Chapter 1: Cultivating Community, Culture, and

Learning

Dr. Rob AndersonSpring 2011

Agenda• Sign up for presentations• Review of APA Style 6th Edition– Student Examples

• Chapter One: Cultivating Community, Culture and Learning

• Guest Speaker: Claudia Vogt, Principal of Conway Middle School

Major Themes• Developing a Professional Learning

Community focused on learning outcomes• Fostering a positive school culture that

promotes PLC’s and learning for all students– Response to Intervention (RTI)

• Principal as the role of instructional leader

Florida Principal Leadership StandardsStandard 1: Student Learning Results. Effective school leaders achieve results on the school’s student learning goals. • The school’s learning goals are based on the state’s adopted student academic standards and the

district’s adopted curricula; and• Student learning results are evidenced by the student performance and growth on statewide

assessments; district-determined assessments that are implemented by the district under Section 1008.22, F.S.; international assessments; and other indicators of student success adopted by the district and state.

Standard 2: Student Learning as a Priority.Effective school leaders demonstrate that student learning is their top priority through leadership actions that build and support a learning organization focused on student success. The leader:• Enables faculty and staff to work as a system focused on student learning;• Maintains a school climate that supports student engagement in learning;• Generates high expectations for learning growth by all students; and• Engages faculty and staff in efforts to close learning performance gaps among student subgroups

within the school.

Redefinition of the Role of Today’s Principal

• Expected to be “change agents”• Leading from the center vs. the top• Teacher empowerment• Site-based decision making• Developing Professional Learning

Communities

Creating a Professional Learning Community

• Performing as a Professional Learning Community is a key to school improvement

• PLC members must share a common vision and understanding of how to “make it happen”

• Empowerment and shared decision making

Keys to creating a PLC• Mission Statement– Defining purpose

• Develop a Vision– Who is it that we hope to become?

• Develop value statements– Attitudes, behaviors and commitments

• Establish goals– Measurable, usually quantitative vs. qualitative

PLC’s in action – Adali Stevenson HS.

• Richard DuFour– To create a professional learning community, focus

on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.

• Author of Professional Learning Communities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement

• Founder of PLC movement

Professional Learning Communities• A lot of schools claim to have PLC’s but

do they???• Takes time, can’t start as an “initiative”

during preplanning and expect results• A true PLC continues to run even after a

principal/school administrator leaves – bigger than any one person

• Providing PLC’s with the autonomy that they need to thrive is difficult when faced with a multitude of mandates

School Culture• Contains all of the beliefs, feelings behaviors

and symbols that are characteristic of an organization– Observed Behavioral Regularities– Norms– Dominant Values– Philosophy– Rules– Feelings

Pair and Share: School Culture• What artifacts can be looked at to assess a

school’s culture?• How could an internal versus an external

assessment differ when analyzing a school’s culture?

• Who determines a school culture and how can it be changed?

• How important is school culture and what are the direct and indirect impacts?

Maintaining School Culture• Hiring staff• Orientation• Job Mastery• Reward and Control Systems• Adherence to Values• Reinforcing Folklore• Consistent Role Models

Principal as Instructional Leader• Increased focus on student learning• Encouraging Collaboration• Analyzing Results• Providing Support• Aligning Curriculum, Instruction and

Assessment

For Next Week• Read Chapter 2• Work on Leadership Book Report and

presentation