Author Archives: Tory Schulte

About Tory Schulte

Relationship Manager

Mise en place, Mise en place, Mise en place

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130206 Mise en place-01 (1)After graduating from college and traveling around Europe for a year, I accepted a position as a cook in a quaint Vermont country inn. As I contemplated a career as a chef or restaurant manager, the guests of the inn encouraged me to enroll at the Restaurant School in Philadelphia, PA. As I think back on my time there, I can still vividly hear my chef instructor shouting, “Mise en place, mise en place, mise en place!” every time he walked into the kitchen to monitor our assignments.

Mise en place (pronounced miz on plas) is a French phrase that literally means “everything in its place.” The phrase, used in professional kitchens everywhere, refers to organizing and arranging all of the ingredients and equipment that a cook will need to prepare a dish.

Flash forward 30 years to my job as a Senior Client Relationship Manager at K12 Insight — and mise en place still resonates. Although I’m not gathering measuring spoons and spices, when there are projects that require me to coordinate multiple tasks I put my chef hat back on (no, not literally) in order to formulate and analyze the most efficient way to complete necessary tasks before actually beginning the work.

This becomes especially important when rolling out a communications strategy for school districts and stakeholders.

When preparing to launch a Voice of the Community Survey for a school district, it’s essential to outline every element of the communications plan so you can seek feedback from community members. K12 Insight provides districts with a full communications suite, including draft press releases, scripts for all-call messages and letters to parents, staff and community-based organizations.

Because everyone has a voice that deserves to be heard, we work closely with the district’s communications team to make sure everyone in the community knows they have a role in shaping collaborative decisions. We use common tools such as local/regional media, the district website, posters, social media, and local homeowners associations and community-based organizations to publicize this information.

Though I didn’t become a professional chef, the idea of mise en place has served me well in my chosen profession.

With so many cooks in the kitchen, and so many ingredients in my communications plan, mise en place ensures there’s a smaller chance that I’ll leave out the one ingredient that’s essential for a great dish — your voice.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

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Last week, a colleague and I attended a senior staff meeting at one of our Virginia school districts to discuss the results captured in a Teacher Engagement Report tied to a Teacher Engagement Survey. The study’s findings — that to improve teacher engagement in the district, efforts should be focused on recognition and appreciation for their hard work — surprised the superintendent, who told us that a number of teachers had told him directly that the district’s red carpet treatment was unrivaled anywhere else in Virginia or Maryland. Other senior staff members in the room, however, shook their heads. If those same teachers spoke to mid-level management, rather than the superintendent, they said, then the feedback would likely have been quite different.

People say what they think you want to hear.

When walking my eight-month old Labrador Retriever, Cooper, one Saturday, I met a woman who commented on how adorable and playful my puppy was, adding that I must be enjoying every day with him. I responded, yes, it was wonderful having a new puppy in the household now that two of my girls are in college.

What I didn’t tell her is that, while I was at work on Friday, Cooper chewed off a door panel to my washing machine which housed a long rubber tube, which he also ate. When moving my laundry from the washer to the dryer that Friday night, I nearly wiped out in the two inches of soapy water on the laundry room floor. Yes, Cooper is awesome, but he is also a menace. But I knew that the lady on the path just wanted me to agree with her statement. So that is what I did.

At K12 Insight, we provide district stakeholders with vehicles to comfortably provide their voice — through surveys and focus groups. When taking a survey, the participant is not influenced by someone directly asking questions and is therefore more inclined to say what’s on his or her mind. Focus groups are also well-suited to find out what kinds of issues are important on a specific topic.

Let us help you uncover what your employees really think — and not just what they think you want to hear.

The Power of Collaboration

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Back in January, I wrote about a simple yet significant survey I created to help me in my role as chairperson of Project Graduation, a high school parent volunteer organization that plans the senior all-night graduation party. This past Sunday, the tangible results of that survey were unveiled.

Shortly after the graduation ceremony ended, more than 75% of the senior class returned to the high school to attend a party in their honor.  The decorations, games, entertainment, prizes and food were outstanding; I overheard one graduate say, “It keeps getting better and better and better,” as he caught a glimpse of the money machine, circulating real cash.

This was my sixth year pulling an all-nighter in support of Project Graduation, and  I, too, think this year topped all others.  I attribute our success to that simple survey, sent to other Project Graduation chairpeople throughout Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools.

At the request of survey respondents, I scheduled the first county-wide Project Graduation meeting, where committee members — representing most of the district’s high schools — shared information on how they handle the main elements of Project Graduation party planning, including publicity, prizes, volunteers, ticket sales, games, entertainment, food and decorating.  I even invited the fire marshal to speak, since survey responses had indicated that decorating within county fire regulations was one of the biggest challenges.

By working collaboratively and leveraging the ideas and creativity of many to address complex issues, each of us walked away with new ideas to share with our own committees. And the result for our high school was the best all-night graduation party yet. At least until next year.

Teachers’ Opinions Should Count When Creating an Evaluation Model

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My daughter Courtney will soon be graduating from college with a teaching degree in elementary education.  To gain real-world experience, she has spent the past six months shadowing a 4th grade teacher.

We recently spoke about how the teachers at this school feel about the principal’s periodic, unscheduled classroom visits, used to obtain a snapshot of how well teachers are engaging their students with their lesson plans.

While some teachers thrive on these impromptu classroom observations, saying these visits keep them on their toes and always prepared, others find it stressful trying to ensure students remain calm and attentive while the principal is in the room.  However, Courtney said, as the teachers develop a working relationship with the principal, the visits become less anxiety-provoking.

Teaching has always been a demanding profession, even more so today, with many states now mandating teacher evaluations.  In preparation for a 2012-13 Indiana requirement, one of our clients, Fort Wayne Community Schools (FWCS), has developed and put into practice a Four Step System of Support™ program that meets all state and Department of Education guidelines, including the directive that all Indiana school districts must have an annual, objective teacher evaluation system that is based on multiple measures and satisfies specific criteria.  Based on classroom observation and feedback, FWCS’s Four Step System of Support™ emphasizes providing support to make teachers better professionals, which ultimately leads to higher student achievement.

To discover how their teachers feel about this new program — Is it fair? Is it supportive of all instructional staff? Is it improving instruction? — K12 Insight conducted teacher focus groups, after which we worked with FWCS to jointly design a questionnaire to gather specific input on teachers’ experiences with the program.

All teachers deserve to have a voice, and they would undoubtedly appreciate being asked their thoughts on the program chosen as their evaluation tool. As my daughter Courtney discovered, teachers have strong, albeit differing, opinions. Other districts should think about following the FWCS model, implementing systems that both support and are supported by their teachers.

Flat to Volume

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I admit that I got the title for this post from my husband’s shampoo bottle.

Last month I launched a “Your Voice Counts” climate survey for one of our school districts.  Like all districts in South Carolina, Clover School District is required by the state Department of Education to conduct a climate survey; however, Clover was interested in providing a more focused localized one that would provide feedback specific to new district goals and objectives.

District spokesman Mychal Frost contacted K12 Insight for assistance in crafting a survey highlighting four particular areas of the school environment — academic, social, physical and parent volunteerism. Parents, students and teachers were asked to weigh in with their feedback.

Mychal was very pleased with the final version, saying that K12 Insight transformed a flat surveyinto a robust communications tool that will unite Clover School District stakeholders in speaking up on critical issues.  “Only by working strategically and collaboratively, can we make the most appropriate decisions for our district,” he said.

Now Mychal and Superintendent Dr. Marc Sosne are anxious to view the survey responses. As Dr. Sosne put it, “The results will speak volumes.”