changeplan

Change Plan - Public Disaster Preparedness Education

This document is prepared for a course on education and change OTL-505-1 at Colorado State University - Global Campus. As this website is already established, the change plan resides on this page, and is designed to facilitate the development of shared professional presentation resources for instructors in the disaster preparedness program at The American Red Cross, Mile High Chapter. This program is designed to share the already existing course lesson plan and template that has previously been generated for public disaster preparedness education. Implementing the use of online and collaborative tools is the goal of the change plan, a step which will make providing public disaster preparedness education easier for volunteer instructors at The American Red Cross and also increase the efficacy of the courses and improve compliance with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines.

Section 1: Context

This course lesson plan and template and change plan presented here are primarily designed for adult preparedness volunteers who indicate their willingness to teach public disaster preparedness education courses at the Red Cross Preparedness Training Academy (Hixson, 2016a). As instructors we will then work together to peer-review one another's presentation resources and to learn from instructors who have been teaching the courses as they exist before this change. The restructuring of public disaster preparedness education at the Red Cross is necessary to maintain compliance with FEMA guidelines and to work along better with the Incident Command System (ICS) for emergency management that was established after Hurricane Katrina. Participants are volunteers who have the time and resources to commit toward becoming instructors after the initial training at the preparedness training academy event. The population which the instructor teaches to depends largely on the type of presentation expected by the existing infrastructure, either a "Be Red Cross Ready" community preparedness training presentation or "Red Cross Ready Rating" courses which provide certifications for businesses to maintain disaster preparedness awareness. The students are also typically adults in a variety of business or living situations.

Section 2: Data-Driven Need

The shared presentation resource presented here explains data which was collected in support of collaborative working environments for teachers. Dallsgard (2006), demonstrates statistically that collaborative software in learning spaces improves learning outcomes by including collaboration and social learning. Several web logs such as the one at http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/05/25/lesson-study-when-teachers-team-up-to-improve-teaching/ demonstrate empirically that teacher collaboration improves the practice of teaching (MindShift, 2016). Collaboration is one of the key factors of this change plan because as the shared presentation resource illustrates, collaboration also reduces the effort needed from individual instructors while developing peer-reviewed presentation materials for teaching public disaster preparedness education, in a way that makes use of online resources and tools such as in the example lesson plan.

Section 3: Literature Review

Haddow, Bullock & Coppola (2011), in a 4th edition textbook discuss clearly the Incident Command System (ICS) and the guidelines expected for public disaster preparedness education according to the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) recommendations for preparedness, the text first reflects on education programs which had existed before ICS and mentions that the academic approach to preparedness education is becoming increasingly valued. According to Haddow, Bullock & Coppola (2011), preparedness education courses are expected to "1. Present citizens with the facts about what to expect following a major disaster in terms of immediate services. 2. Give the message about their responsability for mitigation and preparedness. 3. Train them in needed lifesaving skills, with an emphasis on decision-making skills, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number. 4. Organize teams so they are an extension of first-responder services, offering immedate help to victims until professional services arrive." (pp. 110-111). The current Be Red Cross Ready infrastructure does not currently by itself offer the education required by these guidelines, but could with a combination of other coursework offered by The Red Cross. A new approach to preparing materials for and instructing public disaster preparedness education coursework is necessary in order to meet the new federal guidelines.

Section 4: Change Plan

This section describes the change plan created for implementing the use of shared resources which had been created for a course on education and change (Hixson, 2016b; Hixson, 2016c; Hixson, 2016d). The system for implementing change is based on course materials designed for that purpose (Hord & Roussin, 2013). Given that the plan is designed to create a system for meeting FEMA CERT guidelines as required by the federal government, and it reduces stakeholder effort in meeting those guidelines, the only concern for this implementation is the resilience of the status quo. Stakeholders will want some guarantee that the outcomes from the preparedness education program will in fact increase compliance with CERT guidelines, as evidenced by the formative assessment built into this change.

Part 1: Strategies for change and the skeletal plan for implementation.

