Presenters Richard DuFour, Ed.D and Rebecca DuFour,...
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Professional Learning Communities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement January 2010 Presenters Richard DuFour, Ed.D and Rebecca DuFour, M.Ed Placer County Office of Education Gayle Garbolino-Mojica, Superintendent of Schools
Transcript of Presenters Richard DuFour, Ed.D and Rebecca DuFour,...
Professional Learning Communities at WorkBest Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement
January 2010
Presenters Richard DuFour, Ed.D and Rebecca DuFour, M.Ed
Placer County Offi ce of EducationGayle Garbolino-Mojica, Superintendent of Schools
Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life
Rick & Becky DuFour
Day 1 7:30 – 8:30 Registration/ Coffee 8:30 – 10:00 Introductions and opening remarks
A Case for Professional Learning Communities The First Big Idea of a PLC – Focus on Learning Team Learning Process
10:00 – 10:20 Break 10:20 – 12:00 Team Learning Process (continued) 12:00 – 1:00 Lunch 1:00 – 2:15 The Second Big Idea of a PLC - Build a Collaborative Culture
2:15 – 2:35 Break 2:35 – 3:30 The Second Big Idea of a PLC (continued)
Day 2
8:30 – 10:00 Third Big Idea of PLC – Focus on Results 10:00 – 10:20 Break 10:20 – 12:00 Whatever It Takes:
How PLCs Respond When Students Don’t Learn 12:00 – 1:00 Lunch 1:00 – 2:15 A Focus on Learning For All 2:15 – 2:35 Break 2:35 – 3:30 Building Consensus for PLCs
Closing Remarks
Menu
Morning Coffee, water Day 1 Boxed Sandwich Lunch Boxed lunch will include sandwich (turkey, roast beef, or vegetarian), chips, cookie and choice of water or soda. Day 2 Boxed Wrap Lunch Boxed lunch will include wrap (chicken, roast beef, or vegetarian), chips, side salad and choice of water or soda. Afternoon Break Cookies or brownies will be available for the afternoon break.
Book Sales A limited number of Professional Learning Communities books will be for sale.
Dr. Richard P. DuFour 465 Island Pointe Lane
Moneta, VA 24121 (540) 721-4662 phone
(540) 721-0382 fax
Dr. Rick DuFour was a public school educator for thirty-four years, serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. He served as the principal of Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois from 1983 to 1991 and as superintendent of the district from 1991 to 2002. During his tenure, Stevenson became what the United States Department of Education has described as “the most recognized and celebrated school in America.” It is one of three schools in the nation to win the USDE Blue Ribbon Award on four occasions and one of the first comprehensive schools designated a New America High School by USDE as a model of successful school reform. Stevenson has been repeatedly cited in the popular press as one of America’s best schools and referenced in professional literature as an exemplar of best practices in education. Dr. DuFour is the author of ten books and almost eighty professional articles, and wrote a quarterly column for the Journal of Staff Development for almost a decade. He was the lead consultant and author for ASCD’s seven-part video series on the principalship and the author of two other videos – “How to Build a Professional Learning Community” and “Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School.” He was the first principal in Illinois to receive the state’s Distinguished Educator Award, received his states highest award as both a principal and superintendent, was named as one of the Top 100 school administrators in North America by Executive Educator magazine, was presented the distinguished scholar practitioner award from the University of Illinois, and was the 2004 recipient of the National Staff Development Council’s Distinguished Service Award. He has consulted with school districts, state departments, and professional organizations throughout North America on strategies for improving schools.
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Rebecca B. DuFour
465 Island Pointe Lane Moneta, VA 24121
(540) 721-4662 phone (540) 721-0382 fax
Becky DuFour has served as a teacher, school administrator and central office coordinator. As a former elementary principal, Becky helped her school earn state and national recognition as a model Professional Learning Community. She is one of the featured principals in the Video Journal of Education’s program on “Leadership in an Age of Standards and High Stakes” (2001). She is also the lead consultant and featured principal for the Video Journal program, “Elementary Principals as Leaders of Learning” (2003). Becky is co-author of:
Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities (Solution Tree, 2002), Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn (Solution Tree, 2004), Learning By Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (Solution Tree, 2006), Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book (Solution Tree, 2006) and Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (Solution Tree, 2008).
She is also co-editor of On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities (Solution-tree, 2005), a collection of essays from the leading educational authors and consultants. Becky has written for numerous professional journals, served as a book reviewer for the Journal of Staff Development and wrote a quarterly column for the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ publication, Leadership Compass. Becky has consulted with and worked for professional organizations, school districts, universities, and state departments of education throughout North America.
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byRick & Becky DuFour
[email protected]@jetbroadband.com
Professional Learning Communities at Work:
Bringing the Big Ideas to Life
Assumption: Teachers Matter
• Regardless of the research basis, it is clear that effective teachers have a profound impact on student achievement and ineffective teachers do not. In fact, ineffective teachers might actually impede the learning of their students.– Marzano (2003), p. 75
An analysis of research conducted over a thirty-five year period demonstrates that schools that are highly effective produce results that almost entirely overcome the effects of student backgrounds. —Robert Marzano (2003)
Assumption: Schools Matter
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Assumption: Effective Schools Require More than Competent
Individual Teachers Student achievement gains and other
benefits are influenced by organizational characteristics beyond the skills of individual staff. We saw schools with competent teachers that lacked the organizational capacity to be effective with many students. The task for schools is to organize human resources into an effective collective effort.
—Newmann & Wehlage (1995), p. 29-30
Assumption
We now know how to create schools that help more kids learn at higher levels. In fact, there has never been greater consensus regarding the schools it will take to raise student achievement.
The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function
as a professional learning community. The path to change in the classroom lies
within and through professional learning communities. —Milbrey McLaughlin (1995)
The Power of Professional Learning Communities
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Organizations That Endorse Professional Learning Community Concepts
American Federation of Teachers Annenberg Institute for School Reform California Teachers Association Center for Performance-Based Assessment Center for Teaching Quality Council of Chief State School Officials ETS Assessment Training Institute Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory National Association of Elementary School Principals National Association of Secondary School Principals National Board of Professional Teaching Standards National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education National Council of Teachers of English National Council of Teachers of Mathematics National Education Association National Middle School Association National Science Education Leadership Association National Science Teachers Association National Staff Development Council North Central Association, Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement North Central Regional Educational Laboratory Research for Better Teaching, Inc. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Educational Researchers Who Endorse PLC Concepts
Roland Barth Anthony Byrk Linda Darling-Hammond Richard Elmore Michael Fullan Carl Glickman Andy Hargreaves Shirley Hord Sharon Kruse
Judith Warren Little Robert Marzano Milbrey McLaughlin Fred Newmann Douglas Reeves Jonathan Saphier Phil Schlecty Mike Schmoker Karen Seashore Louis
Thomas Sergiovanni Dennis Sparks Richard Stiggins Joan Talbert Gary Wehlage Dylan Wiliam Art Wise
For more information, please visit www.allthingsplc.info “Articles & Research.”
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What is a PLC?
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Professional Learning Community (PLC) Defined
Educators are committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better 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.
—DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many (2006)
The Pervasive Impact of the PLC Process
A Professional Learning Community is an ethos that infuses every single aspect of a school’s operation. When a school becomes a professional learning community, everything in the school looks different than it did before.
