Professional Learning Professional Learning Communities at Work - Communities at Work - DuFourDuFour

Chapter I Overview•Rebecca Rocho, Asst. Superintendent / General Services and Legislation•269.789.2475•rochob@calhounisd.org•gehrigm@calhounisd.org

Did you know . . .Did you know . . .A significant body of circumstantial

evidence points to a deep, systemic incapacity of US schools, and practioners who work in them, to develop, incorporate and extend new ideas about teaching and learning in anything but a small fraction of schools and classrooms.

Richard Elmore (1996)

Public Education Public Education CriticismsCriticisms“Crisis in Education” (Life, 1957)“What Went Wrong with US Schools”

and We are Less Educated than 50 Years Ago” (US News & World Report 1958)

“Educational Wastelands” (Bestor 1953 – dumbing down the curriculum)

Nation at Risk (1983) – impetus to begin the “Excellence Movement”

Excellence MovementExcellence Movement1988 Reagan – no real reform; 1990

US DoE confirms that opinion1989 – Gov. Bush convened only the

3rd NGA Summit (this on Education)This NGA Summit lead to Goals 2000The Goals 2000 (supported by

Governor’s, the President, the US DoE) lead towards a national exam system

1996 2nd National Education Summit

Restructuring MovementRestructuring MovementExcellence Movement doomed as “top

down”; responsibility handed down to states (Governors, SEAs and Legislatures)

Embraced as “site based reform”“The restructuring movement brought

confidence that teachers and principals, with help from parents and students, can get their own schoolhouse in order” (Barth, 1991)

DisappointmentDisappointment“Restructuring” largely about non-

academic, administrative issues . . . Students virtually untouched by the reforms . . . not within their classrooms” (DuFour, 1998)

Fullan (1997) and Sarason (1996) wonder if “we are facing a lost cause”.

1994 Levin suggests we shift from reforming educators and schools to improving the children we send there.

Hope ?Hope ?If we are to change the students we

send to school, society problems must be solved first:◦Poverty (40% of our children)◦Families (33% single head of household;

30% of those teen mother)◦Victims of violent crime (> 4000

children murdered each year◦Alcohol (by grade 8, 70% have

consumed)◦Increase: minorities, ESL, “broken

homes”, etc.

Educators Push BackEducators Push BackBerlinger (1995) “The

Manufactured CrisisSchneider, Houston (1993 AASA)

“Exploding the Myths”Bracey’s (1997) “Setting the

Record Straight”Unfortunately, this is not a

dialogue that create the conditions for improving schools (DuFour, 1998)

Can We Reform Can We Reform Education?Education?“If future efforts to improve

schools are to be productive, they must address two questions (Bracey, 1997):◦Why have past efforts not achieved

intended results?◦What course of action offers the best

hope for those who seek to make their schools more effective?”

Hard, but “the Right Hard, but “the Right Work”Work”Complexity of the Task (50 states,

15,000 districts, 80,000 board members, 200,000 administrators, 120,000 principals, 2.5 M teachers, for 84,000 school buildings serving 43 M children)

Misplaced focusLack of clarify on intended resultsLack of perseveranceRespect for, attention to, the

Change Process

What is the Truth?What is the Truth?“If schools are to be significantly

more effective, they must break from the current model and embrace a model that allows them to function as a learning organization; through action-oriented professional learning communities of interest; . . . community places greater emphasis on relationships, shared ideals, and a strong culture.” (DuFour, 1998)