1.  PLC’s/RTI/STANDAR DS: The Big Picture

2. FACTS  Teachers are hard-working, dedicated individuals.  Despite all of our hard work, we struggle to help all students learn at high levels.  The work is never easy and becoming more difficult every year.

3. The Question What is the most important work that will result in high levels of learning for all students?

4. Milbrey McLaughlin: “The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community.”

5. In Fact... There is now conclusive, compelling research stating that acting as a PLC is the most powerful and effective process to systemically change school culture and improve student learning.

6. Doing the Work of a PLC The issue is not so much about learning what a PLC is and how it works, but more importantly, how can we embed PLC practices into the day-to-day culture of our school in order to help more of our kids learn more.

7. Aligning the Effort So, the question is : How can we move from random acts of desperation to an organized plan for implementing the Three Big Ideas of a professional learning community?

8. Three Big Ideas of a Professional Learning Community Big Idea #1: Focus on Learning The fundamental purpose of our school is to ensure that all students learn at high levels. Big Idea #2: Collaborative Culture Collaborative teams engage in collective inquiry to determine best practice and current reality. Big Idea #3: Focus on Results Shifting paradigms from: “We taught it, but they didn’t learn it,” to “They didn’t learn it. What do we need to do differently?”

9. Big Idea #1 Focus on learning (instead of on teaching)

10. Big Idea #1: Focus on Learning We accept high levels of learning for all students as the fundamental purpose of our school and therefore are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning.

11. What Do We Mean by “High Levels”?  High School plus  Grade level or better

12. Fundamental Assumption: To have a mission of learning for all:  You must believe all students can learn at high levels.  You must take responsibility to ensure that all students learn.

13. NSBSD Strategic Plan 1.2.7 Re-establish district-wide focus and implementation of the RtI model by introducing and requiring the use of quarterly Cycles of Collective Inquiry as well as the RtI Self- Assessment Tool followed by appropriate training.

14. Restructure vs Reculture

15. What is Response to Intervention/Instruction? RtI is the practice of providing high- quality instruction and interventions matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make collaborative decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and applying child response data to important educational decisions.

16. Restructure vs Reculture

17. Table Talk “If you intend to introduce a change that is incompatible with the organization’s culture, you have only three choices: modify the change to be more in line with the existing culture, alter the culture to be in line with the proposed change, or prepare to fail.” - Salisbury & Conner, “How to Succeed as a Manager of a Successful Change Project,” EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY (1994)

18. Which Way Do We Look at Our School? “Are you looking in the Mirror or Out the Window?” Article on PLC’s by Rick DuFour AllThingsPLC.info “The collaboration held me accountable. It allowed me to stop placing blame on the students and accept responsibility.”

19. More Table Talk Respond to the research.  To what extent do your staff members believe that all students can learn at high levels?  To what extent do staff members accept responsibility to make this a reality?  In other words, to what extent do they “look out the window” or “in the mirror”?  How does this impact RtI at your school?

20. PLC Connection to RtI What would happen if a school attempts to implement RtI, but has a focus on teaching rather than learning ?

21. Three Big Ideas of a PLC 1. Focus on learning 2. Collaborative culture 3. Focus on results

22. Why Collaborate?

23. “We can achieve our fundamental purpose of high levels of learning for all students only if we work together. We cultivate a collaborative culture through the development of high-performing teams!” -DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (2008)

24. “Improving schools require collaborative cultures....Without collaborative skills and relationships, it is not possible to learn and to continue to learn as much as you need to know to improve.” -Fullan, Change Forces (1993)

25. “Creating a collaborative culture is the single most important factor for successful school improvement initiatives and the first order of business for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their schools.” -Eastwood & Lewis, “Restructuring That Lasts: Managing the Performance Dip,” Journal of School Leadership (2002)

26. It’s All About the Team The engine behind school improvement in a professional learning community is the team – grade level teams, departmental teams, vertical teams....

27. Three Essential RtI Teams  Collaborative Teacher Teams  School Leadership Team  School Intervention Team

28. Collaborative Teacher Teams  Comprised of educators who share curricula and/or students and thus take collective responsibility for common essential learning outcomes.  Responsibilities in the RtI process:  Clearly define essential student learning outcomes.  Provide effective Tier 1 core instruction.  Assess student learning and the effectiveness of instruction.  Identify students in need of additional time and support.  Take primary responsibility for Tier 2 supplemental interventions for student who have failed to master the team’s identified essential standards.

29. School Leadership Teams  Serves as the “guiding coalition” for the building.  Primary responsibility is to unite and coordinate the school’s collective efforts across grade levels, departments, and subjects.  NSBSD: The building RtI Team - comprised of  Teacher Leader  Teacher Assistance Team (TAT) Leader  PBIS Team Representative (if applicable)  Collaborative Team Leaders (if applicable)

30. School Intervention Team  Primary responsibility is to lead the school’s focused microview on the specific students in need of Tier 3 intensive support  The primary purpose is not to be the gatekeeper to special education testing; it is to focus intensely on the individual needs of a school’s most at-risk students.  NSBSD: Teacher Assistance Team (TAT)

31. STOP PRINCIPALS: Review teams with staff

32. Collaborate About What?

33. Four Questions to Guide PLC’s  What do we expect students to learn?  Curriculum Mapping and Unit Design (CAIM); Essential Standards; Learning Targets  How will we know if they learn it?  Common assessments; Quick checks for understanding; Benchmark assessments; Progress Monitoring  How will we respond when they experience difficulty learning?  Differentiated core instruction; SMART Goals; RtI; PBIS  What do we do when they already know it?  Differentiation and SMART Goals

34. Repeating Process for Each Unit/Chapter/Cycle  Identify essential standards.  Write learning targets.  Create quick checks for understanding.  Create the assessment.  Analyze the assessment.  Look at data and student work.  Apply interventions and extensions.  Repeat.