—Andy Hargreaves (2004)
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Is the Professional Learning Community Concept Based on…
…adherence to core practices or individual teacher autonomy?
…strong administrative leadership or teacher empowerment?
…recognition and celebration of current efforts and achievements or discontent with the status quo?
…approaching school improvement with a sense of urgency or demonstrating the patience to sustain an improvement initiative over the long haul?
Simultaneous Loose AND Tight School Cultures
Simultaneous loose and tight cultures establish clear parameters and priorities that enable individuals to work within established boundaries in a creative and autonomous way. They are characterized by “directed empowerment” or what Marzano and Waters refer to as “defined autonomy” - freedom to act and to lead within clearly articulated boundaries.
The BIG IDEAS of a PLC 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 are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high-performing teams.
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.
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If the purpose of school is truly to ensure high levels of learning for all
students, schools will: Clarify what each student is expected to learn
Team Learning Process
Clarify 8-10 Essential Common Outcomes (skills, knowledge, dispositions)
per semester by Course/Content Area
The 1st Step in Decision Making in a PLC: Building Shared Knowledge Professional Learning Communities always
attempt to answer critical questions by BUILDING SHARED KNOWLEDGE - engaging in collective inquiry - LEARNING TOGETHER.
If people make decisions based upon the collective study of the same pool of information, they increase the likelihood that they will arrive at the same conclusion.
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Resources To Help Teams Build Shared Knowledge & Clarify “Learn What” State/Provincial/National Standards (e.g.NCTE/
NCTM) Vertical articulation District or department curriculum guides Assessment Frameworks (how will they be
assessed) Data on past student performance (local/state/
national) Examples of student work and the criteria by which
the quality of student work will be judged Textbook Presentation of Curriculum Curriculum Framework of High Performing Schools
Criteria for Identifying Essential Common Outcomes
To separate the essential from the peripheral, apply these 3 criteria to each standard:
1. Endurance - are students expected to retain the skills/knowledge long after the test is completed
2. Leverage - is this skill/knowledge applicable to many academic disciplines
3. Readiness for the Next Level of Learning - is this skill/knowledge preparing the student for success in the next grade/course
- Doug Reeves
Advantages of Team Discussion of Essential Learning
Greater clarity regarding interpretation of standards
Greater consistency regarding importance of different standards
Greater consistency in amount of time devoted to different standards (common pacing)
Common outcomes and common pacing are essential prerequisites for a team to create common assessments and team interventions
Greater ownership of and commitment to standards
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Levels of Curricula at Workin Your school
1. Intended - What we want them to learn2. Implemented - What actually gets taught3. Attained -What they actually learn
*To impact the attained curriculum in the mostpowerful way, make certain the implementedcurriculum is guaranteed and viable. - Robert Marzano
To Improve Student Achievement ..create a guaranteed and viable curriculum (Marzano) ..establish a limited number of power standards
(Reeves) ..pursue clear and focused essential academic goals
(Lezotte) ..identify learning intentions and success criteria
(Hattie) ..develop a compact list of learning expectations and
tangible exemplars of student proficiency (Saphier)If we want all students to learn at high levels, those who teach them must be able to answer the questions, “learn what” with a consistent voice.
If the purpose of school is truly to ensure high levels of learning for all
students, schools will: Clarify what each student is expected to learn Monitor each student’s learning on a timely
basis
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The Case for a Guaranteed Curriculum
One of the most significant factors that impacts student achievement is that teachers commit to implementing a guaranteed and viable curriculum to ensure no matter who teaches a given class, the curriculum will address certain essential content. For learning to be effective, clear targets in terms of information and skills must be established (Marzano, 2003).
To improve student achievement, educators must determine the power standards –learning standards that are most essential because they possess the qualities of endurance, leverage, and readiness for success at the next level. The first and most important practical implication of power standards is that leaders must make time for teachers to collaborate within and among grade levels to identify the power standards (Reeves, 2002).
One of the keys to improving schools is to ensure teachers know the learning intentions and success criteria of their lessons, know how well they are attaining these criteria for all their students, and know where to go next in light of the gap between students’ current knowledge and the success criteria. This can be maximized in a safe and collaborative environment where teachers talk to each other about teaching (Hattie, 2009)
“The staff in the effective school accepts responsibility for the students’ learning of the essential curricular goals” (our emphasis, Lezotte, 2001, p.4).
Professional learning communities are characterized by an academic focus that begins with a set of practices that bring clarity, coherence, and precision to every teacher’s classroom work. Teachers work collaboratively to provide a rigorous curriculum that is crystal clear and includes a compact list of learning expectations for each grade or course and tangible exemplars of student proficiency for each learning expectation (Saphier, 2005).
Effective teachers clarify goals and assessment criteria in ways that will help students understand what they need to learn and the strategies likely to be most useful in enabling them to learn (Brophy, 2004).
Implementing a strategy of common, rigorous standards with differentiated resources and instruction can create excellence and equity for all students (Childress, Doyle, & Thomas, 2009)
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Team Learning Process
Clarify 8-10 Essential Common Outcomes (skills, concepts, and dispositions) per semester by Course/Content Area
Develop multiple Common Formative Assessments for each Course/Content Area
What are Common Formative Assessments?
We will make the case that common formative assessments are the lynchpin of the collaborative team process in a PLC.Define “common” assessment.
Define “formative” assessment.
Keys to Formative Assessments
To determine if an assessment is formative, ask:1. Is it used to identify students who are experiencing difficulty in their learning?2. Are students who are having difficulty provided with additional time and support for learning?3. Are students given an additional opportunity to demonstrate their learning?
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Resources to Help Teams Build Valid Common Assessments
List of Essential Outcomes/Pacing Guides for Each Course/Subject
Recommendations from Stiggins, Reeves, Ainsworth, Wiliam…
Released items from district, state, provincial, and national assessments (ACT, SAT, ITBS, NAEP, etc.)
Websites such as: www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
Data from past indicators of achievement Methods of alternative assessments Examples of rubrics Assessments from other high-performing teams
Two Essentials of Performance Based Assessment Can we agree on the criteria by which
we will judge the quality of student work?
Can we apply those criteria consistently (inter-rater reliability)?