Strategy	Pertinence
Strategy 1: Creating a Shared Vision of the Change: Hord & Roussin (2013), characterize the implementation of change as a process of shared learning. Shea & Bidjerano (2010), characterize shared learning as a self-regulating process of communally developed epistemologies. Creating and offering shared resources for the presentation of course materials allows preparedness instructors to learn about the new material and also rapidly prepare their in-class presentation in a way that still meets or exceeds the CERT guidelines created for disaster preparedness public education.	The preparedness team at The American Red Cross routinely meets and offers preparedness training academy. As a preparedness instructor it is possible to share the online resources created with other instructors, so long as the members of the team are learning about the use of online and shared resources. Creating and distributing examples of shared resources as required by the Colorado State University Global Campus course on change in education facilitates the development of shared meaning and group learning processes as described by Hord & Roussin (2013).
Strategy 2: Planning and Identifying Resources Necessary for the Change: The existing materials for conducting preparedness education courses are out of date and also not appropriate for many audiences. Creating shared resources for instruction during preparedness education requires a background in emergency management and relevant research in the field. Collaborating with other experts at The American Red Cross and also seeking out peer-reviewed research is required for the development of new materials using CERT guidelines.	Standards for preparedness and public disaster education already exist as provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and peer-review research has already been conducted regarding preparedness activity itself. Introducing relevant research while collaborating with other educators is the best way to coalesce the resources needed to implement the shared resources generated.
Strategy 3: Investing in Professional Development/Professional Learning: The platform for developing shared resources is relatively new and previous procedures for creating shared resources are depreciated. It is necessary to facilitate training on the use and development of presentation materials.	Creating example materials for public education is a start in a larger campaign, teaching instructors to create and share their own collaborative materials is essential to bridging the implementation gap. Fortunately, there are a number of synchronous and asynchronous communication strategies facilitated by computer which have already been implemented in The Red Cross. The use of collaborative resources for meeting and discussing the development of teaching materials develops social capital.
Strategy 4: Checking or Assessing Progress: The implemented version of the preparedness education materials that already exist contain a post-hoc assessment.	Change can be facilitated by teaching instructors to use the post-hoc assessment tool, and the data from the tool itself can benchmark the utility of the presentations given.
Strategy 5: Providing Continuous Assistance: Communication is essential in the process of education. Fortunately, there are several channels of synchronous and asynchronous communication available in the existing infrastructure in The American Red Cross, and the level of emergency response does not affect the availability of communications.	The preparedness team already has an existing system for communications with and among preparedness training instructors, the provision of shared materials helps to demonstrate the use of the existing infrastructure and provides consistently available channels for communication and support.
Strategy 6: Creating a Context Conducive to Change: Collaborative materials that are more relevant to the expected FEMA CERT guidelines are helpful to all instructors conducting public disaster education. As instructors learn to share and develop the materials the number of available materials also increases which is incredibly helpful to the entire team.	Successful implementation of shared resources increases the quality of public disaster education and reduces the workload required of trained instructors. The coordinated change being sought is also mutually beneficial to all stakeholders in the preparedness program.

Part 2: Innovation Configuration Map (Hord & Roussin, 2013; Hixson, 2016c).

The innovation configuration map is designed to measure the outcomes associated with a proposed change, by component, where 1 is the most effective outcome for each component and 5 is the least effective.

Innovation Configuration Map

Adapted from http://sdmasterteachers.wikispaces.com/Innovation+Configuration

Change Topic: Implementation of an effective and collaborative public disaster education program according to FEMA CERT Guidelines, instead of existing systems that cannot be measured for accountability.

