PLCs Professional Learning Communities Staff PD Central Middle School PLCs Professional Learning Communities Staff PD

ALWAYS CENTERED AROUND INSTRUCTION PLC Expectations Professional Learning Committees The purpose of our PLCs includes but is not limited to: teacher collaboration NOT- venting sessions targeted instruction school business data analysis building wide student interventions SMART goals frequent common assessments lesson planning continuous school improvement and many other things……BUT…… ALWAYS CENTERED AROUND INSTRUCTION

Four Essential Questions 1. What do we want students to learn? 2. How will we know if they have learned? 3. What will we do if they don’t learn? 4. What will we do if they already know it?

Establishing Norms In PLCs norms represent protocols and commitments developed by each team to guide members in working together. Norms help team members clarify expectations regarding how they will work together to achieve their shared goals.

SMART Goals Strategic and Specific Measurable Attainable Results-Oriented Time Bound Create 1-3 Goals for the 2013-2014 school year.

SMART Goals continued:

SMART Goals continued: This will be the template you will utilize as you develop your site improvement plan. The goal is to keep it simple, but useful…not something created to sit on a shelf. Instead, a document to refer to often, and to help you maintain and sustain your focus.

SMART Goals continued: Each content area PLC serves as a specific site improvement team as related to what is being taught and the level of student achievement. In establishing SMART Goals the team performs the following tasks: Collects data from multiple sources Disaggregates data in multiple categories Analyzes data to identify problems and needs to be addressed in improvement plan The team evaluates the needs assessment process: Were all stakeholders part of the process? Was needs assessment information current? Were needs assessment items directly related to the desired conditions? Were all populations equitably represented? Has the needs assessment process been documented? Aligning your mission to that of Central Middle School vision and mission is also critical.

SMART Goals continued: Example: SMART Goal = Vocabulary During the 2013-2014 school year, non-proficient students (as indicated by the OCCT/EOI vocabulary subtest) at Flight Academy School will improve their vocabulary skills by 5% as measured by an increase in the percentage of students scoring in the “advanced” and “proficient” levels on the OCCT/EOI vocabulary assessment. Let’s examine…this sample of a Smart Goal for Vocabulary. At your table determine if this goal is SMART why or why not. Could it be better? How?

SMART Goals continued: Example: SMART Goal = Math computation During the 2013-2014 school year, proficient 8th grade students in the f/r subgroup group (as indicated by the OCCT math computation) at Flight Academy School will increase by 10% as measured by the OCCT math computation subtest. Let’s examine…this sample of a Smart Goal for Vocabulary. At your table determine if this goal is SMART why or why not. Could it be better? How?

SMART Goals continued: ACTIVITY With your PLC partner(s), develop a SMART Goal for increased academic achievement in your content area. Be prepared to share your goal with the group at large

SMART Goals continued: How do you know if your team is progressing to meet your SMART Goal(s)? We have identified team Norms and protocols to guide us in working together. We have analyzed student achievement data. We have aligned essential learning with the state standards. We have agreed on how to best sequence the content of the course and have established pacing guides to help students achieve essential learning. What have identified the prerequisite knowledge and skills students need in order to master the essential learning of each unit of instruction. We have identified strategies and created instruments to assess whether students have the prerequisite knowledge or skills. We have developed strategies and systems to assist students in acquiring prerequisite knowledge and skills when they are lacking in those areas. We have developed FREQUENT COMMON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS that help us determined each student’s mastery of essential learning. We use the results of our common assessments to assist each other in building on strengths and addressing weaknesses as a part of an ongoing process of continuous improvement designed to help students achieve at higher levels.

We use the results of our common assessments to identify students who need additional time and support to master essential learning, and we work within the systems and processes of the school to ensure they receive that support. We have agreed on the criteria we will use in judging the quality of student work related to the essential learning of our course, and we continually practice applying those criteria to ensure we are consistent. We have taught students the criteria we will use in judging the quality of their work and provided them with examples. We have developed or utilized common summative assessments that help us assess the strengths and weaknesses of the program. We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our summative assessments. We formally evaluate our adherence to team norms and the effectiveness of our team at least twice a year.

100% of PLC discussion is on INSTRUCTION!! REMEMBER… 100% of PLC discussion is on INSTRUCTION!!

