seattle, wa • july 9–11 - amazon web...

Agenda Seattle, WA • July 9–11

Wednesday, July 9

6:30–8:00 a.m. RegistrationContinental breakfast Hall 4F

8:00–9:45 a.m.Keynote—Rebecca DuFourFirst Things First: Building the Solid Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at Work

Hall 4E

9:45–10:00 a.m. Break

10:00–11:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles & locations: pp. 3–5 Descriptions: pp. 13–24

11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:00–2:30 p.m. Breakouts Titles & locations: pp. 3–5 Descriptions: pp. 13–24

2:30–2:45 p.m. Break

2:45–3:45 p.m.Panel discussionA Q&A time with presenters. Receive practical answers to your most pressing questions.

Hall 4E

Thursday, July 10

7:00–8:00 a.m. RegistrationContinental breakfast Hall 4F

8:00–9:30 a.m.Keynote—Richard DuFourLeaders Wanted: Keys to Effective Leadership in Professional Learning Communities at Work

Hall 4E

9:30–9:45 a.m. Break


11:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

12:45–2:15 p.m. Breakouts Titles & locations: pp. 3–5 Descriptions: pp. 13–24

2:15–2:30 p.m. Break

2:30–3:45 p.m.Team timeA collaboration time for your team. Presenters are available for help in team discussions.

Hall 4E

Friday, July 117:00–8:00 a.m. Continental breakfast Hall 4F


9:30–9:45 a.m. Break

9:45–11:45 a.m.Keynote—Mike MattosEndless Possibilities: Creating the Conditions for All Learners to Succeed

Hall 4E

Agenda and presenters are subject to change.

Agenda

1

Breakouts at a G

lance

Breakouts at a Glance

Presenter & TitleWednesday, July 9 Thursday, July 10 Friday,

July 11

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 9:45–11:15 a.m. 12:45–2:15 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Tim BrownRaising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices 303 303

Did You Come to School Today Ready to Learn? Communicating High Expectations 303 303

From Forming to Performing: What Does a Leadership Team Need to Know and Do? LL4–5

Austin BuffumTiers Without Tears: Successful Implementation of RTI by Building on PLC Practices

304

Top-Down or Bottom-Up or Both? 304 304

RTI at the Elementary School: What Does It Look Like? Where Do We Find the Time? 304

Luis F. Cruz

English Learners and PLCs 305

Implementing a PLC—From Theory to Practice: How One High School Made It Happen

305 LL2

The Role of Parents in a PLC: An Invaluable Resource 305

Rebecca & Richard DuFourBuilding the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Part 1)

Hall 4E

Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Part 2)

Hall 4E

Rebecca DuFourRaising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary Schools 301–302

Lights, Camera, Action! Setting the Stage for PLC Success in Elementary Schools 305

Developing Leadership Capacity in Your School: One Is the Loneliest Number 305

3



July 11

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 9:45–11:15 a.m. 12:45–2:15 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Richard DuFourRaising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in High Schools Hall 4E

Common Formative Assessments: The Lynchpin of the PLC Process Hall 4E

Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to Resisters 301–302

William M. FerriterPlug Us In: Using Digital Tools to Facilitate the Work of PLCs 202 202

Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every Teacher

202 202

We’re Meeting. Now What? A Look Inside a Learning Team 202

Janel KeatingAre the Kids Learning and How Do We Know? Data-Based Decision Making in High-Performing Collaborative Teams

101 LL2

The Institute Is Over: Now What Do I Do? School and Team Life After a PLC at Work Institute

101 101

Aligning the Work of Teams: Is It Top-Down or Bottom-Up? 101

Sharon V. KramerLearning Is Not a Spectator Sport: So, How Do We Involve Students? LL3 LL3

Developing Thinkers to Master the Common Core LL3 LL3

Connecting the Dots: From ELA Standards to Formative Assessment to Interventions and Extensions

LL3

Mike Mattos

More Powerful Than Poverty 301–302

Simplifying Response to Intervention (Part 1) 301–302

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Middle Schools 101

Simplifying Response to Intervention (Part 2) 301–302

Learning CPR: Making Your Current Site Interventions More Effective Hall 4E

4



July 11

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 9:45–11:15 a.m. 12:45–2:15 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Anthony MuhammadBuilding a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 1) LL4–5

Building a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 2) LL4–5

The Courage to Lead: Moving People Out of Their Comfort Zones LL4–5

Elephants in the Room: Eliminating Barriers to Effective Collaboration LL4–5

Sarah SchuhlAssessment in Your K–12 Common Core Mathematics Classroom 204

Data, Data, Data: What Do We Need? What Do We Do With It? 204

How Does Our Team Create and Use Common Formative and Summative Assessments?

