Professional Learning Communities and the Tools Teams Use

Fall FASD Leadership Conference

Florida Staff Development Council

September 2009

Facilitator:Ann M. Delehant

Delehant and Associates7 Kimberly Road

Pittsford, NY 14534585 248 2587

585 750 4499 (cell)adelehant@gmail.com

www.anndelehant.com

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

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“The very essence of a learning community is a

focus on a commitment to the learning of each student. When a school or district functions as a PLC, educators within the organization embrace high levels of learning for all students as both the reason the organization exists and the fundamental responsibility of those who work within it.”

(DuFour, et. al, 2006)

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PLCs and Lesson Study

Monday, Sept. 21, Keynote Presentation, 9 - 11:45 AM

The research is clear that PLCs work; now let’s make sure we know how to make sure they do work. We will discuss values and conditions necessary to build collaborative, high-trust cultures required for effective PLCs. We will review how to use protocols, like lesson study, to ensure that teams have strategies to make productive use of the limited time that we have for professional learning. Participants will reflect on ways to adapt these ideas in their work.

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Desired Outcomes

o Introduce how to use professional learning communities as a way of thinking and doing our work.

o Identify the four stages of community and consider how to build trust in your teams.

o Share ideas about a variety of protocols PLCs use.o Focus on lesson study as one process for learning with and from

one another with student achievement the result. o Take time to learn with and from one another. o Reflect on ways to utilize these ideas at your school.

I not only use all the brains I have but all I can borrow. (Woodrow T. Wilson)4

Connecting with One Another

Have you been part of a “learning community?”

Describe the experience. What were the conditions that were in place

that allowed this to occur? How might that experience inform the

implementation of this work in your district?

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None of us is as smart as all of us.

Pogo

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New Understanding ofProfessional Development

Content-focusedProcess-focused

Long-termShort-term

CoherentFragmented

ConstantOccasional

Done by usDone to us

TOFROM

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Changing Our Language

Learn/ApplyDo

CollaborateAttend

Improving my practice and

students’ learning

Getting my hours

Job-embeddedInservice day

Facilitate Conduct

TOFROM

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The PLC Provides….

Both a common language and framework for all schools

A data-driven process that leads to a results-oriented product: high student achievement

A vehicle for collaboration to share expertise and facilitate use of best practices

An opportunity to learn with and from one another.

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Stages of Community

Scott Peck Pseudocommunity

Chaos

Trust building, Listening

Community

Bruce Tuckman

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

Based on the work of Scott Peck and Rob and Kathy Bocchino

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PseudocommunityISSUES

Want to be in the community

Afraid of differences Afraid of conflict

MOVE THE TEAM New member Success/event Leader Name the stage

BEHAVIORS Conform Strong authority Act as if we are in

community No conflict or can’t

name the conflict

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Chaos

ISSUES Unmanaged conflict Survival Want chaos to go

away New person on

team may “name the conflict.”

BEHAVIORS Fight or flight Pairing Factions Divisive

Groups may want to return to pseudocommunity, back to being nice.

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Trust Building/Listening

ISSUES Build trust. Promote listening. Admit conflict and

acknowledge differences.

Allow the system to “tell the truth.”

BEHAVIORS Listen non-

judgmentally. Recognize that we can

be different and nobody dies.

Allows for accuracy and completeness (gestalt)

Extend trust.

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TRUST T T

Trustworthy Trusting

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Trust (in the system, the process, the individuals)

TRUSTWORTHY I do what I say. I keep my word. I keep my

confidences. You can count on

me.

TRUSTING I have faith in you. I will take a risk with

you. I don’t have to

control everything. I am vulnerable.

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Community

ISSUES Opportunity for

growth, development We identify ourselves

through our differences.

Joy

BEHAVIORS Conflict is managed. Conflict is not

personal, territorial, emotional.

Honor diversity. Listen and learn. Trust the individuals,

the process, the system.

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Guiding QuestionsThink about a team….What stage are you in? How do you know? Discuss….

How can you make sure that everyone is heard in a respectful way?

What conditions are necessary for you to feel safe to express yourselves?

What can you do to assure that there will be no reprisals for disagreeing?

What unfinished business is blocking your progress? What norms might you establish to support your

teamwork? Have you established goals that you want to achieve

as individuals/as a team?

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CREATE THE CULTURE THAT YOU WANT IN YOUR SCHOOL? 17

The Importance of Trust

Schools with low relational trust have a 1 in 7 chance of showing gains in student achievement.

