PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES COMMON CORE STANDARDS TRAINING BEYOND THE BOOK STUDY 1

Contact Information 2 Subject line: PLC

3 1. What percentage of teachers in your school (or in the schools in your district) accepts responsibility for the success of all children in the schools in which they teach – whether or not those students are assigned to their class(es)? (a) More than 50% (b) Less than 50% 2. Which of the following belief statements do you think is held by the greatest number of teachers in your school (or in your school district)? (a) All students can learn if they attend school regularly and put forth the effort. (b) All students can learn if they receive support from their parents or guardians. (c) All students can learn and it’s my job to see that they do. (d) Some students cannot learn because of their home environment and related factors.

4 3. Which of the following beliefs do you think is held by the greatest number of students in your school (or school district)? (a) Students who make good grades in my school do so because they are smart. (b) Students who make good grades in my school do so because the teachers like them. (c) Students who make good grades in my school do so because they try hard. (d) Students who make good grades in my school do so because they are lucky.

TOPICS 5 Why PLCs? What they are; what they aren’t; why they’re important & how they work What is the relationship between PLCs, school improvement, and increased student achievement? The Three Big Ideas (Core Principles) that are the foundation of PLCs (that lead to school improvement and increased academic achievement)

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK 6

The best school systems in the world recognize that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction. (Barber and Mourshed, 2007) What Do We Know About the World’s Best School Systems? 7

None of Us Is As Smart As All Of Us There is growing consensus that the most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is developing the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community. “…the most promising strategy for substantive school improvement is developing the capacity for school personnel to function as a professional learning community (PLC).” (Robert Eaker, Richard DuFour, and Rebecca DuFour, Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities0 8

BUT “Decades of research and reform have not altered the fundamental facts of teaching. The task of universal, public education is still being conducted by a woman or man alone in a little room, presiding over a youthful distillate of a town or city.” (Tracy Kidder as quoted on page 17 in the book On Common Ground) Are you a part of a professional learning community? 9

What is a Professional Learning Community? 10

A Professional Learning Community is NOT… : A program to be implemented. A package of reforms to be adopted. A step-by-step recipe for change. A sure-fire system borrowed from another school. One more thing to add to an already cluttered school agenda. 11

A Professional Learning Community is NOT necessarily, but could be… A grade level teaching team A school committee A high school department A group of inclusion teaching partners 12

The professional learning community is an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better learning results for the students they serve. PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators. Professional Learning Community Defined (Robert Eaker, Richard DuFour, and Rebecca DuFour, Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities) 13

The Big Ideas (Core Principles) of a PLC that Make a Positive Difference in Student Achievement 1.Focus on learning 2.Focus on collaboration 3.Focus on results 14 Focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.

The Big Ideas of PLC We accept learning as the fundamental purpose of our school and, therefore, we are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning. LEARNING IS JOB #1 15

Ideas Have Consequences Because we accept learning as the fundamental purpose of our school, our collective effort must focus around four critical questions: 1. What is it we want all students to learn? 2. How will we know when each student has learned? 3. How will we respond when some students experience difficulty in their learning? (e.g. What will we do if they don’t learn?) 4. How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient? (e.g. What will we do if they already know it?) 16

17 How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning (or when they have already learned it) ? These questions and the responses separate learning communities from traditional schools.

When a school begins to function as a professional learning community 18 Teachers become aware of the incongruity between  their commitment to learning for all students and  their lack of a coordinated strategy to respond when some students do not learn (or have already learned). The professional learning communities response is:  Timely – identification of those who need help is quick  Based on intervention (rather than remediation)  Directive – required, not invited or suggested

The Big Ideas of a PLC We are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high-performing teams. 19

20 No school can help all students achieve at high levels if teachers work in isolation. Schools improve when teachers are given the time and support to work together to:  clarify essential student learning,  develop common assessments for learning,  analyze evidence of student learning, and  use that evidence to learn from one another.

Schools Improve When Schools Stop Pretending 21 that giving teachers state standards results in all students learning, that the intended curriculum is the same as the implemented curriculum (what teachers actually teach) is the same as the attained curriculum (what students actually learn), and that collaboration equates with camaraderie and congeniality

Isolation is the Enemy of Learning “Principals who support the learning of adults in their school organize teachers’ schedules to provide opportunities for teachers to work, plan, and think together [about student work and student achievement].” NAESP, Leading Learning Communities: Standards for What Principals Should Know and Be Able to Do A PLC distributes leadership responsibilities. “In professional learning communities, administrators are viewed as leaders of leaders. Teachers are viewed as transformational leaders.” (Getting Started, page 22) 22

Ideas Have Consequences Because we are committed to working collaboratively to achieve our collective purpose, we …  Believe that the collaborative team is the fundamental building block of improvement for our school.  Work together to achieve common goals that are directly related to improved student learning.  Are mutually accountable for achieving those goals.  Make sure teams are provided with the time, resources, and support essential to their effectiveness. 23

The Big Ideas of PLC We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, and the school seek relevant evidence and information and use that information to promote continuous improvement. “In a professional learning community…attempts at school improvement are judged on the basis of how student learning is affected.” (Robert Eaker, Richard DuFour, and Rebecca DuFour, Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities) 24

Big Ideas Have Consequences Because we assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions, we are hungry for evidence of student learning and use that evidence to: Inform and improve the professional practice of individuals the collaborative team (s) Respond to students who are experiencing difficulty or who “get it” and need to move on. 25

In PLCs, educators… 26 Embrace data as a useful indicator of educational progress (learning). Stop disregarding or excusing unfavorable data. Stop using averages to analyze student performance. Ensure that assessments actually measure the intended learning.

