The School District Of Osceola County, Florida November 12, 2009

Adults without a high school diploma are twice as likely to be unemployed. Dropouts make up nearly 70% of US inmates. A dropout’s life expectancy is 9.2 years lower than that of high school graduates. The average 45-year-old dropout is in worse health than the average 65-year-old high school graduate. Source: Henry Levin, Columbia University So.... Keeping The End In Mind…. 2

What Can We Do To Change Those Statistics? 3

Administrators And Teachers Working Together To… give students the best of the best encourage each other to achieve more professionally ensure that ALL students are successful share knowledge and teaching strategies look at the data to make instructional decisions increase student successes increase graduation rates maximize their efforts bring out the best in ALL children 4

Professional Learning Communities….. Have the support of their administrators Have clear and common goals Have a regular agreed-upon meeting time Use data to drive instruction Work collaboratively to plan and revise lessons 5

Professional Learning Communities….. Ensure that students learn Focus on results Create a culture of collaboration (and actually collaborate) DuFour, Richard “What Is A Professional Learning Community?” 6

A Professional Learning Community Is NOT…… just one more thing to add to our already-busy schedule. a book-of-the-month club or study program. 7

A Professional Learning Community Is NOT…… one more program from the district or state that they want us to implement. “Here we go again!” a sure-fire system that worked at some other school. a bandwagon program that will go away. 8

The Traditional School Structure Teachers are dispersed into isolated classrooms Room 412 Room 414 Room 416 Room 413 Room 415 Room 417 9

The Pseudo PLC Structure Individual classrooms organized into isolated groups on an infrequent basis. Kindergarten First Grade Team Second Grade Team Third Grade Team Fourth Grade Team Fifth Grade Team pseu-do: adjective, 1.not actually but having the appearance of; pretend; false; sham. 2.almost, approaching, or trying to be. 10

The PLC Structure A cohesive school organized into Interdependent Collaborative Teams. Kindergarten First Grade Team Second Grade Team Third Grade Team Fourth Grade Team Fifth Grade Team Vertical Dialogue Horizontal Dialogue 11

It’s A Shift, 12

Which Champion Works Within A PLC ? 13

The Greats Tiger Woods He works in a foursome, but he is truly independent. No matter which foursome he is with, he does not collaborate, help or encourage them. Tiger wants to get all the glory. Room

The Greats Michael Jordan In the pros, Michael earned many individual accolades including league MVP. But of all those accolades, his greatest desire was to win the World Championship. It wasn’t until he began to collaborate with his teammates that the ultimate goal was attained. 15

Forming Collaborative Groups (PLCs) 16

Create Your Teams And Choose Your Team Facilitators The fundamental question in organizing teams is: Do the people on this team have a shared responsibility for responding to the learning of their students? Have your teams brought to the forefront new Believers, Tweeners and Fundamentalists? Balance is essential! Step 1 17

Possible Team Structures: All teachers teaching the same grade level All teachers teaching the same course Vertical teams (K-2/3-5 or Spanish I-IV) Similar Responsibility Teams (Guidance, Special Area ‘Job Alike’) (Vital components of PLC’s are common assessments and the 4 critical questions. To maximize effectiveness, groupings of teachers need to be teaching the same standards to create common assessment and have focused discussion on standards. ) 18

Facilitators Administrators should be in constant communication with facilitators to provide the following in order to guide the movement: - suggested agenda items - providing poignant research article for teams to discuss - supporting the “people” issues (“Is your team coming to consensus?” “Is everyone arriving on time and coming prepared?” “How can administration support you?”) 19

Step 2 Develop Team Norms The Standards Of Behavior by Which We Agree To Operate While We Are In This Group (Refer to reproducible #211) 20 Effective teams review the norms as their first agenda item at each meeting (1 min.)

Step 3 Teams Develop SMART Goals Establish a SMART Goal: Strategic and Specific Measurable Attainable Results-oriented Time-bound 21

SMART Goals With one nine weeks complete, PLC teams should begin the next phase of writing SMART Goals. Teams should write at least one SMART goal for each subject area (i.e. On our October Monthly Writes 63% of our students scored 4 or above. By the January Writes, 88% will score a 4 or more.) Even more important than setting the goal…How will we accomplish this goal? Small groups, focused-writing groups… 22

Team Timelines Aug./Sept. -Develop Teams Teams Develop Norms Team Develop SMART Goal Aug. 31-Sept. 4 -First Formative Assessment Sept. 15 -Analysis of Student Data From First Formative Assessment (Reflect on data, Create a plan) Every 2 Weeks -Create Common Assessments Following Week - Meet to analyze data and form strategies Nov. 30-Dec. 4 - Second Formative Assessment 23

Formative Assessments - Round Two What’s Next? How can we ensure our teachers use the data to make meaningful decisions??? Give teachers the right questions! Create a data question sheet to guide your PLC’s on how to view the data. Questions could include some of the items below: Do you see specific strands that need to be re-taught? How will you adjust your instructional calendars? Look at the standards that have already been taught. Find the data where students are excelling in mastery. What is happening in that classroom? Could the teacher come and model a lesson in your classroom? Look at the item analysis. Do you see a pattern of incorrect answers? Look at the answer choices and identify any major misconceptions. Use tricky questions/answers as a teaching tool with students. Attach each question to a standard. Use the item analysis to identify small groups of children who need specific skills. Provide remediation through small group instruction and specific skill activities. Growth? Identify students who made tremendous gains. What is different about this child’s instructional experience. How can we emulate that for other children? 24

1.What is the instructional focus? 2.What are the instructional strategies? 3.How will we know when they have learned it? 4.How will we respond when they need remediation or enrichment? 25

PLC Meets Focus Using data, the team creates a lesson plan and a common assessment Strategies Teacher instructs using effective strategies from the team’s focus meeting PLC Meets Assessment The team conducts common assessment then meets to analyze data and discuss strategies Response Teacher remediates or enriches based on the pre-determined proficiency level The Team Cycle 26

If we continue to take in data as we have always taken in data, Then we will continue to think as we have always thought. If we continue to think as we have always thought, Then we will continue to believe as we have always believed. If we continue to believe as we have always believed, Then we will continue to act as we have always acted, Then we will continue to get what we have always gotten. An Act Of Futility 27

Achievement Teamwork Shared Knowledge College-bound students We All Play A Vital Role In Student Success 28

Art Tweedie PLC District Coach The Office Of Research, Evaluation & Accountability 817 Bill Beck Boulevard Kissimmee, FL Internal x66159 Contact Information 29