EPIC-P Cycle for Strengthening State and Entity-Wide Professional Development Support

Needs analysis is a systematic process that helps identify and prioritize the specific learning needs and requirements to enhance PD support that aligns with the organization's goals. This process is crucial in cultivating a learning culture by ensuring that learning initiatives are targeted, relevant, collaborative, ongoing, and effective. By identifying specific strengths and gaps in knowledge, skills, and practices, state systems can design learning solutions that directly build upon the strengths, address the gaps, and distribute resources more effectively by focusing on areas that impact growth and performance most. Individuals and teams, in turn, acquire the skills and knowledge needed to excel in their roles and grow and develop in ways that align with both their career goals and the organization's strategic objectives.

Employees who feel that their learning needs are recognized and addressed are more likely to be engaged and motivated. This can increase job satisfaction and morale and reduce turnover rates. Insights from the needs analysis guide the design of the learning experiences and lead to informed decisions about the types of PD supports to offer, whether to develop those in-house or by collaborating with external partners, and how to allocate resources effectively. Regularly revisiting and updating the analysis helps organizations stay adaptable and responsive to changing trends, innovative technologies, and shifting skill and practice requirements.

• Identify current state and desired future state of the system.
• Identify the system's current priorities and expectations for staff and partners to meet them successfully. Clarify what success would look like by identifying the words and actions of staff and partners when they meet expectations for priorities. Agree on current strengths, learning needs, and potential learning solutions. Identify key individuals or groups that must shift practices, attitudes, and behaviors.
• Identify challenges to accessing PD and solutions to remove challenges.
• Identify existing PD resources that positively impact changes and improvements and leverage those resources to meet performance and learning needs.
• Translate system priorities into professional learning objectives. Generate recommendations for potential learning solutions and other organizational interventions, that support staff and partners in meeting system priorities and methods for evaluating learning outcomes and objectives.

• Gather, analyze, and discuss the context and stories behind qualitative and quantitative data. Include representation and experiences from those most impacted by PD activities, including families.
• Identify target audiences for PD activities and the essential knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes they need to meet system priorities. Then, pinpoint the customized support required to make learning experiences more relevant and practical for them.
• Discuss how to leverage existing and potential PD resources. Consider partnerships, collaboration opportunities with cross-sector external partners, and untapped internal expertise and talent at all system levels. Optimize resources by targeting specific areas that require development and strengthening.
• Identify existing challenges to providing and accessing PD activities that build upon the strengths and meet the learning needs of team members and partners. Generate meaningful and relevant solutions for removing those challenges by including those who experience the challenges in seeking solutions.
• Identify which solutions will prompt PD experiences and which require other types of organizational or systemic changes.

State Leadership Team (SLT)

• The SLT brings together representatives from different sectors, roles, and levels within the organization to ensure a variety of perspectives is involved in identifying and understanding learning needs. Different perspectives bring unique expertise, and the SLT can leverage this collective knowledge to enhance the quality of the needs analysis process. Having representatives from multiple sectors allows the team to identify emerging trends in implementing IDEA and across early childhood efforts to support including children with disabilities in learning environments with same-aged peers, including priorities, workforce demands, and technology.
• The cross-sector team can plan for the long term by anticipating how learning needs might evolve and developing strategies to stay ahead of those changes.
• The team makes informed decisions for prioritizing learning needs and communicates professional learning support to key partners to foster buy-in, alignment, partnerships, and collaboration.
• The SLT can also consider how the needs analysis affects policies and resource allocation.
• The SLT's involvement in the needs analysis encourages their ownership and understanding of PD support, including addressing challenges and monitoring progress.

Professional Development Network (PDN)

• The PDN of implementation coaches and trainers contributes deep knowledge of subject matter and specific practices to help map the identified learning needs to specific skills and competencies, ensuring that the analysis is actionable and leads to meaningful outcomes.
• Their understanding of industry trends and best practices helps pinpoint areas that require improvement. They can identify patterns, trends, and areas of concern and help prioritize learning needs based on their understanding of the learning landscape.
• Their observations of learners' performance and behavior can shed light on areas that may require further development. They can identify patterns of strengths and weaknesses and gather feedback on what learners perceive as their learning needs and areas for improvement.
• They can provide insights into how different individuals or teams prefer to learn and can identify recurring challenges that individuals or teams face in their roles.

