Preliminary Site Information
In this section, provide a short description of the organization, including pertinent contextual information (for example, type of organization, purpose of organization, pertinent demographic information).
Notes
This section should be no more than 1–2 paragraphs. The purpose of this background information is to introduce your site and provide context for the sections that follow.
Your Role in or Relationship with the Organization
In this section:
• Describe and explain your role in the organization.
• Explain the nature of your relationship with the organization (if not employed by the organization).
• Discuss briefly how your role at or relationship to the organization and the problem of practice are connected. For example, if you are a financial aid director and the problem of practice is a gap in meeting and maintaining the standards of federal financial aid, describe how compliance is an integral part of your job. If you are a principal, you are accountable in your role as instructional leader for the performance of your teachers.
• Describe and analyze any potential conflict of interest as a result of your role at the organization. Think about your potential dual of role of a both leader and an applied researcher while you complete your Applied Improvement Project.
Notes
This is the one and only section within the problem of practice needs assessment signature assignment that can and should be written in the first-person voice.
Reminder
You will need the appropriate permissions to implement the action part of your applied project and to collect, analyze, and report on your data. If you have not already done so, discuss your proposed project with your institution’s leadership, including the need for site permission to implement the project.
Statement of the Problem
In this section, describe the problem of practice. The problem of practice will most likely emerge from an organizational performance gap between a current unacceptable state and an ideal or improved state. Then, if that is the case for your organization, begin with the statement, “The problem of practice at [insert organization] is the gap between . . . [identify the ideal or improved outcome] and . . . [identify the current outcome].” The statement should be one sentence or no more than two sentences. Follow the problem of practice statement by describing the problem of practice more fully. This section should be no more than 2–3 paragraphs. Be concise in your description of the problem that needs to be addressed.
Carefully consider the scope of your problem. If the organizational problem of interest to you is a large problem with multiple causes that would require a multifaceted approach from different areas of the organization to improve outcomes, it may be possible to delineate a smaller aspect of the problem that you will address. Keep in mind that during EDD9954, a ten-week course, you will implement the intervention, evaluation, or solution, collect and analyze data, and begin to write your monograph so the breath and scope of the AIP cannot be too large to address in that short period. Also keep in mind that you cannot address the problem by implementing an intervention if you have no authority in the organization to do so. Your ability to collaborate with others and exercise influence in your organization will also help determine the scope of your project. Your applied project will most likely address a problem that represents an organizational performance gap and should be one in which an intervention could result in improvements that matter to your organization. On the other hand, avoid problems that are too narrow or trivial.
There might be variations on the problem of practice and how it is stated. For example, if a formative or summative program evaluation is required, the problem can be described as the need for an evaluation followed by a concise but complete description of the program to be evaluated. If the organization needs a new process developed that might also be viewed as a product such as, for example, a change management plan, an advisory board, a new internship or externship, or a scholarly journal for their organizational members, the problem of practice can be described as a need for developing the new process/product followed by a brief description of what the needed new process/product will entail.
Notes
Do not confuse a problem with a solution. A problem that is stated as a lack of training is usually a solution in disguise, not the problem. If you find yourself thinking that lack of professional development or training is the problem, ask yourself why it is a problem. What problems exist for which training could be a solution? What are the performance problems that training will appear to alleviate or solve? Examples of performance problems are too much teacher-led instruction, below average student performance, increasing discipline issues, poor wound-care assessment and documentation in a hospital, and financial aid office compliance problems. It is possible that training is a way to address the problem, but there could be other approaches as well (for example, tutoring, mentoring, better hiring practices, and changes to working conditions or environment).
A comprehensive understanding of the problem is the key to accurately framing the problem—and how you frame the problem forms the foundation for the design of an action plan. An accurate, precise statement of the problem can be difficult to write and may require several revisions. A statement of the problem should be finalized only after careful assessment of relevant data, evidence, and the problem’s performance gap and causal analyses.
Do not describe your intervention or provide a rationale for your intervention or evaluation in this section. This section is focused on defining and framing the problem only.
