san antonio, tx • june 17–19

Agenda San Antonio, TX • June 17–19

Wednesday, June 17

6:30–8:00 a.m.Registration

Bridge HallContinental breakfast

8:00–9:45 a.m.Keynote—Rebecca DuFourFirst Things First: Building the Solid Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at Work

Lila Cockrell Theatre

9:45–10:00 a.m. Break

10:00–11:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles & locations: pp. 3–5 Descriptions: pp. 11–24

11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:00–2:30 p.m. Breakouts Titles & locations: pp. 3–5 Descriptions: pp. 11–24

2:30–2:45 p.m. Break

2:45–3:45 p.m.Panel discussionA Q&A time with presenters. Receive practical answers to your most pressing questions.


Thursday, June 18

7:00–8:00 a.m.Registration Lila Cockrell TheatreContinental breakfast Bridge Hall

8:00–9:45 a.m.Keynote—Richard DuFourIn Praise of American Educators … and How They Can Become Even Better


9:45–10:00 a.m. Break


11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:00–2:30 p.m. Breakouts Titles & locations: pp. 3–5 Descriptions: pp. 11–24

2:30–2:45 p.m. Break

2:45–3:45 p.m.Team timeA collaboration time for your team. Presenters are available for help in team discussions.


Friday, June 197:00–8:00 a.m. Continental breakfast Bridge Hall


9:30–9:45 a.m. Break

9:45–11:45 a.m. Keynote—Mike MattosWhen All Means All Lila Cockrell Theatre

Agenda and presenters are subject to change.

1

Agenda

Breakouts at a Glance

Presenter & TitleWednesday, June 17 Thursday, June 18 Friday,

June 19

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Tim BrownRaising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices 007 A–B Lila Cockrell

TheatreStudent Data Notebooks: Developing Ownership, Motivation, and a Growth Mindset

007 A–B 006 A–B

Did You Come to School Today Ready to Learn? Communicating High Expectations 006 C–D

Luis F. Cruz

English Learners and PLCs 202 101

From Mission to Vision to the Essential Behaviors That Form a PLC 202

Embracing the PLC Journey: Why Learning by Doing Includes Learning From Pitfalls Along the Path

101 101

Rebecca & Richard DuFourBuilding the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Part 1)


Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Part 2)


Rebecca DuFourRaising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary Schools


Lights, Camera, Action! Setting the Stage for PLC Success in Elementary Schools 103 B

Richard DuFourCommon Formative Assessments: The Lynchpin of the PLC Process 006 C–D

Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to Resisters 006 C–D

Héctor GarcíaOut of Many, One: Developing One PLC Vision for Multiple Schools 007 C 007 C

Game Plan: Developing a Winning Strategy for Implementation or Acceleration 007 C 007 C

Paving the Way: Leadership Principles That Accelerate Implementation in High Schools 007 C

3

Breakouts at a G

lance



June 19

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Aaron HansenFast and Furious: My School Needs to Change Now! 201

Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every Teacher

008 B 008 B

Empowering Students to Own Their Learning in a PLC: Students as Partners in Next-Generation Assessments

103 A 008 B

Chris JakicicCommon Formative Assessments: Getting Started 007 D

Common Formative Assessments: Designing Assessments That Work 007 D

Common Formative Assessments: Writing Quality Items 007 D

Assessing Reading With Rigor in ELA and Content Area Classrooms 007 D 007 D

Brandon JonesLeading With Passion and Purpose: The Principal’s Role in a PLC 008 B

Abandoning Archaic Practices: Motivating and Preparing Generation Z Students 203 007 A–B

Journey to the Core: Dissecting the Four Critical Questions of Learning 008 B

Facing the Giants: Overcoming the RTI Odds in High Schools 103 A

Timothy D. KanoldTeaching, Leading, and Living a High-Energy and Well-Balanced PLC Life 204

Monitoring Expectations of Central Office and School Site PLC Leaders 204

Your K–12 PLC Mathematics Focus: Assessment 103 B

Your K–12 PLC Mathematics Focus: Instruction 103 B

4



June 19

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Mike Mattos

More Powerful Than Poverty 006 A–B

Simplifying Response to Intervention: How to Systematically Respond When Students Don’t Learn

006 A–B

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Secondary Schools 006 A–B

Guiding Principles for Principals: Tips and Tools for Leading the PLC Process 006 A–B

