Strive Theory of Action Overview

Transcription

1 More than 80 communities across the country have begun to build the cradle to career civic infrastructure needed to achieve sustained collective impact. Strive has supported the development of this infrastructure in over 30 of these communities. Based on what we've learned from this first-hand experience, three things have become clear: 1.There is a basic sequence for how the work unfolds. 2.The work must be adaptive and take into account the local context of a community. 3.The rigorous nature of this approach requires the establishment of quality benchmarks in order to achieve sustained impact. Based on this knowledge, Strive has established a continuum of quality benchmarks called the Theory of Action for building and sustaining civic infrastructure. Across the continuum, there are four fundamental Gateways which signal a partnership's progression toward becoming a Proof Point. By crossing through each Gateway, there is a greater likelihood for sustained impact and improvement over time. Some of the quality benchmarks most critical for success within each Gateway include: Cross-sector leadership table is convened around a cradle to career vision Partnership selects community level outcomes and indicators for which to hold themselves accountable An organization commits to provide key staff and operations to support the partnership to drive improvement Partnership collects, disaggregates and publicly reports baseline data on community-level outcomes Partnership secures multiple years of funding to support operations and collaborative work Partnership selects a continuous improvement process Strive Theory of Action Overview EXPLORING EMERGING SUSTAINING SYSTEMS CHANGE PROOF POINT Partners take action to improve the community level outcomes Collaborative Action Networks are engaged and develop charters and action plans to improve community level outcomes/indicators Community is mobilized to take action to improve community level outcomes/indicators Partnership puts in place comprehensive data system to collect and connect student level data across systems Partnership engages in continual alignment of resources to impact community level outcomes/indicators Partnership influences policies to enable and sustain improvement 60% of indicators consistently trending in the right direction These quality benchmarks are critical for ensuring a community transforms how they serve children. Most importantly, communities achieve population-level impact when the student indicators that were set by the partnership consistently trend in the right direction. As more communities successfully meet these quality benchmarks, we will collectively progress toward achieving our ultimate goal: supporting the success of every child, every step of the way, cradle to career. The Strive Cradle to Career Network will be guided by this Theory of Action. Members of the Network are communities that a) commit to work toward achieving these quality benchmarks, and b) actively participate in a community of learning and practice with their peers in which knowledge is shared and created. Together this Network will build shared value to advance the field of cradle to career collective impact. Strive 2013

2 Strive Theory of Action: Creating Cradle to Career Proof Points BUILDING > ACTION Pillar 1: Shared Community Vision Pillar 2: Evidence Based Decision Making Pillar 3: Collaborative Action Pillar 4: Investment & Sustainability Exploring A cross-sector Partnership of an acceptable composition and scope organizes around a compelling need and commits to a cradle to career vision. understands and commits to use data to drive decision-making and to use a continuous improvement process. commits to work to improve overall outcomes and eliminate locally defined disparities in student achievement. A data team is established and commits to identify community level outcomes/ indicators, and key sub-populations by which to disaggregate local data. The community is informed and engaged in the vision and work of the Partnership. A cross-sector leadership table with a documented and approved accountability structure is convened. selects community level outcomes and indicators for release in a report card. formalizes a call to action and defines a set of messages that are aligned and effectively communicated across partners. mobilizes initial capacity to support the release of the report card including: collecting, managing, disaggregating and analyzing baseline data for community level indicators. identifies and maps out existing initiatives and community assets relevant to this work. The partnership engages funders in the cradle to career vision and identifies potential funding partners to support the operations and collaborative work of the Partnership. The anchor entity is established with two key staffing roles in place: project director and data manager. Design Institute Gateway to Emerging Emerging operates with a fully-functional leadership table, anchor entity, and support teams whose roles and responsibilities are clearly defined through an accountability structure and partnership agreement. collects and disaggregates baseline data by key sub-populations for community level indicators and publicly releases in a baseline report to the community. builds necessary capacity for data support ensuring regular access to data for continuous improvement. prioritizes a subset of community level outcomes/ indicators for initial focus and identifies champions to support Collaborative Action Networks. outlines supports and expectations in a value exchange for the Collaborative Action Networks. A continuous improvement process is selected. secures funding for multiple years and has in place all the necessary key staff roles: project director, data manager, and facilitator(s). Network Gateway to Sustaining Sustaining regularly and consistently informs the broader community of the Partnership s progress and communicates a common, consistent message across internal partners. Partners take action to improve the community level outcomes/indicators, including but not limited to realigning their existing work and supporting the implementation of action plans. connects a narrative of the on-the-ground work of the collaborative action networks to the community level outcomes/indicators they are working to impact in the annual release of the report card. The Partnership establishes standardized processes for releasing report card data and collaborative action narrative on an annual basis. enables the collection and connection of student service, demographic, and academic data and makes it available across systems and partners to enable continuous improvement. Collaborative Action Networks are formed or engaged around a community level outcome/indicator and are supported by the partnership per a value exchange. Collaborative Action Networks use disaggregated local data in a continuous improvement process to develop a charter and action plan comprised of strategies and improvements to impact a community level outcome/ indicator(s) and eliminate locally defined disparities in student achievement. Necessary stakeholders align & mobilize time, talent, and treasure towards improving overall community level outcomes/indicators and eliminating locally defined disparities in student achievement. The community is engaged and mobilized to take action to improve community level outcomes/indicators. aligns/realigns policy priorities and moves forward a collective advocacy agenda to change local, state, or national policy to improve community level outcomes/indicators and eliminate locally defined disparities in student achievement. Comprehensive Strategic Assistance Gateway to Systems Change Systems Change evolves through transitions of leadership and needed capacity, and demonstrates shared accountability for impacting community level outcomes/indicators. Attribution of success and recognition of challenges is communicated effectively. annually releases a report card on community level outcomes/indicators, disaggregated by sub-populations and continuously refines community level outcomes and indicators to improve accuracy & validity. puts in place a comprehensive data system that enables the collection, connection, storage and analysis of local data for continuous improvement. continues to form new or engage existing networks around priority outcomes/indicators. Collaborative Action Networks are supported by the Partnership to use a continuous improvement process to regularly update charters and action plans. engages in continual alignment of community and financial resources around the improvement of community level outcomes/indicators and influences necessary policies to enable and sustain that improvement. Proof Point PROOF POINT: 60% of Indicators Trending in the Right Direction Strive

