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Week 2: Change Model

 Strong Tomorrows is a non-profit organization striving to empower students to “exercise their educational rights, broaden their post-secondary opportunities, and dismantle systemic barriers” (Strong Tomorrows, 2023). In many ways, Strong Tomorrows serves as a bridge between pregnant and parenting youth (PPY) and their schools, PPY and community resources, and PPY and parenting resources. As a natural extension of the work they already do, Strong Tomorrows is well-positioned to have an impact on the digital inequity faced by the PPY population. Coupled with Kolb’s Triple E Framework, the systems renewal framework is a promising model for an organization with limited resources, dependent upon a broad coalition of stakeholders to support students (Kolb, 2020; Fullan & Levin, 2008). 


Stakeholders

A number of stakeholders are critical to the development of a technology integration plan for this community including leaders at Amplify Youth Health Collective, site coordinators for Strong Tomorrows, students and families who participate in the program, leadership from partner districts (Tulsa Public Schools and Union Public Schools), and potential community partners, including tribal communities and local philanthropic foundations.


Technology alignment with goals

The Strong Tomorrows site coordinators, with guidance from their vision and mission, focus on improving attendance and graduation rates and preparing students for higher education or the workforce. Digital access and literacy are directly tied to whether students can complete their online schooling and access employment after graduation. A technology integration plan, then, is naturally aligned with the organization’s current goals. 


Building Capacity

Strong Tomorrows already has intake processes, case management check-ins, and relationships with community partners, all of which can help them identify, assess, and address digital access deficits. Existing parenting workshops provide an educational structure for students to use technology for “sustainable social futures” (Darvin, 2019, p. 225) . Each of these are touchpoints where technology learning can be woven into the existing organizational structure. 

Fullan and Levin's concept of "learning in context" suggests that people improve most when they are learning within the actual setting where the work happens (2008). This is impactful on two levels: first, coordinators develop knowledge and skills together, making meaning at the same time through shared experience. Second, students replicate that experience, using digital technologies with the existing structure of parenting workshops to “enhance” and “extend” learning (Kolb, 2020).


Outcomes

To ensure that the technology integration plan supports PPY in deeper learning, I would focus on these outcomes:

  • number of students successfully matched to access resources

  • reliable, consistent internet access for students participating in the program

  • reduction in reports of technology barriers to completing schoolwork

  • evidence of active rather than passive technology use aligned with Portrait of a Learner

  • coordinator confidence in identifying digital gaps


Change Model

Fullan and Levin's makes sense for a resource-constrained organization trying to produce meaningful, sustainable change (2008). Their research focuses on seven premises for enacting meaningful, sustainable change. Many of these map well onto Strong Tomorrows: a small number of clear goals (reliable access + Portrait outcomes), a positive stance (honoring what Strong Tomorrows has already built), a guiding coalition (the stakeholder working group), and capacity building with a focus on results (the survey-to-resource-matching).



References

Darvin, R. (2019). Youth, technology, and the hidden curriculum of the 21st century. Youth and Globalization, 1. 210-229.

Kolb, L. (2020). Triple E Framework. https://www.tripleeframework.com/

Levin, B. & Fullan, M. (2008). Learning about systems renewal. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 36(2), 289-303. Learning about System Renewal article.pdf  

Strong Tomorrows. (2023). Our impact. Strong Tomorrows. https://www.strongtomorrows.org/our-impact

Comments

  1. Ella ChristensenMarch 28, 2026 at 1:17 PM

    Hi Robin! I enjoyed how you connected both the systems renewal model and the Triple E Framework by Liz Kolb. It makes a lot of sense for an organization like Strong Tomorrows, especially since they rely on multiple stakeholders. Your point about using existing structures like case management check-ins and parenting workshops to build digital skills was really smart! It shows that technology integration doesn’t always mean adding something new, but finding a way to improve what is working. Thanks for sharing!

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