Learning CPR: Making Your Current Site Interventions More Effective 103 A

Clara Sale-Davis

Closing the Achievement Gap 008 A 008 A

From Hysterical to Historical: Creating a Safe, Orderly, and Fun Environment 008 A

Training the Troops 008 A 008 A

Sarah SchuhlFocusing Teams and Students With Learning Targets 203 102

Navigating the Four Critical PLC Questions 201

Data, Data, Data: What Do We Need? What Do We Do With It? 102 102

W. Richard SmithBeing the PLC Leader You Need to Be: Leading a District Toward Successful Implementation

006 C–D 007 A–B

Wow! So This Is What We Should Be Doing: Best PLC Practices in Action 006 C–D Lila Cockrell

TheatreMoving From “Just Doing” to High Performing: Fresh Ideas and Approaches for PLCs

007 A–B

Agenda and presenters are subject to change.

5

Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

Stree Level

7

Site Maps


Concourse Level

8


River and G

rand Ballroom

Level

9

Tim Brown Raising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices

Let’s face it, talking about grading practices is a touchy subject, full of emotions, opinions, and personal beliefs. However, when schools make the shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning, they must be willing to examine policies, practices, and guidelines to see if they support the principles of learning. Tim Brown shows how a staff can engage educators in a collaborative process committed to grading practices aligned with learning.

Participants discuss and share beliefs and practices on essential questions, such as: • Whatdotheprinciplesoflearning,studentmotivation,andgradinghaveincommon?• Whatisthereasoningandrationalebehindchangesingradingpractices?• Whatgradingpracticesandguidelineshavesuccessfulteamsandschoolsimplemented?

Student Data Notebooks: Developing Ownership, Motivation, and a Growth MindsetSchools with a positive culture embrace academic mastery while promoting a growth mindset in students. Tim Brown explores critical PLC process questions at the student level. He examines and reflects on team products to engage and empower students. Participants consider next steps for building student self-efficacy—the most important factor to engage and motivate a classroom.

In this interactive session, attendees share thoughts and practices on these essential questions: • Whatarethekeycomponentsofahighlymotivatedandengagedclassroom?• Whatproductsdoteamscreatetoimprovestudentlearningandensureself-efficacy?• Howcanteachersusetheseproductseffectivelytohelpstudentsowntheirlearning?

Did You Come to School Today Ready to Learn? Communicating High ExpectationsLee G. Bolman and Terrence Deal write in their book Leading With Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit, “Organizations without a rich symbolic life become empty and sterile. The magic of special occasions is vital in building significance into collective life.”

Tim Brown offers practical strategies for students and staff to communicate, motivate, and celebrate. Using positive strategies, educators can identify high expectations for learning—for students and one another.

Participants discuss and share thoughts and practices on these essential questions: • Howdoprincipalsandteacherscommunicatehighexpectationstostudents?• Howcanteachersestablishaclassroomculturecenteredonlearningrather

than compliance?• Whyarecelebrationsimportant,andhowdowemakethempartofoursymboliclife?

Session Descriptions

11

SessionD

escriptions

Luis F. Cruz English Learners and PLCs

Luis F. Cruz shares how schools infuse the characteristics of PLCs into strategies to help English learner populations flourish. This session details PLC components that teacher leaders use to close the achievement gap for students learning English as a second language. Dr. Cruz shows how task force leadership can reculture and restructure, while introducing best practices and enhancing learning for all students—including those learning English as a second language.

Dr. Cruz discusses how:• Teacher-ledtaskforcesincreaseacademicperformanceforEnglishlearners.• PLCpracticescanhighlightthestarkrealitywhenEnglishlearnersarenotlearning.• Adultschangetheirexpectationsandbehaviorswhenlisteningtotheneedsof

English learners, resulting in significant student learning improvements.

From Mission to Vision to the Essential Behaviors That Form a PLCSo, your school has a mission and a vision. Now what? For educators seeking to enhance their PLC journey, moving from a starting point of mission and vision includes adults transitioning to behaviors found in best practices. But which adults? What best practices? How does a school transform values into actual behaviors? Luis F. Cruz demonstrates this transition as he inspires audience members to shift from intentions to actions and from theory to practice.

