ROFESSIONAL EARNING OMMUNITIES P L C ROFESSIONAL EARNING OMMUNITIES

WHAT is a Professional Learning Community (PLC)? Group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students. An ongoing process through which teachers and administrators work collaboratively to seek and share learning and to act on their learning, their goal being to enhance their effectiveness as professionals for students’ benefit. A strategy to increase student achievement by creating a collaborative school culture focused on learning. Way to institutionalize continuous improvement in teacher performance. Demonstrated to lead to reliable growth in student learning. Called “the most powerful professional development and change strategy available.”

WHO IS INVOLVED IN A PLC? PLCs involve all teachers Groups should be organized in meaningful ways around a specific focus EX: social studies teachers, grouped by class taught, focus on improving student achievement on standardized assessments EX: science teachers, grouped by class taught, focus on developing critical thinking skills Usually groups of 4-5 by classes taught May have layers of reporting out and discussion Department, grade level, or whole-school reporting

Essential attributes of plc Scholarly literature identifies five attributes of professional learning communities: supportive and shared leadership collective creativity shared values and vision supportive conditions shared personal practice

HOW LONG DOES A PLC LAST? Teachers teams meet during the workday throughout the academic year. The PLC approach is a long-term proposition, taking three to six years to fully incorporate into a school’s routine practice.

WHAT ARE THE 6 STEPS TO PLC WORK? STUDY - Teachers work in collaborative planning teams to examine critically and discuss standards-based learning expectations for students. SELECT - These teams select evidence-based instructional strategies for meeting the standards. PLAN - Teams develop a common lesson plan incorporating the selected strategies and identify the type of student work each teacher will use to demonstrate learning. IMPLEMENT - Teachers implement the planned lesson, record successes and challenges, and gather evidence of student learning. ANALYZE - Teams review student work and discuss student understanding of the standards. ADJUST - Teams reflect on the implications of the analysis of student work and discuss potential modifications to instructional strategies.

PLC TEACHER OUTCOMES reduction of isolation of teachers increased commitment to mission and goals of the school collective responsibility for students' success higher likelihood that teachers will be professionally renewed and inspired to inspire students more satisfaction, higher morale, and lower rates of absenteeism higher likelihood of undertaking fundamental systemic change

PLC STUDENT OUTCOMES decreased dropout rate and fewer classes "skipped" lower rates of absenteeism increased learning that is distributed more equitably in the smaller high schools greater academic gains in math, science, history, and reading than in traditional schools smaller achievement gaps between students from different backgrounds

Increasing Latino Student Learning Through Teacher Collaboration Costa, J., Black, M., Diaz, L., Howell, M., and Lewis, C. (2012). Increasing Latino Student Learning Through Teacher Collaboration. Presentation at the College Board 2012 Preparate Conference, Miami, FL.

World History PLC Team From left to right: Calvin Lewis, Luis Diaz, Jr., John Costa, Margaret Howell, Mike Black

Agenda What are our results? What was our approach? What could you do? We present consistent increases on the California State Test - World History in Latino student learning and achievement. World History advanced/proficient scores increased 19% over two year period between 2009-2011. What was our approach? We recount the process of PLC collaboration between five teachers to implement common assessment cycle. What could you do? We offer recommendations for incorporating best practices in teacher collaboration and assessment cycle.

Our Results

PLC Assesment Cycle We adopted the PLC Assessment Cycle process to help respond to four questions: What do we want students to learn? How do we know if they learned it? What do we do if they didn’t learn? What do we do if they already know it?

California Standards Test World History-Social Science California Standards Test (CST) Released Test Questions - World History (2009). California Department of Education. Accessed www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqhssworld.pdf

Develop Common Assessments Common assessments for each of the 10 standards were written four years ago over the course of two full days during the summer. New PLC members were encouraged to add/delete questions/answers to common assessments, which are always evolving and changing.

Characteristics of Common Assessments Teacher generated and textbook suggestions. All students take the same assessment content wise regardless of their teacher. Approximately 40-55 questions in length Questions released from the CST are incorporated into the common assessments Item analysis occurs at the end of every assessment.

Utilize Best Practices Emphasis on practices that engage and support Academic English learners and Latino student populations vocabulary development reading comprehension Emphasis on critical thinking similarities and differences notetaking and summarizing student questions bases on Bloom PLC members implement strategies differently

Implement Assessment Testing window is agreed upon according to the pacing guide. Common assessment is formated in friendly CST style. CST release questions are incorporated into common assessments.

Analyze Results Automatic review of PLC-wide results for any item with < 50% correct answer. Review commom assessment results. Revise questions/answers. Review individual PLC member strategies for content delivery. Consider ways to improve teaching on test taking strategies and/or content.

Identify and Implement Interventions TEACHER With PLC Members, review best practices; include as appropriate. Create and implement formative assessments prior to culminating standard assessment. STUDENT Review common assessment results; Rewrite and correct wrong answers. Attend lunch and saturday small-group tutoring sessions.

What Could You Do? Administration Create PLC teams and identify PLC leadership roles. Provide appropriate training and mentoring. Identify regular meeting times (summer and weekly/bimonthly). Provide data! Provide periodic encouragement and incentives. DISCUSS: How ready is your administration for such an effort? What is already in place? DISCUSS: What data do you have on student achievement and performance? What data would be needed?

What Could You Do? PLC Teams Complete full cycle: for each common assessment time range: Identify Essential Standards Develop Common Assessments Utilize Best Practices Implement Assessments Analyze Results Identify and Implement Interventions DISCUSS: How capable are your colleagues in this kind of collaboration? What are your strengths and areas of needed improvement?

What Could You Do? PLC Team Tips Expect results, but don't get discouraged. Pay attention to small details at each point in the cycle. Share effective strategies - including those for ELs, AVID, and special populations. DISCUSS: What are the biggest challenges for implementing PLCs on your campus? What resources are already in place to support and engage Latino students? How can you build on those resources?

REFERENCES All Things PLC www.allthingsplc.info DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, E., Many, T. (2006). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work. Solution Tree. Hord, S. (1997). Professional Learning Communities: What Are They And Why Are They Important? Issues... about Change, Vol. 6(1). www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/cha35.html