The Level Table Framework
Set the Table: Degrees of Belonging
To set the table is to prepare the space for the work at hand. Our work—supporting teams focused on the academic and social success of freshmen—is that very work.
At the macro level, district and building leadership “set the table” by establishing the structures that enable teams to meet regularly and effectively. The University of Chicago’s Freshman Success Institute has devised a detailed overview with three primary roles: the building principal, a team lead, and the team members. You can access that overview HERE.
The primary resource in “setting the table” is time. How often will your team meet? Depending on the priority placed on freshman success, that schedule can be daily, twice a week, weekly, twice a month, and even monthly. Schools report positive change with any additional investment in freshman success.
Those seated at the table need to be properly invited. Being a part of a team is not for every teacher. We are all up in everyone’s business as we work with freshmen. Teachers who apply for this role must understand the transparency this role requires.
As with a table set for a meal, the silverware, plates, and glasses indicate what’s coming. Equipping teachers with clear expectations, supportive systems, and intellectual resources prepares them to engage fully in the work of supporting freshmen.
Level The Table: Degrees of Trust
The dynamic at our tables, when we collaborate to ensure the success of freshmen, is all about freshmen; however, trust amongst adults greatly enhances the medium through which those discussions and decisions are made.
A "level table" exists when all voices are heard and all perspectives are valued. One team member may offer a particular view of a student, and it’s taken seriously. Another may see the same student through a different lens, and that insight is equally respected. Together, the team seeks and shares information with a shared goal: finding the best path forward for the student.
When the table is level, personal agendas take a back seat. The focus remains on collaboration, not competition. This allows the team to engage openly, explore ideas honestly, and keep student success at the center of every conversation.
Protect The Table: Degrees of Honesty
The table can be destroyed. Teachers crack it, stain it, render it useless. This humble acknowledgment can help everyone around the table understand the fragility of what transpires. Teachers can be trained and built up. Wise, decisive action can have its genesis here. Freshmen can be encouraged, directed, protected, and, dare I say, loved from this surface. Or Not.
While there are many lenses through which human interaction at a table can be viewed, one approach is to view this interaction as pitting agreement against honesty. I believe a table cannot have agreement and honesty in the long term. Honesty must win. Agreement leads to dysfunction.
Consider this sentence:
“Disagreement is less destructive than dishonesty.”
We must commit to honesty above agreement. We are not gathered to agree but rather to find agreement, which can only be done by risking disagreement. I may disagree with you, but that should not threaten the work at the table. Disagreement should be celebrated, encouraged, and even sought. That protects the table.
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The Marbles: Infuse
Data, data everywhere, and yet so few of those digits drive freshman success. Why should we care that our districts’ databases are filled to overflowing with test scores, grades, attendance patterns, or trend lines? Show me the change or throw it all away.
To infuse, according to Merriam-Webster, means to “cause to be permeated with something (such as a principle or quality) that alters usually for the better. That better is a team's deep understanding of freshmen— an understanding that leads to intentional, informed action. Anything less is a waste of time.
This is done with a serious expenditure of time. And teachers need time—not just to analyze, but to act.
Consider this sentence:
“The solution is one step away from the problem in the right direction.”
This is what data is supposed to do. It must first define the problem, which is no small task. Teams then consider the student’s context to determine the right direction. This is then followed by an initiated, calibrated action to begin the journey of betterment.
And so, at the table, we must design methods of infusion.
The Marbles: Sort
We can’t do it all. So teams must make choices. Those choices bring about focus. That focus brings about change. Change is what we want. And so we must sort.
There are three questions teams need to answer to sort:
What needs attention?
What action is thought to bring about a solution?
How many freshmen can a team impact with the available resources?
Sorting is about saying “No.” A team can’t do everything right now. They can do one thing at a time. While well-intended, the expectation that we focus on all results in doing a little of nothing for most.
Sorting focuses a team’s energy on attending to a specific problem that impacts a particular group of freshmen. For example, in the Focus Five sort, teams are asked at the end of the third quarter to select their poorest-performing five students. Within this sort, the team then “dumps the truck” of resources on these freshmen to see if an academic revival can be found. Teams can’t do that with fifteen freshmen.
Sorting is the good use of data coupled with a team’s energy to bring about freshman success.
The Marbles: Melt
Melting is an interesting juxtaposition in this framework of the table and the marbles.
Melting occurs when those around the table realize together the positive results of their work. As teams bring about freshman success, these results strengthen the table, mend cracks in relationships, and build trust.
This is an essential aspect of working with teams that is often underutilized. We do not celebrate wins enough, frequently waiting until the end of the year to see what percentage of students successfully transitioned to 10th grade.
Wins are happening every day. Successes in the classroom are frequent. Good decision-making on the part of teams is ongoing.
It is good, right, and healthy to stop, reflect, and realize the results of the work at the table. This can be done in dozens of different ways. The most visible is when a freshman is brought to the team meeting room and all involved celebrate together the skill development and success, or simply the seeing of a freshman as they grow and develop. That’s melting!