Schools with high relational trust have a 1 in 2 chance of showing gains in student

achievement.

Bryk & Schneider (2003), Trust in schools: a core resource for improvement. New York: Russell Sage Foundation

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Five key components used to measure trustworthiness

Benevolence – having confidence that another party has your best interests at heart and will protect your interests.

Reliability – referring to the extent to which you can depend upon another party to come through for you, or act consistently, or follow through.

Competence – belief in another party’s ability to perform the tasks required by his/her position.

Honesty – the degree to which a person can be counted on to represent situations fairly. (Integrity, character and authenticity are all dimensions of trust.)

Openness – how freely another party shares information with others.

Brewster, C. and Railsback, J. 2003. Building Trusting Relationships. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. ERIC document. Adapted from Tschannen-Moran and Hoy. (1998)

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Definition“In education circles, the term

learning communities has become commonplace.

It is being used to mean any number of things, such as extending classroom practice into the community; bringing community personnel into the school to enhance the curriculum and learning tasks for students; or engaging students, teachers, and administrators simultaneously in learning—to suggest just a few.”

Shirley M.

Hord

The professional learning community acts as the infrastructure for the work of the school-- it provides the environment and focus for the collaboration necessary to accomplish the learning goals.

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Professional Learning Communities

Stuff #1 Stuff #2

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What Makes a Team a PLC?

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Priorities for Professional Learning Communities Focus on learning

Focus on collaborative culture “A systematic process in which we work together,

interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve our individual and collective results.”

Focus on results Provide timely, relevant information

Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities, 2002 (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker)

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Essential Questions

EXAMPLE: What do we expect our

students to learn? How will we know if and when

they have learned it? How will we respond when they

don’t? (What are our strategic interventions?)

How will we meet the needs of those who “already know?”

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A Place to Start

Using data helps teachers/staff make informed decisions about:

Instructional practices Did you teach it?

Curriculum development Did the curriculum, materials help you teach the concept?

Assessment Did the assessment accurately test the concept?

Professional development What do the adults need to know and be able to do to

teach this concept?

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“The Bell Curve has NO place in classroom assessment.”Doug Reeves

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TIME and SUPPORTare the variables

J CURVE

J CURVE

Can you create a culture based upon the J Curve??

Learning is the CONSTANT

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Time

Target 1-2X a week for 45 minutes Embedded in the work day Scheduling

Common planning time Late starts Faculty meetings Conference days

How are you using the time you already have?

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What do your teams do when they have time to work together?

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What do teams do during PLC time? Engage in dialogue about learning Analyze formative and summative data to inform planning, instruction Look at student work Develop common assessments; use the data from the assessments Develop/modify rubrics Facilitate lesson study Identify root causes Develop and share units/lessons Plan interdisciplinary units Identify students who need intervention/support/remediation and

determine appropriate service Identify students who need acceleration and determine appropriate

support and service Address barriers to learning Answer the four questions

What do we want all students to learn? How will we know if they have learned it? How will we respond when they haven’t learned? How will we meet the needs of those who “already know?”

Analyze data to determine professional development priorities Provide time for teacher learning 31

AND, You can’t do it all…..

How do you choose what to do?

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Lesson Study

Tools for Schools, NSDC, March 2004

Powerful Designs for Professional Learning Lesson Study by Catherine C. Lewis

The Learning School By Joellen Killion and Pat Roy

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Lesson Study

Review the frame for lesson study. Scan article and directions in Tools for

Schools. Discuss HOW you might use this protocol in

your school/district.

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7 Steps of Lesson Study (Tools for Schools, NSDC, 2004)

1. Form a lesson study team.

2. Focus the lesson study.a. Can be a school wide goal or academic content goal for student

b. Choose a subject area

c. Identify a unit or lesson.

d. Ask “What do we want the students to know and be able to do when this lesson is concluded?”

3. Plan the study lesson.

4. Prepare for the observation.

5. Teach and observe the lesson.

6. Debrief the lesson.

7. Reflect and plan the next steps. 35

Lesson Study Cycle ( Lesson Study, NSDC Tools for Schools, February/March 2004 )

1. Set Goal(s) and Plan Lesson/Unit

Select planning team. Identify goals for student learning and long term

development. Design a “research” or “study” lesson that will be

observed. Collaboratively plan instruction designed to bring the goals to life.