Implementation Sites

• Leaders, practitioners, and partners from implementation sites have firsthand knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of the work environment, unique community context, culture, resources, challenges, and learning needs.
• Their insights provide a practical perspective that enhances the accuracy and relevance of the analysis. They can provide insights into how learning needs are influenced by the specific challenges and opportunities within their setting.
• Implementation sites can identify gaps in skills, knowledge, and competencies based on their daily experiences and pinpoint areas where individuals or teams struggle or face challenges.
• They can break down job roles and tasks to identify the specific skills and competencies needed to perform effectively. They can share real-world scenarios that highlight learning needs and emphasize the practical application of skills.

Data and Evaluation Systems

• Evaluation data can make the needs analysis more data-driven, targeted, and aligned with organizational goals.
• Data on the effectiveness of past PD initiatives can reveal which areas saw the most improvement and which ones need further attention.
• Employee feedback gathered through surveys or evaluations can provide insights into their perceived learning needs, helping shape the needs analysis.
• Feedback collected from families can reveal areas where staff need additional PD support.
• Organizations that assess data on performance, impact, and alignment with goals can prioritize learning needs that have the greatest potential for positive outcomes.
• Integrating data and evaluation systems ensures that feedback loops are established, allowing needs analyses to evolve based on continuous assessment.

• Trusting Relationships
• Collaborative Partnering
• Effective Communication
• Partnerships for Resource Integration
• Use of Implementation, Improvement, and System Change Frameworks

PD design planning is a strategic and thoughtful process that involves creating effective and engaging learning experiences for individuals or teams within an organization. Comprehensive professional learning design that uses proven instructional strategies and methodologies creates a structured, effective, and engaging learning experience that aligns with the goals of both the learners and the organization. It acknowledges the variety of contexts of the workforce, geographical regions, communities, and children and families. Well-designed professional learning engages participants by using varied interactive and dynamic methods.

Design planning ensures that learning experiences are tailored to the specific needs and roles of the participants. This relevance increases learners' likelihood of directly applying what they have learned to their daily tasks and challenges. Effective design planning considers various learning modalities, accommodating different learning styles and preferences.

The design process includes considering a variety of ways to address learning priorities and needs, understanding that the learning solution may not necessarily need to be a training event. Rather, it could be a microlearning module, a job aid handout, informational video or guidance document, self-study with follow up conversations, and other options. Design incorporates techniques to enhance knowledge retention, such as connecting to prior knowledge and experiences, spaced repetition, "chunking" of information, practice and application, and frequent assessments to obtain feedback from learners throughout the learning experience. This ensures that the newly acquired knowledge isn't forgotten shortly after the PD experience.

Designing learning experiences strategically ensures efficient allocation of resources, including time, budget, and personnel. It prevents overwhelming or distracting learners with too much information at once by keeping the focus on specific learning objectives. Professional learning design is the bridge that transforms learning objectives identified through the needs analysis process into engaging and impactful learning experiences by providing a roadmap for the way knowledge is conveyed and how learners are supported to apply that knowledge.

