March 10, 2010

Michael Horton

Badger Springs MiddleChange, Data, and PLCs

Dealing with Change

According to Peter Block, resistance to change is not based upon logic, it is an emotional response to the process. More information, more data, and more time will not solve the problem, only the resistor’s realization that they are resisting can remedy the problem.

Forms of Resistance• Give me more and more detail, focusing on minutia

• Assigning blame to someone else regardless of the data, “It’s not my fault, it’s the fault of _____ (students, district, parents, elementary school, lack of work ethic, administration, state, NCLB, English Learners, Special Ed. Students)

• Repeating a question or comment over and over

• Asking off-topic questions that you really don’t care about the answer to

• Timing is wrong, I don’t have time, constant interruptions, deal with it later

• That won’t work in the “real world”

• Attack, aggressive, livid words, angry body language

• Illegitimate confusion, “I just don’t understand”

• Passiveness or silence

Forms of Resistance• Focus on theory, problems, or methods to avoid taking action

• Unrealistic moralization, “Those people need to understand . . .”

• Low-energy agreement or compliance

• Flood you with detail, scattered facts, or organizational history

Practice

What type of resistance is it? Above the line or below the line?

“Anybody who thinks 100% proficiency is possible hasn’t seen MY 4th period class!”

“Our math problem is a result of our high population of English Learners.” (with data to the contrary)

“Our proficiency problem is a placement problem. The district won’t let us put kids in the right classes.” (data to the contrary)

“Students aren’t doing well in English because they aren’t motivated to take the CST test.” (data to the contrary)

“I know I’m beating a dead horse but . . .”

What to do?

• Before commenting, ask yourself, “Will this comment contribute to student learning?”

• Before asking a question, ask yourself, “Do I really want to know the answer to this question or is it a symptom of my resistance to change?”

• Identify which type of resistance you are most apt to choose.

• Do research. Fear of the unknown is the biggest cause of resistance, so remove the “unknown” from the equation.

• Speak to someone you trust about the change. Ask them if your response is reasonable or resistance to change. Have them name the resistance if it applies.

Team, Group, Community

PLC Activity

• On 5 Post-It notes, write down the 5 main classroom-level barriers to learning.

• In groups of 4-6, combine them, eliminating duplicates.

• Split them into two categories:– PLCs can help fix this– PLCs cannot help fix this

The Data

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

ELA 6 ELA 7 ELA 8 Math 6 Math 7 Math 8 History 8 Science 8

2010 Goal

2009 Goal

Safe Harbor Goal

2009 Proficiency Data and NCLB Goals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

ELA 6 ELA 7 ELA 8 Math 6 Math 7 Math 8 History 8 Science 8

2009 Non-Proficiency Data

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

ELA 6 ELA 7 ELA 8 Math 6 Math 7 Math 8 History 8 Science 8

2009 Non-Proficiency Data(# of students)

Research

Professional Learning Community

In groups of about 4, discuss the following question and be prepared to report out:

“What activities should occur during a PLC meeting?”

Report Out

What do the DuFours Say?

Richard and Rebecca DuFour say that the following are things that should be done in a PLC meeting:

Early in the process:

Develop normsWrite goalsIdentify Essential StandardsCreate common assessmentsIdentify successful strategies

What do the DuFours Say?

After the initial work is done, the following activities should dominate meeting time:

Analyzing common assessment dataLooking at student workDiscussing successful strategies/activities

With the majority of time being spent on:Planning upcoming lessons based upon prior successDesigning interventions to address weaknesses in the data