204

Instruction in Your K–12 Common Core Mathematics Classroom 204

Agenda and presenters are subject to change.

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Level Four: Exhibition Halls

Washington State Convention Center

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MEETING ROOMS

Square Feet Dimensions Height Theater Classroom1 Banquet2 Conference Recommended

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LL1 966 42 x 23 12 90 42 60 30 SLL2 1,763 43 x 41 14 160 72 90 42 ELL3 1,575 45 x 35 14 140 60 90 36 N (W ALT)LL4 1,927 47 x 41 14 180 84 120 36 WLL5 1,968 48 x 41 14 180 84 120 36 S (W ALT)LL4-5 3,936 96 x 41 14 384 180 240 42 S

101 2,838 66 x 43 10’ 4” 270 132 150 42 N102 1,008 36 x 28 10’ 6” 80 40 60 30 N

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* Rooms 201 and 203 each feature an executive conference table and are a permanent set.1Classroom set of three chairs per 8’ x 18’ table. 2Banquet: 10 chairs per 72” round.

Capacities underlined indicate a center aisle is included. All Theater and Classroom sets include a center aisle.

Lower Level Level One Level Two

The Conference Center: Lower Level, Level One, Level Two

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Level Three

MEETING ROOMS Square Feet Dimensions Height Theater Classroom1 Banquet 2 Conference Recommended

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301 2,542 62 x 41 15 252 120 150 42 N302 2,604 62 x 42 15 252 120 150 42 N301-302 5,208 62 x 84 15 493 213 340 - N303 4,136 94 x 44 13 396 190 240 42 E304 4,136 94 x 44 14 396 190 240 42 E303-304 8,366 94 x 89 13 798 336 530 - N305 2,856 56 x 51 15 288 126 160 42 ESuite 3* 558 18 x 31 9 - - - 6 -

Level 3 as Exhibit Space 31,000 TCC Level 3 can accommodate a total of (124) 10’x10’ booths and (2) 8’x10’ booths.

* Perment Set1Classroom set of three chairs per 8’ x 18’ table. 2Banquet: 10 chairs per 72” round.

Capacities underlined indicate a center aisle is included. All Theater and Classroom sets include a center aisle.

The Conference Center: Level Three

Elevator No. Description1 Passenger Elevator2 Passenger Elevator

N2 North Freight ElevatorNP3 Service ElevatorNP4 ADA Elevator (servicing Level 3 of the Conference Center to Level 4 - 4F Exhibit Hall)

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11

Tim Brown Raising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices

Let’s face it, talking about grading practices is a touchy subject, full of emotions, opinions, and personal beliefs. However, when schools make the shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning, they must be willing to examine policies, practices, and guidelines to see if they support the principles of learning. Tim Brown shows how a staff can engage educators in a collaborative process to commit to grading practices aligned to learning.

Participants discuss and share beliefs and practices on essential questions, such as: • What do the principles of learning, student motivation, and grading have in common?• What is the reasoning and rationale behind changes in grading practices? • What grading practices and guidelines have successful teams and schools implemented?

Did You Come to School Today Ready to Learn? Communicating High ExpectationsLee G. Bolman and Terrence Deal write in their book Leading With Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit, “Organizations without a rich symbolic life become empty and sterile. The magic of special occasions is vital in building significance into collective life.”

Tim Brown offers practical strategies for students and staff to communicate, motivate, and celebrate. Using positive strategies, educators can identify high expectations for learning—for students and one another.

Participants discuss and share thoughts and practices on these essential questions: • How do principals and teachers communicate high expectations to students? • How can teachers establish a classroom culture centered on learning rather than compliance?• Why are celebrations important, and how do we make them part of our symbolic life?