This section should be no more than 2–3 paragraphs. Be concise in your description of the problem that needs to be addressed.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Data and Evidence
In this section, provide a narrative about the evidence that supports your problem of practice statement. Your problem statement and your assertions about it need to be substantiated with data and evidence. Data and evidence should be convincing and should be aligned with your problem. When possible, include tables, charts and graphs. Data and evidence should be presented so that the reader would come to the same problem definition that you do, given the data provided.
This section is also supported by your gap analysis and the Ishikawa fishbone diagram or other root causal map. These documents are to be placed in appendices. Put the gap analysis in Appendix A. Put the Ishikawa fishbone or other root causal map in Appendix B. Discuss the use of the gap analysis and Ishikawa fishbone diagram and what you found in completing these documents.
Supporting data and evidence may include:
• Records and existing organizational data to which you have access, such as persistence or survey data (that is, surveys that have been conducted in the past by the organization), teacher observation data, achievement data, or other data routinely collected and
archived by your organization.
• Information or knowledge you have about the problem through firsthand experience (for example, at staff meetings, informal conversations, observations, or review of student work).
• Interviews or information gathering you conducted to learn more about the problem.
• Evidence used to conduct your gap or root causal analysis.
• Evaluations or results of past efforts to address the problem.
Potential Root Causes
In this section, summarize your root causal analysis (from Appendix B) and explain the potential root causes of the problem of practice or performance gap and related factors contributing to the problem or gap gleaned from your root cause analysis.
Gap Analysis (Appendix A)
Post your gap analysis template accompanied by a brief description of who was involved in developing or providing feedback for the analysis and a brief narrative analysis of the gaps.
Highlight any missing or incomplete data and explain.
Causal Analysis (Appendix B)
Post your root causal analysis (for example, Ishikawa fishbone diagram) accompanied by a brief analysis of the causes of the problem or gaps and related factors contributing to the problem or gaps.
Notes
Be specific about the evidence that supports your definition and analysis of the problem and connect the evidence to your problem statement.
For example:
- Suppose the problem in your school is instructional practices that are mostly teacher- centered methods. Sources of data could be teacher evaluations, classroom observation, or lower than expected student achievement data. Do not simply name the data sources. Be sure to explain your evaluation of evidence and data and use them to explain how they support your problem statement. Provide an example to help readers understand how the evidence supports your definition of the problem.
- Suppose your college or university has a compliance problem in the financial aid department. A formal audit would be a good source of evidence that there is, indeed, a compliance problem. Be sure to explain your evaluation of evidence and data and use them to explain how they support your problem statement. Provide an example to help readers understand how the evidence supports your definition of the problem.
- Suppose your organization is preparing for reaccreditation. It is discovered that the program evaluations after the last accreditation visit were not conducted. The previous accreditation report that stipulates the requirement of program evaluations would be a good source of data, as would evidence of the negative consequences of a visit that would put the organization’s accreditation status at risk. In addition, programs that are rarely evaluated may indicate other problems, such as lack of leadership, management, or degree programs that are not current.
If possible, provide evidence from multiple sources. Again, describe the evidence and explain why it supports your problem statement. As noted above, an example can be helpful. Your aim is to provide a compelling case that how you define and frame the problem and its cause (or causes) are the result of comprehensive inquiry and supported by data and evidence. This is important in terms of how you will address the problem.
Avoid stating your opinions. Do not make assertions without supporting examples, evidence, explanation, or additional information.
Do not describe your intervention or provide a rationale for your intervention in this section. This section defines, frames, and provides evidence only for the problem.
This section should be no more than 2–3 paragraphs. Be concise in your description of the problem that needs to be addressed.
If you include a table within the data and evidence section, ensure the table is APA formatted. See the APA publication manual 7th ed. Chapter pp. 195-224. If you include a chart, ensure the chart is formatted as an APA figure. See APA 7th ed. pp. 225-250. Tables or charts provided as Appendices do not need to follow APA formatting guidelines.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Organizational Context Analysis
In this section, provide information about the setting in which the problem occurs, that is, your project site. Present a portrait of your organization with respect to:
• The problem and its history at the site, including how the problem has been addressed in the past and results of those efforts to address it.