Participants in this session learn:• ThevitalimportanceofamissionandvisioninthePLCjourney• Theconnectionbetweenvaluesandcollectivecommitments• Howtousebestpracticestoinitiatecollectivecommitmentsthatensurelearningfor

all students

Embracing the PLC Journey: Why Learning by Doing Includes Learning From Pitfalls Along the PathIn one moment, you are attending your first PLC institute or summit, and the next thing you know, you are spearheading the process of “learning by doing” back at your site. But why are people resisting? Why do so many eyes roll when leaders suggested rewriting the school mission statement? If collaboration is included as part of the regular school day, why are people still co-blaborating? Luis F. Cruz shares common mistakes made along the PLC journey and how best to learn from them to remain focused on learning for all.

In this session participants discover:• HowtoavoidcertainseductiveshortcutsinthePLCjourney• HowtobestprepareforPLCimplementationafterreturningtotheirschoolsites


12

Richard & Rebecca DuFour Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work

(Parts 1 and 2)Powerful collaborative teams are the fundamental building blocks of a professional learning community and a critical component in building a collaborative culture.

Learn how educators transform their congenial groups into high-performing collaborative teams, and get a sense of the specific work those teams undertake. Discover ways to provide time and support for collaborative teams during the school day. And most importantly, identify structures and strategies to help teams stay focused on doing the work that results in student achievement.

This two-part continuing session is designed for educators at all levels and is highly recommended for all participants who are new to PLC concepts.

Rebecca DuFour

First Things First: Building the Solid Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at Work The first step in the never-ending journey of a PLC at Work™ is to establish a solid foundation for all subsequent efforts. This foundation rests on four pillars, each of which asks a different question. Becky examines each question and explains how to move beyond rhetoric to a reality that shapes the culture of schools and districts.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary SchoolsSchools that function as PLCs must ultimately do two things: 1) build a collaborative culture to promote continuous adult learning, and 2) create structures and systems that provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Participants in this session examine strategies to collectively: • Respondtothelearningneedsofeachstudentinatimely,directive,andsystematicway.• Createandsustainstrongparentpartnershipstoenhancestudentlearning.• Makecelebrationspartoftheschoolculture.

After examining different models of systematic intervention and enrichment, participants receive criteria to assess their own schools’ responses and an action-planning template for next steps in raising the bar and closing the gap.

This session is recommended for elementary school educators.


= Keynote13

Rebecca DuFour Lights, Camera, Action! Setting the Stage for PLC Success in Elementary Schools

Elementary school educators beginning the PLC journey face the immediate challenge of how to provide the time and structure essential to the PLC process. This interactive workshop is designed to help elementary educators address that challenge.

Becky DuFour provides effective templates and proven strategies for reallocating existing resources to support learning for all. Participants are invited to bring their creative ideas to this session.

This session is recommended for elementary-level educators who have an interest in and/or a responsibility for creating schoolwide and team schedules.

Richard DuFour

In Praise of American Educators … and How They Can Become Even BetterThis keynote is based on the following assertions:

1. The current generation of American educators is achieving the best results in history.2. The consequences for students who do not succeed in the American educational system

have never been more dire.3. Our profession has within its sphere of influence the ability to create conditions that can

lead to dramatic improvement in both student and adult learning.4. We must accept responsibility for the fact that these conditions are not yet the norm in

American schools.

Richard DuFour provides explicit information regarding the conditions we must create and presents a candid assessment of how many schools are skirting their responsibility to do what must be done.

Common Formative Assessments: The Lynchpin of the PLC ProcessThe effective use of team-developed common formative assessments is the single most powerful tool available to a school for accelerating its progress on the PLC journey. Richard DuFour demonstrates how educators can use these assessments to better meet students’ needs and inform and improve their practice.

As a result of this session, participants are able to:• Definecommonassessment.• Defineformativeassessment.• Usecommonformativeassessmentsasapowerfulcatalystforschoolimprovement.• Clarifytherightandwrongwaytousecommonassessmentresults.• Developmorepowerfulcommonformativeassessments.

This session is recommended for teachers and administrators at all levels.


= Keynote14

Richard DuFour Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to Resisters

The most significant barriers to building a school culture focused on continuous improvement are the traditions of privatizing practice, of isolation, and of individual autonomy that have characterized teaching. How can a faculty build consensus for significant change? What are the most effective ways of addressing the concerns of those who resist even when the staff has decided to move forward?