From Forming to Performing: What Does a Leadership Team Need to Know and Do?Getting on the bus, getting in the right seats on the bus, and keeping the bus going is never a one-person show. This breakout provides participants tools and strategies to build an effective leadership team. Participants also explore various dynamics that cause teams to be dysfunctional. Greater insight into these dynamics can help team members overcome issues that sometimes get in the way of a team’s effectiveness.

Participants discuss and share their thoughts and practices on these essential questions: • What are the stages teams go through and why? • Why are some teams more effective than others?• What is the role of the leadership team and how does it function? • What are some of the products and strategies effective leadership teams use?

Session Descriptions

SessionD

escriptions

13

Austin Buffum Tiers Without Tears: Successful Implementation of RTI by Building on PLC Practices

Many educators ask: How do I successfully implement response to intervention efforts in my school or district? What do I do when staff members see PLCs and RTI as two separate initiatives?

Austin Buffum shows how successful RTI implementation rests on the foundation of a PLC’s three big ideas: 1) a focus on learning, 2) a collaborative culture, and 3) a focus on results. RTI and PLC processes can work together to ensure that all students learn at high levels.

In this session, attendees:• Examine their schools’ current realities regarding the three big ideas and identify steps to

strengthen their foundations.• Understand how to implement RTI as part of their schools’ PLC journeys.

Top-Down or Bottom-Up or Both? Austin Buffum facilitates a structured dialogue among superintendents and other central office staff as they share best practices for best supporting and sustaining PLCs across entire districts or systems. Participants also review excerpts from several articles and discuss how they apply the ideas of pressure and support in their own districts. Dr. Buffum helps attendees understand how professional change strategies can support a systemwide implementation of PLCs.

RTI at the Elementary School: What Does It Look Like? Where Do We Find the Time?Participants learn about two highly successful elementary models for RTI. The first is a pull-out model in which students receive instruction outside of the regular classroom. The second is a push-in model in which support staff provides assistance in the standard setting.

Austin Buffum helps teams chart their schools’ Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions. Team members engage in a gallery walk, talking with teams from other schools about successful interventions and how they schedule them. Finally, teachers consider how to modify their current interventions based upon what they learn in this session.

This session is most useful when attended by an entire team.

Luis F. Cruz English Learners and PLCs

Luis F. Cruz shares how a school community infused the characteristics of a PLC into strategies to help its English learner population flourish. This session details PLC components that teacher leaders used to close the achievement gap for students learning English as a second language. Dr. Cruz describes how listening to English learners helped educators understand how to meet the academic needs of this critical student population.

Dr. Cruz discusses how:• A teacher-led task force increased academic performance for English learners.• PLC practices were implemented to confront the stark reality that English learners were

not learning.• Listening to the needs of English learners resulted in changing adult expectations and

behavior and achieving significant results.


14

Luis F. Cruz Implementing a PLC—From Theory to Practice: How One High School Made It Happen

How did a high school in a low-income, Spanish-speaking, mostly immigrant Latino community in southern California transition from a focus on stopping lunchtime fights to boasting a 92 percent graduation rate? Luis F. Cruz, former principal of Baldwin Park High School, explains how he used what he learned from PLC at Work institutes to guide his school’s transformation into a functioning PLC.

Participants in this session:• Recognize how a collaborative culture can result in student success and soaring

graduation rates.• Learn how the journey began with a meaningful mission statement.• Grasp how two specific structures generated meaningful collaboration.• Discover the leadership necessary to support an evolving PLC culture year after year.

The Role of Parents in a PLC: An Invaluable ResourceLuis F. Cruz shares how parent participation and input strengthened a high school PLC within a low-income, Spanish-speaking, mostly immigrant Latino community. He shares insights that led to the discovery that parents can and should take part in collaboration and intervention to ensure learning for all students.

Dr. Cruz shows how:• Assigning new roles or “rearranging the seats on the bus” (as Jim Collins notes in Good to

Great) led to finding the right person to oversee parent involvement.• Parents played an instrumental role in building the school mission and vision.• The school counseling department and intervention coordinator created structures to

facilitate parent and student conversations and enhance learning. Rebecca & Richard DuFour

Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Parts 1 & 2)Powerful collaborative teams are the fundamental building blocks of a professional learning community and a critical component in building a collaborative culture.

