Professional Learning Communities in

Council Rock

GoalsTogether, we will:

Understand why Council Rock is ready to embark on the Professional Learning Community journey.

Develop a common understanding of Professional Learning Communities and their essential components.

Understand the process of a collaborative team and the necessary steps to begin meaningful work.

Professional Learning Community Defined

An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the student they serve.

PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.

DuFour, DuFour, Eaker and Many (2010)

PLC Big Ideas & Core Values

Ensuring that Students LearnLearning for all

A Culture of CollaborationTeamwork

Focus on ResultsData-Driven Decisions

Council Rock Mission Statement

To empower all students with the knowledge, habits, and

attitudes to become life-long learners and to lead and serve

in a diverse, global society.

Why a PLC is DifferentIt’s job-embedded time.

It’s based on data.

It’s grounded in meaningful, viable curriculum.

It breaks down walls of isolation & fosters collective responsibility for our students.

It’s not group work; it’s teamwork.

It demands differentiation. Teachers look at data- child by child, by name and by need, and plan how to address each.

It focuses on Four Critical Questions of Learning.

Four Critical Questions of Learning

1. What is it that we expect students to learn?

2. How will we know when they have learned it?

3. How will we respond when they don’t learn?

4. How will we respond when they already know it?

Step 1: IdentifyPower Standards

What do we really want students to

know and be able to do?

Step 2: Design/Use

Assessments for Learning

How will we know students are learning

(before it’s too late)?

Step 3: Design & Deliver Effective

InstructionWhat are research-based practices that will lead to student learning of power standards and beyond?

Step 4: Participate in ongoing data-driven decision makingHow do we respond when they aren't learning, or if they already know it?

Cycle of a Collaborati

ve Team

Adjust Instruction based on collaborative,

ongoing data-analysis, including examination of

student work.

Develop performance

assessments, rubrics, and

common formative assessments

“Unwrap” Standards, Identify

Big Ideas & Essential Questions

Design lessons to support attainment of power

standards. Consider student engagement, research-

based practices, student-involved assessment.

© Capistrano Unified School District

To Improve Student Achievement

Create a guaranteed and viable curriculum.

Establish a limited number of power standards.

Pursue clear and focused essential academic goals.

Develop a compact list of learning expectations and tangible exemplars of student proficiency.

Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum

Only happens when teachers--who are called on to deliver the curriculum--work collaboratively to:

Study the intended curriculum and agree on priorities within the curriculum.

Clarify how the curriculum translates into specific student knowledge and skills.

Establish pacing guidelines for delivering the curriculum.

Commit to one another that they will actually teach the curriculum.

(DuFour and Marzano, Leaders of Learning, 2011)

Common Assessments

…assess the learning of all students pursuing the same curriculum through the use of the same instrument and/or the same criteria.

…are administered at the same time or within a narrow window of time.

…are administered to special education students according to the adaptations and modifications specified in their IEPs.

Formative Assessment Process

A formative assessment is assessment for learning while a summative assessment is an assessment of learning.

Formative assessment is to summative assessment what a physical examination is to an autopsy.

Summative assessments give students the chance to prove what they learned; formative assessments give students the chance to improve on their learning.

Keys to a Common Formative Assessment

ProcessTo determine if an assessment process is formative, ask:

Is it used to identify students who experience difficulty in their learning?

Do students receive additional time and support for learning when they experience difficulty?

Do students get an additional opportunity to demonstrate their learning?

Do teachers use the results to inform and improve their individual and collective practice?