As a result of this session, participants can:• Defineconsensus.• Applythemosteffectivestrategiesforbuildingconsensus.• Utilizesevenresearch-basedstrategiesforaddressingresistance.

This session is recommended for teachers and administrators at all levels.

Héctor García Out of Many, One: Developing One PLC Vision for Multiple Schools

District administrators who are excited about implementing PLCs should carefully examine the leadership role, which is essential during various phases of the journey. Administrators need to strike an almost perfect balance between leading and coaching staff members on any new initiative. Héctor García focuses on the key issues administrators face along the PLC journey as well as practical ideas for dealing with common obstacles.

Participants in this session:• LearnhowschooladministratorsensurethatPLCprinciplesbecomeapartofthe

school culture.• ReviewexamplesofdistrictadministratorsoutliningwhichPLCconceptsandartifactsare

tight and which are loose.• Discoverleadership’sroleinsupportingandacceleratingtheactionsofaPLC.

Game Plan: Developing a Winning Strategy for Implementation or AccelerationOrganizing all the great ideas out there into a systematic and strategic plan is a daunting task. In this session, based on his new book Game Plan: A Playbook for Developing Winning PLCs, Héctor García focuses on how to develop a plan for effectively implementing key PLC principles in any school. Participants review templates to help spur meaningful discussion and action and leave feeling prepared to succeed when they introduce or reintroduce professional learning communities at their sites.

Participants in this session:• EstablishastrategicplanforstartingoracceleratingtheirimplementationofPLCs.• Developideasabouthowtobringthethreebigideastolife.• Reviewtemplatesthatfacilitaterichdiscussionsandaction.


15

Héctor García Paving the Way: Leadership Principles That Accelerate Implementation in High Schools

During a time of heightened accountability and rapid change, administrators constantly need to find new resources to facilitate their efforts in implementing PLCs. Héctor García focuses on leadership principles that increase the likelihood of success when implementing key elements of a PLC, as well as the resources many administrators struggle to find.

During this session, participants:• Gaininsightsintomanagingchangeandconflictduringtheshiftfromatraditional

culture to a PLC culture. • Developanunderstandingofkeyelementsforestablishingandsupportinghighly

effective teams.• Identifystrategiestohelpadministratorsestablish,support,andmonitortheprogressof

their PLCs.

Aaron Hansen Fast and Furious: My School Needs to Change Now!

Aaron Hansen shares the foundational steps he and his leadership team took to dramatically change their school from a needs-improvement school into an award-winning, nationally recognized model school that was featured on CNN, ABC, FOX, and the BBC. After attending a PLC at Work™ Institute, Aaron and his leadership team used PLC tenets as a springboard to craft strategies that turned their struggling school around. He shows attendees how they can do the same. Participants define their schools’ current reality and begin designing their own action plans to effect significant and immediate improvement.

Participants in this session learn to:• Framechallengesthatcurrentlykeeptheirschoolsfrombecomingwhattheyenvision.• Identifyfirststepsinanactionplantoovercomechallengesandcreatepositivechanges.• Leadstaffmembersthroughquestionstoempowerthemtotransformtheirschools.

Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every TeacherThe PLC concept resonates with most educators, but making collaborative learning work in small schools or for singleton teachers can be a challenge. To this end, participants explore five models for creating meaningful professional learning teams in such settings:

1. Changing schedules to allow teachers to teach the same subjects2. Vertical teaming3. Cross-curricular teaming4. Support roles5. Using electronic tools to pair teachers with peers working in the same subject area

Participants in this session discuss common structural barriers that prevent singletons from joining collaborative teams; examine five models for creating meaningful professional learning teams for teachers; and develop an initial action plan to incorporate singletons into the PLC process.


16

Aaron Hansen Empowering Students to Own Their Learning in a PLC:

Students as Partners in Next-Generation AssessmentsAll too often students sit in passive compliance, doing assignments without really learning what is intended. To reach the levels of rigor demanded by next-generation assessments, students have to become owners of their learning. Aaron Hansen challenges participants to rethink their teaching stances and become more learner-centered by embedding PLC concepts into their daily practices. He offers strategies to use in schools and classrooms that empower students.