3 Definitions of Terms in the Strive Theory of Action Exploring: Shared Community Vision: Partnership: A group of organizations, systems and stakeholders who come together to jointly move a cradle to career agenda in their community. Acceptable composition and scope: At the initial stage of partnership development the partnership should be comprised of at least five cross sector influencers (one must be a district leader) from at least three different sectors. These cross-sector influencers must identify a geographic scope that is sufficient to impact population level outcomes and policy/funding decisions. Influencers: Individual who has power and authority to inhibit or enable funding, policy, organizational, or behavioral changes necessary to move work forward. Sectors: Parts or sub-divisions of a society or economy. Examples: education (including early childhood, k-12, and post-secondary), non-profit, philanthropic, business, civic, faith-based, and community Geographic Scope: Physical boundary in which the Partnership is focusing its efforts. Must be large enough to have population level impact, but manageable enough to produce tangible change. Compelling Need: The community case for doing this work; should be driven by data and demonstrate a clear need for cross-sector action to improve education outcomes. Cradle to Career Vision: A vision for improving education outcomes for students beginning at birth, continuing into and through secondary and into and through postsecondary schooling until they secure a meaningful career. Locally-defined Disparities: Inequalities in student achievement defined by each Partnership using local data and context. Identified disparities could differ across partnerships. See Also: Key Sub- Populations Leadership Table: Group of CEO-level members of the organizations participating in direction setting of the Partnership. See Also: Accountability Structure Accountability Structure: The organizational framework that depicts the different tables/committees within the partnership and outlines the roles and responsibilities of each table. Call to Action: Carefully crafted set of messages designed to encourage participation in Partnership and define what needed action looks like. Messages: Formalized statements about the Partnership developed for a specific audience to effectively communicate a common understanding of the vision, purpose and work. Strive 2013

