Adapted: Dr. Bessie Karvelas Leading change in Professional Learning Communities New Insights on How PLCs Improve Schools Richard DuFour & Rebecca DuFour (December 2010) Adapted: Dr. Bessie Karvelas

What We Think about Learning? We learn about… --- of what we read --- of what we hear --- of what we see --- of what we see and hear --- of what we discuss with others --- of what we experience personally --- of what we teach to someone else Question & Answer

Student Learning Begins with Staff Learning “…teacher knowledge, skill and collaboration contribute to improved instruction and student achievement. Staff members within these schools who learn together create a spirit on which improvement efforts thrive.” Joellen Killion 1999

What is a Professional Learning Community (PLC)? Highly effective teams that are committed to… Collective inquiry Action experimentation Continuous improvement Results

Elements of PLCs The professional learning community is an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job- embedded learning for educators.

What PLCs Do? Develop an understanding of academic content Support the implementation of curricula and instructional activities Integrate and give coherence to a school’s instructional programs and practices Identify a school wide instructional need Study the research on teaching and learning Monitor the impact of instructional initiatives on students Examine student work

What Do We Know About the World’s Best School Systems? “The best school systems in the world recognize that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction. So, high-performing systems use the professional learning community process to support powerful professional development through teacher collaboration (Barber and Mourshed, 2007).

If We Implemented What We Know to Be Best Practice… Schools would be organized into collaborative teams in which members work together interdependently to achieve common goals for which members are mutually accountable.

Where We Are Now? A good thing happening in my school or classroom……. Schools that help all students to learn pay attention to…… Developing or enhancing my PLCs is an opportunity to………… To make this project successful I am prepared to……….. Handout - ACTIVITY

Moving from Good to Great Everyone collaborates Principals lead PLCs Staff analyzes data to inform decisions

What We’ve Learned in AMPS Principal participates in instructional practice Has the ability to support instruction directly or indirectly Insures that teachers meet about the right things Manages a small number of initiatives with focus

What We’ve Learned in AMPS Asks good questions Strategic about his or her time Makes decisions that benefit students (willing to make unpopular decisions about budget and scheduling if needed)

Role of Principal in Leading PLCs Sharing basic norms and values about students, learning and teaching Reflective dialogue about teaching practice and student learning Fostering a sense of collective responsibility Supporting collaborative time/work Focusing on results

PLC in Schools “Teams Get Results” 1) Administrative Team Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) Response-to-Intervention Team (RtI Team) Department Chairs Team Content-Area Team Course Team “Teams Get Results” Katzenbach and Smith 1993

Instructional Leadership Teams A PLC that… Expands the use of a variety of instructional strategies Supports enhanced instructional practices by teachers Provides support for colleagues Develops a plan for the school leadership team to apply and share Facilitates a school wide plan to implement instructional strategies

Creating a collaborative culture among your staff Building Teams In high-performing teams, members hold each other accountable. Everyone carries his or her own weight (Blanchard, 2007).

Stages of Team Development Orientation Stage---------- Forming Testing Polite Impersonal Watchful Guarded

Stages of Team Development Dissatisfaction Stage------Storming Infighting Controlling Conflicts Confronting People Opting Out Difficulties Feeling Stuck

Stages of Team Development Resolution Stage-----------Norming Getting organized Developing Skills Establishing Procedures Giving Feedback Confronting Issues

Stages of team Development Production Stage-----------Performing Mature closeness Resourcefulness Flexible Open Effective Close and Supportive

Group Activity Complete Chart on Stages of Team Development CHART

One Focus of ILTs – PD Powerful staff development… Builds a culture that supports innovation, experimentation, and collegial sharing Engages people in daily planning, critiquing and problem solving Deepens content knowledge Expands instructional skills within the content Teaches assessment skills that help people regularly monitor student learning Provides on-going practice based assistance. Connects people to networks beyond the workplace

PD should be… 1) Standard-Based Content: What knowledge and skills must educators learn to produce higher levels of learning for all students? Process: How will learning be organized to support adult acquisition of new knowledge and skills? Context: How will the organization be structured to support adult learning?

PD should be…… 2) Results-Driven What do students need to know? What do educators need to know and be able to do to ensure success? What professional development will ensure that educators acquire the necessary knowledge and skills?

PD should be… 3) Job-Embedded Happens during the work day in the work place. Designed to support team learning. Offered to all teachers all the time. At school, everyone’s job is to learn.

Job-Embedded Learning provides... The development of a deeper understanding of academic content Support implementation of curricular and instructional initiatives Provides coherence to school programs Focuses on a specific school-wide need Supports the study of teaching and learning Monitors impact of an initiative Provides time for dialog

Job-Embedded Practices Sharing article and professional resources for ideas and insights Talking with one another about what and how you teach and the results your teaching produces Providing moral support, comradeship and encouragement Jointly exploring a problem (i.e. data collection and analysis; conducting action research)

Job-Embedded Action Items Attending training together and helping each other implement the content of the training Participating in the continual quality improvement activities Using collective decision making to reach decisions that produce collective action Provide support for “help–seeking” as well as “help-giving” Sharing responsibility for making and/or collecting materials

Essential Questions At the point of… Delivery --- Did the students (they) like it? Knowledge --- Did they learn it? Application --- Are they using it? Results --- Did it impact student learning? Organizational Support/Change --- Did it impact the organization? Tom Guskey 2000

Teaching & Learning According to the 2009 Metlife survey of teachers in the United States, 84 percent of teachers are “very confident that I have the knowledge and skills to enable all of my students to succeed academically.” According to that same survey, only 36 percent of teachers believe all their students have the ability to succeed academically.

What We Know Versus What We Do In most schools, assessments will continue to be developed and administered by individual teachers and will be used primarily for summative purposes. Unless assessment serves as a catalyst for adult learning and changes in teacher practice, it will not be effective in improving student achievement.

Why Common Assessments? Impact on professional practice — the irrefutable evidence of better results and the positive peer pressure of a collaborative team working interdependently to achieve a common goal provide the most powerful levers for impacting practice. Efficiency — by sharing the load teachers save time. Equity — promotes a guaranteed curriculum, similar pacing, and consistent standards for assessing student proficiency.

Assessment Drives Collaboration Teachers can… Monitor the learning of students who are expected to acquire the same knowledge and skills. Use the same instrument/process for assessing the quality of student work. Gauge the alignment of the curriculum and the effectiveness of their instruction.

Sample PLC Activities Using shared planning to develop units, lessons, and activities Learn from one another by watching each other Collectively study student work to identify weaknesses and plan new ways to teach

Strategies to Build Strong PLCs Jigsaw Consulting Line Academic Controversy Give One/Get One Carousel Brainstorm