Component 1: Instructors are aware of and able to use the technology for shared work and collaboration.
	1	2	3	4	5
	Training sessions exist online for the implementation of the specific shared resources used in the presentation of the course. Zoom or WebEx seminars are held to familiarize instructors with the available online resources such as those found on http://www.dxed.org/tpack (Hixson, 2016). Seminars are held in order to demonstrate for instructors Google tools, stormboard.com and piktochart.com. Instructors are ready to collaborate on the development of additional new resources.	During initial training, instructors are made aware of the resources which can be found online, and of the opportunity to collaborate on the development of additional resources. Communication channels are open for the implementation of training sessions described in situation 1.	During initial training, Red Cross leadership make mention of the availability of online tools and resources which could be used for the presentation of public disaster preparedness education courses. Instructors then independently develop frameworks for their own presentations.	During initial training, Red Cross leadership presents opportunities for the development of additional resources in the future of the program.	During initial training, education resources are assumed to exist in the current preparedness training infrastructure and are not mentioned as a part of preparedness training academy.
Component 2: Preparedness instructors are trained to use shared internet resources during the presentation to clients.
	1	2	3	4	5
	All instructors working in the preparedness program state that they implement the shared online resources as a part of the presentation of materials in the field. All instructors demonstrate a willingness to further participate in the development of additional shared materials.	Most instructors working in the preparedness program demonstrate that they have used the online resources available during a presentation and some work continues on the development of additional resources.	Some of the instructors continue to use the now-obsoleted versions of the public disaster education resources with Microsoft powerpoint, and some individuals show a willingness to improve those materials.	Most instructors were either not made aware of the flexibility of teaching materials in the preparedness program, or continue to use obsoleted materials that are not appropriate for all audiences in the public disaster education program.	All of the instructors in the preparedness program utilize the now obsoleted resources for training individuals in the public space.
Component 3: Preparedness instructors are willing to collaborate, develop, and share credible presentation resources for use by all instructors during preparedness presentations.
	1	2	3	4	5
	Time is scheduled and both synchronous and asynchronous communication channels exist as instructors share their experiences using the shared online resources. Instructors meet regularly to continue developing the online program.	Asynchronous communication facilitates collaboration between most or all instructors in the program who share resources and develop additional resources on an as-needed basis.	Some instructors communicate and collaborate about their independent approaches to teaching public disaster preparedness courses. Some instructors utilize only the materials which they had been given initially or developed independently.	Most instructors develop their own presentations and do not communicate with other instructors in the preparedness program.	All instructors maintain the use of now obsoleted materials and no work progresses in terms of collaborating on new presentation materials.

Component 4: Shared resources are consistent, meet CERT guidelines and are well-developed, and accessible to all preparedness instructors.
	1	2	3	4	5
	Reviewing the available online resources used by all instructors in the public disaster preparedness education program shows that the materials being cited during presentation meet FEMA CERT guidelines for public disaster preparedness education. All instructors have access to develop or share the same shared materials.	Instructors collaborate on the development of shared materials but auditing the shared materials shows some weaknesses regarding the CERT standards required by FEMA for public disaster preparedness education. Most instructors have access to the shared material.	Some instructors are working independently and an effective measure of the compliance with FEMA CERT expectations is difficult to obtain. Instructors would have access to shared materials if they were aware of them.	Most instructors are creating independent presentations for public disaster preparedness education and upon review some may meet FEMA CERT guidelines and some may not.	FEMA CERT guidelines and shared materials are not discussed as a part of instructor training and it is unlikely that the CERT standards are being met by the preparedness program.
Component 5: Preparedness instructors are trained to use the shared resource developed for post-hoc assessment of the effectiveness of presentations, and are willing to include the results of the assessments in the next generation of shared materials.
	1	2	3	4	5
	All instructors are made aware of the available post-hoc assessment (See Appendix I). And the associated workbooks for measuring the performance of classes according to the stated standards and the development of lesson plans. http://www.dxed.org/course_templates (Hixson, 2015).	Some instructors run the post-hoc assessment and measuring the efficacy of the preparedness program is still possible. Where needed instructors have access to modify the post-hoc assessment to meet their needs.	The post-hoc assessment is not routinely run and the efficacy of the preparedness program is difficult to measure.	Most instructors are not using any kind of assessment.	Accountability and efficacy are not topics covered during instructor training in the preparedness program.