4 Evidence-Based Decision Making: Data Team: A group of individuals with expertise in data analysis or ownership of data that come together to provide support for the data needs of the Partnership. Community Level Outcomes: Academic points along the cradle to career education continuum that are proven to be key levers that need to be moved in order to achieve the cradle to career vision and goals. Non-academic community level outcomes may be selected in addition to academic community level outcomes. Community Level Outcomes are selected from across the cradle to career continuum and ensure accountability to the community. Example: Kindergarten Readiness Indicators: The specific measures that are being used to track progress on moving the community level outcomes. Example: Students assessed as ready for Kindergarten upon entering school. Key Sub-populations: Populations in which the Partnership determines a need for a more intentional focus in order to eliminate disparities in academic achievement. These sub-populations are determined using local context and data and could differ across partnerships. Disaggregate: Data that has been separated, where possible, to identify the differing levels of academic performance of student sub-populations. In particular, this data is meant to identify populations with systematic and historic failures and to support the intentional work of the Partnership to eliminate these disparities. Local Data: Different types of measures that help to understand local context and impact for the geographically defined scope of the Cradle to Career Partnership. Types of local data include: Outcome: Change in the desired end state (% of students graduating high school) Quality: Effectiveness in meeting the expectations of customers/ stakeholders. (e.g. % of satisfied parents) Inputs: The amount of resources needed to provide products or services (e.g. # of staff delivering a program) Outputs: The amount of products or services provided (e.g. # of students served) Efficiency: Productivity, cost savings, etc. (e.g. average cost per student) Local data can be collected on the community level (e.g.: 3 rd grade reading scores), the program level data (e.g.: # of students who attend a particular program, # of volunteers needed for an event, etc.) or when appropriate student level data (e.g.: student A scored a 28 on the ACT). Report Card: A report to the community that highlights changes in community level outcomes and the sub-populations for which the outcomes are disaggregated and the contextual information around each data point including the strategies employed to improve that outcome. After the initial report, subsequent reports include year to year progress against time bound targets and baseline data. Baseline Data: Data that is gathered at the beginning, as an initial report, that will be used later to provide a comparison for assessing improvement on community level outcomes. Collaborative Action: Continuous Improvement Process: The on-going effort to use local data to improve efficiencies and effectiveness of processes and action. Community Assets: Resources that could contribute to improving the outcomes that the partnership is working to improve. Could be an organization, individual, service or program. Strive 2013

5 Investment & Sustainability: Community: Individuals in the defined geographic scope who are directly affected by the quality of the education pipeline (e.g. students, parents, business and civic leaders), and therefore must be clearly understood, actively involved, and eventually satisfied by the impact of the Partnership. Anchor entity: An organization or entity that commits to housing the partnership staff and ensuring its long term stability, specifically through committing resources and convening partners. Emerging: Shared Community Vision: Partnership Agreement: Outlines operating principles among the cradle to career partners about how they will interact with each other, accomplish goals, and improve outcomes over time and defines the responsibilities of the anchor entity with core staff. Evidence-Based Decision Making: Baseline Report: Initial report to the community that provides recent data for each of the Partnership s community level outcomes and the key sub-populations for which the outcomes are disaggregated. Regular Access: Evident through a process where access to data is not delaying the decision making or action-taking of parties relying on it to work effectively. Collaborative Action: Champions: Leadership Table members who have a special interest or expertise in one of the outcome areas and work to communicate and advocate for the work happening in that outcome area. Collaborative Action Networks: Groups of appropriate cross-sector practitioners and individuals who organize around a community level outcome and use a continuous improvement process to develop an action plan with strategies to improve that outcome. Value exchange: The value exchange can be defined as the benefit or incentive one group receives from another as a result of each group performing its specific role. In this case, the role or value the Partnership will provide to the Collaborative Action Network (e.g. staffing, capacity, access to data) is defined and the role or value (e.g. continuous improvement, action planning) the Collaborative Action Network will provide is defined. In other cases, a value exchange may be used to engage different sectors to participate in the Cradle to Career Partnership. Investment & Sustainability: Key Staff: Project Director: A full-time dedicated staff person that provides leadership and management to ensure that the mission and core values of the Partnership are put into practice Facilitator: Supports continuous improvement action planning Data Manager: Supports analysis, management, integration, and reporting of data Communication/Community Engagement Manager: Supports internal and external communications and engagement of the broader community Strive 2013

6 Sustaining: Collaborative Action: Charter: A tool for collaborative action network members to hold each other accountable to shared measurements and action and to the Partnership as a whole to working on the agreed upon scope. This is a living document that should be updated regularly and contains the following components: Purpose Statement Problem Statement Project Scope Membership Operating Principles Action Plan: A document that outlines the strategies that a Collaborative Action Network will work on collectively during a given time frame. The Action Plan usually covers one year to allow time for the strategies to be implemented and new data to be collected. All subsequent network meetings will be based around the plan and progress against the plans elements. Investment & Sustainability: Stakeholders: Individuals, institutions, and organizations in the community with a vested interest in the education of children. Align and mobilize: the redirecting or initiation of resources (including: knowledge, time, volunteers, skills, financial contributions or other in-kind services) towards improving a common outcome. Collective Advocacy Agenda: Shared plan for influencing public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic and social systems and institutions. Systems Change: Evidence-Based Decision Making: Comprehensive Data System: System or set of processes that enable the collection, connection, storage and analysis of student and community level data across systems to drive the continuous improvement process. Investment & Sustainability: Continual Alignment: Initiating or redirecting resources towards evidence based solutions on an ongoing basis, usually requires a shift in the way funding, policy, and behavioral change occurs. Strive 2013

