1. Collegial Collaboration: A New Way of Life for Professional Educators EDUC – 503 Session IX
Original PLC presentation developed by faculty of
Holly Springs High School, NC
Modified by Kimberly Beck, April 2011

2. Forward thinking…
In times of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The “learned” usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffer, 1972

3. The essential question for ALL educators must be:
What do schools look like when they are organized around the commitment of high standards by all students? (Describe or draw)

4. We know that part of the answer has to collaborative efforts of all those engaged in the process of educating these learners. One current “buzz word” for such collaboration is professional learning communities.

5. Include ongoing discussions about current reality and best practice
Whatever collaborative efforts are part of your professional life, constantly seek to have those efforts:
Include ongoing discussions about current reality and best practice
Have a commitment to continuous improvement (Good enough is NOT good enough)
Be results oriented
Involve more and more colleagues over time

6. Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for Collaboration

7. A PLC is . . .
PROFESSIONAL?
“Every teacher is a leader; Every leader is a teacher.”
LEARNING?
In a PLC School, learning applies as much to teachers,
administrators, and parents as to students.
Focus on instruction, curriculum and assessment.
COMMUNITY?
Support
Cooperation vs. competition
Focus intensely on the mission, vision, goals, and values.
Improvement of the whole vs. striving to get ahead
individually.

8. PLCs at Work: Core Elements
Mission, Vision, Values and Goals
Collaborative Teams
Changing Your School’s Culture
Planning a PLC-Model School

9. The Four Keys to a Successful PLC
Mission: Clarifies Priorities/
Sharpens Focus
Vision: Gives Direction
Values: Guides Behavior
Goals: Establish Priorities

10. Mission
“Why do we exist?”

11. Schools exist because their Questions to ask as Educators
Mission
Schools exist because their
mission is “learning”.
Questions to ask as Educators
What is it we expect all students to learn?
How will we know when they have learned it?
How will we respond when they don’t learn?
How will we respond when they already know it?

12. “You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there.” Yogi Berra, 1947

13. Vision
“What do we hope to become at some point in the future?”

14. Educators with a Vision
Questions to ask as
Educators with a Vision
What are the essentials for our students?
If we did an excellent job with the essentials,
what would that look like?

15. Values
“How must WE (the professionals) behave to create the school that will achieve our purpose?”

16. Values Question to ask as Educators with Values
What attitudes, behaviors, and
commitments must WE demonstrate in
order to create the school of our vision?

17. Goals “What results do we seek and how will we know we are
making progress?”

18. Goals Questions to ask as Educators with Goals
Which steps should we take first?
What is our timeline?
What evidence will we present to demonstrate
our progress?

19. Professional Educators. . .
Emphasize learning
Emphasize active student engagement and significant content
Collaborate with colleagues
Focus on student performance and production
Function as leaders

20. Separated by their classrooms and packed teaching schedules, teachers rarely work or talk together about teaching practices. Linda Darling-Hammond, 1995

21. Collaborative Teams Engaged in Collective Inquiry
You cannot have students as continuous learners and effective collaborators, without teachers that have the same characteristics.
Michael Fullan, 1993

22. PLC Assumptions about Collaboration
If schools are to improve, staff must develop the capacity to function as professional learning communities.
If schools are to function as professional learning communities, they must develop a collaborative culture.

23. PLC Assumptions about Collaboration
If schools are to develop a collaborative culture, they must overcome traditional teacher isolation.
If schools are to overcome their tradition of teacher isolation, teachers must learn to work in effective, high performing teams.

24. In a PLC school with high performing teams. . .
Collaboration is embedded into every aspect of the school culture
Time for collaboration is built into the school calendar
Products of collaboration are made explicit
Teams have access to relevant information

25. In a PLC school with high performing teams. . .
Teams pursue specific and measurable
performance goals:
Strategic & Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results-oriented
Time bound

26. The best way to improve schools is to develop the people within them
The best way to improve schools is to develop the people within them — Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker
The SMART Goals process creates the motivation for team action and experimentation. But in order to apply the SMART Goals process effectively, individuals need strong team skills, the ability to understand and use data, and a willingness to engage in continuous improvement.

