Facilitated by:Liz Durant Dianne GreifSchool Improvement Specialist PrincipalInterMountain ESD Stella Mayfield

ElementaryElgin School District

PLC Lite or PLC Right?Meeting as time allowsMeeting during scheduled, sacred timePicking and choosing PLC practices you’re most

comfortable doingAnalyzing student workDiscussions about upcoming field trips, assemblies,

computer lab schedule, Oriental Trading catalogDiscussions about effective instructional practicesNo one is “in charge”Team leader facilitates the meeting

PLC time is a significant investment

How can the time be used most effectively?

The Four PLC Questions1. What do we expect students to learn?

Essential outcomes, power standards, learning targets, pacing

2. How will we know if they learn it?

Common assessments, quick checks for understanding, results analysis

3. How do we respond when students experience difficulty in learning?

Differentiated instruction, targeted interventions, RTI, and PBIS

4. How do we respond when students do learn?

Differentiated instruction, enrichment

Highly Effective Teams How?

Collaboration is embedded into routine practices.

Time for collaboration is built into the school day and school calendar.

Products of collaboration are made explicit.Team norms guide collaboration.Teams pursue specific and measurable goals.Teams focus on key questions associated with

learning.Teams have access to relevant information.

Build Shared Knowledge As a Team

All teams need to:Examine state standards and engage in dialogue

about what students should learn.Analyze data to make decisions.Clarify essential common outcomes by

course/content area.Develop and administer common formative

assessments.Analyze results.Establish specific measurable standards or goals.Identify and implement improvement strategies.

Happy PLC Meetings

Willingness to consider matters from another’s perspective

Accurate understanding of spoken and unspoken feeling and concerns of members

Willingness to confront a team member who does not participate/contribute

Communicate positive regard, caring and respect

Willingness and ability to evaluate the team’s own effectiveness

Happy PLC Meetings - ContinuedSeeking feedback about and evidence of team

effectiveness from internal and external sources

Maintaining a positive attitude and outlookSolving problems -be proactiveAwareness of how group contributes to the

purpose and goals of the larger organizationEstablishes own protocols-reviews and

addresses violations

The BIGGEST Idea

Are all kids learning?We don’t know if all kids are learning unless we work together and talk about the evidence

of their understanding.“My students” become “Our students”

On a collaborative team, EVERYONE plays an

important role.

Participate honestly,respectfully,constructively

Assume a role Come prepared to meeting

Be punctual

Engage fully In the process

Team LeadersPlan and distribute the team meeting agendaFacilitate the process and meetingsMeet with principal and other team leaders

Limits of Team Leaders’ ResponsibilitiesPLC Team Leaders should not be expected to:Serve as pseudo-administratorsShoulder the responsibilities of the whole teamAddress peers and colleagues who do not want to cooperateEvaluate colleagues’ performance

Roles of Team MembersRecorder: Takes minutesDistributes to PLC team leader, colleagues, administrators

Focus Monitor:Reminds members of tasks and purposeRefocuses dialogue on processes and agenda items

Timekeeper:Follows time frames allocated on the agendaInforms group of time frames during dialogue

Data Technician:Gathers data from team memberCreates tables/charts/graphs that represent assessment results

Non-negotiablesNormsAssigned rolesPLC Agenda and Minutes formSMART goalsCommon Formative Assessments

Data Driven Conversation within your PLC Q: What do we mean by data?A: Evidence of student learning (a.k.a. assessment data)

You should spend most of your time analyzing teacher -generated common formative assessment data that indicates students’ understanding of power standards.

Common Formative Assessments“An assessment typically created collaboratively by a team of teachers responsible for the same grade level or course.  CFAs are frequently administered throughout the year to identify (1) individual students who need additional time and support for learning, (2) the teaching strategies most effective in helping students acquire the intended knowledge and skills, (3) program concerns – areas in which students generally are having difficulty achieving the intended standard – and (4) improvement goals for individual teachers and the team.”  – Learning by Doing, p 214

Parameters for Designing CFAsAlign each item on the assessment to a power

standardAssess the level of cognitive demand (Bloom’s

taxonomy) listed in the power standardSpecify proficiency (what will the student’s

work look like? What must students score?)Clarify the conditions for administering the

test consistentlyAssess a few key concepts frequently rather

than many concepts infrequently

Options for CFA items

Selected response questions (multiple choice, True/False, matching)

Construction response questions (short answer, essay)

Performance assessment with rubric (real world task)

Personal communication (interview, individual reading inventory)

Use of a Data Analysis ProtocolWhy is it important to have some type of

protocol when looking at data? - To remind us of the minimum necessary

steps and make them explicit- To instill a discipline of higher performance- To keep us on track

- Adapted from The Checklist Manifesto by Gawande

- Data Analysis Example

Resourceswww.allthingsplc.info

http://plc.sdcoe.net/Resources/PLC-Rubric_041712_v2.pdf

or google “San Diego PLC rubric”

http://www.rti4success.org/

http://www.interventioncentral.org/