1. PLC’s – A Menu For Success
Tammy Brown, Director of Elementary Education
Jill Hager, Instructional Coach at North Newton Elementary

2. Appetizer – District Focus
Instructional Coach Meetings- Weekly
Roles of the Coach
What are PLC’s?

3. What the Research Says…
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 to change in the classroom lies within and through professional learning communities.
- Milbrey McLaughlin

4. Research Says….
Staff development that improves the learning of all students organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district – NSDC, Standards for Staff Development, 2001
In order to take advantage of the broad range of professional knowledge and expertise that resides within the school . . .Teachers are Members of Learning Communities. – One of five core propositions from: What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do: The Five Core Propositions of the National Board

8. What are PLC’s
Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLC’s operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.
- DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, 2006

9. Characteristics of a PLC
Shared mission, vision, values, goals
Collaborative teams FOCUSED ON LEARNING
Collective inquiry into “best practice” and “current reality”
Action orientation/experimentation
Commitment to continuous improvement
Results orientation
- Rebecca DuFour, Solutions Tree Institute, 2006

11. How are PLC’s different from traditional teacher meetings?
Individual experts in the school/district (Educational roulette)
Excuses of why students aren’t making progress (parents, previous teachers, home life)
Teachers don’t discuss personal weaknesses
Teacher’s experiences and previous trainings vary
PLCs
Focus is on teaching methods and what works
Teachers see each other’s student results and discuss personal teaching strengths and weaknesses
Teachers work to share experiences and training to improve all teachers (build a collective capacity)

12. Roles of a Coach… Coaching and Training
Organize, plan for, and help facilitate PLC’s (grade level meetings and support staff)
Coach/train staff members weekly in PLCs on(with agenda): Differentiation, Instructional Guides, Best Practices, K-2 assessments, Balanced Literacy, Developing higher order questions, Assists teachers in incorporating the use of technology into the instructional program, Guided Reading, Subgroup strategies (SIOP, AIG strategies, etc.), Common pacing, common assessments
Assist with district training as assigned
Provide curriculum support to classroom teachers
Provide coaching, modeling, and make informal classroom observations
Assist teachers with alignment of teaching with essential curriculum and assessments
Coordinate vertical planning meetings across grade levels
Assist with other school level trainings as needed
Coach teachers on how to plan, monitor, measure and improve instruction

13. Roles of the Coach… Teacher and Student Support
Identify at-risk students and assist teachers in creating student support strategies for closing their identified gaps
Identify high performing and on-grade level students and assist teachers in creating student support strategies for raising their achievement levels
Identify sub-groups and assist teachers in creating student support strategies for raising their achievement levels and closing their gaps
Assist teachers with small groups (as needed) and individualized tutoring (as needed)
Provide personal support and encouragement to individual staff members, as needed
Recognize teacher successes, use of best practices, sharing of ideas, etc.
Train and coach teachers on effective use of PEPs
Coach teachers on including best practice in lesson planning
Work with principal and teachers to identify effective remediation or tutoring programs

14. Roles of the Coach… Resource Acquisition Data Analysis
Analyze and report out on all sources of school data (EOG scores, writing scores, Predictive Assessment scores, K-2 Assessments, etc.)
Organize Quarterly Assessment and data analysis -Utilize a systematic process that gives breakdown by school, grade, class, and subgroups
Assist teams in writing SMART goals based on student assessment data
Help teachers monitor progress toward goals and evaluate their instruction based on assessment results
Acquire resources for teachers from various sources throughout the district (including textbook adoption and missing curriculum items)
Highlight and share out resources to assist with the total instructional program
Pull information on a specific topic, genre, concept when asked
Highlight web and technology based resources

15. Roles of the Coach… School and District Collaboration
Help teachers with answering the 5 questions as they plan for the needs of their students (What will you teach based on the SCOS? How will you teach it? How will you know if the students learned it? What will you do if they already know it? What will you do if they didn’t learn it?)
Attend weekly Instructional Coach district meetings, training events and other events as directed by the Curriculum Department to acquire new information on curriculum, instruction, and assessment at the system and state levels
Collect feedback on all school processes, and work to adjust systems to better meet the needs of all staff and students
Assist with vertical planning, support staff, EC, and ESL to strengthen the instructional program
Meet with the principal weekly to communicate staff development plans and needs
Provide timely feedback from training events to participants, principal, and Curriculum Director

16. Then comes the Salad…
The Instructional Coaches from each elementary meet together to:
Share District vision
Conduct research to keep abreast of new policies, curriculum updates, and instructional strategies
Provide Professional Development for Coaches
Discuss & Plan for Professional Development
Analyze District Data and School Data
Create District Wide Formative and Summative Assessments
Plan for weekly PLC’s

17. Big Idea #1 – Focus on Learning
The school commits to high levels of learning for all students as the fundamental purpose of our school and therefore we are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning.

18. Focus on Learning
What is your school’s response when kids don’t learn?
Is your response. . .
Directive or Invitational?
Timely or Sluggish?
Systematic or by individual teacher? Or

19. Five Learner Centered Questions
How will we communicate the learning requirements?
How will they learn it?
How will we know if the students learned it?
What if the students didn’t learn it?
What if the students already know it?

20. Big Idea #2- Collaborative Culture
We commit to PLCs at each school. We do this by cultivating a collaborative culture though the development of high performing teams.

21. Keys to Effective PLC Teams:
Collaboration with a focus on learning is embedded into routine practices
Time for collaboration is built into the school day and calendar
Teams focus on the key questions
Products of collaboration are specific? What are we expected to produce, when, and for whom?
Team norms guide collaboration

22. Advantages of teachers working in collaborative teams. . .
Gains in student achievement
Higher quality solutions to problems
Increased confidence among all staff
Teachers able to support one another’s strengths and accommodate weaknesses
Ability to test new ideas
More support for new teachers
Expanded pool of ideas, materials methods
- Judith Warren Little

23. Collaborative Culture…
Ultimately there are two types of schools:
learning enriched schools and learning
impoverished schools. I have yet to see a school
where the learning curves. . . of the adults were
steep upwards and those of the students were
not. Teachers and students go hand and hand as
learners, or they don’t move at all.
-- Roland Barth

24. Big Idea #3 – Focus on Results
Our school has to know how we are doing. We focus on results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, and schools seek relevant data and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement.

25. Focus on Results…
Unless you subject your decision-making to ruthless and continuous judgment by results, all your zigs and zags will be random lunges in the dark.
--James Champy

26. Focus on Results… How does it all come together??
Predictive Assessment Data
Individual Growth Plans
Classroom assessment data

27. Main Course Facilitate the PLC Empower Teachers to be leaders
Analyze school, grade level, and classroom data
Create SMART Goals (Grade Level and Classroom)
Provide Staff Development

28. SMART Goals

29. PLCs in Action!

30. Dessert - Results Celebrate Successes
Develop plans for at-risk students
Look ahead

31. Data Walls in the School!

33. Working VIS Wall

34. Data Walls in the PLC Room

35. A Word of Thanks from Shirley Hord!
“Additional results have been your reports that reveal the learning that you and your colleagues do to increase your effectiveness, and the work that you do so diligently and wisely to apply your learning to your school and classroom practices so that students learn more successfully.”
-Shirley Hord

36. References Marzano, 2003 What Works in Schools
National Assn of Secondary
School Principals Breaking Ranks II, 2004
National Commission on
Teaching and America’s Future National Report
Rick and Rebecca DuFour Solution Tree Institute