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2. Research or Study Lesson

One planning team member teaches the lesson while other team members observe and collect data on student thinking, learning, engagement, behavior, etc.

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3. Debrief Lesson

Share and analyze data collected at research or study lesson.

What is the evidence that goals for student learning and development were fostered?

What improvements to the lesson should be considered?

What improvements to instruction, more generally, should be considered?

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4. Consolidate Learning If desired, refine and re-teach the lesson and study

it again. Revise and finalize the lesson/unit plan. Write a brief

report that includes student data and reflections about what was learned.

Share the lesson/unit with all members of the team and other interested persons.

Other members of the team will teach the lesson/unit.

Debrief the experience and determine next steps.

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Observation the Study LessonObservers should take these actions while

observing: Make notes on individual student comments

and conversations, noting the names of students.

Note situations in which students are collaborating or choosing not to collaborate.

Look for examples of how students construct their understanding through their discussion and activities.

Document the variety of methods that individual students use to solve problems, including errors.

Guidelines for Lesson Study Observations and Debriefingswww.rbs.org/currents/0502/guidelines.shtml 40

Questions for the Observers to Consider….

Was the goal clear? Did the activities contribute effectively to achieving the goal?

Was the flow of the lesson coherent and did it support students’ learning of the concept?

Were the problems and materials helpful in achieving the goal of the lesson?

Did the classroom discussions help promote student understanding?

Was the content of the lesson appropriate for students’ level of understanding?

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Questions for the Observers Did the students apply their prior knowledge to

understand the content of the lesson? Did the teacher’s questions engage and

facilitate student thinking? Were students’ ideas valued and incorporated

into the lessons? Did the lesson summary refer to students’ theories or ideas?

Was the lesson summary consistent with the lesson goal?

How could the teacher reinforce what the students learned during the lesson?

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Reflection

Consider the conditions that you must put in place to facilitate a lesson study protocol with your PLCs.

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Dialogue

1. Discuss each of these characteristics. 2. What does each characteristic of a

Professional Learning Community look like in your school/district?

3. What could you do to enhance each of these characteristics in your school/ district?

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Components of a Learning CommunitySharon Kruse, Karen Seashore Lewis and Anthony Bryk, “Building Professional Learning Community in Schools,” Public Education Foundation

Characteristic CURRENT1-5

NEXT STEPS

Reflective Dialogue

De-Privatization of Practice

Collective Focus on Student Work

Collaboration

Shared Norms and Values45

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY IN SCHOOLSSharon Kruse, Karen Seashore Louis, and Anthony BrykIssues in Restructuring Schools --- Issue Report No. 6 Spring 1994

PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS

Reflective Dialogue Members of the community talk about their situations and the specific challenges they

face. Together, they develop a set of shared norms, beliefs, and values that form a basis for action. Members of the community can use these discussions to critique themselves, as well as the institution within which they work. These critiques can take several different directions: They can focus on subject matter and how to present it to students, for example on generic teaching strategies, on student learning and development, on the social conditions of schooling, and issues of equity and justice.

 

De-Privatization of Practice Teachers share, observe, and discuss each other’s teaching methods and

philosophies; for example, through peer coaching. By sharing practice “in public”, teachers learn new ways to talk about what they do, and the discussions kindle new relationships between the participants.

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PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS Collective Focus on Student Learning Teachers are focused on student learning. They assume that all students can learn at reasonably high levels,

and that teachers can help them, despite many obstacles that students may face outside of school. Within strong professional community, this focus is not enforced by rules, but by mutually felt obligation among teachers.

Collaboration A strong professional community encourages teachers to work together, not only to develop shared

understandings of students, curriculum, and instructional policy, but also to produce materials and activities that improve instruction, curriculum, and assessment for students, and to produce new and different approaches to staff development for the teachers themselves.

Shared Norms and Values Through their words and actions, teachers joined in a professional community affirm their common values

concerning critical educational issues, and in support of their collective focus on student learning. These values can address children and their abilities to learn, priorities for the use of time and space within a school setting, and the proper role of parents, teachers, and administrators. For example, teachers might require students who are failing to take part in after-school study sessions. They devise a school policy for dealing with the added burdens these sessions entail. This would show that teachers value student achievement, and that they are willing to take responsibility for giving extra help to students who are failing.

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Reflection and PlanningDefine your next steps.

TASK TALENT TIMELINE

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