1. DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

2. The Power of Professional Learning Communities
From “Knowing”
To “Doing”
To “Being”
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3. On “Knowing”
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4. We know about the power of professional learning communities
We know about the power of professional learning communities. Never before has there been such wide-spread agreement among researchers and practitioners about the most promising approach to school improvement.
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

5. Educators must develop a deeper, shared knowledge of learning community concepts and practices, and then must demonstrate the discipline to apply those concepts and practices in their own settings if schools are to be transformed.
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6. We need a deep understanding of:
Shared mission, vision, values, goals
Collaborative teams
Collective inquiry
Action research/experimentation
Continuous improvement
Results orientation
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7. Critical Connections
A professional learning community is a consolidation of “best” practices. At the most basic level, a professional learning community is a concept – a way of thinking about schooling, whether it is at the district level, school, team, or individual classroom – preferably at all of these levels.
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

8. The professional learning community concept simply provides a format, a framework, for connecting “best practices” into a rational, logical, common sense approach to schooling.
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9. Examples Effective Teaching Research differentiated instruction
becoming “students” of effective teaching practices
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10. Effective Schools Research Cognitive/Developmental Psychology
Content Knowledge
Leadership and Organizational Development (particularly collaborative teams)
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11. And, perhaps most important, the staff must know “why”.
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12. Why?
It’s not true that most people want to do just enough to “get by”, doing as little as possible. In fact, most people want to be challenged if they believe the purpose is worthwhile.
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13. In the hectic day-to-day life of a school leader, one must periodically draw the staff’s attention back to the big picture… the “why” question. And, the “why” question almost always puts kids and their learning at the heart of the school.
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14. DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

15. On “Doing”
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

16. “Don’t confuse movement with action.”
- Ernest Hemingway
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17. Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap: Why Not Now?
The one piece of advice we would have for those who want to reculture their schools into professional learning communities is this; GET STARTED! Do something! Don’t wait until the stars align or the time is right or everyone is on board. Simply begin.
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18. The grandest design eventually degenerates into hard work, but a great attitude is the lubrication that makes it easier.
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19. “A positive attitude may not solve all your problems…
but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort!” Herm Albright
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20. Don’t waste time waiting for inspiration. Begin, and inspiration will find you.
  H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
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21. “Commitment FOLLOWS experience, it doesn’t precede it.”
“Commitment FOLLOWS experience, it doesn’t precede it.”
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

22. Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap: What High-Performing Teams Do
Collaboration in a professional learning community is a systematic process in which educators work together interdependently to analyze and to impact their professional practice in order to achieve better results for their students, their team, and their school.
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23. What Is a Collaborative Team?
The critical organizing idea for a collaborative culture is a collaborative team. In a professional learning community a team is defined as a group of people working interdependently to achieve a common goal for which they are mutually accountable.
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24. The power of collaborative teams lies in a collective responsibility for results. The strength of the team is the individual member… the strength of each member is the team.
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25. “We have known for a quarter of a century that self-managed teams are far more productive than any other form of organizing. There is a clear correlation between participation and productivity.”
  Wheatly
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26. Professional Practice in a Collaborative Team
The fact that teachers collaborate will do nothing to improve a school. The critical question is not, “Are we collaborating?” but rather, “What are we collaborating about?”
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27. “co-laboring” and “co-blabbering”.
There is a significant
difference between
“co-laboring” and “co-blabbering”.
Rick DuFour
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

28. In a professional learning community, collaborative teams focus on critical questions of learning…
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29. What do we want students to learn?
How will we know if they’ve learned it?
How do we respond when students experience difficulty in their learning?
How will we respond when they do learn?
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30. Effective teams also collaboratively analyze student learning…
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31. Results from common formative assessments
Student work; products and performances
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32. Effective teams engage in “reflective practice”, asking themselves “How does our analysis of student learning affect our instructional decision-making?”
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33. Collaborative Classroom Cultures
“It’s so cool to hear the kids talk the talk… ‘Am I an expert, apprentice, or novice with this skill?’ They aren’t scared to say that yesterday in math I was an expert in my group. I was able to teach others my ideas. Today, I was a novice with the skill, but my friends helped me understand.”
-Tracy Livingston,
White River School District
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34. We need educators who: have the will to act the courage to act, and
the persistence to keep on acting.
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35. Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap: Aligning the Effort
From random acts of desperation to aligning our efforts
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36. Alignment A Way of Thinking
National/State/District with Curriculum Standards
Curriculum with Teaching
Teaching with Student Practice
Student Practice with Assessments
Assessments with Stretch/Celebrate Time & Support
Assessments with School Improvement
School Improvement with Staff Development & Resource Allocation
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37. Which are you. Some people MAKE things happen
Which are you? Some people MAKE things happen. Some people WATCH things happen. Some people are always saying “WHAT HAPPENED?”
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38. On “Being”
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39. “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe…”
-Anatole France

40. “BEING” a professional learning community involves deep, substantial, cultural changes that become embedded in the day-to-day life of a school.
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41. A Shift in Fundamental Purpose
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42. From a focus on teaching To a focus on learning
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43. From curriculum overload To less, but more significant, content
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44. A Shift in Use of Assessments
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45. From infrequent individual summative assessments
To frequent commonly developed formative assessments
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46. A Shift in the Response When Kids Don’t Learn
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47. From individual teachers determining the appropriate response
To a systematic response that ensures support for every student
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48. A Shift in the Work of Teachers
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49. From isolation
To collaborative teams (collaborative analysis of student learning and reflective practice)
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50. A Shift in Focus
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51. From a focus on inputs
To a focus on results
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52. From infrequently recognizing a few
To creating lots of winners and celebrating success, emphasizing IMPROVEMENT as well as meeting arbitrary standards
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53. Passion and Persistence
“Success with each student seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” paraphrase, William Feather
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54. A Shift in Celebration
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55. Motivate and Inspire
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Ward
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56. DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

57. Some men see things as they are and say , “Why
Some men see things as they are and say , “Why?” Others dream of things that never were and say, “Why not?”
(paraphrase George Bernard Shaw)
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

58. “When I die, I want to go peacefully and quietly in my sleep like my grandfather did –
not screaming and shouting like the passengers in his car at the time.”
DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker

59. Remember, we have the opportunity to become a hero to some student every day!

60. A Great Teacher… Takes a hand, Opens a mind… Touches a heart!
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61. So, let’s leave here today committed to changing the world—one kid at a time!

62. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!