Why PLCs for Council RockCurrent Issue/ Concern Preferred Outcome

Not many people go into Performance Tracker Teachers analyze data to improve student learning

Not enough time to rewrite meaningful curriculum maps Students meet PA Core Standards

Little consistency in the use of common formative assessment

Teachers effectively assess students understanding before it is too late

Inconsistency in grading policies All teachers use fair grading practices

Teachers unsure of ways to address needs of struggling learners

Teachers collaborate to analyze data & define best instructional strategies to reach all learners

Needs of Gifted not always being met Teachers collaborate to analyze data & to define best instructional strategies to reach all learners

Middle of road students are at risk of slipping through the cracks

Teachers collaborate to analyze data & to define best instructional strategies to reach all learners

Why PLCs for Council RockCurrent Issue/ Concern Preferred Outcome

Backwards mapping is not common practice Teachers collaborate to identify essential knowledge & skills for each standard

Low incidence students are not always included with appropriate modifications

Teachers collaborate to analyze data & define best instructional strategies to reach all learners

New Teacher Effectiveness might foster competition rather than collaboration

Teachers collaborate to “make all teachers as good as our best”

Create sustainable systemic change to improve student learning

Engage all staff in a cycle of continuous learning

Success for all students on PSSA and Keystones Teachers collaborate to identify essential knowledge & skills, & define best instructional strategies to reach all learners

Keep focus on student learning, not on teaching Engage teachers in development of common formative assessment & analysis of results

Educators need to remain current on Best Practices Teachers collaborate define best instructional strategies to reach all learners

Teachers curve mid-terms and finals All assessments (including exams) fairly and accurately assess student learning

Why PLCs for Council Rock

It Just Makes Sense!

Proposed PLC Pilot for 13-14

Seven Collaborative Teams meet twice a month (see chart)Same day of week at same time (twice a month)Six out of seven teams will require sub coverage

System of collaborative subs will be devised. Two sets of half day subs will be used. Same sub will be used each time Collaborative Team

meets.Each Collaborative Team member has agreed to give

up his/her professional days to participate in the PLC pilot.

Each team has a designated leader who will participate in training and lead team in this process.

Proposed PLC Pilot for 13-14

Leadership Team consisting of team leaders, select building administrators and central office administrators will meet monthly to:engage in shared learningto discuss progress of collaborative teamsto celebrate successes.

Team leaders will report out at monthly meetings.Share team progress, challenges and successes.

Clarity Precedes Competence

PLC

Collaborative team

Team norms

Guaranteed and viable curriculum

Common assessment

Pre-assessment

Four Critical Questions

Formative Assessment

Summative Assessment

Performance-based assessment

Systematic intervention

SMART goal

Four pillars of the PLC foundation

Team Defined

A team is a group of people working interdependently to achieve a common goal for which members are mutually accountable.

What is Collaboration?A systematic process in which we work together interdependently to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve our individual and collective results.(DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional L earning Communities, 2002)

The Focus of Collaboration“Collaborative cultures, which by definition have close relationships, are indeed powerful, but unless they are focusing on the right things, they may end up being powerfully wrong.” - Fullan, Leading in a Culture of Change (2001)

A Key Question in PLCsThe critical question in a PLC is not,

“Do we collaborate?” but rather,

“What do we collaborate about?”

We must not settle for “Collaboration Lite.”

Creating a Culture that is simultaneously

TIGHT and LOOSEEffective leaders of PLCs establish clearly

articulated, non-discretionary parameters and priorities that individuals and teams must honor and observe. These aspects of the organization are tight.

Within these tight boundaries, individuals and teams are empowered and encouraged to work in creative and autonomous ways. These aspects of the organization are loose.

Tight About The Right Work

Educators work in collaborative teams and take collaborative responsibility for student learning rather than work in isolation.

Collaborative teams implement a viable and collaborative curriculum.

Collaborative teams monitor student learning through an on-going assessment process that includes frequent, team-developed common formative assessments.

Educators use the results of the common assessments to: Improve individual practice. Build the team’s capacity to achieve its goals. Intervene/enrich on behalf of students.

The school provides systematic process for intervention and enrichment

Effective Leaders Clarify What is Tight….

Through ongoing dialogue, not monologue

Through conversation, not presentation

“Communicating during implementation is far more important than communicating prior to

implementation.” (Fullan, Motion Leadership, The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy

(2009), p.26)

Seven Keys to Effective Teams

1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of the school with a FOCUS ON LEARNING.