Objectives in this session include:• Becomingre-inspired!• Learningthedifferencebetweendelivery-centeredandlearner-centeredpracticesandhow

to use these concepts to empower students• Takingawayself-generatedstrategiesforhelpingstudentsreachtheirtruepotential

Chris Jakicic Common Formative Assessments: Getting Started

This session is designed for teams beginning their PLC journey that want to understand how to use common formative assessments in their work. Participants learn the difference between formative and summative assessments and why both are important to ensuring student learning. Participants explore how to overcome teachers’ concerns about using common data to make better decisions about students, consider ways to effectively find the time to do this work as teams, and how to respond to the assessment data with students.

In this session, participants:• Learnhowabalancedassessmentsystemprovidestheinformationcollaborativeteams

need to respond to student learning.• Understandthepurposeofdatanormsandlearnaprocessforwritingandusingthem

during meetings, with student work on the table.• Explorewaystofindtimetorespondtotheinformationfromcommon

formative assessments.

Common Formative Assessments: Designing Assessments That WorkCommon formative assessments written, administered, and used by collaborative teams can have a significant impact on student achievement. This session helps participants avoid making common mistakes in assessment design that often lead to problems in effectively using the data to respond to students. Participants learn how to unwrap standards into learning targets and how to write an assessment plan to get the right data back from their assessments.

As a result of this session, participants:• Understandhowunwrappingassessmentsintolearningtargetsimprovesthequalityof

common formative assessments.• Learnhowtochoosetherighttypeofassessmenttomatchtherigoroflearningtargets.• Understandhowtocreateanassessmentplanthatleadstomorevalidand

reliable assessments.


17

Chris Jakicic Common Formative Assessments: Writing Quality Items

If we are making decisions about what to do next in our classrooms based on the assessments we are giving our students, how do we know the assessment items we’re writing are giving us the right information? Participants in this session learn how to write items that translate into better information about student learning. In particular, we explore strategies for assessing more rigorous learning targets from next-generation standards.

Participants in this session learn how to write more effective constructed-response questions to help teachers understand what their students have and have not yet learned, and selected-response questions to provide more accurate information about student learning.

Assessing Reading With Rigor in ELA and Content Area ClassroomsTo meet college and career readiness standards, teachers in ELA and content area classrooms are choosing increasingly complex texts to use with their students. Content area teachers are equal partners in this work toward disciplinary literacy. This session addresses how teachers can ensure their assessments are written to provide accurate feedback about student learning with complex texts.

Learning outcomes include:• Understandingwhystandardshavechangedtoensurestudentsarecollegeand

career ready• Understandinghowunwrapping/unpackingastandardisvitaltoqualityassessment• LearningwhatcriteriatousewhenselectingpiecesoftextwithacademicrigorinELA

and content area classes• Becomingconfidentwritersoftext-dependentquestionswhichrequirestudentstothink

deeply about what they are reading

Brandon Jones Leading With Passion and Purpose: The Principal’s Role in a PLC

“The true measure of a leader is not how many followers you beget but how many leaders you beget.”

—Ralph Nader (in Roland Barth, Lessons Learned: Shaping Relationships and the Culture of the Workplace, 2003)

It is widely accepted that the principal has a significant and positive impact on student achievement. While this impact is generally indirect and effected through teachers, the fact remains that the extent to which the campus principal can effectively cast a compelling vision, build capacity and shared leadership, and create a culture of collaboration manifests itself in student success or failure.

In this session, participants:• Examine a principal’s key responsibilities to lead a thriving professional learning community.• Analyzetheprincipal’simpactonstudentachievementbasedonresearchfindings.• Constructaframeworkforsharedleadershipandcapacitybuilding.• Examinehowaprincipal’spassionandvisionimpactstudents,staff,andthecultureof

a PLC.


18

Brandon Jones Abandoning Archaic Practices: Motivating and Preparing Generation Z Students

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist so they will be able to use technologies that haven’t yet been invented and solve problems we don’t yet recognize. So, what happens when our bag of tricks fails to motivate, engage, and excite the current generation of students who are dependent on the immediacy of the world around them? The problem lies in the fact that their system of thinking, from the neural level to the practical, is instant and problem based—the opposite of previous generations! Brandon Jones compares traditional and 21st century learning practices and their significant impacts on student motivation and learning.