Team Learning Process Clarify 8-10 Essential Common Outcomes (skills,
concepts, and dispositions) per semester by Course/Content Area
Develop multiple Common Formative Assessments for each Course/Content Area
Establish Specific Target/Benchmark so rigorous it will lead to success on high stakes assessments
Analyze Results Identify & Implement Improvement
Strategies
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Page 18
Item Analysis for 630 Students ENG110 FR COLLEGE PREP: 60/0 FC/P ITEMS02/14/2001 2000-2001 School Year
Item A B C D E Space Diff# 1 - 1 ( 0% ) 17 ( 3% ) 6 ( 1% ) 606 ( 96% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.962# 2 - 10 ( 2% ) 10 ( 5% ) 564 ( 90% ) * 27 ( 4% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.895# 3 - 29 ( 5% ) 3 ( 0% ) 586 ( 93% ) * 13 ( 2% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.930# 4 - 553 ( 88% ) * 37 ( 6% ) 4 ( 1% ) 36 ( 6% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.878# 5 - 37 ( 6% ) 19 ( 3% ) 52 ( 8% ) 524 ( 83% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.832# 6 - 106 ( 17% ) 458 ( 73% ) * 58 ( 9% ) 10 ( 2% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.727# 7 - 11 ( 2% ) 22 ( 3% ) 570 ( 90% ) * 28 ( 4% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.905# 8 - 10 ( 2% ) 16 ( 3% ) 38 ( 6% ) 569 ( 90% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.903# 9 - 46 ( 7% ) 40 ( 6% ) 13 ( 2% ) 529 ( 84% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.840# 10 - 12 ( 2% ) 590 ( 94% ) * 15 ( 2% ) 12 ( 2% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.937# 11 - 460 ( 73% ) * 104 ( 17% ) 63 ( 10% ) 4 ( 1% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.730# 12 - 432 ( 69% ) * 129 ( 20% ) 55 ( 9% ) 14 ( 2% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.686# 13 - 3 ( 0% ) 528 ( 84% ) * 34 ( 5% ) 65 ( 10% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.838# 14 - 8 ( 1% ) 598 ( 95% ) * 7 ( 1% ) 17 ( 3% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.949# 15 - 56 ( 9% ) 461 ( 73% ) * 19 ( 3% ) 94 ( 15% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.732# 16 - 78 ( 12% ) 14 ( 2% ) 79 ( 13% ) 460 ( 73% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.730# 17 - 112 ( 18% ) 139 ( 22% ) 6 ( 1% ) 376 ( 60% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.597# 18 - 21 ( 3% ) 47 ( 7% ) 561 ( 89% ) * 2 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.890# 19 - 4 ( 1% ) 407 ( 65% ) * 3 ( 0% ) 219 ( 35% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.646# 20 - 548 ( 87% ) * 30 ( 5% ) 5 ( 1% ) 50 ( 8% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.870# 21 - 14 ( 2% ) 4 ( 1% ) 21 ( 3% ) 592 ( 94% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.940# 22 - 438 ( 70% ) * 64 ( 10% ) 98 ( 16% ) 31 ( 5% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.695# 23 - 69 ( 11% ) 457 ( 73% ) * 61 ( 10% ) 44 ( 7% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.725# 24 - 56 ( 9% ) 28 ( 4% ) 472 ( 75% ) * 76 ( 12% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.749# 25 - 10 ( 2% ) 50 ( 8% ) 556 ( 88% ) * 16 ( 3% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.883# 26 - 112 ( 18% ) 120 ( 19% ) 10 ( 2% ) 389 ( 62% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.617# 27 - 125 ( 20% ) 269 ( 43% ) 237 ( 38% ) * 2 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.376# 28 - 568 ( 90% ) * 37 ( 6% ) 11 ( 2% ) 14 ( 2% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.902# 29 - 506 ( 80% ) * 28 ( 4% ) 65 ( 10% ) 34 ( 5% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.803# 30 - 64 ( 10% ) 48 ( 8% ) 30 ( 5% ) 488 ( 77% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.775# 31 - 11 ( 2% ) 559 ( 89% ) * 16 ( 3% ) 44 ( 7% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.887# 32 - 88 ( 14% ) 63 ( 10% ) 422 ( 67% ) * 58 ( 9% ) 0 ( 0% ) 2 ( 0% ) 0.670# 33 - 107 ( 17% ) 377 ( 60% ) 16 ( 3% ) 131 ( 21% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.598# 34 - 427 ( 68% ) * 49 ( 8% ) 81 (13%) 75 (12% 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.678# 35 - 73 ( 12% ) 413 ( 66% ) * 38 ( 6% ) 107 ( 17% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.656# 36 - 34 ( 5% ) 398 ( 63% ) * 45 ( 7% ) 154 ( 24% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.632# 37 - 78 ( 12% ) 253 ( 40% ) 11 ( 2% ) 289 ( 46% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.459# 38 - 97 (15% ) 397 ( 63% ) * 62 ( 10% ) 73 ( 12% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.630# 39 - 222 ( 15% ) 167 ( 27% ) 170 ( 27% ) * 72 ( 11% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.270# 40 - 99 ( 16% ) 44 ( 7% ) 88 ( 14% ) 400 ( 63% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.635# 41 - 542 ( 86% ) * 25 ( 4% ) 5 ( 1% ) 60 ( 10% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.860# 42 - 36 ( 6% ) 82 ( 13% ) 135 ( 21% ) 378 ( 60% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.600# 43 - 12 ( 2% ) 291 ( 46% ) 11 ( 2% ) 318 ( 50% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.505# 44 - 486 ( 77% ) * 48 ( 8% ) 91 ( 14% ) 5 ( 1% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.771# 45 - 8 ( 1% ) 93 ( 15% ) 518 ( 82% ) * 13 ( 2% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.822# 46 - 57 ( 9% ) 421 ( 67% ) * 123 ( 20% ) 33 ( 5% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.668# 47 - 54 ( 9% ) 360 ( 57% ) * 41 ( 7% ) 178 ( 28% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.571# 48 - 19 ( 3% ) 165 ( 26% ) * 51 ( 8% ) 396 ( 63% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.262# 49 - 42 ( 7% ) 574 ( 91% ) * 5 ( 1% ) 9 ( 1% ) 0 ( 0% ) 1 ( 0% ) 0.911# 50 - 153 ( 24% ) 72 ( 11% ) 9 ( 1% ) 398 ( 63% ) * 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.632# 51 - 542 ( 86% ) * 50 ( 8% ) 41 ( 7% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 2 ( 0% ) 0.860# 52 - 17 ( 3% ) 307 ( 49% ) 311 ( 49% ) * 1 ( 0%) 0 ( 0% ) 0 ( 0% ) 0.490
Page 19
Assessing Your Current RealityConsider the descriptions of 5 stages of PLC
progress regarding:
1. Clarity on What Students Must Know and Be Able to Do
2. Assessing Student Learning on the Essential Curriculum
Individually, silently, and honestlyassess the current status of your school for each
indicatoron the Professional Learning Community
Continuum
Progress and ProblemsShare your assessment with your colleagues:
• Where are areas of agreement? • Where are the areas of disagreement?• Where can you celebrate the greatest
progress?• What areas are you finding problematic?
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
• What steps could you take to make progress in these indicators?
• Complete the “Where Do We Go From
Here” worksheets to begin your plan for becoming a school committed to a focus on learning.
Page 20
A C
ontin
uum
of O
ur C
omm
itmen
t to
Key
PLC
Con
cept
s D
IRE
CTI
ON
S FO
R C
OM
PLET
ING
TH
IS A
UD
IT:
Indi
vidu
ally
, sile
ntly
and
honestly
ass
ess t
he c
urre
nt st
atus
of y
our
scho
ol fo
r ea
ch in
dica
tor
acco
rdin
g to
the
leve
ls o
f im
plem
enta
tion
iden
tifie
d.
Pa
rt I.
Lea
rnin
g as
our
Fun
dam
enta
l Pur
pose
W
e ac
know
ledg
e th
at th
e fu
ndam
enta
l pur
pose
of o
ur sc
hool
is to
hel
p al
l stu
dent
s ach
ieve
hig
h le
vels
of l
earn
ing,
and
ther
efor
e w
e ar
e w
illin
g to
ex
amin
e al
l of o
ur p
ract
ices
in li
ght o
f the
ir im
pact
on
lear
ning
. In
dica
tor
Pre-
Initi
atin
g In
itiat
ing
Impl
emen
ting
Dev
elop
ing
Sust
aini
ng
We
wor
k w
ith c
olle
ague
s on
our
team
to b
uild
shar
ed k
now
ledg
e re
gard
ing
stat
e st
anda
rds,
distr
ict
curr
icul
um g
uide
s, tre
nds i
n st
uden
t ac
hiev
emen
t, an
d ex
pect
atio
ns fo
r the
ne
xt c
ours
e or
gra
de le
vel.
