Oregon Student Success Plans Brief
Illustrating inside-out systems change through stakeholder insight, supporting data, and lived experience.
Context
In response to long-running educational gaps, the Oregon Department of Education co-developed Student Success Plans (SSPs) with six focal student groups, grounded in community-defined needs and aspirations.
This work required a project brief that could situate the SSPs within ODE’s broader equity strategy, an inside-out approach that asks agency staff to examine their own perspectives, unlearn entrenched assumptions, and shift systems to better serve students.
Strategy
- Gather and synthesize stakeholder perspectives to illustrate ODE leadership's inside-out approach to equity.
- Develop a narrative framework using metaphor to depict how systems underserve historically marginalized student groups.
- Bridge policy, research, and lived experience into a cohesive, accessible story.
Tactics
- Conduct and synthesize interviews with educational leaders to illustrate shifts in mindset and practice.
- Develop the “maze vs. labyrinth” metaphor to articulate the transition from rigid systems to more navigable, student-centered pathways.
- Integrate stakeholder quotes and supporting research to tie lived experience to data.
- Write and design a narrative-driven brief that balances storytelling, analysis, and visual clarity.
outcome
By leveraging stakeholder insight, the brief makes visible the internal shifts required to advance equity—not just new programs, but new ways of thinking, learning, and leading.
This accessible resource helps stakeholders across contexts see both the urgency of the work and their role within it.
project brief: student success plans
Client
Region 16 Comprehensive Center, Oregon Department of Education
My Roles
Research, reporting, writing, design, photography
Context
In Oregon, historically marginalized student groups face higher disciplinary rates, leading to lower attendance and graduation outcomes. Each of these student groups, which the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) identifies as focal groups, require culturally specific understandings of educational challenges and approaches to student success.
The Oregon Department of Education co-constructed its Student Success Plans (SSPs) in collaboration with the communities surrounding six student focal groups. Thanks to the guidance of key communities, each plan is tailored to the assets, aspirations, and needs of student focal groups.
Deliverable
I crafted a narrative project brief that ties Region 16's work supporting the Oregon Student Success Plans to the ethos of the organization, evidenced by testimonials and narratives from Region 16's All Stewards Convening.
I interviewed leaders from Oregon's Education Service Districts (ESDs) and the Oregon Department of Education to gather key details and testimonials about the creation of the SSPs, their impacts, and the educational landscape necessitating these plans. These conversations led me to develop the metaphor of the maze to represent how educational systems can often leave students behind.
I also conducted extensive research on educational equity and disparities among student groups to ground the story and visualize data supporting the work.
Finally, I designed the brief layout and graphical structure in line with Region 16's branding guidelines while including subtle design elements that echo the story's themes.