Participants in this session identify:• VitaldifferencesbetweenGenerationZandpastgenerations• Traditionalpracticesthatdemotivatestudents• Learningpracticesforthe21stcenturythatmotivateandpreparestudentsfortheirfuture

Journey to the Core: Dissecting the Four Critical Questions of LearningIn the commitment to continuous improvement, the most compelling and productive ideas often come from the experts sitting around the table with you—your team! How can you ensure your team continually focuses on the factors that matter most for student learning? In this session, participants dive into the essential questions that harness the power of great teams and learn practical ways to approach each question, as well as potential pitfalls to avoid, while growing as a team.

This session calls on participants to:• Fosteranin-depthunderstandingofhowthefourcriticalquestionsleadtoahigherlevel

of learning for students.• Analyzetheircurrentlevelofunderstandingandimplementationofthefour

critical questions.• Determinespecificareasofgrowthfortheirstaffand/orteam.

Facing the Giants: Overcoming the RTI Odds in High SchoolsThe primary mission of a professional learning community is to ensure high levels of learning for all students. With this goal in mind, do the systems of support in our schools truly serve that mission? Despite our best lessons and efforts in class, it is certain that some students will be unsuccessful without additional time and support. Because of this, creating a system in which all students are guaranteed directed, specific, and timely intervention is essential to each student’s success. In this session, participants identify common barriers high schools face when attempting to provide additional help for students and explore possible solutions to those issues.

Learning outcomes of this session include:• Examiningthecurrentrealityof,andchallengesto,systematicinterventionsin

high schools• Definingthetwotypesoflearnersrequiringintervention:failingstudentsand

intentional nonlearners• Determininghowtomeettheneedsoflearnersusingatieredapproach


19

Timothy D. Kanold Teaching, Leading, and Living a High-Energy and Well-Balanced PLC Life

In this session, participants examine the irrefutable benefits of an energized and well-balanced school life. It is easy to be sapped by the relational energy and chaos of a school culture, but by creating practices in your personal and professional life, you can sustain balance and have a solid impact on the world around you. Timothy D. Kanold draws from his book The Five Disciplines of PLC Leaders to offer insights and tools for living and leading a more dynamic and fully engaged life.

Dr. Kanold provides researched strategies to being part of a relationally intelligent PLC culture and shows how PLC teachers and leaders can effectively engage every day on a powerful educational journey.

Participants can expect to:• Examinetheimportanceofleadingahigh-energylifeinaPLCculture.• Understandhowtopersonallyandprofessionallylivein the flow every day.• Understandhowtopursueandsustainmorebalanceandhighenergy,andthepositive

changes this can effect at work and home.

Monitoring Expectations of Central Office and School Site PLC LeadersHaving a leadership role in a school or district—a role that expects one to lead other adults within the PLC culture—can certainly be challenging. This breakout targets central office leaders, school site administrators such as principals or assistant principals, instructional coaches, and program leaders who work with adults in the central office and at the school site.

Participants closely examine three aspects of their work that support their leadership in a sustainable PLC culture: vision, focus, and feedback. Vision includes knowing what to monitor; focus relates to monitoring the right things; and feedback is about doing more than just monitoring. By mastering these leadership actions, educators serve all stakeholders, producing high-quality work that improves student achievement every day, all year long. Leaders at every level can become people others naturally want to follow as they lead and influence the PLC process in schools or districts.

Your K–12 PLC Mathematics Focus: AssessmentBased on the Solution Tree handbook series Beyond the Common Core, this session explores how individuals and collaborative teams can achieve a high level of mathematics assessment and performance well beyond the expectations of any state. Using the PLC teaching–assessing–learning cycle, Timothy D. Kanold highlights the critical, unit-by-unit, research-affirmed assessment decisions essential to effective and successful student learning.

Participants use high-leverage team actions—a core set of teacher actions central to highly effective instruction for successful student learning—to develop:

• Unit-assessmentdesignprotocolsanddiscussiontoolsforcollaborativeteamstoimprovestudent motivation and learning.

• Analyticaldiscussiontoolsfortheformativeassessmentprocessattheendofeachunit.• Researchdesignanddiscussiontoolsforhomeworkprotocolsandpractices.