• Outline a structured approach for creating engaging and impactful learning experiences for everyone. Provide a blueprint for delivering and evaluating professional learning experiences and allowing learners to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to their work.
• Review and discuss needs analysis information, including identified learning objectives. Seek clarification and more information as needed to design the learning solutions identified through the needs analysis. Craft specific and measurable learning objectives that outline what learners will achieve by the end of the learning experience. Consider the budget and other resources needed for implementing the learning design to ensure the design plan can be implemented with the necessary resources.
• Acknowledge and address learners' experiences and contexts by partnering with those who will receive learning solutions to better understand a learner-centric perspective on the defined priorities for the system and related learning solutions. Determine content, instructional strategies, and activities based on what is directly aligned to achieving learning objectives and addressing learner motivations, needs, and preferences. Decide on methods to assess learner understanding of content and how they believe the content can apply to their practice and work. Establish mechanisms for learners to receive feedback on their discussion, practice, and progress during and as they apply the learning experience to their practice and work.
• Develop a design plan that includes:
  • Context for the purpose of the experience
  • Target audience
  • Specific purpose
  • A responsibility assignment matrix showing participants in the design, delivery, and evaluation processes
  • Learning session objectives
  • Total length and duration of experience
  • Materials needed
  • Instructional approaches to support adult learning
  • A planning outline of the learning experience including interactive opportunities to support adult learning
  • Planned supports for learning transfer and application
  • A detailed timeline
  • Levels and methods for evaluation of the experience.
• Build flexibility into the plan to accommodate unexpected changes and challenges that may arise during the learning experience.
• Develop a plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the learning design, collecting feedback from learners and other critical perspectives to make iterative improvements.

• Understand learning strengths and needs and clearly define specific, measurable, and achievable learning objectives to guide the design process and serve as benchmarks for success.
• Organize and structure the design based on the objectives. Consider a variety of approaches for the learning experience and supports for learning transfer and application in addition to training.
• Understand and incorporate the various contexts and situations experienced by learners by partnering with those who will receive the learning solutions.
• Design a variety of engaging and interactive learning activities that break down complex topics into logical, applicable concepts and encourage active participation and practical application of concepts. Arrange the learning activities in a logical sequence, considering factors like complexity, skill progression, and the need for reinforcement.
• Select tools, methods, and technologies that can be accessed by all by intentionally considering and addressing past and potential challenges for participating in PD experiences and accommodation needs of learners.
• Identify and curate relevant learning resources, such as textbooks, articles, videos, online modules, and tools that support learning objectives. Determine how technology will enhance the learning experience (for example, online platforms, virtual labs, assistive technology, collaboration tools).
• Design experiences that provide information and reflection questions before the learning event to prepare learners for new learning.
• Design experiences that acknowledge and build upon current strengths and learning, provide opportunities for practice of concepts, and provide time for reflection and exercises to apply learning to work situations and contexts.
• Identify method(s) for evaluating the learning experience and pre- and post- event learning. Create assessments and evaluations that align with the learning objectives. Include formative assessments during the learning process and summative assessments at the end.
• Partner with those who will facilitate learning experiences to ensure the design plan can be implemented successfully and includes flexibility.

State Leadership Team (SLT)

• The SLT plays a crucial role in supporting the PD design process by ensuring the design process is well-informed and adequately resourced.
• By clearly defining key priorities, goals, and areas of focus system-wide, the SLT helps to guide PD design that aligns with broader state or entity goals and initiatives.
• The SLT ensures that policies and procedures are in place to support the design process and distributes resources, including funding and personnel, for design activities and supplies.

Professional Development Network (PDN)

• The PDN of implementation coaches and trainers are often directly involved in design planning (for example, developing content and materials).
• Their relationships with local implementation sites give them insight into the unique contexts and challenges across various sites that can help inform and customize PD content.
• They actively partner with those who will receive the learning solutions to gain a learner-centric perspective, ensuring that the design aligns with learner motivations, needs, and preferences.
• The network's expertise in adult learning plays a crucial role in determining content, instructional strategies, and activities and ensuring these elements are directly aligned with achieving learning objectives.
• They stay informed about the latest research, best practices, and innovations in the field, so they ensure that design planning includes methods and content that are up-to-date and aligned with evidence-based approaches.
• The PDN routinely collaborates with various partners, including experts in the field, academic institutions, and community organizations, which can bring a variety of perspectives and expertise to inform the PD design process.

Implementation Sites

• Implementation sites provide insights, perspectives, and examples of real-life scenarios that are specific to their contexts to inform design planning.
• Their input is used to ensure that the learning objectives are aligned with the overall system goals and resonate with the specific local goals, requirements, and resources of their sites.
• They provide helpful input on the most effective ways to assess learner understanding and how to generate feedback from learners during and after the learning experiences to ensure practical application.