7 Theory of Action Frequently Asked Questions What is a Theory of Action? A theory of action follows an if/then sequence (e.g. if we do X, then we will achieve Y ). In the case of Strive, the Theory of Action provides a guide for building cradle to career civic infrastructure in order for a partnership to improve student outcomes and ultimately become a proof point. As part of this guide, key steps along the way, known as quality benchmarks, have been identified. The theory is that if a community follows this guide and works to meet these quality benchmarks along the way, then the community will recognize improved student outcomes and become a proof point. It should be noted that the specific sequence of the individual benchmarks is less important than meeting all the benchmarks within a given Gateway Exploring, Emerging, Sustaining, and Systems Change prior to moving forward. Why did Strive develop a Theory of Action? Communities across the world have embraced the concept of collective impact, and over the past several years Strive has worked to support this momentum by establishing a Network of more than 90 communities working to build cradle to career collective impact partnerships. With different approaches to collective impact emerging in communities throughout the country, Network members wanted to ensure that the Strive approach remained rigorous, calling for a more defined structure around what it means to do this work with quality. The Theory of Action was created to provide a guide for partnerships who are building and sustaining cradle to career infrastructure. It offers a basic sequence for how the work unfolds and includes a set of quality benchmarks that partnerships can work toward meeting. It will also be a mechanism to hold each other accountable within the network for implementing a collective impact effort with rigor, increasing the consistency of language and approach across communities while still providing a flexible framework to adapt to local context. How did Strive develop the Theory of Action? The origins of the Theory of Action are grounded in numerous efforts to frame, document, and collect feedback from both Network members and internal partners to improve student outcomes using the Strive Framework. 1

8 In 2011, as part of Strive s strategic planning work with the Bridgespan Group, Strive developed a Site Level Theory of Change, which became the first iteration of a theory of action for the work. The Progress Assessment Tool, which was developed in early 2012 to serve as a guide for building cradle to career civic infrastructure, focused on establishing and building a partnership but lacked direction for more mature partnerships. During the 2012 Strive Annual Convening in Milwaukee, Strive asked Network members to begin to think about how to ensure the process of building cradle to career civic infrastructure remains rigorous and focused on improving outcomes for students, for partnerships at all levels. Convening participants were asked to offer revisions and feedback to the Strive Progress Assessment Tool. Around the same time, another national thought-partner, Child Trends, conducted a pre-evaluation study of the Strive Network providing additional feedback. In late 2012, Strive pulled together all of the feedback and recommendations from thought leaders and created the Theory of Action. The Strive staff revised and vetted this new Theory of Action with leadership from a diverse crosssection of Strive Network members during a meeting in January This began a drafting and revision process that spanned over three months and incorporated feedback from more than forty key stakeholders (Network members and key advisors). The launch of the Theory of Action in April 2013 is staged as a soft launch, and the Strive staff will continue to solicit feedback on the Theory over the next six months in order to finalize the Theory in January How does the Theory of Action differ from the Strive Framework for Building Cradle to Career Civic Infrastructure? Strive developed the Framework for Building Cradle to Career Civic Infrastructure to provide an adaptable guide for communities who wish to build cradle to career collective impact partnerships. The Theory of Action is not separate from the Framework, but lives within the Framework, adding a higher level of rigor by sequencing quality benchmarks that partnerships should strive to hit as they work across the Framework toward becoming a proof point. The benchmarks are organized vertically by the four pillars of the Strive Framework: [1] Shared Community Vision, [2] Evidence-based Decision Making, [3] Collaborative Action and [4] Investment and Sustainability; and horizontally by four Gateways: [1] Exploring, [2] Emerging, [3] Sustaining, and [4] Systems Change. The benchmarks serve as a more detailed guide for the steps that a community should take in order to build and sustain a partnership that achieves improved cradle to career outcomes. How is the Theory of Action used by Strive staff? Strive s Theory of Action serves as a method for determining which partnerships comprise the Cradle to Career Network. Partnerships that wish to join the Network must meet the benchmarks within the Theory of Action's Exploring Gateway. Partnerships must also continually work towards becoming a Proof Point, committing to meet all Theory of Action benchmarks over time. Strive will structure the Network around the four Gateways, categorizing member partnerships by Gateway and aligning Network offerings and benefits to specific Gateways beginning in May When will my cradle to career partnership be expected to meet the benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway? The period of time between April and December 2013 is considered a soft launch for the Theory of Action and quality benchmarks. 2