Learn how educators transform their congenial groups into high-performing collaborative teams, and get a sense of the specific work those teams undertake. Discover ways to provide time and support for collaborative teams during the school day. And most importantly, identify structures and strategies to help teams stay focused on doing the work that results in student achievement.

This two-part continuing session is designed for educators at all levels and is highly recommended for all participants who are new to PLC concepts.


15

Rebecca DuFour

First Things First: Building the Solid Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at WorkAs Steven Covey writes, “Effective leadership is putting first things first.” The first step in the never-ending journey of continuous improvement in a PLC at Work™ is establishing a solid foundation for all subsequent efforts. This foundation rests on four pillars, each of which asks a particular question:

1. Why does our school or district exist and what is our fundamental purpose?2. What must we become as a school or district to fulfill that purpose?3. How must each of us behave to create such a school or district?4. Which targets will we pursue first and which initial steps must we take to reach them?

Becky DuFour leads participants in an examination of each question and ways to move educators’ responses beyond rhetoric to a reality that shapes the culture of their schools and districts.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary SchoolsSchools that function as PLCs must ultimately do two things: 1) build a collaborative culture to promote continuous adult learning, and 2) create structures and systems that provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Participants in this session examine strategies to collectively: • Respond to the learning needs of each student in a timely, directive, and systematic way.• Create and sustain strong parent partnerships to enhance student learning.• Make celebrations part of the school culture.

After examining different models of systematic intervention and enrichment, participants receive criteria to assess their own schools’ responses and an action-planning template for next steps in raising the bar and closing the gap.

This session is recommended for elementary school educators.

Lights, Camera, Action! Setting the Stage for PLC Success in Elementary SchoolsElementary school educators beginning the PLC journey face the immediate challenge of how to provide the time and structure essential to the PLC process. This interactive workshop is designed to help elementary educators address that challenge.

Becky DuFour provides effective templates and proven strategies for reallocating existing resources to support learning for all. Participants are invited to bring their creative ideas to this session.

This session is recommended for elementary-level educators who have an interest in and/or a responsibility for creating schoolwide and team schedules.


= Keynote16

Rebecca DuFour Developing Leadership Capacity in Your School: One Is the Loneliest Number

Educational researchers and organizational theorists have concluded that widespread leadership is essential to the success of a learning organization. To initiate and sustain the PLC process in your school or district, a lot of leaders are necessary.

In this interactive session, participants examine a case study, identify specific strategies to develop and support leaders, and create structures for the widely dispersed leadership characteristic of PLCs.

Richard DuFour

Leaders Wanted: Keys to Effective Leadership in Professional Learning Communities at WorkRick DuFour uses research, real-world examples, videos, analogies, and anecdotes to examine:

1. The kind of leadership essential to the professional learning community process 2. The ways in which leaders at all levels of a school system provide such leadership 3. The nondiscretionary aspects of the PLC process that must be honored by educators

throughout the system4. The most powerful strategies for sustaining the PLC process until it becomes deeply

embedded in the school culture

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in High SchoolsRick DuFour uses the video Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School to help participants compare and contrast the response of traditional schools and PLCs when students aren’t learning. The session challenges participants to examine the issue from a student’s perspective. Dr. DuFour examines various schedules that allow for the kinds of interventions and enrichment that research shows are necessary to help all students learn at high levels.

As a result of this session, high school educators discover the value of:• Building a collaborative culture that fosters continuous learning for all• Creating structures and systems that provide students additional time and support to learn• Responding to students’ needs in a timely, direct, and systematic way

This session is recommended for high school teachers.


= Keynote17

Richard DuFour Common Formative Assessments: The Lynchpin of the PLC Process

The effective use of team-developed common formative assessments is the single most powerful tool available to a school for accelerating its progress on the PLC journey. This session demonstrates how educators can use these assessments to better meet students’ needs and inform and improve their practice.

As a result of this session participants are able to:• Define common assessment.• Define formative assessment.• Use common formative assessments as a powerful catalyst for school improvement.• Clarify the right and wrong way to use common assessment results. • Develop more powerful common formative assessments.

This session is recommended for teachers and administrators at all levels.

Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to ResistersThe most significant barrier to building a school culture focused on continuous improvement is the tradition of privatizing practice, isolation, and individual autonomy that has characterized teaching. How can a faculty build consensus for significant change? What are the most effective ways of addressing the concerns of those who resist even when the staff has decided to move forward?

As a result of this session, participants can:• Define consensus.• Apply the most effective strategies for building consensus.• Utilize seven research-based strategies for addressing resistance.

This session is recommended for teachers and administrators at all levels. William M. Ferriter

Plug Us In: Using Digital Tools to Facilitate the Work of PLCsFor professional learning teams, the costs of collaboration can be quite high. Sharing information, creating new lessons together, and communicating with colleagues—both within and beyond their schools and districts—require additional time that teachers just don’t have. As a result, many teachers question the benefits of PLCs. In this session, William M. Ferriter introduces participants to a range of free digital tools that 21st century learning teams use to make their collective work more efficient and rewarding.

Participants learn how to:• Use digital tools to create warehouses of important documents, quickly gather and track

formative assessment data, communicate about instruction, organize helpful web links, and develop joint lesson plans.

• Employ Twitter to plug into a network of digital learners beyond school walls.• Identify the kinds of digital tools most appropriate for supporting the work of learning

teams.


18

William M. Ferriter Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every

TeacherThe PLC concept resonates with most educators, but making collaborative learning work in small schools or for singleton teachers can be challenging. Participants explore four different models for creating meaningful professional learning teams for singletons and teachers in small schools: 1) creating vertical teams to study skills that cross content areas, 2) using interdisciplinary teams to address the engagement levels of at-risk students, 3) designing class loads that allow teachers to teach the same subjects, and 4) using electronic tools to pair teachers with peers working in the same subject area.

Participants in this session:• Discuss common structural barriers that prevent singletons from working on collaborative

teams.• Examine four models for creating meaningful professional learning teams for teachers.• Begin an action plan to incorporate singletons into the PLC process.

We’re Meeting. Now What? A Look Inside a Learning TeamFor many teachers, professional learning team meetings can seem overwhelming. Teams unfamiliar with making collective decisions may struggle to organize their work and begin to question the benefit of a school’s decision to restructure as a professional learning community. William M. Ferriter explores the kinds of tangible structures that learning teams must have in place to make their meetings successful.

Participants can expect to:• Learn how personalities influence the successes or struggles of learning teams.• Discuss how clear norms and expectations for behavior are key to the successful work of a

learning team.• Explore tools designed to monitor the work of learning teams over time.

Janel Keating Are the Kids Learning and How Do We Know?

Data-Based Decision Making in High-Performing Collaborative TeamsIn a PLC there are two important reasons to look at your data: 1) to answer the question of whether kids are learning and 2) to improve professional practice. This interactive session highlights how high-performing teams quickly examine their data to make decisions that impact the kids in the classroom, because the data represent the names and faces of our kids.


19

Janel Keating The Institute Is Over: Now What Do I Do?

School and Team Life After a PLC at Work InstituteAward-winning teams that get more kids to learn at high levels often start by attending a PLC at Work Institute. Janel Keating shows examples of an effective team’s daily work and illustrates how all work fits together under the four critical questions of a PLC.

In this session, Janel focuses on:• Essential standards, learning targets, and pacing guides• Common assessments and quick checks for understanding• Additional time and support• Positive behavioral interventions and supports• Response to intervention

Aligning the Work of Teams: Is It Top-Down or Bottom-Up? A districtwide professional learning community is more than the sum of its individual parts. A high-performing school district that functions as a PLC reflects a thoughtful alignment and integration of work at the central office level, in individual schools, and in teacher teams. While highlighting the efforts of highly successful school districts, Janel Keating describes how these districts organize and align at each level to implement professional learning community concepts and practices districtwide.

Sharon V. Kramer Learning Is Not a Spectator Sport: So, How Do We Involve Students?

The research is clear: When students are engaged in the assessment process, they become more motivated and focused on learning. Students in today’s classrooms are poised to take ownership of their learning. However, in some classrooms, student involvement in the learning process is limited. Using practical examples of student work, Sharon V. Kramer illustrates ways to engage students in their learning and assessment.