Thi
s co
llect
ive
inqu
iry h
as e
nabl
ed e
ach
mem
ber o
f our
team
to c
larif
y w
hat
all s
tude
nts m
ust k
now
and
be
able
to
do a
s a re
sult
of e
very
uni
t of
instr
uctio
n.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
.
We
wor
k w
ith c
olle
ague
s on
our
team
to c
larif
y th
e cr
iteria
by
whi
ch
we
will
judg
e th
e qu
ality
of s
tude
nt
wor
k, a
nd
we
prac
tice
appl
ying
thos
e cr
iteria
un
til w
e ca
n do
so c
onsi
sten
tly
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. W
e m
onito
r the
lear
ning
of e
ach
stude
nt o
n al
l ess
entia
l out
com
es o
n a
timel
y ba
sis t
hrou
gh a
serie
s of
freq
uent
, tea
m-d
evel
oped
form
ativ
e as
sess
men
ts th
at a
re a
ligne
d w
ith
distr
ict a
nd st
ate
asse
ssm
ents.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. W
e id
entif
y th
e sp
ecifi
c st
anda
rd o
r ta
rget
eac
h st
uden
t mus
t ach
ieve
on
each
of t
he e
ssen
tial s
kills
bei
ng
addr
esse
d by
the
form
ativ
e as
sess
men
t.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
.
Page 21
REPRODUCIBLE
62 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Des
crib
e on
e or
mor
e as
pect
s of
a
prof
essi
onal
lear
ning
com
mun
ity t
hat
you
wou
ld li
ke t
o se
e in
pla
ce in
you
r sc
hool
.
Teac
hers
in th
e sc
hool
hav
e wo
rked
toge
ther
to c
lari-
fy a
nd fo
cus
on th
e es
sent
ial o
utco
mes
for
each
cour
se, e
ach
grad
e le
vel,
and
each
uni
t of i
nstr
uctio
n.
Thes
e co
mm
on e
ssen
tial o
utco
mes
refle
ct th
ete
ache
rs’ e
ffort
s to
bui
ld s
hare
d kn
owle
dge
rega
rdin
gbe
st p
ract
ice.
Wha
t st
eps
orac
tiviti
es m
ust
bein
itiat
ed t
o cr
eate
this
con
ditio
n in
your
sch
ool?
Who
will
be
resp
onsi
ble
for
initi
atin
g or
sust
aini
ng t
hese
step
s or
act
iviti
es?
Wha
t is
a r
ealis
tictim
elin
e fo
r ea
chst
ep o
r ph
ase
of t
heac
tivity
?
Wha
t w
ill y
ou u
seto
ass
ess
the
effe
ctiv
enes
s of
your
initi
ativ
e?
Whe
re D
o W
e G
o Fr
om H
ere?
Wor
kshe
etCl
earl
y D
efin
ed O
utco
mes
Page 22
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 63
Des
crib
e on
e or
mor
e as
pect
s of
a
prof
essi
onal
lear
ning
com
mun
ity t
hat
you
wou
ld li
ke t
o se
e in
pla
ce in
you
r sc
hool
.
Teac
hers
in th
e sc
hool
hav
e wo
rked
toge
ther
to c
lari-
fy th
e cr
iteria
they
use
in ju
dgin
g th
e qu
ality
of s
tu-
dent
wor
k an
d th
ey a
pply
the
crite
ria c
onsi
sten
tly.
Teac
hers
in th
e sc
hool
hav
e wo
rked
toge
ther
tom
onito
r st
uden
t lea
rnin
g th
roug
h fre
quen
t, te
am-
deve
lope
d co
mm
on fo
rmat
ive
asse
ssm
ents
that
are
alig
ned
to s
tate
and
loca
l sta
ndar
ds.
Wha
t st
eps
orac
tiviti
es m
ust
bein
itiat
ed t
o cr
eate
this
con
ditio
n in
your
sch
ool?
Who
will
be
resp
onsi
ble
for
initi
atin
g or
sust
aini
ng t
hese
step
s or
act
iviti
es?
Wha
t is
a r
ealis
tictim
elin
e fo
r ea
chst
ep o
r ph
ase
of
the
activ
ity?
Wha
t w
ill y
ou u
se
to a
sses
s th
eef
fect
iven
ess
of
your
initi
ativ
e?
Whe
re D
o W
e G
o Fr
om H
ere?
Wor
kshe
etM
onit
orin
g Ea
ch S
tude
nt’s
Lea
rnin
g
Page 23
The BIG IDEAS of a PLC 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 are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high-performing teams.
Barriers to a Learning Community
A professional norm of teacher isolation.
Why Should We Collaborate? Gains in student achievement Higher quality solutions to problems Increased confidence among all staff Teachers able to support one another’s strengths and accommodate weaknesses Ability to test new ideas More support for new teachers Expanded pool of ideas, materials, and methods
—Judith Warren Little (1990)
Page 24
The Case for Teams
Empowered teams are such a powerful force of integration and productivity that they form the basic building block of any intelligent organization. Given the right context, teams generate passion and engagement. In addition, a team is something to belong to, a support group and political unit with more clout than the individuals in it.
Pinchot & Pinchot, The End of Bureaucracy and the Rise of the Intelligent Organization
We are at a point in time where teams are recognized as a critical component of every enterprise–the predominant unit for decision making and getting things done. . . . Working in teams is the norm in a learning organization.
Senge, et al., The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
The leader of the future will master the art of forming teams. Future leaders will master teamwork, working with and through others because no one person can master all the sources of information to make good decisions.
Ulrich, “Credibility and Capability” in The Leader of the Future
Teams bring together complementary skills and experience that exceed those of any individual on the team. Teams are more effective in problem solving. Teams provide a social dimension that enhances work. Teams motivate and foster peer pressure and internal accountability. Teams have more fun.
Katzenbach and Smith, The Wisdom of Teams
The best way to achieve challenging goals is through teamwork. Where single individuals may despair of accomplishing a monumental task, teams nurture, support, and inspire each other.
Noel Tichy, The Leadership Engine
People who collaborate learn from each other and create synergy. That is why learning organizations are made up of teams that share a common purpose. Organizations need togetherness to get things done and to encourage the exploration essential to improvement.
Charles Handy, “Managing the Dream” in Learning Organizations Learning organizations are fast, focused, flexible, friendly and fun. To promote these characteristics they are far more likely to be organized into teams than in old-fashioned hierarchies.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, “Mastering Change” in Learning Organizations We have known for nearly 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.