20

Timothy D. Kanold Your K–12 PLC Mathematics Focus: Instruction

In this session, based on the Solution Tree series Beyond the Common Core, series editor Timothy D. Kanold explores how collaborative teams can achieve a level of mathematics instruction and student performance beyond the expectations of any state standards. This achievement is possible through three coherent and focused team actions: 1) developing creative ways to move beyond normal checks for understanding in class; 2) effectively using higher-level-cognitive-demand tasks; and 3) designing lessons with colleagues that motivate daily student learning and sustained effort.

Participants use the PLC mathematics lesson-design model to examine criteria and team-discussion tools to design and plan lessons, as well as higher-level-cognitive-demand tasks—on a daily or unit-by-unit basis. They also use discussion tools that develop effective in-class formative assessment processes.

Mike Mattos

When All Means AllThe mission of a professional learning community is to ensure that all students learn at high levels. This mission is not merely an ideal outcome for most students, but a staff ’s collective promise to every child. In this keynote, Mike Mattos discusses the critical considerations for creating systematic interventions when a school embraces the tenet that all means all.

More Powerful Than PovertyThe achievement gap between poor and non-poor students is twice as large today as gaps related to ethnicity or language. As educators, overcoming the corrosive effects of poverty is critical if we hope to achieve our mission of all students learning at high levels. Mike Mattos focuses on five essential PLC practices proven to have a far greater impact on student achievement than the power of poverty.

Simplifying Response to Intervention: How to Systematically Respond When Students Don’t LearnHow does your school respond when students don’t learn? Compelling evidence shows that response to intervention can successfully engage a school staff in a collective process to provide every child with the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels. Yet, at many schools, this potential lies dormant, buried under layers of state regulations, district protocols, misguided priorities, and traditional school practices that are misaligned to the essential elements of RTI. This session provides guiding practices and practical ideas to create a multi-tiered system of support.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Secondary SchoolsWhat does an effective secondary school intervention process look like? This session provides participants with practical, proven intervention ideas, including ways to create a schoolwide process to identify students for extra help, and how to create time in the master schedule for interventions and extensions.


= Keynote21

Mike Mattos Guiding Principles for Principals: Tips and Tools for Leading the PLC Process

The principal has an essential role in creating a professional learning community. Without effective support and leadership, achieving this outcome is virtually impossible. This breakout, specifically targeted for site administrators, provides proven practices and examples of how to create staff consensus, monitor team progress, and address violations to a school’s collective commitments.

Learning CPR: Making Your Current Site Interventions More EffectiveA system of interventions can only be as effective as the individual interventions that comprise it. Despite honorable intentions, many schools implement interventions that don’t work, primarily because their efforts are not aligned to the characteristics of effective interventions. In this breakout, participants learn the six essential characteristics of effective interventions and a powerful process to apply these characteristics to their current site interventions.

The most significant difference between a traditional school and a PLC school is how each responds when students don’t learn. Mike Mattos shows how to create powerful responses (CPR) when students don’t learn.

Clara Sale-Davis Closing the Achievement Gap

Clara Sale-Davis illustrates the journey of a school that was transformed from low-performing to exemplary. Freeport Intermediate School in Texas is one of four schools in the nation named a “School to Watch” by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. It was also chosen by the National Association of Secondary School Principals to be featured in Breaking Ranks in the Middle: Strategies for Leading Middle Level Reform. But it wasn’t always that way.

Clara describes how an instructional process resulted in high performance with no significant difference among student groups. As the Benwood Initiative director, Clara employs the same strategies in high-poverty elementary schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In this session, participants experience how a PLC can make learning relevant and fun through interdisciplinary teaming, block scheduling, and the school-within-a-school concept.

From Hysterical to Historical: Creating a Safe, Orderly, and Fun EnvironmentHomework takes on a whole new meaning when a student is unsure about the home in which he or she lives. Clara Sale-Davis leads a lively discussion about strategies to even the playing field among students while creating a safe and respectful environment where all students can and do learn.

This session calls on participants to:• Examinewaystocreateadynamic,schoolwidedisciplinaryplanthatinvolvescommunity

leaders working as part of a professional learning community.• Discoverwaystocelebratestudentsuccessusingtechniquesthataredevelopmentally

responsive for all ages.• Startajourneytowardcreatingnewschooltraditionsbyimplementingritualsthatresult

in student success.