2. Schedule time for collaboration into the school day and the school calendar.

3. Focus teams on critical questions.

4. Make products of collaboration explicit.

5. Establish team norms to guide collaboration.

6. Pursue specific and measurable team performance goals.

7. Provide teams with frequent access to relevant information.

Team Norms

The Significance of Team Norms

When all is said and done, the norms of a group help determine whether it functions as a high-performing team or becomes simply a loose collection of people working together.

(Goleman, Working With Emotional Intelligence,1998)

The Importance of Norms

One thing is clear: Having clear norms gives teams a huge advantage. A key to effective teams is involving all members in establishing norms and then holding everyone accountable to what they have agreed on.

(Lencioni, Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, 2005)

Criteria for Team NormsThe norms have clarified our expectations

of one another.

All members of the team participated in creating the norms. All voices were heard.

The norms are stated as commitments to act in certain ways.

All members have committed to honoring the norms.

Example of One Team’s Norms

Begin and end our meetings on time and stay fully engaged during each meeting

Maintain a positive attitude at team meetings– no complaining unless we offer a better alternative

Listen respectfully to each other

Contribute equally to the workload

Make decisions on the basis of consensus

Encourage one another to honor our commitments

Fully support each other’s efforts to improve student learning

PLCs Focus on Results

Professional Learning Communities Focus on Results to Identify…..

1. Each student who has not yet learned the essential skills and concepts.

2. Each student who has learned the essential; skills and concepts.

3. Strategies to improve upon our individual ability to teach each essential skill and concept.

4. Strategies to improve upon our collective ability to teach each essential skill and concept.

Consider How Your Team Is Using Results

What is your team currently doing well?

What needs the most attention when it comes to using results to identify the above?

Pursue Both Attainable Goals & Stretch Goals

Attainable Goals- intended to document incremental progress and build momentum through short-terms wins

Stretch Goals- intended to inspire, stimulate creativity, and stimulate action

Focus on Results NOT Activities

Goals should focus on what students will do,

not what teachers will do

SMART GoalsStrategic and Specific

Measureable

Attainable

Results oriented

Time bound

Are These SMART Team Goals?

Strategically aligned with the schoolwide goal of improving student achievement, by the end of the school year we will:

Develop and administer at least six common assessments.

Implement the Common Core Standards in the 100% of the classrooms.

Increase the percentage of students achieving and exceeding the target score (80% +) on each strand of our end-of-year assessment, from 81% last year to at least 90% this year.

Suggested Timeline for Team Products

By end of the:First month: Team normsSecond month: Team SMART goalThird month: Common essential

outcomesFourth month: First common assessmentFifth month: Analysis of student

performance on first common formative assessment

PLC Leaders at All Levels Are Most Effective When

They…Work collaboratively with others and take

collective responsibility for achieving shared goals for which they are mutually accountable.

Provide clarity regarding the work to be done.

Monitor and support others to help them succeed at what they are being asked to do.

Sustain their focus on a limited number of goals and initiatives.

Acknowledge and celebrate small wins.

What We Need to SucceedHonor tight vs. loose to insure fidelity of the PLC process.

Guarantee to keep team & leadership meeting time sacred.

Be willing to engage in shared learning.

Support the learning process as we explore how PLCs can help move CR from good to great (or great to greater).

Emphasize why collaboration (not competition) benefits all of us, especially our students.

Be the PLC supporter!

Have patience as we undertake first steps of CR’s journey into this powerful process.

Clarity Precedes Competence

PLC

Collaborative team

Team norms

Guaranteed and viable curriculum

Common assessment

Pre-assessment

Four Critical Questions

Formative Assessment

Summative Assessment

Performance-based assessment

Systematic intervention

SMART goal

Four pillars of the PLC foundation

Connect and ReflectWhat has changed about your understanding of

PLC?

Describe your role in the PLC process in Council Rock. What do you see as your greatest responsibility?

Learning by Doing

Capacity building…is not just workshops and professional development for all. It is the daily habit of working together, and you can’t learn this from a workshop or course. You need to learn it by doing it and having mechanisms for getting better at it on purpose.

-Fullan, 2005