Data and Evaluation Systems

• Data can uncover patterns in how employees engage with learning opportunities, informing the design of effective learning experiences.
• Data and evaluation systems can help decide appropriate methods for assessing learner understanding and mechanisms for ongoing feedback that align with the learning objectives.
• Integrating data and evaluation systems enhances the design process, making it more informed, data-driven, and aligned with the organization's goals.
• Data on local contexts gathered through these systems help tailor PD design to each implementation site's unique needs, challenges, and characteristics. This ensures that design is relevant and applicable to the specific context in which it will be implemented.
• By integrating feedback data from previous learning experiences, learning design becomes an iterative process that adapts and improves based on actual performance outcomes.

• Effective Communication
• Collaborative Partnering
• Differentiated Support
• Adult Learning Strategies
• Partnerships for Resource Integration

Learning experiences refer to the detailed, intentional, and ongoing PD supports offered to elicit participant understanding, learning transfer and application. Special consideration is given to ensure the array of experiences are accessible and aligned with the resources, strengths, context and goals of the participant and the organization. A key aspect of the learning experience is ensuring it is grounded in adult leaning principles. Generally, for adults to retain the information provided to them through learning experiences, they need active involvement along with an understanding of the relevance of the information to their job, organization or to their own lived experiences. PD providers must consciously understand various learning styles and intuitively apply learning methods to support participant learning and discovery. Effective experiences move beyond teaching and focus on creating an environment for learning marked by performance support, peer-to-peer learning and practice opportunities that connect to prior knowledge and lived experiences. This might include variations of group discussions, case studies, invited panelist, self-assessments, and more. In addition to content, well-executed learning experiences also consider the human connection. This includes incorporating the behavior, cognitive and emotional constructs of engagement:

• Behavioral: What are participants doing?
• Cognitive: How are participants being challenged?
• Emotional: How does this experience make participants feel?

This involves real time evaluation and ensures PD providers use context and content to engage participants in a meaningful, versus seemingly transactional one-size fits all, learning experiences. One learning experience will not equate to mastery. Therefore, effective learning experiences operationalize the design plan by giving participants various opportunities to recall and apply their learnings while performing their job duties.

• Operationalize the design plan by providing an array of PD experiences that build upon the existing resources and honor the strengths, life and work experiences of participants.
• Employ adult learning strategies, including using various instructional methods that consider variety of learning styles.
• Engage participants in experiences that are meaningful, aligned with organizational goals, and support the transfer of learning objectives into practices.
• Increase performance through a change in practice and behavior by guiding participants through the four levels of learning: awareness, understanding, practice, and mastery. Provide various resources and opportunities to elicit performance and engage in self-reflection.
• Implement method(s) to evaluate the learning experience including pre- and post- event learning and real time data collection. Real time data collection could include allowing for the practice of skills and application of knowledge in the learning environment or having participants self-assess their current level of understanding of concepts. In any case, it's important for PD providers to use this data to adjust the PD experience in a way the corresponds with the needs of the learners.

• Consider the skills, background knowledge, and perspectives needed to facilitate the experience. Demographics for PD providers should be reflective of those receiving and impacted by the PD.
• Assess the required resources like job aids, materials and supplies, technology needs, and space accommodations necessary to facilitate learning experiences that participants with a variety of needs can join. For example, videos should have captions and transcripts and images should have alternative text which provides a description of the image.
• Consider and access support needed to manage coordination and logistics for the experience. For example, registration, sending pre- and post- experience instructions and assignments, gathering necessary materials and supplies for facilitator(s) and learners, distributing evaluation surveys and certificates of credit, and so on.
• Identify opportunities to connect administrators and other leaders to the experience (onsite, post-summary, key considerations, job aid, access to evaluation results, micro learning/administrator modules, etc.). It is imperative that they understand the importance of the experience in order to support learning transfer, application, and ongoing implementation of content into participants' practice.
• Clearly communicate the desired outcome(s), sequence, and duration of the learning experience to manage expectations; what participants will gain; and how they can contribute to the experience.
• Identify opportunities to connect administrators and other leaders to the experience (onsite, post-summary, key considerations, job aid, access to evaluation results, micro learning/administrator modules, etc.). They must understand the importance of the experience to support learning transfer, application, and ongoing implementation of content into participants' practice.
• Clearly communicate the desired outcome(s), sequence, and duration of the learning experience to manage expectations; what participants will gain; and how they can contribute to the experience.
• Create opportunities for participants to engage in peer learning through discussion, open dialogue, and opportunities to provide feedback and self-reflection through scenario-based learning, self-assessments, and performance practice.
• Monitor participant progress during PD activities to ensure learning goals and objectives are being met and experiences are meaningful and effective.