22

Clara Sale-Davis Training the Troops

Teachers can facilitate student learning in every subject area through the use of certain generally accepted practices, but the real magic occurs when there is a system in place to link direct instruction, cooperative learning, and individual student projects. Further, disaggregating and discussing school data is an effective tool for teachers and administrators. Clara Sale-Davis describes how all of these components work in concert to result in increased and sustained student achievement.

Participants in this session:• Learnorganizationalstructuresofinterdisciplinaryteamsandcadresthatwork

collaboratively toward student success and professional development.• Explorebestpracticestobecomedynamic learning teams.• Experiencethevalueofinterdisciplinaryteachingandcollaborativeplanningtoensure

students learn at high levels and achieve high academic performance.

Sarah Schuhl Focusing Teams and Students With Learning Targets

How can students articulate what they are learning? What should teachers assess to determine whether or not students are learning? Learning targets help students and teachers reach clarity about the learning outcomes expected in each course or subject area. In this session, learn how to write clear learning targets from standards. Sarah Schuhl discusses strategies for using learning targets to help students self-assess their progress and for PLC teams to create and analyze common assessments.

Navigating the Four Critical PLC QuestionsThe foundational structures of PLC teams are in place. What’s next? How do collaborative teams work together to determine what students need to learn, whether or not they have learned, and implement strategies to address the needs of those students who have and have not yet learned? In this session, participants explore how teams continuously navigate their way through these questions on a unit-by-unit basis.

As a result of this session, participants:• DeterminewhatistightandlooseintheworkofPLCteams.• Understandtheroleofabalancedassessmentsystemwithinagradelevelorcourse.• Exploretieredresponsestostudentlearning.

Data, Data, Data: What Do We Need? What Do We Do With It?The third big idea of the work of PLC teams is a focus on results. How do you use data to make informed decisions as a collaborative team on assessment and instruction, in determining whether or not students have learned, and how to include students in their learning? In this session, participants explore various ways to collect and organize data, look at how to respond to the results obtained, and learn a protocol for analyzing assessment data within a PLC team.


23

W. Richard Smith Being the PLC Leader You Need to Be: Leading a District Toward Successful Implementation

How do teachers go about moving an entire school district toward effective PLC implementation? W. Richard Smith provides a systemic approach to implementing PLCs districtwide. His efforts in transforming his district have appeared in seven books, multiple magazine articles, and national research projects. He outlines a pragmatic, straightforward path to implementation that includes the work necessary to ensure learning for all students. These strategies define the elements of leadership, professional development, and goal setting targeted toward successful implementation.

Participants leave with:• StrategicplanningtoolsfordistrictwidePLCimplementation• Anunderstandingofpotentialhurdlesindistrictwideimplementationandstrategiesto

address those issues• Strategiestoensureadistrictwidecommonvisionandlanguageforimplementation

Wow! So This Is What We Should Be Doing: Best PLC Practices in ActionWhen attending a Solution Tree PLC at Work™ Institute, participants gain a broad array of valuable information, but may wonder how all this will play out back at their own schools. W. Richard Smith presents a real-time look at the work of a PLC team. The PLC process comes to life with clarity and purpose as participants review data and see the efforts of a teacher team and successful teams’ best practices.

Participants are asked to collaborate in this session, and can expect to leave with:• BestpracticestoconsiderfortheirownPLCteams• Clarityabouttheimpactofdataandinstructionalbestpractices• Structuresandpracticesthathelpguideteamsastheyanswerthefourcriticalquestionsof

a PLC

Moving From “Just Doing” to High Performing: Fresh Ideas and Approaches for PLCsW. Richard Smith provides a step-by-step approach to make any PLC function at a high level. Participants learn the critical nuts and bolts to ensure teams make the most of their PLC time. Richard provides fresh ideas and approaches proven to be successful by teams of all sizes and at all grade levels. This session focuses on the real work of PLC teams.

Outcomes include:• Discoveringtoolsandactivitiesthatpromotesuccessfulcollaboration• GainingaclearvisionoftherelationshipbetweenthefourcriticalquestionsofaPLCand

the actions that make PLC time effective and meaningful• LearningpragmaticactivitiesandactionsthatmakeschoolwideanddistrictwidePLCs

meaningful and effective


24

san antonio, tx • june 17–19

Documents