Creating Conditions for Professional Learning

Communities

Everything has changed!Schools are experiencing:• new and highly challenging students • high mobility• poverty

Here is a modest list for consideration: • Expectations • Engagement • Toxic Grading Practices

The nicest gift we could give to ourselves would be a new way of doing business that builds on our strengths and

eliminates the road blocks we have encountered these past few years.

Think about it• Our problem is not a lack of expertise, it is a

lack of personal growth.• Education is not about what you know but

who you become.• No educator can be fragile in self-esteem, or

have low or no self-esteem. – One good teacher can make you believe it is

possible!

Care about your colleagues and the care for the students will come naturally.

7 Power Questions for Educators1. Why did you become an educator?2. Do you know your population?3. Have you found your voice?4. Are you happy with your job and are you happy

in your life?5. Are you fully maximizing your potential in your

current position?6. Do you understand or have you identified your

teaching style?7. Has being a teacher caused you to neglect

yourself, your health, or your family?

What is a PLC?

Professional Learning Community

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What is a PLC?

“A Professional Learning Community is a group of 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, et. al, 2006

The driving engine of a PLC is…

…the collaborative team, on which members work interdependently to achieve a common goal for which each team member is mutually accountable.

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Six Characteristics

• Shared Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals• Collective Inquiry• Collaborative Culture• Action Orientation and Experimentation• Continuous Improvement• Focus on Results

Professional Learning Community

Community means different things to different people. To some it is a safe haven where

survival is assured through mutual cooperation. To others, it is a place of

emotional support, with deep sharing and bonding with close friends. Some see

community as an intense test for personal growth. For others, it is simply a place to

pioneer their dreams.

CONTEXT Establishing the environment for professional learning

• Ongoing process• Cannot wait until the “right” conditions exist

to provide professional learning• Attend to context-building strategies

– Allows to implement powerful professional learning

– Improves capacity for school to function as a learning community

– Helps increase student achievement

When groups, rather than individuals, are seen as the main units for implementing curriculum, instruction, and assessment, they facilitate development of shared purpose for student learning and collective responsibility to achieve it (Newmann & Wehlage, 1995).

Two Forms of Change in a PLC• Technical

– Collaborative time– Common Assessments– Data– Educational Technology– Support Classes

• Cultural– Positive or Negative?– What cultural work needs to be done in order to get to

the technical change?

Common Misconceptions aboutTechnical Changes

• Changing the structure will lead to higher levels of learning

• Technical changes make up for poor instruction or unprofessionalism

• Technical changes will “fix” kids or “fix” schools which are broken

Cultural Changes when Attending to Context

• Everyone in the building, including the students, knows and understands the purpose of the school (mission, vision, values).

• Professional learning is one of inquiry – questioning and searching for answers is the main mode of professional discourse.

• Being in each others’ classrooms and buildings is the norm.

• No one waits for orders from above.

• People are not satisfied with the status quo.

• People will grumble about old-style staff development

Continuum of Community Function

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Toxic Laissez-faire Congenial Collaborative Accountable

Toxic – All about the teacher, adults not nice to one another or to the students

Laissez-faire – Teacher centered, autonomous, individual contractors

Congenial – Counterfeit, confuse niceness w/collaborative, focus not on kids

Collaborative – Have structures and skills in working together for improved student achievement

Accountable – Able to acknowledge and deal with difficult data effectively;Move beyond familiar solutions and approaches; Let go of instructional practices that do not work; Call one another on unmet expectations or violated norms. Source: Skillful Leader II, Warnock presentation

What is process? Selecting the design that works with context and content

• Selecting the professional learning strategies – that help adults learn.

• Once you have the context for learning, adults will collect and analyze data from various sources. The data help identify student needs and what the adults need to learn to help their students

Bruce Tuckman's 'Forming Storming' Team Development Stages Model (1965)

FORMING STORMING

PERFORMING NORMING

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Establishing NormsNo Blame, No Shame

Participate fully

Actively listen

No interrupting

Seek application

Press for clarification

Honor time agreements and confidentiality

Silence cell phones

Why PLCs?

• You cannot have students as continuous learners and effective collaborators, without teachers having the same characteristics.

-Fullan

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Steps for Deciding Content Connecting data, professional learning,

and student achievement• Start at the end

– What should students know and be able to do?• What are the GLCEs or HSCEs really asking?

– How well do they know and are they able to do what is expected?

– How will you respond if they don’t meet expectations?– How will you respond if they already meet the

expecations?• Keeping in mind what students need to know and be

able to do, consider what teachers should know and be able to do.

• Look at the current professional learning program (if there is one) and determine if it works to support needed content

• Design your own professional learning program• Determine indicators of success for students and

their teachers• Determine indicators of success for others in the

system

Data Leadership Teams: Why?

“Schools that explore data and take action collaboratively provide the most fertile soil in which a culture of improvement can take root

and flourish.”"The Collaborative Advantage." Educational Leadership Dec/Jan (2009)

What do Data Teams Do?Typical responsibilities for Data Team members

might include (not limited to):• Collecting and analyzing a variety of types of school data• Developing or adapting common assessment instruments• Committing to norms of collaboration and to examining data

from an equity perspective• Using the processes and tools to identify student learning

problems, verify causes, generate solutions, and monitor and achieve results for students

• Consulting research to investigate problems, causes and best practices

What do Data Teams Do? - con’t• Developing data-supported action plans• Communicating with staff and key stakeholders about the

findings and the plans• Overseeing the implementation of the plan and/or

implementing instructional improvement in classrooms• Sharing successes and challenges from their own classrooms

and/or at the school level• Engaging a broader group of stakeholders to gain their input,

involvement, and commitment• Coordinating with other school/district initiatives leaders• Developing their knowledge and skills in data literacy and

collaborative inquiry, leadership and facilitation

Steps to Data-driven Decision Making

• Share meatloaf recipes• Discuss last year’s data• Build calendar• Create pre-assessments• Administer assessments• Analyze data (assessment results)• Teach, teach, teach• Administer post-assessment• Score post assessment• Begin process again

Not the beginning and end for your School Improvement Plan

The success of the PLC concept depends not on the merits of the concept itself, but on the most important element in the improvement of any school-the commitment and persistence of the educators within it.

-Richard DuFour