FW: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

Tue Feb 26 12:13:10 EST 2002

-----Original Message-----
From: Mcmullen, Diane [mailto:dmcmulle at bristol.mass.edu]
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 11:41 AM
To: 'Cathy Gannon'
Subject: RE: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

Cathy, et al.

I, for one, am grateful for the extended timeline for creating the assets
and needs report. We are in the second year of our partnership and truly
need the time to implement the plan we've put in motion. We intend to
distribute surveys and run focus groups. Then we need to analyze the
information. Only then can we draft the report. 

Keep in mind that as "good little doobies," we would have met any deadline
imposed on us. If DOE wanted the assets & needs report in June, we would
have complied, but the document produced would have been a summary of what
we already know, a compilation of existing data only. In short, the report
would have met DOE's requirement, but not our own. We want to capture a
meaningful picture of our local needs and gather information that will help
us design services that will have a significant impact on the adults who
responded to our surveys. 

This doesn't mean that we'll use the extra time to create a PHD style
dissertation. What it does mean is that because of the extension, we can
continue to collect data from the constituents of the representatives who
attend each meeting of the partnership. This information is local, authentic
and important to the partners. This is the reason they're willing to invest
time with the Community Partnership. 

I think we all understand the value of community partnerships. What DOE also
needs to remember is that these partnerships are living, breathing entities,
not just categories on paper that can be edited, revised or deleted as if
they only exist in text. We now need to respond to each other's needs as
they emerge, in timelines that also serve the partners, because of the
process that we put in motion. 

I'm not sure how the partnerships will be affected by future budget
considerations, but I thought I'd just add a few thoughts to our
conversation.  

Diane McMullen
Director of Literacy Services
Bristol Community College

-----Original Message-----
From: Cathy Gannon [mailto:CGannon at qcc.mass.edu] 
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 5:11 PM
To: partnerships at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: RE: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

Has anyone found another group whose timeframe for doing a community
assessment is in sync with ours?
Cathy G.

-----Original Message-----
From: aserino at mindspring.com [mailto:aserino at mindspring.com]
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 5:04 PM
To: abrick at channel1.com; aserino at mindspring.com; cgannon at qcc.mass.edu;
partnerships at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: RE: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

O.K., I agree and I would like to add that we may be missing out on
opportunities to leverage other resources for community planning and
coalition building, if the process is too prescriptive.  For example, every
Community Action Program is required to do communtiy planning every three
years.  It would be great to coordinate with them and combine our talents.
Perhaps, there are other groups in the community (School Links Programs,
Health Centers, Housing Coalitions) that do some form of community planning
that we could work with.  If we had enough flexibility, we would be in a
better position to maximize our resources and the community's resources.

Anne

Sorry to hear that you are fighting a cold. 
I'm fine.

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Alan Brickman abrick at channel1.com
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 16:42:26 -0500
To: aserino at mindspring.com, cgannon at qcc.mass.edu,
partnerships at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: Re: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

Hi Anne:

See what happens when you respond to these list serv questions when you
fighting a cold and feeling grouchy....? There are several ways in which the
"cookie cutter" dynamic in terms of the DOE requirements doesn't work for
me.  The calendar, as you say, will be different in different communities.
Also, the human resources: communities with only one funded literacy program
have only a limited number of people who can work on this, and those
communities sometime find it difficult to bring in other agencies and
individuals who don't have the DOE requirement and have their own worries
(especially now with the funding situation as it is). Also, if you believe,
as I do, that a comprehensive "PhD-level" assessment of community assets and
needs is beyond the capacity of the programs (and certainly way beyond what
is possible with the funding that has been made available for this process),
then communities need to pick their shots in terms of the data gathering,
and should, for example, identify assets that are relevant to successfully
implementing specific initiatives or plans that the partnership can
preliminarily identify as relevant to the communtiy's needs.  Some
communities should focus their assets assessment on social service
resources, others on employment training and job placement resources, others
on available classroom space or computer labs, others on vehicles for
communication and community outreach, ..., eveyone can't do everything.
Remember, they also have to get census data, labor market data, learner
focus groups, key informant interviews, etc. for the needs assessment part
of the process. The DOE requirements, and all the communication from DOE on
this, does not allow for community uniqueness in designing and implementing
the assets and needs assessment process. People need to be allowed to do
what is meaningful and feasible in the context of their unique community
circumstances.

Am I ranting?

BTW: How are you?

-- Alan

----- Original Message -----
From: <aserino at mindspring.com>
To: <abrick at channel1.com>; <cgannon at qcc.mass.edu>;
<partnerships at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 4:22 PM
Subject: RE: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment

> Hi Alan,
> Don't hold back - tell us what you really think.  Can you talk a little
bit more about why your groups think that the needs assessment is frivolous?
> Do you think that part of the problem is that the DOE is using the same
schedule for every community - even though the capacity to do community
planning and the "timing" of doing the steps in different communities might
be very different.  Maybe this is an opportunity for communities to take
more control of the process and invent their own "calendar" of steps.
> Anne Serino
>
> Original Message:
> -----------------
> From: Alan Brickman abrick at channel1.com
> Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 15:11:26 -0500
> To: CGannon at qcc.mass.edu, partnerships at lists.literacytent.org
> Subject: Re: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment
>
>
> Hi Cathy:
>
> I am working with two groups on their community assessment. The
postponement
> reinforces for people that this is basically a frivolous
> exercise/funder-hoop-to-jump-through that is unconnected to the
development
> of the partnership. They'll do it, but give it a lesser priority for now,
> and the pushed back due date just means that people can focus on other
> things for a while. There are not sufficient resources to conduct the
> assessment the way that DOE describes it, anyway. May 2003 is so far into
> the 5 year funding cycle, that by the time the data will be available to
> support the strategic planning at the community level, the funding cycle
> will be over.  Another example of how community planning was a wonderful
> idea that was ruined in the way it was implemented.
>
> -- Alan
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Cathy Gannon <CGannon at qcc.mass.edu>
> To: <partnerships at lists.literacytent.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 2:33 PM
> Subject: [Partnerships] due date change of cp a/n assessment
>
>
> > Hi Community Planning Coordinators et al,   I am wondering what effect
the
> > postponement of the community planning assessment of assets and needs
has
> > had upon the work of your partnership.    Are you progressing as you had
> > originally planned?  How have you changed your assessment plan because
of
> > the extra time available?  Has everything gone on the back burner?  Does
> the
> > extra time necessarily mean a better assessment ?
> >
> > We (all of us on this list!) are interested in how you are handling
this.
> >
> > Cathy Gannon
> >
> >
> >
> >
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