27. The SMART Plan
Emphasizes the measurement and tracking of progress toward the goal
Guides the work of the PLC
Provides a means of analyzing the student work data

28. David Salisbury & Daryl Conner, 1994
If you intend to introduce a change that is incompatible with the organization’s culture, you have only three choices:
modify the change to be more in line with the existing culture,
2) alter the culture to be more in line with the proposed change or
3) prepare to fail.
David Salisbury & Daryl Conner, 1994

29. A School’s Culture Might Mean. . .
Shared decision-making and teamwork
Effective meetings
Focus on goals
Continuous Improvement
Results Oriented

30. Richard DuFour, et. al., Learning by Doing
“Perhaps the greatest insight we have gained in our work with school districts across the continent is that schools that take the plunge and actually begin doing the work of a PLC develop their capacity to help students learn at high levels far more effectively than schools that spend years preparing to become PLCs through reading or even training.”
Richard DuFour, et. al., Learning by Doing

31. Planning a PLC Model Key Questions to ask:
How do we develop a shared vision and goals?
How can we effectively use data in all aspects?
What are some additional ways to get
collaboration among colleagues?

32. PLC Resources
DuFour, Richard and Robert Eaker. Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 1998.
--and Rebecca DuFour. Professional Learning Communities at Work. Educational Workshop. Kennewick, WA, May 16-17, 2006.
--et. al., Ed. The Power of Smart Goals. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2006.
--et. al., Ed. On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2005

33. Collegial collaboration thru data teams
Another framework
Collegial collaboration thru data teams

34. What is a Data Team?
Data teams are groups of professional educators, working collaboratively to analyze the effect of their actions on identified student outcomes.
“Data teams adhere to continuous improvement cycles, examine patterns and trends, and establish specific timelines, roles, and responsibilities to facilitate analysis that results in action.”
S. White, Beyond the Numbers, 2005, p.13)
KIM

35. What are the similarities between PLCs and Data Teams?
By definition…
What are the similarities between PLCs and Data Teams?

36. Four types of data teams
District: District Data Team
School: School Data Teams
Classroom: Instructional Data Teams
Student: Student Assistance Teams
KIM

37. Why Data Teams?
To create a consistent and comprehensive framework for improvement planning that translates from district to school to classroom to individual students
ELLEN

38. HOW and WHY are data teams effective?
Are Research-based
Empower teachers
* Focus on what adults can do differently to improve instruction
Create coherence within the district/school
Provide a mechanism to set achievement and instructional priorities
ELLEN

39. HOW and WHY are data teams effective?
Provide time for collaboration and planning
Follow the five-step process:
Collect and Chart Data
Analyze strengths and obstacles
Establish goals: set, review, revise
Select instructional strategies
Determine results indicators
Provide opportunity for training and resources
ELLEN

40. What is the work of the Data Teams?
District Data Team
Meets monthly
Identifies District:
Goals
Student Outcome Indicators
District Targets
Adult Action Indicators
Develops District Strategic Improvement Plan
ELLEN

41. What is the work of the Data Teams?
School Data Team
Meets monthly
Identifies School:
Goals
Student Outcome Indicators
School Targets
Adult Action Indicators
Drafts School Strategic Improvement Plan
ELLEN

42. What is the work of the Data Teams?
Instructional Data Teams
Meets frequently
Focused on groups of students
Engaged in collaborative, cyclical process
Identifies specific strategies for targeted timeline
Assesses short term results
ELLEN

43. By description… How are PLCs and Data Teams similar?
How are PLCs and Data Teams different?

44. Collegial Collaboration
What do you think?
Select one quote and “respond” to it.
How do you think collegial collaboration effects student learning? What are the benefits? What do you predict are the challenges?