Appendix I. Post-hoc assessment form

Part 3: Stages of Concern and Levels of Use

In previous coursework I had explained a concern that the Hourd & Roussin (2013), stages of concern concept was actually a complicated concept that really only elaborated on the level of awareness stakeholders share in the implementation of the change. In the current coursework, workable interventions are required for each of the seven strata of community awareness and levels of use. What follows is an adaptation of the Hord & Roussin (2013) stages of concern as well as the levels of use required by the change plan. This adaptation is based on social cognitive theory and social learning for the motivation of change as described in an article that elaborates the stages of social involvement and self-enhancement that contribute to self-esteem through participation in social groups (Tasdemir, 2011).

Strata of community awareness	Level of use (Hord & Roussin, 2013)	Intervention plan
Stage 0: Unaware of the need for change	Non-Use	Outreach communications include an e-mail list, volunteer connection system scheduling, and phone conversations with volunteers.
Stage 1: Aware there is an idea for change, but unaware of the details of proposed change.	Orientation	Example materials are available online http://www.dxed.org/tpack
Stage 2: Self-identification with the need for change, but not a full stakeholder in the suggested change.	Preparation	It may be necessary to delegate responsibility to find the right level of engagement for each volunteer.
Stage 3: Aware of and engaging as a stakeholder for change, but aware of potential conflicting needs.	Mechanical	Since there is preparedness course presentation benchmark and evaluation statistic created by the post-hoc evaluation, instructors may wish to increase the performance of their presentations. E-mail or telephone communications can help with the collaboration process.
Stage 4: Implementing change and cognizant of it’s potential impacts in the community, engaging with mutual stakeholders.	Routine	Google sites provides the framework for developing lesson plans and materials for each type of presentation. Individuals can contribute to the online presentation content or lesson plan by being given access to the shared resources.
Stage 5: Self-enhancing the change and active with mutual stakeholders, but concerned about stakeholder group status.	Integration	As people begin developing the presentation materials, it may be necessary to encourage creativity and flexibility through communication. The generated course materials are peer-reviewed and all participation should be encouraged.
Stage 6: Engaged in the change implementation and developing leadership strategies among mutual stakeholders, contributing shared resource to group progress.	Renewal	As people move into the leadership role in the training of preparedness educators, they have a more influential voice in the development of materials and the direction of the preparedness program. Communication should encourage autonomy.

Part 4: Monitoring the Implementation

As volunteer instructors move through the strata of community awareness, the way in which they conduct the cited benchmark (shown in appendix I of part 2 above), will demonstrate the efficacy of course presentations and course materials. Receiving the data from completed post-hoc assessments in order to assess the performance of public disaster preparedness education groups, will also provide feedback about the level of use that the instructor is engaged in. As instructors begin to use the assessment tool, and their level of use increases, the amount of data about the performance of the training program increases as does the efficacy of the course presentations themselves which is based on review of the post-hoc assessment in the system demonstrated on this page.

Section 5: Reflection

While working with a team of volunteer educators, the social aspect of learning and teaching becomes relevant as course instructors collaborate to develop shared online course materials for the teaching of public disaster preparedness education. Volunteer instructors will be responsible for formulating the lesson plans and presentations given to the larger student audience, and the progress of the training program will be monitored using an assessment.

The Hord & Roussin (2013), strategies demonstrated in the text on change through learning over-complicates the process of implementation. As you can see in the materials generated according to the system, what was once a simple course lesson plan that is designed to host shared materials, has become a complex innovation with many rich-media elements that are largely not needed in order to properly implement the change. The elements about the system described on this page which are positive all are related to measuring the stakeholders' readiness for change and the need for change itself. The innovation configuration map and the levels of use assessments are not needed to evaluate the performance of the innovation. The provided benchmark formative assessment and the data which is provides can accurately measure the performance of preparedness instruction according to the confidence demonstrated by students in preparedness education. On the page containing the actual lesson plan, a pre-existing template for benchmarking the performance of the innovation exists as shown in a screen capture here.

Figure 1. Be Red Cross Ready Formative Assessment (Hixson, 2016a).

It will be possible to monitor the progress of the innovation by monitoring the statistics generated by the formative assessment. I as a professional am not likely to employ the Hord & Roussin (2013) strategy for implementing change at all, though I am likely to consider my own system for assessing the readiness for change as well as the need for change.

References

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