• The organization’s mission and values.
• The organization’s culture, including political, social, and economic factors.
• The assumptions about the problem held by organizational leadership, staff, and other personnel or stakeholders.
• Organizational factors that would support a project to address the problem’s causes.
• Organizational factors that could be barriers to or hinder an improvement project to address the problem.
• The extent and nature of your collaboration with others at your site.
Notes
Applied improvement projects and cycles of inquiry are generally considered collaborative processes by definition. They are done with others (not to others). Explain how you engaged or worked with others to identify and define the problem of practice, to process root causes and factors that contribute to the problem, and/or to identify potential approaches to addressing the problem.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Scope and Significance of the Problem
In this section, develop one brief paragraph explaining the scope of the problem and thus your AIP. Scope refers to the range of activities, processes, organizational sub-groups and or specific people involved as a result of the problem that will be the focus of your AIP. Develop one or more paragraphs reflecting the significance of the problem of practice. Justify the problem as a basis for a doctoral-level project. Your project should have implications for change and impact at the organizational level.
Notes
The problem’s significance may be explained in terms of:
• The number of people who are affected and who may be positively impacted or affected if you address the problem.
• The impact on organizational systems.
• The impact to the organization or departments as a whole.
• Any linkage to organizational goals and objectives.
• Its duration.
• Its implications beyond the institution or organization.
• The strength of leadership’s commitment to addressing it because of its
significance or importance.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Theory of Action
Working with stakeholders in your organization, draw upon your causal and organizational context analysis to develop a theory of action that could be constructed to address one or more root causes of the problem. A theory of action, sometimes referred to as a theory of change, is best developed in collaboration with other stakeholders.
To complete this section of the Signature Assignment, follow the instructions in the Childress and Marietta (2008) article pp. 4-5 for developing a theory of action. Then, using your completed template as a guide:
• Copy and paste your problem statement into the THEORY OF ACTION section above.
• List your proposed actions and the particular cause of the problem each potential solution or intervention is intended to address. (You may insert the table.)
• Briefly explain how you developed the proposed action in collaboration with others.
• Describe the beliefs and assumptions held by your organization in relation to the problem and the potential solutions or interventions you and your team identified to address it.
• List your if propositions. Do not use a personal pronoun “we” as was used in the Childress and Marietta article. Instead, either use If, or If the organizational leadership,
• Provide your then statement. Explain the outcomes expected when the if propositions are implemented.
Notes
Completing theory of action using the Childress and Marietta article is the preliminary work you will do in preparation of developing the Theory of Action section of your draft needs assessment signature assignment. Once you have worked through Childress and Marietta process, transfer your preliminary work to your draft needs assessment signature assignment by first listing your problem of practice statement. Follow with one or more introductory paragraphs that describe the beliefs and assumptions held by your organization in relation to the problem and the potential solutions or interventions you and your team identified. Complete the assignment by listing your if propositions and your then statements.
The following in an example of how a theory of action can be constructed given a particular problem and organizational context:
Suppose the problem is that an undergraduate science program does not consistently support its highly touted research internship program, with the outcomes that many undergraduate students do not actually have access to internship opportunities. The organization’s stakeholders may need to examine their beliefs about the purpose and benefits of the program and the institution’s responsibility to deliver on its promises. Root causes in this example may include lack of faculty resources to provide opportunities for every student, uneven awareness on the part of staff about the extent of the problem, mismanagement, or lack of expertise to manage the program, and inadequate institutional resources and attention allocated to it.
A theory of action might state a belief that internship experience with research will build more knowledgeable and critical thinkers, motivate students to conduct their own research, foster interest in science, create closer ties between students and faculty and/or between students and community, and increase employability. The organization may believe such experiences will benefit every student and provide opportunities for some to demonstrate talent that might not have been visible in regular classrooms. Further, the organization might believe that it has a responsibility to cultivate and support scientific inquiry at the undergraduate level to prepare researchers of the future, and that current barriers include overburdened faculty, lack of institutional resources to operate the program, fragmented and incomplete information available to students about how to locate internship opportunities, and ineffective operating procedures to track and manage the program.