WHY COMMON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS? RESEARCH: After two years of teachers working in collaborative teams to clarify essential outcomes and discuss preferred instructional strategies, none of the schools in this longitudinal study showed any gains in student achievement. In the third year, teams created common assessments and used the results to (1) discuss which strategies were effective and to (2) identify areas and students needing the team’s attention. Every school experienced dramatic gains in student achievement for three consecutive years —Gallimore, et al Few initiatives in education have had such a strong body of evidence to support a claim to raise standards; Common formative assessments are one of the most powerful, high-leverage strategies for improving student learning.

WHY COMMON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS? 28 Promote Efficiency Ensure Equity Inform individual teacher practice Build team capacity Promote collective response Are assessments formative?  Are they used to identify students who are experiencing difficulty in their learning?  Are students who are having difficulty provided with additional time and support for learning?  Are students given an additional opportunity to demonstrate their learning?

It Comes Down to Changes in Behavior 29 More skillful assessment will not improve student achievement unless it serves as a catalyst for adult learning and changes in teacher and administrator practice.

And Changes in Beliefs According to the 2009 Metlife survey of teachers in the United States, 84 percent of teachers are “very confident that I have the knowledge and skills to enable all of my students to succeed academically.” According to that same survey, only 36 percent of teachers believe all their students have the ability to succeed academically. 30

PLC Supports Positive Reculturing School improvement—from within or from without—is usually so futile…because, unless teachers and administrators act to change the culture of a school, all innovations will have to fit in and around existing elements of culture.” (Roland Barth, “The Culture Builder,” Educational Leadership 5(8), p. 8) 31

If we Implement what we know to be best practice… Schools would be organized into collaborative teams in which members work together to achieve common goals for which members are mutually accountable. 32 Teacher-developed common formative assessments would be the cornerstone of the assessment process in every school. All programs, policies, and practices would be continually assessed on the basis of their impact on student learning. All staff members would receive relevant and timely information on their effectiveness in promoting student achievement.

WE’VE COME “FULL CIRCLE” Teachers work together in collaborative teams to: –Clarify what students must learn. –Gather evidence of student learning. –Analyze that evidence. –Identify the most powerful teaching strategies. 33 Reflective teaching must be based on evidence of student learning, and reflection is most powerful when it is collaborative (John Hattie, 2009). The Most Powerful Strategy for Improving Student Learning

34 BIG IDEAS CORE PRINCIPLES CONSEQUENCES ● We accept learning as the fundamental purpose of our school and therefore are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning. We ask and respond to the following questions: 1. What is it we want all students to learn? 2. How will we know when each student has learned? 3. How will we respond when some students experience difficulty in their learning? (What will we do if they don’t learn?) 4. How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient? (What will we do if they already know it?) ● We are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high- performing teams. 1. We agree that the collaborative team is the engine of improvement for our school. 2. We work together to achieve common goals that are directly related to improved student learning. 3. We are mutually accountable for achieving those goals. 4. We ensure that teams are provided with the time, resources, and support essential to their effectiveness. ● We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, and schools seek relevant data and information, and use that information to promote continuous improvement. We use evidence of student learning to: 1. Inform and improve the professional practice of individuals. 2. Inform and improve the professional practice of the collaborative team. 3. Respond to students who are experiencing difficulty. 4. Respond to students who need enrichment.

35 A Short Bibliography for More Information about Professional Learning Communities Archer, A. & Hughes, C. (2010). Explicit Instruction. The Guilford Press (see Chapters 1 & 2 for a discussion about intended (allocated) learning vs. implemented (engaged) learning vs. implemented (academic) learning and about creating learning targets). Blankenship, A. (2005). Failure is Not an Option: Six Principles that Guide Student Achievement in High Performing Schools Corwin Press Chappuis, J. (2007). Learning team facilitator handbook. Portland, OR: Educational Testing Service. DuFour, R, Eaker, R. & DuFour, R. (2005). On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities. Solution Tree DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R. and Karhenek, G. (2004). Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn. Solution Tree DuFour, R. & Eaker, R. Professional Learning Communities At Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement (1998). Solution Tree Hord, S. (1997). Outcomes of Professional Learning Communities for Students and Staff. Southwest Education Development Laboratory. Eaker R., DuFour, R, & DuFour R. (2002). Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities. National Education Service. Leading Learning Communities: Standards for What Principals Should Know and Be Able to Do (2002), NAESP Sparks, D. (2003). Change agent: An interview with Michael Fullan. Journal of Staff Development. A List of Helpful Links (This site is sponsored by Solution Tree - DuFour, Eaker, et al.) (Lesson plans aligned with ELA common core standards) Book recommended by Bobby Cox: Learning by Doing by Rick DuFour & Bob Eaker

36 Acknowledgement: Information in this powerpoint was adapted, in part, from a December 2010 PLCs At Work Webinar: New Insights in How Effective PLCs Improve Schools conducted by Rick DuFour..