This session calls on participants to:• Examine research related to student involvement in assessment.• Review best practices that motivate and empower students to improve their learning.• Identify strategies that engage students to understand targets, monitor their learning, and

communicate progress.

Developing Thinkers to Master the Common Core The Common Core calls for students to reason and think critically. In too many cases, reasoning and critically thinking are expected but not explicitly taught. The cognitive demands of the English language arts standards require that students apply complex thinking. During this session, Sharon V. Kramer uses ELA standards to provide specific activities, strategies, and assessment tasks to address deeper thinking.

Session attendees:• Learn how to use depth of knowledge to check for levels of complexity that drive

instruction and assessment.• Explore instructional strategies that explicitly teach complex thinking.• Acquire activities and tools to develop thinking and reasoning.


20

Sharon V. Kramer Connecting the Dots: From ELA Standards to Formative Assessment to Interventions and

Extensions How does a collaborative team use ELA Common Core standards to create common assessments? How do educators use data to plan next steps for students? Sharon V. Kramer shows how common assessments can become instructional tools. She shares practical strategies for unwrapping ELA Common Core standards, mapping an assessment plan, and examining data to determine next steps for students.

Outcomes for this session include:• Understanding how teams answer the four critical questions of a PLC and use that

information to guide efforts and pinpoint resources• Learning how to unwrap the ELA Common Core standards• Mapping an assessment plan• Acquiring tools and templates to connect the dots

Mike Mattos

Endless Possibilities: Creating the Conditions for All Learners to SucceedNever in history have the demands on the nation’s educational system been greater or the consequences of failure as severe. Today, a child who graduates from school with a mastery of essential skills and knowledge is prepared to compete in the global marketplace with numerous paths of opportunity available to lead a happy and successful life. Yet, for students who fail, the reality is that there are practically no paths of opportunity.

This keynote illustrates a compelling vision for what can be achieved when a school takes collective responsibility for the success of every child and responds collectively when students don’t learn. Award-winning principal and author Mike Mattos shares guiding concepts and practical strategies for providing to students what they all deserve: endless possibilities.

More Powerful Than Poverty The achievement gap between poor and non-poor students is twice as large today as gaps related to ethnicity or language. As educators, overcoming the corrosive effects of poverty is critical if we hope to achieve our mission of all students learning at high levels. Mike Mattos focuses on five essential PLC practices proven to have a far greater impact on student achievement than the power of poverty.

Simplifying Response to Intervention (Parts 1 & 2)Compelling evidence shows that response to intervention successfully engages school staff in a collective process to provide every child with the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels. Yet at many schools this potential lies dormant, buried under layers of state regulations, district protocols, misguided priorities, and traditional school practices that are misaligned to the essential elements of RTI. This session provides guiding practices and practical ideas to create a systematic RTI program that guarantees every child receives the help needed to succeed.

In the second part of this session participants will draft a pyramid of interventions for their school.


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Mike Mattos Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Middle Schools

What does an effective middle school intervention program look like? Mike Mattos provides participants with practical, proven intervention ideas, including creating a schoolwide process to identify students for extra help and building an effective intervention period into the master schedule.

This session is recommended for middle and junior high school educators.

Learning CPR: Making Your Current Site Interventions More EffectiveA system of interventions can only be as effective as the individual interventions that comprise it. Despite honorable intentions, many schools use interventions that don’t work, primarily because their efforts are not aligned to the characteristics of effective interventions. In this breakout, participants learn the six essential characteristics of effective interventions, as well as a powerful process to apply these characteristics to their current site interventions.

The most significant difference between a traditional school and a PLC school is how each responds when students don’t learn. Mike Mattos shows how to create powerful responses (CPR) when students don’t learn.

Anthony Muhammad Building a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 1)

This session focuses on bringing to life the three big ideas of a PLC at the middle school level, with a heavy emphasis on developing a focus on learning and a collaborative culture.

Participants leave this session with a powerful understanding of what it takes to transform any middle school into a high-performing PLC. After returning to their schools, participants can immediately apply the many practical strategies Dr. Muhammad shares.

