1. 1. What is it we want our students to learn?
2. How will we teach our students?
3. How will we know when each student has mastered the essential learning/skill?
4. What will we do if the student does not master the skill?
5. What will we do for students who master the skill early?

2. Learning Community (PLC)?
What is a Professional
Learning Community (PLC)?

3. A professional learning community is a community where educators create an environment that fosters mutual cooperation, emotional support, and personal growth as they work together to achieve what they cannot accomplish alone.
Educators collaborate.

4. Elements of a PLC
Mutual Respect – A requirement for highly effective collaborative teams.
Consensus Rules – Honor what has been said and agreed upon.
Data Driven – Use data to make improvements
Continuous Improvement – Allows teams to continue to improve and reach their goals

5. For the year we will continue to utilize effective Collaborative Teams to IMPACT Student Achievement in a Professional Learning Community.
Dr. Eric Twadell – Adlai Stevenson H.S.
The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community. The path of change in the classroom lies within and through PLCs.

6. Why Collaboration?
Collaboration provides an opportunity for educators to work together toward a common goal. It increases the effort of one by the effort of many. These efforts allow us to attain uncommon results.

7. Camelback High School’s Collaborative Structure/Culture Will Have:
 A Focus on Student Achievement / Student Learning
 Collaborative Teams
 Team Leaders
 Time to Collaborate
 SMART Goals
 Action Plans (Implementation)
 Specific Artifacts
 Data Driven Focus
 Student Support Programs/Teams

8. Steps for Successful Teams
Teams decide on their own norms and protocol
Teams create their own mission, vision, and values
Teams build shared knowledge (curriculum experts)
Teams decide on “essential learning”
Teams write common assessments
Teams write criteria to grade student work
Teams administer common assessments to all students
Teams analyze results to drive future learning
Teams identify and implement improvement strategies

9. Our PLC Teams Will Focus On:
 Mission, Vision and Values
 Common SMART Goals (Student Achievement)
 Common Assessments (Summative & Formative)
 Common Instructional Strategies (Focusing, Processing)

10. Artifacts Are Evidence of Your Collaborative Efforts
Examples of Artifacts Your Team Can Work on…
 Common Plan for Success
 Curriculum Map
 SMART Goals for Student Achievement / Learning
 Common Unit/Chapter/Skills Assessments
 Common Unit/Chapter/Skills Assignments
 Common Review Material for all Summative Assessments
 Common Instructional Strategies
 Standardized test review materials (AIMS &/or Terra Nova)

11. Mission, Vision and Values
MISSION probes the question:
What is our purpose?
VISION asks the question:
What do we want to become?
VALUES explore the question:
How must we behave in order to
make our vision a reality?

12. Camelback High School Mission Statement
"Camelback High School's mission is to provide the best education possible for all students to assist them in achieving their maximum potential, motivate them to strive for success in everything they do and support them as they master the skills needed to prepare them for success in college, career and life."

13. School Improvement Plan Missions & Goals
Literacy – All students will
develop effective reading
and writing skills.
Mission Statement
Camelback High School
will prepare all students
for the choices and
challenges of the 21st century
Math – All students will
demonstrate reasoning and
problem solving in math and
across the curriculum.
Responsibility – All students
will develop and use
responsible decision-making
skills.

14. Why Should We Establish Norms?
“Norms put the ‘Golden Rule’ into practice for groups.”
“Having a set of norms or ground rules that a group follows, encourages behaviors that will help a group do its work.”
“Writing norms is an effective way to democratize a group.”
“Writing norms helps create groups that are able to have honest discussions that enable everyone to participate and be heard.”

15. Team Interaction Norms
Examples:
We will participate without dominating.
We will maintain confidentiality.
We will focus on what is best for students.
We will support the decisions of the team.
We will come prepared to actively participate.
We will address the issues/concerns.
Refrain from doing work that does not pertain
to the team agenda during the meeting.

16. Responsibilities of PLC Team Members:
We will:
1. Adhere to norms.
Enforce norms by communicating with team
members who do not adhere to the norms.
Be informed of what takes place at
team meetings if absent.

17. Strategic and Specific
Identify SMART Goals for Your Team
Strategic and Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-oriented
Time bound
Refer to handout: SMART Goals

18. Are these SMART Goals? Are they…
Strategic and Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-oriented
Time bound
By the end of first semester, the D and F rates will decrease by 25%.
Our students will increase their scores on the CRT test.
As a result of our new writing strategy, 20% more freshmen will pass the ACE test second semester.

19. Purpose for Assessment:
Assessment will support learning of important content and furnish useful information to both the teacher and the students.
Adapted from, Classroom Assessment for Student Learning. Rick Stiggins

20. • Requires collaboration among teachers
Why Common Assessments?
Some of the Benefits are…
• Focus instruction on essential learning • Reinforces common core curriculum • Creates better (more valid and reliable) exams • Results identify curricular areas and instruction that
needs attention.
• Requires collaboration among teachers
• Provides objective indicators of effectiveness

21. Ubiquitous assessments that occur during the learning.
Types of Assessments
Summative
Assessment OF
Learning
Formative
Assessment
FOR
Learning
Ubiquitous assessments
that occur during the learning.
Both students and teachers
should help make decisions
about these assessments.
This type of assessment
is used to evaluate
students’ attainment of
course objectives/skills.
This type of assessment takes
place after the learning
has occurred.

22. Types of Assessments Formative Summative Assessment Assessment FOR OF
Learning
Summative
Assessment OF
Learning
Homework
Bell work
Focusing Strategies
Processing Strategies
Checking for Understanding
Quizzes
Unit Exams
Semester Exam
Projects or Performance
Formal Essay/Term Paper

23.        The PLC “Cycle” for Continuous Improvement for All Teams
SMART Goals: Student Achievement 
Radical Celebration! 
Action Plan to Achieve the Goals  
Shared Mission – Fundamental Purpose … Why? Shared Vision - What are we to become Shared Values – Commitments to Action
School-Wide
Risk-taking culture- focus Inquiry & Action 
Analysis of the Data 
Results Orientation – Data collected to reflect Goals 

24. Where do we start? Form content area teams Select a Team Leader
Establish Team Norms
Write the Mission, Vision and Values Statements
Analyze the data
Write 1-2 SMART Goals
Develop an Action Plan for each Goal
Collect Artifacts

26. Collaboration vs. Integration
Like courses/ same content area
Different courses/ content area
Teachers in teams
Aligned to same course standards
Collaboration
Integration
Aligned to different course standards
Tied to student learning
Same artifacts, same rubric
Some common artifacts, different rubric