Margaret Wheatley, “Goodbye, Command and Control” in Leader to Leader
Page 25
The Case for Collaboration
The single most important factor for successful school restructuring and the first order of business for those interested in increasing the capacity of their schools is building a collaborative internal environment (Eastwood & Seashore Louis, 1992). When groups, rather than individuals are seen as the main units for implementing curriculum, instruction, and assessment, they facilitate development of shared purpose for student learning and collective responsibility to achieve it (Newmann and Wehlage, 1995). “The key to ensuring that every child has a quality teacher is finding a way for school systems to organize the work of qualified teachers so they can collaborate with their colleagues in developing strong learning communities that will sustain them as they become more accomplished teachers” (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 2003, p. 7.) Teacher collaboration in strong professional learning communities improves the quality and equity of student learning, promotes discussions that are grounded in evidence and analysis rather than opinion, and fosters collective responsibility for student success (McLaughlin & Talbert, 2006). “High performing schools tend to promote collaborative cultures [and] support professional communities and exchanges among all staff…Teachers and staff communicate to remove barriers to student learning” (National Education Association, 2006). When teachers work in collaborative teams schools are more likely to see gains in student achievement, find higher quality solutions to problems, promote increased confidence among staff, create an environment in which teachers support one another’s strengths and accommodate weaknesses, provide support for new teachers, and provide all staff with access to an expanded pool of ideas, materials, and methods (Judith Warren Little, 1990). [High-achieving schools] “build a highly collaborative school environment in where working together to solve problems and to learn from each other become cultural norms” (West Ed, 2000, p.12). Improving schools require a collaborative culture. Without collaborative skills and relationships it not possible to continue to learn (Michael Fullan, 1993). Collaboration and the ability to engage in collaborative action are becoming increasingly important to the survival of the public schools. Indeed, without the ability to collaborate with others the prospect of truly improving schools is not likely (Schlechty, 2005, p. 22). “It is imperative that professional learning be directed at improving the quality of collaborative work” (National Staff Development Council, 2001). It is time to end the practice of solo teaching in isolated classrooms. Today’s teachers must transform their personal knowledge into a collectively built, widely shared and cohesive professional knowledge base (Fulton, Yoon, & Lee, 2005).
Page 26
Group IQ
There is such a thing as group IQ. While a group can be no smarter than the sum total of the knowledge and skills of its members, it can be much “dumber” if its internal workings don’t allow people to share their talents.
—Robert Sternberg (1988)
Team Defined
What Is Collaboration?
A systematic process in which we work together, interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve our individual and collective results
—DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker (2002)
Page 27
The Focus of Collaboration
Collaborative cultures, which by definition have close relationships, are indeed powerful, but unless they are focusing on the right things they may end up being powerfully wrong. - Michael Fullan
A Key Question in PLCs
The critical question in a PLC is not, “do we collaborate,” but rather,
“what do we collaborate about.”
You must not settle for “Collaboration Lite.”
Critical Corollary Questions: If We Believe All Kids Can Learn:
What is it we expect them 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?
Page 28
Seven Keys to Effective Teams
1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of the school with FOCUS ON LEARNING.
The Criterion for Creating Teams
The fundamental question in organizing teams is:
“Do the people on this team have a shared responsibility for responding to the
critical questions in ways that enhance the learning of their students.”
Possible Team Structures:Provided Focus Is on LEARNING
All teachers teaching the same grade level All teachers teaching the same course Vertical teams (K-2/3-5 or French I-IV) Electronic teams
www.isightEd.com www.firstclass.com professional organizations
Interdisciplinary teams District or regional teams Similar Responsibility Teams
Page 29
Seven Keys to Effective Teams1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of
the school with FOCUS ON LEARNING.2. Schedule time for collaboration
into the school day and school calendar.
Parameters for Collaborative Time
Can not keep the kids at home Can not increase costs Can not significantly impact instructional
time
For more ideas on
Team Structure
Making Time for CollaborationGo to:
www.allthingsplc.info“Evidence of Effectiveness” Schools
Page 30
Making Time for Collaboration It is imperative that teachers be provided with time to meet during their contractual day. We believe it is insincere and disingenuous for any school district or any school principal to stress the importance of collaboration, and then fail to provide time for collaboration. One of the ways in which organizations demonstrate their priorities is allocation of resources, and in schools, one of the most precious resources is time. The following list is not meant to be comprehensive but is merely intended to illustrate some of the steps schools and districts have taken to create the prerequisite time for collaboration.
Common Preparation: Build the master schedule to provide daily common preparation periods for teachers of the same course, or department. Each team should then designate one day each week to engage in collaborative, rather than individual planning.
Parallel Scheduling: Schedule common preparation time by assigning the specialists—physical education teachers, librarians, music teachers, art teachers, instructional technologists, guidance counselors, foreign language teachers, etc.—to provide lessons to students across an entire grade level at the same time each day. The team should designate one day each week for collaborative planning. Some schools build back-to-back specials classes into the master schedule on each team’s designated collaborative day, thus creating an extended block of time for the team to meet.
Adjusted Start and End Time of Contractual Day: Members of a team, department, or an entire faculty agree to start their workday early or extend their workday one day each week to gain collaborative team time. In exchange for adding time to one end of the workday, the teachers are compensated by getting the time back on the other end of that day.
For example, on the first day of each school-week the entire staff of Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, begins its workday at 7:30 a.m., rather than the normal 7:45 start-time. From 7:30 to 8:30, the entire faculty engages in collaborative team meetings. Student arrival begins at 7:40, as usual, but the start of class is delayed from the normal 8:05 until 8:30. Students are supervised by administration and non-instructional staff in a variety of optional activities such as breakfast, library and computer research, open gym, study halls, and tutorials. To accommodate for the 25 minutes of lost instructional time, five minutes is trimmed from five of the eight 50-minute class periods. The school day ends at the usual 3:25 p.m., buses run their regular routes, and Stevenson teachers are free to leave at 3:30 rather than the 3:45
Page 31
time stipulated in their contract. By making these minor adjustments to the schedule on the first day of each week, the entire faculty is guaranteed an hour of collaborative planning to start each week, but their work day or work week has not been extended by a single minute.
Shared Classes: Teachers across two different grade levels or courses combine their students into one class for instruction. While one teacher/team instructs the students during that period, the other team engages in collaborative work. The teams alternate instructing and collaborating to provide equity in learning time for students and teams. Some schools coordinate shared classes to ensure that older students adopt younger students and serve as literacy buddies, tutors and mentors.
Group Activities, Events, or Testing: Teams of teachers coordinate activities that require supervision of students rather than instructional expertise (i.e., videos, resource lessons, read-alouds, assemblies, testing). Non-teaching staff supervise students while the teachers engage in team collaboration.
Banking Time: Over a designated period of days, instructional minutes are extended beyond the required school day. After banking the desired number of minutes on designated days, the instructional day ends early to allow for faculty collaboration and student enrichment. In a middle school, for example, the traditional instructional day ended at 3:00 p.m.; students boarded buses at 3:20 and the teacher contractual day ended at 3:30. The faculty decided to extend the instructional day until 3:10 rather than 3:00. By teaching an extra 10 minutes nine days in a row, they bank 90 minutes. On the tenth day, instruction stops at 1:30 and the entire faculty has collaborative team time for two hours. The students remain on campus and are engaged in clubs, enrichment activities, and assemblies sponsored by a variety of parent/community partners and co-supervised by the school’s non-teaching staff.
In-Service/Faculty Meeting Time: Schedule extended time for teams to work together on staff development days and during faculty meeting time. Rather than requiring staff to attend a traditional whole staff in-service session or sit in a faculty meeting while directives and calendar items are read to highly educated professionals, shift the focus and use of these days or meetings so members of teams have extended time to learn with and from each other.
Materials derived from: DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. (2006). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Page 32
Seven Keys to Effective Teams
1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of the school with FOCUS ON LEARNING.
