem.
  2. Create and propose solutions to a multidimensional problem using a team-based problem-solving process.

Readings:

  1. Taylor, K. (2015, September 8). A door-to-door push to get parents involved at struggling schools.New York Times.Retrieved from
  2. Optional:Bryk, A.S., Gomez, L.M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P.G. (2015). Learning to improve: How America’s schools can get better at getting better. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. Introduction,Chapters 1 (Make the Work Problem-Specific and User Centered),2 (Focus on Variation in Performance),3 (See the System that Produces the Current Outcomes).

Skills Session 3: Embracing Your Role (Jan. 23)

Facilitator:Scheherazade Salimi

Objectives:

  1. Define what it means to be a consultant at CPRL.
  2. Articulate the importance and implications of taking a client-centered approach to problem-solving.

Readings:

  1. Block, P. (2011). Flawless consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Chapters 1 (A Consultant by Any Other Name), 2 (Techniques are Not Enough), 3 (Flawless Consulting).

Skills Session 4: Difference and Diversity (Jan. 25)

Facilitators:Richard Gray, Annenburg Institute for School Reform; Sue Sturm, Columbia Law School

Readings:

  1. Please watch the film, Parent Power:
  2. Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz at Teachers College:Learning to Talk and Write about Race.

Session Preparation:

  1. View the film, jot down reflections and questions relating to structuring cross-race, cross-class relationships in the context of education, and bring those reflections and questions to class.

Skills Session 5: Interviewing Part I: Protocol Development (Jan. 27)

Objective:

  1. Prepare for and conduct interviews that establish a relationship of professional trust and confidence with client, stakeholders, or other knowledgeable individuals, while yielding useful information about the project.

Readings:

  1. Yin, R.K. (2014).Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5th Ed.). Pages 72-77,110-113.
  2. Stroh, L.K. & Johnson, H.J.The Basic Principles of Effective Consulting. Chapter 5 (Interviewing).

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Skills Session 6: Interviewing Part II: Conducting the Interview (Feb. 3)

Facilitator:Bill Koski, Stanford Law School, Stanford School of Education

Objectives:

  1. Conduct interviews that establish a relationship of professional trust and confidence with client, stakeholders, or other knowledgeable individuals, while yielding useful information about the project.

Readings:

  1. Review readings from Skills Session 4.
  2. Scope of work for Appleton Public Schools.

Session Preparation:

  1. Either bring a short interview protocol to class from your project work OR imagine you are on the Appleton Public Schools consulting team and that you need to conduct a series of interviews on the current state of school- and district-level family engagement in Appleton. Draft a short interview protocol (~5 questions) to be used with a community leader, parent, or district official about family engagement. We will be practicing interviews during the session.

Skills Session 7: Analyzing Qualitative Data (Feb. 10)

Facilitator:Sue Sturm, Columbia Law School

Objectives:

  1. Organize and analyze qualitative data and interpret the generated results.

Readings:

  1. Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.pp. 1-2, 10-12, 55-59, 61-83.

Preparation for Class:

  1. Work with your project team to decide what piece of qualitative data you would like to analyze (for practice) during Friday's session. If you don't have data from your project, you can usethese interview notesor consult with your EM about obtaining notes from a project conducted in the past.
  2. Individually (not as a team), brainstorm 3-5 codes that you might use for analyzing that data. Draw on the readings on Courseworks to help you do so.
  3. If possible, please bring your laptop to class on Friday.

Skills Session 8: The Balanced Scorecard (Feb. 15)

See seminar syllabus (Session 10).

Skills Session 9: Theory of Action and OPTA (Feb. 17)

Objectives:

  1. Develop a theory of action and operationalize the theory of action into inputs, actions, outcomes, and impact.

Readings:

  1. Please review the readings and class materials from the Sept. 28 Balanced Scorecard session.
  2. CPRL Design for Cleveland Metropolitan School Performance & Planning Framework

Session Preparation:

  1. Bring your current draft of your Balanced Scorecard (seminar assignment) to Skills Session 9. We will be workshopping the theory of action and operationalized theory of action components of the assignment.

Skills Session 10: Measures, Tools, and Targets (Feb. 24)

Objectives:

  1. Attach aligned measures, measurement tools, and targets to an operationalized theory of action.

Readings:

  1. Bryk, A.S., Gomez, L.M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P.G. (2015). Learning to improve: How America’s schools can get better at getting better. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.Chapter 4 (We Cannot Improve at Scale What We Cannot Measure).

Session Preparation:

  1. Bring your current draft of your Balanced Scorecard (seminar assignment) to Skills Session 10. We will be workshopping the measures, tools, and targets components of the assignment.

Skills Session 11: Professional Presentations (PPT)(March 3)

Optional Attendance: If you believe you have already mastered the content that will be covered in class, you may ask to be excused from the session.

To do so, please:

  1. Email your Engagement Manager by 5pm on Feb. 24. Explain your background/reason for being excused from thesession.
  2. If your EM agrees that you do not need to attend thesession, forward the EM's response to Liz Chu ( and Katie Smits () by 5 pm on March 1.

Facilitator:Jeff Maurone, McKinsey & Company

Objectives:

  1. Outline and draft slides for client presentations that are clear, logical, and compelling.

Readings:

  1. CMSD School Performance and Planning Framework Introduction
  2. Learning Beyond Boundaries Presentation
  3. Center for Public Research and Leadership Expansion Final Presentation
  4. McMahon, Gavin. Make a Powerful Point:
  5. Stop Decking Around: 7 Ways to Use Powerpoint:
  6. Headlines versus Labels:
  7. Choosing Color:
  8. Sharpen Your Point:
  9. The 8 FT Rule:
  10. The No Bullet Bullet Slide:

Session Preparation:

  1. Please bring the PPT presentation examples to class either in hard copy or downloaded to a tablet or laptop.

Skills Session 12: Intro to Excel(March 24)

Optional Attendance: If you believe you have already mastered the content that will be covered in class, you may ask to be excused from the session.

To do so, please:

  1. Email your Engagement Manager by 5pm on March 17. Explain your background/reason for being excused from thesession.
  2. Ifyour EM agrees that you do not need to attend thesession, forward the EM's response to Liz Chu ( and Katie Smits () by 5 pm on March 22.

Objectives:

  1. Perform basic functions in excel.

Readings:

  1. N/A

Session Preparation:

  1. Please bring your laptop to class, if possible.

Skills Session 13: Education Nonprofits: How they Work, What makes them Unique (April 7)

Facilitator:Sarah Holloway, Lecturer in Discipline of International and Public Affairs, SIPA

Readings:

  1. Nonprofit Cheat Sheet
  2. Posse Foundation 990​