If these are the organization’s beliefs that rise to the surface (during discussion with stakeholders), then the following actions, tied to root causes, would be expected to improve access to internships.
IF the organizational leadership:
• Engages a faculty taskforce to reassess and define the purpose of the internship program.
• Prepares information for students, including timelines and how to information (that is, where to find opportunities, how to apply, and when to apply).
• Prepares marketing information targeting the larger community to develop additional internship options.
• Allocates sufficient resources to support tracking and management of the program.
THEN, all students in the program will have better information and accessibility to internships, and the percentage of students completing internships will approach 100%.
Note the then statement represents the expected outcomes of implementing the if statements. Your theory of action may be too large in scope for a doctoral project if your if statements address multiple root causes or are too complex to implement. For example, you could not address all the causes of a sizable student achievement gap in a single project. Your project, however, should be designed to address at least one of them. If you must limit the scope of your project, the expected outcomes of your project should align with a narrower scope. Outcomes must reflect the activities and tasks that were actually implemented.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Proposed Approaches to the Problem of Practice
In this section, you will move from your theory of action to proposed approaches to addressing the problem of practice. Your if statements are good places to begin. You will also explain who has been involved in discussions about the problem and potential ways to address it at your site. From these potential ways to address the problem, you will choose one that you propose to implement as your doctoral project. You will then discuss how your proposed project will potentially lead to decreasing a performance gap you identified when analyzing the problem of practice.
The approach may be an intervention or solution that could be implemented to address the problem, an evaluation of a key program or process that is germane to the problem, or a combination of actions. The approach (that is, intervention, solution, evaluation, taskforce, or other) must be shown to address one or more root causes you identified in your causal analysis. Review your research and literature review findings, the gaps you identified earlier, and the analysis you conducted of the causes of the problem (including systemic factors) and follow the instructions below.
Instructions
- Explain who has been involved in discussions about the problem and potential ways to address it at your site and how participants were involved.
- Propose and discuss two or more potential solutions or interventions for one or more of the root causes that were identified. Your proposed approaches to address the problem must align with the root causes you identify. An approach can potentially address more than one root cause.
- Identify and evaluate the potential approach to addressing the problem that is your preferred approach and that you propose as your doctoral project using the following criteria:
• The alignment of the approach, intervention, or solution with one or more root causes of the problem.
• Alignment with institutional mission, vision, and values.
• Your authority or ability in the organization to design and implement the intervention, solution, evaluation, or other actions.
• Organizational support for the approach.
• Feasibility (based on cost, available resources, and time) of the approach.
• Potential legal, regulatory or ethical implications (may be related to feasibility) of the approach.
• Dependencies (for example, whether the approach is dependent on other changes happening first or, conversely, necessitates further changes to effectively decrease the performance gap).
• Implications or consequences for the larger system within which your organization is situated. - State the expected outcomes of the project. These may be stated as the potential decreases to the performance gap should the approach be implemented successfully. The expected outcomes must be aligned with the project’s activities and tasks. Likewise, the activities and tasks must address one or more causes of the problem. Limit your outcomes to what can actually be achieved through your proposed project’s activities. The outcomes should align and be consistent with your then statement in your theory of action.
If your project will be an evaluation of a program or process:
• Provide a short description of the program or process that will be the focus of your doctoral evaluation project. Be concise but include all major program or process components.
• Explain the need for the proposed program evaluation and why it is important as a means of addressing the problem of practice.
If your project will be the development of a new process/product:
• Provide a short description of the process/product that will be the focus of your Applied Improvement Project (AIP). Be concise but include all major process/product components.
• Explain the need for the proposed process/product and why it is important as a means of addressing the problem of practice.
If the intervention, solution, or evaluation that you are proposing as your doctoral project is part of a larger organizational initiative or project, please explain how the study intersects with the larger initiative and how your role fits in relation to the larger project or improvement team.