State Leadership Team (SLT)

• SLT members often help to facilitate or participate as learners during learning experiences to demonstrate and communicate their commitment to ongoing learning.
• By participating in learning experiences, they gain insight that helps them identify when they need to change policies, procedures, and processes to support learning transfer and application.

Professional Development Network (PDN)

• PDN members are usually facilitators for learning experiences since they are well-versed in adult learning principles.
• The PDN ensures that learning experiences consider the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional constructs of engagement. They pay attention to what participants are doing (behavioral), how they are being challenged (cognitive), and how the experience makes them feel (emotional), fostering a meaningful connection with the learning content.
• PDN members understand and incorporate techniques to enhance knowledge retention and help learners retain and apply the newly acquired knowledge.

Implementation Sites

• Staff and partners from implementation sites are usually the participants in learning experiences. They access learning experiences to improve and change their practices and processes to positively impact outcomes for children with disabilities and their families.

Data and Evaluation Systems

• Data and evaluation systems include formative assessment tools that enable real-time feedback during PD experiences. This immediate feedback helps facilitators adjust their approach based on participants' engagement and understanding.
• They can also generate surveys that gauge satisfaction levels and perceived relevance of content and effectiveness of instructional methods upon completing a PD experience that help to inform and improve future PD experiences.

• Trusting relationships
• Effective communication
• Collaborative partnering
• Differentiated support
• Adult learning strategies
• Partnership for resource integration
• Ongoing evaluation

This component includes collecting data from the workforce about the PD experiences (Was it helpful? Was it relevant? Were the learning objectives met? What else is needed to support learning transfer and application?) It also includes hearing from PD providers about the qualitative data and feedback they gathered during the experience. PD/TA providers have access to formative data related to how the participant enjoyed the program, how the participants demonstrated knowledge of key information, and how the experiences might be improved in future sessions (this includes their evaluation on operationalizing the design and experiences offered in the previous components).

Successful evaluation not only measures the quality of the experiences and the degree to which they resulted in knowledge and skills, it also yields the needed data for PD/TA providers to assess the effectiveness of the experiences. To determine the true value of learning experiences, it becomes crucial to evaluate the degree to which participants apply what they learned during the PD experience when they are back on the job and the degree to which the targeted outcomes occurred because of the experience and subsequent reinforcement. Further, this helps PD/TA providers better understand problems of practice and design experiences to address those needs.

Selection bias is often present in evaluation results. Therefore, we must examine evaluation to consider who did not participate in the experience and who participated but did not provide feedback on the experiences. This disaggregation is the first step in identifying barriers and solutions for meaningful ways to improve access to PD.

• Determine if the PD was effective, successful, and met intended objectives. Measure the degree to which participants:
  • Found the PD favorable and relevant to their jobs
  • Acquired the intended knowledge and skills
  • Applied what they learned during the PD in their daily work
• Ensure PD matches the needs of learners' different contexts in meaningful ways
• Analyze the impact of the PD related to the level of on-the-job application of the new skills to improve follow-up and reinforcement strategies
• Improve decisions about design to enhance engagement.

• Evaluate to ensure that experiences and feedback from those most impacted by professional development support are included in each of the four components of the EPIC-P Cycle.
• Review and evaluate each of the four components of the EPIC-P Cycle to ensure it is accomplishing its intended goal.
• Disaggregate data to identify any patterns associated with those who rarely or never participate in PD activities and those who do not provide feedback when they do participate.
• Analyze need to revise the PD system.
• Assess the alignment of PD activities with the agency's mission and vision.
• Incorporate learner-centered and facilitator-centered questions into evaluation inquiries.