36. SMART Goals DuFour & DuFour: “In a PLC, the very definition of collaborative team is ‘people working interdependently to achieve a common goal for which members are held mutually accountable.’ Note that the pursuit of mutual goals is fundamental to that definition. Furthermore, teams are asked to commit to SMART goals.” S trategic and specific M easurable A ttainable R esults oriented T ime bound

37. SMATT Goals “In traditional schools, educators focus on teaching rather than learning, work alone rather than in teams, and focus on teacher activity rather than student learning. If goals are established, they are most often teacher/teaching oriented, rather than student-results oriented. Thus, educators in traditional settings have been famous for establishing, not stupid goals, but rather SMATT goals! S trategic and specific M easurable A ttainable T eaching oriented T ime bound

38. SMART or SMATT?  I will create three new labs for my science course this quarter.  I will use cooperative learning more often in my classroom this semester.  We will increase the percentage of students achieving and exceeding the target score of 3 on the Six Traits rubric for Word Choice on the end of unit assessment from 81% on the pre-test to at least 90% on the post-test.

39. “SMART goals can help transform a group of educators into a team, can shift their focus from activity to results, and can provide a basis for frequent celebration of progress. Most importantly, SMART goals reflect an explicit commitment to help more students learn at higher levels.” -DuFour & DuFour

40. Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.

41. Back to Essential Standards... But don’t we already have state standards?

42. The Need to Prioritize Robert Marzano: “To cover all of this content, you would have to change schooling from K-12 to K-22....The sheer number of standards is the biggest impediment to implementing standards.” -Scherer, “How and Why Standards Can Improve Student Achievement: A Conversation With Robert J. Marzano,” Educational Leadership (2001)

43. Criteria for Selecting Essential Standards  Endurance : Will this standard provide students with knowledge and skills that are valuable beyond a single test date?  Leverage : Will it provide knowledge and skills that are valuable in multiple disciplines?  Prepare for the next level : Will it provide students with knowledge and skills essential for success in the next grade or level of instruction? Reeves, The Leader’s Guide to Standards, 2002

44. Establishing Curricular Priorities  40 Days – Worth Being Familiar With  40 Months – Important to Know and Do  40 Years – Essential to Know and Do  Wiggins & McTighe, Understanding by Design, 1998

45. PLC Connection to RtI  What would happen if a school attempted to implement RtI without a culture of collaboration and without clearly defining what is essential for every student to learn?

46. Three Big Ideas of a PLC 1. Focus on learning. 2. Collaborative culture. 3. Focus on results.

47. Big Idea 3: Focus on Results “We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, schools, and districts seek relevant data and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement.” -DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (2008)

48. To guide our intervention program......common assessment information must tell us... *Which students did or did not master specific essential standards. *Which instructional practices did or did not work.

49. What Comes Next?  Clarify essential standards and agree on what they mean with team members.  Understand embedded learning targets.

50. Unpacking the Standard (Deconstructing)  The purpose of this process is to clarify for all what the essential standard means.  Teacher teams should agree on which targets are included in the outcome and what proficiency looks like.

51. What Are Learning Targets?  Learning targets are any achievement expectations for students on the path toward mastering an essential standard.  They can be explicit or implied.  They clearly state what we want students to learn and what teachers and students understand.  Learning targets should be formatively assessed to monitor progress toward an essential standard.

52. Ask These Questions  What would it look like to teach this target?  What would it look like if the students could do this at the proficient level?  Is this skill measureable? What would the assessment look like?  HINT: Sometimes the verb needs to be changed to make it more measureable.

53. Why Deconstruct or Unpack?  Clarify what the standard means.  Identify underpinning learning targets to be assessed.  Determine what method of assessment is most appropriate.  Map an assessment plan.

54. What Are Common Formative Assessments? “Common formative assessments are team- designed, intentional measures used for the purpose of monitoring student attainment of essential learning targets throughout the instructional process.” - Bailey, Jakicic, & Spiller, Collaborating for Success With the Common Core (2013)

55. Common Formative Assessments in a PLC  Assessments are designed by the collaborative team.  Assessments are given in the same timeframe.  Assessments are given under the same circumstances.  Data are analyzed at a collaborative team meeting.  Plans are made together for corrective instruction, interventions, additional time, and support.

56. Assessment is an instructional tool.

57. PLC Connection To RtI What would happen if a school attempted to implement RtI without having this kind of frequent, timely information about individual student achievement?

58. Keating 2013  Our goal was not to become a PLC.  Our goal was to to improve student learning.  A PLC is simply a way of thinking.  We worked to make sure everyone understood that PLC concepts and practices were a means to an end.

59. “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” -Babe Ruth

60. Do You Have a Common Understanding of the Following Key Terms?  PLC  Collaborative Team  RtI Team  TAT  Team norms  Common Assessment  Essential Standard  Formative assessment  Summative assessment  Performance-based assessment  RtI  Systematic Intervention  SMART goal  Four critical questions