Learning outcomes include:• Establishing a clear and universal focus on student learning• Fostering learning systems for students and educators• Developing and guiding high-powered, collaborative teams

Building a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 2)The aim of this session is to bring the three big ideas of a PLC to life in a middle school. Anthony Muhammad discusses developing powerful assessment systems and effective academic interventions for adolescents. Participants gain a rich understanding of what it takes to transform any middle school into a high-performing PLC and leave with many practical strategies that can be immediately applied after returning to their schools.

This session calls on participants to:• Practice developing essential standards and student outcomes.• Learn the process of creating useful and valid common assessments.• Methodically create an effective academic intervention system that meets the individual

needs of students.


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Anthony Muhammad The Courage to Lead: Moving People Out of Their Comfort Zones

This session addresses the importance of ethical leadership. Anthony Muhammad examines why it is imperative to put kids first and shows strategies that deliver that message and gain favorable results. Participants look at four important areas of leading: 1) creating purpose, 2) building capacity, 3) effectively collaborating, and 4) being accountable, and leave with theoretical frameworks and practical strategies to improve leadership effectiveness.

Participants in this session learn:• Strategies for consensus building• Methods for strategic planning and vision development• How to establish effective systems of job-embedded professional development

Elephants in the Room: Eliminating Barriers to Effective Collaboration Many educators are placed into teams, but may never make progress because of personal and professional drama that prevents them from focusing on students’ needs. A house divided cannot stand! Anthony Muhammad leads an examination of psychological and sociological barriers that can arise and interfere with a school’s or a team’s ability to move forward. As a result of this session, participants clearly understand what it takes to create a highly collaborative culture.

Participants in this session:• Recognize the barriers to effective collaboration.• Strategize on how to prevent and overcome these barriers.• Leave with practical tools to immediately address issues that hinder progress.

Sarah Schuhl Assessment in Your K–12 Common Core Mathematics Classroom

Next generation assessments reflect the critical thinking required of students learning the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. How do teachers ensure that students meet the learning expectations? In this session, based on the five-book series Common Core Mathematics in a PLC at Work™, Sarah Schuhl explores how collaborative teams create balanced assessment systems to prepare all students for Common Core mathematics assessment and learning expectations.

Participants use the PLC teaching-assessing-learning cycle to:• Understand the work collaborative teacher teams must do before a unit begins, during the

unit, and after it ends.• Explore the design of next generation assessments, including those from Smarter

Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), and understand the relationship of items to classroom assessments.

• Learn how to develop formative assessment processes on a unit-by-unit basis.


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Sarah Schuhl Data, Data, Data: What Do We Need? What Do We Do With It?

How do collaborative teams use data to make informed decisions related to assessment and instruction, determine whether students have learned, and involve students in their learning? How do teams use data as an essential element of a PLC?

PLCs are based on three core principles: 1) sustaining a focus on learning, 2) ensuring a collaborative culture, and 3) maintaining a focus on results. In this session, Sarah Schuhl addresses the third big idea—to focus on results by using data effectively. Participants explore ways to collect and organize data and look at how to respond to the results. In addition, Sarah identifies protocols for analyzing data in PLC teams.

How Does Our Team Create and Use Common Formative and Summative Assessments?

Common formative and summative assessments help students and teachers answer the second critical question of a PLC: How do we know whether students learned?

Sarah Schuhl poses other questions to arrive at solid answers: When should each assessment be used? What should teachers consider when writing assessments? How should questions be structured on assessments? How can teachers analyze assessments to ensure reliability and validity?

In this session, participants can expect to: • Understand what makes an assessment formative or summative.• Learn how to create and analyze common assessments.• Know how to give feedback from assessments to improve student learning.

Instruction in Your K–12 Common Core Mathematics Classroom The Common Core State Standards require shifts in mathematics instruction. How can teachers ensure their K–12 mathematics instruction is closing the gap on the student learning expectations? In this session, based on the five-book series Common Core Mathematics in a PLC at Work™, Sarah Schuhl explores how collaborative teams and school leaders engage in sustained, high-quality instructional planning to prepare all students for the learning expectations of the Common Core standards in mathematics.

Participants in the session use the PLC lesson design model to:• Examine criteria and tools for effective lesson planning and design.• Ensure student access to the Common Core mathematics content.• Reveal current thinking and resources to address scope and sequence issues that meet the

demands and expectations of the Common Core standards for mathematics.


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seattle, wa • july 9–11 - amazon web...

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