State Leadership Team (SLT)

• The SLT ensures that the evaluation aligns with state or entity priorities, goals, and standards for PD. This alignment helps maintain consistency and coherence with broader system objectives and initiatives.
• The SLT uses disaggregated evaluation data to identify any patterns of participation or feedback that indicate challenges to participating in PD activities to ensure that PD support is accessible to all.
• The SLT works in partnership with those most impacted by the challenges to participating in PD activities to develop solutions and strategies to address them.
• The team supports and reinforces a continuous improvement mindset by providing resources to support the evaluation process and using the evaluation results to refine and enhance state or entity-wide PD support.
• The SLT communicates evaluation findings transparently to partners to build and strengthen trust and accountability.

Professional Development Network (PDN)

• The PDN of implementation coaches and trainers collaborates with the data and evaluation systems to share qualitative data on learner engagement, understanding, and satisfaction during PD experiences
• They share what they learn through ongoing observations, interactions and conversations with staff and partners. This feedback informs evaluation and complements quantitative measures.
• They often have insights about unique characteristics and preferences of different geographic regions, communities, or programs across the system that can help provide the context for evaluation data.

Implementation Sites

• Implementation sites provide information about their unique contexts, resources, and needs. Their insights contribute valuable data that helps to evaluate effectiveness, relevance, impact, and accessibility of PD support.
• They also provide data on changes in behaviors, strategies, or approaches, indicating the extent to which the PD experiences influenced on-the-job practices.
• Their active involvement ensures that evaluation efforts are grounded in the realities of the local context, address specific challenges, and leverage and build upon local strengths and resources.

Data and Evaluation Systems

• Data and Evaluation Systems capture a wide range of data, including participant demographics, attendance, pre- and post-assessment scores, and feedback. These systems can also enable the generation of customized reports. Customization allows leaders and teams to access relevant information for decision-making and improvement efforts.
• The systems facilitate the assessment of learning outcomes by providing tools for objective measurement. This may include pre- and post-assessments, quizzes, or other instruments to quantify changes in participants' knowledge and skills.
• Data and Evaluation Systems prioritize data security and compliance with privacy regulations. This ensures the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information collected during the evaluation process.

• Effective Communication
• Collaborative Partnering
• Partnerships for Resource Integration
• Ongoing Evaluation

• I am good at specifying system or program priorities and translating those into goals for developing workforce knowledge, skills, and practices.
• I enjoy gathering, analyzing, and discussing qualitative and quantitative data to identify workforce strengths and gaps in knowledge, skills, and practice.
• I enjoy identifying options for learning solutions and other organizational changes to support the workforce in meeting system or program priorities.
• I like to seek information about existing and potential professional development resources or funding, partnerships, and collaborations at all system levels.

• I am good at using data to define specific and measurable learning objectives, identifying relevant content to meet those objectives, and designing learning experiences to meet those objectives (including ongoing supports to apply new knowledge, skills, and practices).
• I enjoy partnering with learners to learn more about their motivations, perspectives, needs, and preferences as they work toward system or program priorities.
• I am good at determining the sequence and structure of content and breaking down complex topics into logical and applicable concepts.
• I enjoy curating learning resources and tools to support learning objectives.

• I am comfortable implementing an existing learning and development plan and using measures and strategies identified during the design phase to facilitate experiences that build adult learners' strengths, knowledge, and experiences.
• I have a talent for engaging adult learners and adapting instructional methods to align with different learning styles.
• I am comfortable facilitating PD experiences, initiating evaluation, using formative assessment to monitor learners' progress, and making adjustments to ensure learning goals and objectives are met.
• I am good at including administrators and other leaders, informing and connecting others, and supporting the transition from learning to practice.

• I enjoy identifying challenges for participating in professional development supports, and identifying ways to improve access to professional development experiences.
• I enjoy identifying multiple ways to gather and analyze data and feedback on the effectiveness and impact of PD supports.
• I enjoy analyzing data and reviewing feedback to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of PD support.
• I am good at using data to identify ongoing needs and making recommendations for next steps.