This brief serves as a resource for anyone interested in starting or running a community of practice (CoP). It provides practical considerations, strategies, and examples of how to structure CoP sessions to align with identified goals. We believe the lessons shared here apply to anyone interested in starting a CoP. They may be particularly helpful for Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agencies, Child Care and Early Education (CCEE) researchers, Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) staff, and funders planning to establish a CoP.

It is the second brief in a two-part series for offering successful CoPs. Refer to the first brief, “Community of Practice Tips and Lessons Learned: Planning for Start Up,” to learn about designing and starting up a CoP.

Why This Matters

A successful CoP balances a variety of goals, interests, and needs, the full range of which is unlikely to be met in a single session. CoP planners are more likely to be successful when they consider how to meet the needs across a full range of sessions. This brief helps to anticipate the needs and offers solutions for meeting them.

Key Takeaways

This brief answers the following questions, provides descriptions of session types and structures, and offers concrete examples to guide you in CoP session planning and designing:

• What are the goals of the session?
• What tools are available to support virtual CoP sessions?
• What format should be used for the CoP session (i.e., peer presentations, peer collaboration, external speakers, and others)?
• What other logistical considerations are there for virtual CoP sessions?

How We Did It

We draw from our own work over the last decade supporting CoPs through various research and evaluation capacity centers, including the Center to Support Research and Evaluation Capacity of CCDF Lead Agencies (CSRE). Our experiences center around helping two different types of professionals, researchers and policy administrators, working in researcher-agency partnerships.