Include citations from the literature that informed your proposed ways to address the issue. If your review of the literature does not inform your proposed approaches, explain why not. Suggest further areas and directions for research, including gaps and other missing information necessary to fully understand the issue and its context within the larger system.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Alignment of the Doctoral Project to Your Specialization
Your doctoral project must be clearly aligned with your area of specialization. Refer to the EdD Programs of Professional Practice document. Your project should be designed, implemented, and reported so that you are able to demonstrate at least two of your specialization’s outcomes at a proficient level.
In this section, refer to your specialization’s outcomes to complete the following:
• Review the specialization outcomes for your specialization.
• Choose a minimum of two specialization outcomes with which your doctoral project is aligned.
• Prepare a statement for each specialization outcome chosen that is no more than one paragraph that explains how your project is aligned to the outcome and will allow you to demonstrate the outcome.
• Conclude with a statement that explains how your doctoral project will expand knowledge and inform practice within your specialization.
You must go beyond simply stating that your proposed doctoral project is aligned with a particular specialization outcome. You must discuss in specific terms how your project aligns with each specialization outcome, how the project enables you to demonstrate each specialization outcome, and how the project will expand knowledge and inform practice in your area of specialization.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
EdD Programs of Professional Practice.
Rationale for the Project
In this section, provide a rationale for the way you propose to address the problem. Be brief. Write no more than one to three sentences per question.
• How will the way you propose to address the problem benefit your organization and its stakeholders?
• Why is it the best way to address the problem?
• Why would your organization support the implementation of your project? How will the project affect or matter to the organization?
• How will the organization be supportive of your project? (Support may include leadership support and/or collaboration, stakeholder support and/or collaboration, access to resources, and organizational cultural or political factors.)
• How will you overcome any organizational barriers or obstacles related to obtaining site permission to conduct your project?
Notes
The rationale statement may include the number of people who will be impacted or affected by your project, its impact to the organization or departments, any linkage to existing organizational goals and objectives, its duration, the implications beyond the institution or organization, and/or the strength of leadership commitment to the development of the product.
Resources
Applied Improvement Process: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating a Cycle of Inquiry media.
Site Permission
In this section, provide the name and title of the individual at the project site that has provided you conditional permission for your applied improvement project.
Conditional permission indicates that your site supports your project as outlined thus far in the EDD9951 signature assignment. One of your signature assignments in EDD9952 will be to complete your final doctoral project action plan. Your site must provide final site permission after review of your completed signature assignment action plan.
Indicate which one of the following applies to your doctoral project site:
• The project site’s Institutional Review Board will need to approve the project prior to implementation.
• The project site does not require Institutional Review Board review for the doctoral project.
Notes
If you do not have conditional permission, briefly describe:
• What you have done so far to gain the support you will need from leaders in your organization.
• What you still need to do in order to obtain the appropriate written permission to implement your project at your site. • What you will do if you do not receive permission to conduct your project at the site.
Alignment and Consistency of all Assignment Components
A final criterion is included in the signature assignment scoring guide that addresses the alignment of all components of the assignment. The criterion addresses the need for all components to be described in a consistent manner throughout the assignment. For example, the problem of practice would be described in the same language and with the same scope wherever it is referred to in the assignment. Additional aspects of the problem would not be introduced in the Scope and Significance, the Proposed Approaches to the Problem of Practice, or other sections of the assignment.
The criterion also refers to the need for all components of the assignment to be aligned with each other. For example, this means that the Proposed Approach to the Problem of Practice is clearly related to the Theory of Action content (for example, the if statements), the Theory of Action content is directly connected with the Data and Evidence (in particular, the causal analysis), and the Data and Evidence provide direct support for the Statement of the Problem. Evidence would not be provided for a different problem or for proposed approaches to the problem not related to the causes identified in the causal analysis. Evidence also would not be provided for if statements in the theory of action.
Alignment and consistency of the sections of the assignment are important because applied improvement projects must exhibit clarity of design, precision of language, and logical consistency to be credible. This Problem of Practice Needs Assessment assignment is the foundation for the Action Plan – Signature Assignment, which serves as a doctoral project proposal. Therefore, the ambiguity that results when different parts of the assignment are inconsistent or misaligned must be resolved in order to pass the signature assignment.
Sample Solution