2. Schedule time for collaboration into the school day and school calendar.
3. Focus teams on critical questions.4. Make products of collaboration
explicit.
Example of a Timeline for Team Products
By the end of the: 2nd Week - Team Norms 4th Week - Team SMART Goal 6th Week - Common Essential Outcomes 8th Week - First Common Assessment 10th Week - Analysis of Student Performance
on First Common Formative Assessment
Reciprocal Accountability
Accountability must be a reciprocal process. For every expectation I have of you to perform, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation.
- Richard Elmore, 2006
Page 33
The powerful collaboration that characterizes
professional learning communities is a systematic
process in which teachers work together to analyze
and improve their classroom practice. Teachers
work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of
questions that promote deep team learning. This
process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student
achievement.
The Critical Issues for Team Consideration guide
the collective inquiry and action research of each
collaborative team in a professional learning com-
munity. This plan book explores these issues in
greater detail at strategic intervals. You and your
teammates will be challenged to build shared
knowledge—to learn together—about each issue
and ultimately generate a product as a result of
your collective inquiry and action research.
10
REPRODUCIBLE
1. ___ We have identified team norms and proto-cols to guide us in working together.
2. ___ We have analyzed student achievement dataand have established SMART goals that weare working interdependently to achieve.
3. ___ Each member of our team is clear on theessential learnings of our course in general aswell as the essential learnings of each unit.
4. ___ We have aligned the essential learnings withstate and district standards and the high-stakes exams required of our students.
5. ___ We have identified course content and/ortopics that can be eliminated so we candevote more time to essential curriculum.
6. ___ We have agreed on how to best sequencethe content of the course and have estab-lished pacing guides to help students achievethe intended essential learnings.
7. ___ We have identified the prerequisite knowl-edge and skills students need in order tomaster the essential learnings of our courseand each unit of this course.
8. ___ We have identified strategies and createdinstruments to assess whether students havethe prerequisite knowledge and skills.
9. ___ We have developed strategies and systemsto assist students in acquiring prerequisiteknowledge and skills when they are lackingin those areas.
10. ___ We have developed frequent common form-ative assessments that help us to determineeach student’s mastery of essential learnings.
11. ___ We have established the proficiency stan-dard we want each student to achieve oneach skill and concept examined with ourcommon assessments.
12. ___ We have developed common summativeassessments that help us assess the strengthsand weaknesses of our program.
13. ___ We have established the proficiency stan-dard we want each student to achieve oneach skill and concept examined with oursummative assessments.
14. ___ We have agreed on the criteria we will use injudging the quality of student work relatedto the essential learnings of our course, andwe practice applying those criteria to ensureconsistency.
15. ___ We have taught students the criteria we willuse in judging the quality of their work andhave provided them with examples.
16. ___ We evaluate our adherence to and the effec-tiveness of our team norms at least twiceeach year.
17. ___ We use the results of our common assessmentsto assist each other in building on strengthsand addressing weaknesses as part of aprocess of continuous improvement designedto help students achieve at higher levels.
18. ___ We use the results of our common assess-ments to identify students who need addi-tional time and support to master essentiallearnings, and we work within the systemsand processes of the school to ensure theyreceive that support.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Not True of Our Team Our Team Is Addressing True of Our Team
Critical Issues for Team Consideration
Team Name:__________________________________________________________________________________________
Team Members:__________________________________________________________________________________
Use the scale below to indicate the extent to which each of the following statements is trueof your team.
Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book © 2006 Solution Tree www.solution-tree.com
Page 34
To Help Build the Capacity of Teams, Address...
Why - (Rationale) How - (Process) What - (Common Language, Tools, Templates,
Materials, Resources, Examples When - (Timeline) Guiding Questions Criteria for Clarifying Quality of Each Product Tips and Suggestions
Seven Keys to Effective Teams
1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of the school with FOCUS ON LEARNING.
2. Schedule time for collaboration into the school day and school calendar.
3. Focus teams on critical questions.4. Make products of collaboration explicit.5. Establish team norms to guide
collaboration.
The Significance of Team Norms When all is said and done, the norms of a
group help determine whether it functions as a high-performing team or becomes simply a loose collection of people working together.
Positive norms will stick only if the group puts them into practice over and over again. Being explicit about norms raises the level of effectiveness, maximizes emotional intelligence, produces a positive experience for group members, and helps to socialize newcomers into the group quickly.- Daniel Goleman
Page 35
Importance of Team Norms Social psychologists learned long ago that
if you make a commitment and then share it with others, you are far more likely to follow through than if you simply make the commitment to yourself. Kerry Patterson et. al. Influencers, p. 152
The Importance of Norms One thing is clear: having clear norms
gives teams a huge advantage. A key to effective teams is involving all members in establishing norms, and then holding everyone accountable to what they have agreed upon. Patrick Lencioni, Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a
Team
The Importance of Team Norms At the heart of team interaction lies a
commitment-building process. The team establishes a social contract among its members that relates to their purpose, and guides and obligates how they must work together. At its core, team accountability is about the promises we make to ourselves and others, promises that underpin two critical aspects of teams: commitment and trust. Katzenbach and Smith, The Wisdom of Teams
Page 36
Norms of High Performing Teams Willingness to consider matters from another’s perspective Accurate understanding of spoken and unspoken feelings
and concerns of team members Willingness to confront a team member who violates norms Communicating positive regard, caring, and respect Willingness and ability to evaluate the team’s own
effectiveness Seeking feedback about and evidence of team effectiveness
from internal and external sources Maintaining a positive outlook and attitude Proactive problem-solving Awareness of how the group contributes to the purpose and
goals of the larger organization - Daniel Goleman
Criteria For Team Norms
The norms have clarified our expectations of one another.
All members of the team participated in creating the norms. All voices were heard.
The norms are stated as commitments to act in certain ways.
All members have committed to honoring the norms.
Tips For Team Norms Each team establishes its own norms. Norms are stated as commitments to act or
behave in certain ways. Norms are reviewed at the beginning and end of
each meeting until internalized. One norm requires team to assess its
effectiveness every six months. This assessment should include review of adherence to norms and the need to identify new norms.
Less is more. A few key norms are better than a laundry list.
Violations of norms must be addressed.
Page 37
Developing Norms
Comments to the Facilitator: This activity will enable a group to develop a set of operating norms orground rules. In existing groups, anonymity will help ensure that everyone is able to express their ideasfreely. For this reason, it is essential to provide pens or pencils or to ask that everyone use the same typeof writing implement.
Supplies: Index cards, pens or pencils, poster paper, display board, tape, tacks
Time: Two hours
Directions1. Explain to the group that effective groups generally have a set of norms that govern individual
behavior, facilitate the work of the group, and enable the group to accomplish its task.
2. Provide examples of norms by posting the list of norms that appears on page 212.
3. Recommend to the group that it establish a set of norms:
! To ensure that all individuals have the opportunity to contribute in the meeting;
! To increase productivity and effectiveness; and
! To facilitate the achievement of its goals.
4. Give five index cards and the same kind of writing tool to each person in the group.
5. Ask each person to reflect on and record behaviors they consider ideal behaviors for a group. Askthem to write one idea on each of their cards. Time: 10 minutes.
6. Shuffle all the cards together. Every effort should be made to provide anonymity for individuals,especially if the group has worked together before.