9 Current members (as of April 1, 2013): Current Cradle to Career Network members will have until December 31, 2013 to demonstrate that they have met the benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway. Beginning in 2014, Network members who have not met the benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway will transition out of the Network. New Members: Beginning in May 2013, any new partnership wishing to join the Cradle to Career Network will need to meet all benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway. What happens if my partnership does not meet the benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway within the given timeframe? Will we still be considered a Network member and have access to the resources from the Strive Network? Current (as of April 1, 2013) Network member partnerships have until December 31, 2013 to meet the benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway. If the Exploring benchmarks are not met by that point, the partnership will no longer be considered a member of the Strive Cradle to Career Network and will not receive Network member benefits. At that point, the partnership can choose to receive Strategic Assistance from Strive in order to help the partnership meet those Exploring benchmarks. The partnership can also utilize the Interactive Theory of Action Tool and a Getting Started Toolkit that will be developed. Strive is pushing partnerships to meet the Exploring benchmarks because our experience has shown us that partnerships unable to meet these initial benchmarks within a reasonable timeframe have a limited chance of success at building and sustaining civic infrastructure. How will Strive determine whether or not my cradle to career partnership has met certain benchmarks? An assessment process is being developed to help partnerships understand which of the quality benchmarks they have met and where they need to focus their work in order to progress through the Gateways. Beginning with the launch of the Theory of Action in April 2013, the Interactive Theory of Action tool located on the Strive website, will include a set of questions for each benchmark. By answering these questions, a partnership can better determine whether they ve met the benchmark. In late May/early June, 2013, Strive plans to make available an online self-assessment tool that will direct partnerships to a more detailed set of questions to answer, along with artifacts to produce, around the appropriate Gateway (Exploring, Emerging, Sustaining, Systems Change) in order to demonstrate they have met the benchmarks within that Gateway and to help them proceed into the next Gateway. Completion of this assessment process will include a conversation with a Strive team member. As with the launch of the Theory of Action, this is a soft launch of the assessment process. Through this soft launch, Strive will work with an evaluation firm to refine the assessment questions and process. In October 2013, Strive will launch a refined version of the assessment process, and partnerships wishing to remain in the Network will need to participate in this assessment process in order to officially be categorized into one of the four Gateways. Partnerships must be formally assessed before December What is the purpose of the assessment process? The assessment process is structured to help partnerships understand where they are in terms of the Theory of Action Gateways and which benchmarks they need to meet in order to move toward becoming a Proof Point. The process is not intended to be punitive. Strive will work to organize Network resources and support around these benchmarks and Gateways, directing partnerships toward appropriate tools, resources, and strategic assistance, as well as helping partnerships connect with others working on the same issues. The assessment process also serves as an accountability measure and a way for partnerships to demonstrate their commitment to working to meet quality benchmarks. 3