So, how do you know if you have a PLC that is at work?? Collaborative teams of teachers regard ongoing analysis of evidence of student learning as a critical element in the teaching and learning process. Teachers are provided with frequent and timely information regarding the achievement of their students. They use that information to: Respond to students who are experiencing difficulty. Enrich and extend the learning of students who are proficient. Inform and improve the individual and collective practice of members Identify team professional development needs Measure progress toward team goals

PLC Meeting Agenda (Template in binder) Attendees: Must sign in at each meeting Logistics: Date, time, location, time keeper, note taker Agenda topics Next Steps: Decision, due date, person responsible Reminders: 4 essential questions Agenda items for next meeting

Cultural Shifts in a PLC Use of Assessments From infrequent summative assessments to frequent common formative assessments From assessments to determine which to assessments to identify Students failed to learn by the deadline students who need additional time and support From assessments used to reward and to assessments used to inform Punish and motivate students From assessing many things infrequently to assessing a few things frequently From individual teacher assessments to collaborative team From each teacher determining the to collaborative teams clarifying Criteria used to assess student work the criteria and ensuring consistency among team membe rs From over-reliance on one kind of to balanced assessments Assessment From focusing on average scores to monitoring each student’s proficiency in EVERY essential skill.

We assess our effectives on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams and schools seek relevant data and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement Rebecca DeFour

To truly reform American education we must abandon the long-standing assumption that the central activity of education is teaching and reorient all policy making and activities around a new benchmark: student learning Edward Fiske

UNTIL IT’S BEEN LEARNED, IT HASN’T BEEN TAUGHT.

PLC Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Products needed for PLC Algebra 1 Content Products needed for Algebra 1 Differentiation Products for differentiation Day 1 Review data from common assessment Discuss instructional strategies Bring list of student levels and common assessment results Cover objectives for upcoming common assessment in alignment with pacing guide. Instructional materials for days lesson (before the day needed) Tiered lessons ready for below, proficient, or advanced performance on common assessment Day 2 Review DI based on CA data discussed in previous PLC Three levels of instructional materials for DI Day 3 Discuss what will be on the CA. NOTE: This is not the CA you will give at the end of this cycle. It is the CA to be given after the current cycle/CA. Creating the CA first will guide the lesson plans. Team determines what will be on the CA and who will make it. The CA should be completed NO LATER than Day 7 of the cycle. Day 4 Day 5 Map out lesson plans for NEXT cycle. This should be based on the CA and pacing guide. Complete the lesson plan template for two weeks. Assign task and complete NO LATER than Day 7 of the cycle. Day 6 Gather instructional materials for upcoming cycle. Bring ideas for scaffolding and enrichment. Everyone should have an assigned task each week. Support the objectives for the upcoming CA in the current cycle. Instructional materials needed for support Day 7 Day 8 Gather instructional materials for upcoming cycle. Day 9 Day 10 Common Assessment Exit slip or mini-assessment strategy Index cards, responders, etc.

The 10 Day Cycle Assesses students every 10 days (frequent common assessments) Common Assessments are generated by the teachers within the PLC (can be uploaded into edusoft). Teachers are analyzing data on a weekly basis and responded to student needs Teachers can spiral in concepts as they continue to generate new lesson plans Teachers can build in days for re-teaching, remediation, differentiation Teachers are working within the standards and generating assessment questions at varied depths of knowledge Teachers are working backwards from the assessment-what is it our students need to know?? Teachers are giving the appropriate time to each standard as it relates to the test blue print. Teachers have targeted the power standards and have those appropriately placed within the pacing guide.

DATA ANALYSIS PROTOCOL Through the use of Edusoft, when it is time to analyze data, teachers can run a performance band report (overall) and by ethnicity, ELL, IEP, Reg Ed, and Gender Through the use of Edusoft, when it is time to analyze data, teachers can run an item analysis report for each standard group tested. Through the use of Edusoft, teachers can run intervention groups THEN…….WE COMPARE DATA WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT BY TEACHER. Here are some standard data analysis questions. 1. Which of my/our students need additional time and support to achieve at or above proficiency on the standards? 2. On which standards did my students perform the lowest? 3. What strategies were used by my teammates whose students performed well? 4. On which standards did all students perform low? 5. What do I believe is the cause of the low performance? 6. What is my/our plan for improving results? 7. How will we provide time and support? 8. What is our plan to enrich and extend the learning for those students who are highly proficient?