7. Turn cards face up and read each card aloud. Allow time for the group members to discuss eachidea. Tape or tack each card to a display board so that all group members can see it. As each cardis read aloud, ask the group to determine if it is similar to another idea that already has beenexpressed. Cards with similar ideas should be grouped together.
8. When all of the cards have been sorted, ask the group to write the norm suggested by each groupof cards. Have one group member record these new norms on a large sheet of paper.
9. Review the proposed norms with the group. Determine whether the group can support the normsbefore the group adopts them.
Used with permission of the National Staff Development Council, www.nsdc.org, 2006. All rights reserved. Adapted from Tools for Change
Workshops by Robby Champion. Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council, 1993.
REPRODUCIBLE
210 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Page 38
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 211
WHEN ESTABLISHING NORMS, CONSIDER:
Time! When do we meet?! Will we set a beginning and ending time?! Will we start and end on time?
Listening! How will we encourage listening?! How will we discourage interrupting?
Confidentiality! Will the meetings be open?! Will what we say in the meeting be held in
confidence?! What can be said after the meeting?
Decision Making! How will we make decisions?! Are we an advisory or a decision-making
body?! Will we reach decisions by consensus?! How will we deal with conflicts?
Participation! How will we encourage everyone’s
participation?! Will we have an attendance policy?
Expectations! What do we expect from members?! Are there requirements for participation?
PROPOSED NORM
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Developing Norms
Used with permission of the National Staff Development Council, www.nsdc.org, 2006. All rights reserved. From Keys to SuccessfulMeetings by Stephanie Hirsh, Ann Delehant, and Sherry Sparks. Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council, 1994.
Page 39
We encourage collaborative teams to engage inroutine self-reflection regarding their effective-ness, productivity, results, and adherence to teamnorms. During the first few months of team meet-ings we advise members to begin and end everymeeting with a review of their norms and to mon-itor and adjust personal behaviors to increase theteam’s effectiveness. High-performing teams inPLCs also engage in a more formal assessment atleast twice each year as a way to ensure high levelsof team learning and continuous improvement.The Survey on Team Norms is one way to evaluateyour team’s effectiveness.
13
Survey on Team NormsTeam:_________________________________________ Date:__________________________________________
Use the following ratings to honestly reflect on your experiences as a member of acollaborative team:
Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4
1. ___ I know the norms and protocols established by my team.
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ___ Members of my team are living up to the established norms and protocols.
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ___ Our team maintains focus on the established team goal(s).
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. ___ Our team is making progress toward the achievement of our goal(s).
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. ___ The team is having a positive impact on my classroom practice.
Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPRODUCIBLE
Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book © 2006 Solution Tree www.solution-tree.com
Page 40
Frequent, timely communication between theteams and administration is essential to the suc-cess of PLCs. How will your team communicate ona regular basis with your supervisors and adminis-trators? The Team Feedback Sheet is one way tofacilitate two-way communication.
During every team meeting, a member of theteam takes responsibility for completing the form,either electronically or on hard copy. The feedbacksheet and any product(s) completed at each meet-ing are submitted to the department chair or build-ing administrator overseeing the work of the team.The administrators monitor the work of the teams,respond immediately to any questions or concernslisted, provide feedback on the products, and engagein ongoing two-way communication. Administra-tors can also attend team meetings, either at theinvitation of the team or in response to evidencethat a team is experiencing difficulty.
11
Team Feedback SheetTeam Name:__________________________________________________________________________________________
Meeting Date:__________________________________________________________________________________________
Team Goal(s):__________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Team Members Present: Team Members Absent (List Reason):
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
_________________________________________ __________________________________________
Topics/Meeting Outcomes:
Questions/Concerns:
Administrator:__________________________________________________________________________________________
Date:______________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPRODUCIBLE
Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book © 2006 Solution Tree www.solution-tree.com
Page 41
Keys to Responding to a Resister
Assume good intentions Seek to understand Use strategies of persuasion
Seven Ways to Change Someone’s Mind1) Reason. Appealing to rational thinking and decision
making.2) Research. Building shared knowledge of the research
base supporting a position.3) Resonance. Connecting to the person’s intuition so that
the proposal feels right.4) Representational Re-descriptions. Changing the way the
information is presented (for example, using stories or analogies instead of data).
5) Resources and Reward. Providing people with incentives to embrace an idea.
6) Real-World Events. Presenting real-world examples where the idea has been applied successfully.
Howard Gardner, 2004
The Sequence of Changing Attitudes (Including Your Own)
Attitudeis shaped by
Experienceis a result of
Behavior
To change attitudes, focus on behavior.
Page 42
Keys to Responding to a Resister
Assume good intentions Seek to understand Use strategies of persuasion Identify specific behaviors essential to
the success of the initiative Focus on behavior not attitude. Monitor
behavior.
We Can Behave our Way to New Attitudes
There is a large literature demonstrating that attitudes follow behavior. People accept new beliefs as a result of changing their behavior. Pfeffer and Sutton
Assessing Your Current Reality
Consider the descriptions of 5 stages of PLC progress regarding:
Collaborative Teams that focus on Issues that directly impact student learning
Individually, silently, and honestlyassess the current status of your school for each
indicator on the Professional Learning Community Continuum
Page 43
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nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. W
e ha
ve d
evel
oped
and
adh
ere
to
team
nor
ms.
W
e ha
ve n
ot y
et b
egun
to
add
ress
this
issu
e.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. Ea
ch te
am is
cal
led
upon
to g
ener
ate
and
subm
it pr
oduc
ts w
hich
resu
lt fr
om it
s wor
k on
the
criti
cal
ques
tions
rela
ted
to st
uden
t lea
rnin
g.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
.
Page 44
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 113
Des
crib
e on
e or
mor
e as
pect
s of
apr
ofes
sion
al le
arni
ng c
omm
unity
tha
t yo
uw
ould
like
to
see
in p
lace
in y
our
scho
ol.
Teac
hers
wor
k to
geth
er a
s m
embe
rs o
f col
labo
rativ
ete
ams.
The
mem
bers
of e
ach
team
wor
k in
terd
e-pe
nden
tly to
ach
ieve
com
mon
goa
ls.
Each
team
is p
rovi
ded
with
tim
e to
mee
t and
use
sth
at ti
me
to e
ngag
e in
col
lect
ive
inqu
iry o
n qu
estio
nssp
ecifi
cally
link
ed to
gai
ns in
stu
dent
ach
ieve
men
t.
Each
team
ado
pts
and
obse
rves
pro
toco
ls th
at c
larif
yho
w m
embe
rs w
ill fu
lfill
thei
r re
spon
sibi
litie
s to
the
team
.
Each
team
is a
sked
to g
ener
ate
and
subm
it pr
oduc
ts,
which
resu
lt fro
m th
eir
disc
ussio
n of
crit
ical q
uest
ions
.
Wha
t st
eps
orac
tiviti
es m
ust
bein
itiat
ed t
o cr
eate
this
con
ditio
n in
your
sch
ool?
Who
will
be
resp
onsi
ble
for
initi
atin
g or
sust
aini
ng t
hese
step
s or
act
iviti
es?
Wha
t is
a r
ealis
tictim
elin
e fo
r ea
chst
ep o
r ph
ase
of
the
activ
ity?
Wha
t w
ill y
ou u
seto
ass
ess
the
effe
ctiv
enes
s of
your
initi
ativ
e?
Whe
re D
o W
e G
o Fr
om H
ere?