10 What is the Commitment to Quality? As part of the launch of the Theory of Action, Strive is asking partnerships to sign on the Commitment to Quality. With this commitment, partnerships agree to meet the benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway in order to join the Network, and work towards meeting benchmarks in the Emerging, Sustaining and Systems Change Gateways to move toward becoming a Proof Point partnership. The Commitment has four components that partnerships commit to: 1. Assess and share progress of the Partnership using the Theory of Action 2. Work with Strive staff and Network members to refine the Theory of Action throughout the soft launch 3. Build the necessary local data management infrastructure to collect, analyze, and report data 4. Model a commitment to continuous improvement by sharing successes and failures related to how the partnership has applied learning in operations and implementation What is the process for signing the Commitment to Quality? The Commitment to Quality is available to download from the Strive website and Strive Partner Portal. Partnerships should print the Commitment, share with the leadership of the Partnership, agree to the components, and then the Site Lead and Chair of the Leadership Table must sign the Commitment. The signed Commitment should then be uploaded onto the Theory of Action Learning Circle within the Strive Partner Portal (contact Kelly Robinson at robinsonk@strivenetwork.org with questions). How are the Theory of Action and Commitment to Quality connected? Partnerships who sign the commitment to Quality are agreeing to work towards achieving the quality benchmarks outlined in the Theory of Action. Partnerships also are committing to regularly assess their progress using the Theory of Action, and participating in the continual refinement of the quality benchmarks. What if my partnership chooses not to sign the Commitment to Quality? Signing the Commitment to Quality serves as demonstration of a partnership s desire to continue to participate in the Strive Cradle to Career Network. Partnerships choosing not to sign the Commitment should reach out to a Strive team member for a discussion as to why they are not comfortable signing. The Strive team will make every effort to work with partnerships on a case by case basis to understand why they are unable to sign. Current plans are that anyone wishing to attend the Strive Annual Convening in September 2013 must be affiliated with a partnership that has signed the Commitment to Quality. If a Partnership does not sign the Commitment to Quality by September 1, 2013, the partnership will no longer be considered a member of the Strive Cradle to Career Network and will not receive Network member benefits. What tools/resources are available to help my Partnership achieve the quality benchmarks outlined in the Theory of Action? Several tools and resources are available through the Strive Network to help support partnerships as they work to achieve the quality benchmarks outlined in the Theory of Action. These tools/resources include: Strive Partner Portal online resource clearinghouse and interactive portal where communities who are working to build cradle to career civic infrastructure can connect with one another and access templates, stories, and examples to support their work. Communities can also use the Portal to participate in a Learning Circle focused on the Theory of Action. A getting started toolkit is being developed for release in June 2013 that will include tools for communities working to meet the quality benchmarks within the Exploring Gateway. 4

11 Interactive Theory of Action Tool located on the Strive Network website the Interactive Theory of Action Tool has been developed to provide [1] a set of core definitions of key terms within the Theory of Action, [2] a collection of examples or stories from the field relating to each quality benchmark, and [3] a set of guiding questions to help communities determine where they are in relation to the quality benchmarks and gateways. Strive Strategic Assistance Strive works more intensively with some communities working to build cradle to career civic infrastructure through the provision of strategic assistance. This strategic assistance is provided on a fee-for-service basis to communities. Strive delivers two types of assistance: [1] Design Institute a 4-6 month process designed to help communities achieve key benchmarks in the Exploring and Emerging Gateways, and [2] Collaborative Action Assistance a more tailored strategic assistance engagement, in which the Strive team works with a community to build and support collaborative action networks and meet quality benchmarks within the Sustaining and Systems Change Gateways. What is the timeline for the soft launch of the Theory of Action? The launch of the Theory of Action is staged as a soft launch, so that Strive staff can continue to solicit feedback on the Theory and refine accordingly. This soft launch occurs mid April 2013 with high-level overview webinars going over the Theory of Action on the 16th and 25th. To dig deeper into the content of the Theory of Action, Strive is hosting four additional 'deep-dive' webinars that go over in detail the different benchmarks in each gateway the week of April 29th. As with the Theory of Action itself, the assessment process is in a soft launch phase. An assessment process will be launched in May 2013, however Strive staff will be working with an evaluation firm and Network members over the following few months to think through how best to assess whether or not partnerships have met quality benchmarks and refine the assessment process accordingly. During the soft launch, assessment is voluntary but recommended. Partnerships who wish to understand where they fall along the quality benchmark continuum should do the selfassessment and schedule a follow-up call with a member of the Strive team. This will help the partnership know where to focus during the Annual Convening in September, which tools to access in the portal and which benchmarks to work toward achieving. From the launch of the assessment in May to the Strive Cradle to Career Network Convening in September, Strive will be working to provide resources and support to help Partnerships achieve the quality benchmarks. Strive Staff will be developing a "Getting Started Toolkit" to be launched in June 2013 which will focus on helping communities to meet the exploring benchmarks. 5

12 The Strive Cradle to Career Network Convening will take place September 25-27, 2013 in Dallas, TX. The theme - "Gateways to Quality: raising the bar of collective impact together" is reflective of the Network's shift toward quality and content will be designed to reflect this theme and the Convening sessions will be organized by Gateways and Benchmarks. Through the soft launch, while Strive is not requiring Partnerships to do an assessment, they are asking Partnerships to sign onto a Commitment to Quality. All Network members who wish to attend the 2013 convening will sign the Commitment to Quality. Following the Strive Cradle to Career Network Convening, Strive will be asking all network members to participate in a formal assessment and provide evidence to demonstrate how they've met specific benchmarks. This will become a requirement of Network membership. In January 2014, Strive plans to officially launch the Theory of Action and Quality Benchmarks. This version will include all the necessary edits and revisions suggested during the soft launch process and mark the full implementation of a more rigorous approach to collective impact in the Network. 6