Wor
kshe
etA
Com
mit
men
t to
a C
olla
bora
tive
Cul
ture
Page 45
Progress and ProblemsShare your assessment with your colleagues:
• Where are areas of agreement? • Where are the areas of disagreement?• Where can you celebrate the greatest
progress?• What areas are you finding problematic?
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
• What steps could you take to make progress in these indicators?
• Complete the “Where Do We Go From
Here” worksheets to begin your plan for becoming a school committed to a focus on learning.
The BIG IDEAS of a PLC 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 are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high performing teams.
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.
Page 46
1. To identify students who need more time and support for learning
2. To identify strategies to improve upon both our individual and collective ability to teach each essential skill and concept
Professional Learning Communities Focus on Results in Two Ways
Seven Keys to Effective Teams1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of the
school with FOCUS ON LEARNING.2. Schedule time for collaboration into the school
day and school calendar.3. Focus teams on critical questions.4. Make products of collaboration explicit.5. Establish team norms to guide collaboration.6. Pursue specific and measurable team
performance goals.
Results-Oriented Goals:Keys to Effective Teams
Leaders foster effective teams when they help teams establish specific, measurable, results-oriented, performance goals. Promoting teams for the sake of teams or focusing on team-building exercises does little to improve the effectiveness of the organization. There is nothing more important than each member’s commitment to common purpose and a related performance goal to which the group holds itself jointly accountable.
—Katzenbach & Smith (1993)
Page 47
Evidenced-Based Decisions as Key to a Results Orientation in Education An astonishing number of educational leaders make critical decisions about curriculum, instruction, assessment, and placement on the basis of information that is inadequate, misunderstood, misrepresented, or simply absent. Even when information is abundant and clear, I have witnessed leaders who are sincere and decent people stare directly at the information available to them, and then blithely ignore it……Strategic leaders are worthy of the name because of their consistent linking of evidence to decision making. They respond to challenges not by scoring rhetorical points but by consistently elevating evidence over assertion. Doug Reeves, The Leader’s Guide to Standards School systems must create a culture that places value on managing by results, rather than on managing by programs. It is essential that leaders work to establish a culture where results are carefully assessed and actions are taken based on these assessments. Phil Schlechty Creating the Capacity to Support Innovations Concentrating on results does not negate the importance of process. On the contrary, the two are interdependent: Results tell us which processes are most effective and to what extent and whether processes need reexamining and adjusting. Processes exist for results and results should inform processes.” Mike Schmoker, Results As schools initiate reform, they can’t back off the collection of data because they will need information more than ever. They must have a process that gathers information that is recognized as authentic and relevant. The information should provide constant evaluation that shows schools where they are getting close and where they are falling short in a way that pushes people toward continual improvement. Patrick Dolan, Restructuring Our Schools What does it take to close the achievement gaps? Our findings suggest that it comes down to how schools use data. Teachers in gap-closing schools more frequently use data to understand the skill gaps of low-achieving students…. When data points to a weakness in students’ academic skills, gap-closing schools are more likely to focus in on that area, making tough choices to ensure that students are immersed in what they most need. Kiley Walsh Symonds, Perspectives on the Gap: Fostering the Success of Minority and Low Income Students
Page 48
Evidenced-Based Decisions as Key to a Results Orientation in Any Organization
The ultimate measure of a great team is results. Effective teams avoid ambiguity and interpretation when it comes to results. They decide what they want to achieve, then they clarify how they will measure their progress. They select one or two indicators they can collectively focus upon and around which they can rally. They create a scoreboard that helps keep them focused on results. These teams use the scoreboard to monitor their progress against the expected achievement. Patrick Lencioni, Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team Companies operate under the false assumption that if they carry out enough of the “right” improvement activities, actual performance improvements will inevitably materialize. At the heart of this assumption, which we call “activity centered,” is a fundamentally flawed logic that confuses ends with means, processes with outcomes. Payoffs from the infusion of activities will be meager at best. And there is in fact an alternative: results’ driven improvement processes that focus on achieving specific, measurable operational improvements within a few months.
Robert Schaffer and Harvey Thomson, Successful Change Programs Begin with Results
We found there was something distinctive about the decision making process of the great companies we studied. First, they embraced the current reality, no matter how bad the message. Second, they developed a simple yet deeply insightful fame of reference for all decisions. ….You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts. Jim Collins, Good to Great Unless you can subject your decision-making to a ruthless and continuous JUDGEMNT BY RESULTS, all your zigs and zags will only be random lunges in the dark, sooner or later bound to land you on the rocks. James Champy, Reengineering Management Ducking the facts about performance for fear of being judged, criticized, humiliated, and punished characterizes losing streaks, not winning streaks. In a losing streak, facts are used for blame, not improvement; they are turned into weapons to persecute, not tools to find solutions.....In winning streaks, players get and use abundant feedback about their performance. Leaders can...ensure that measurements ultimately empower rather than punish people. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Confidence
Page 49
SMART Goals
Established a team SMART goal: Strategic and specific Measurable Attainable Results-oriented Time-bound —Conzemius & O’Neill (2000)
Are These SMART Goals?Strategically aligned with the school-wide goal ofimproving student performance in language arts, bythe end of the 2009–2010 school year we will: Develop and implement four (4) common
assessments in the area of writing. Increase the use of cooperative learning
activities in our English classrooms by 25%. Increase the number of students achieving the
target score (80% or higher) on the district reading assessment from 81% to 90%.
The Importance of Short-Term SMART Goals
People can become so caught up in big dreams that they don’t manage the current reality. Short-term gains are needed to establish credibility for a change initiative over the long haul. Major change takes times. Most of us want to see some convincing evidence that all the effort is paying off. We want clear data indicating changes are working. —John P. Kotter, (1996), pp. 118–119
Page 50
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 133
Scho
ol:
Team
Nam
e:Te
am L
eade
r:
Team
Mem
bers
:
Dis
tric
t G
oal(s
):
Scho
ol G
oal(s
):
Team
SM
ART
Goa
lSt
rate
gies
and
Ac
tion
Step
s
.
Res
pons
ibili
tyTi
mel
ine
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et
Page 51
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 127
Scho
ol:G
eorg
e W
ashi
ngto
n El
emen
tary
Tea
m N
ame:
Third
-Gra
de T
eam
Tea
m L
eade
r:Th
eres
a Sm
ith
Team
Mem
bers
:Ken
Tho
mas
, Joe
Ram
irez,
Cat
hy A
rmst
rong
, Am
y W
u
Dis
tric
t G
oal(s
): W
e w
ill in
crea
se s
tude
nt a
chie
vem
ent
and
clos
e th
e ac
hiev
emen
t ga
p in
all
area
s of
our
mid
dle
and
seco
ndar
ysc
hool
s, u
sing
a v
arie
ty o
f loc
al, s
tate
, and
nat
iona
l ind
icat
ors
to d
ocum
ent
impr
oved
lear
ning
on
the
part
of o
ur s
tude
nts.
Scho
ol G
oal(s
):W
e w
ill:
1.
Incr
ease
the
per
cent
age
of s
tude
nts
dem
onst
ratin
g pr
ofic
ienc
y on
bot
h a
natio
nal r
eadi
ng p
rofic
ienc
y as
sess
men
t an
d on
the
stat
e te
st.
2.
Elim
inat
e th
e ac
hiev
emen
t ga
p fo
r m
inor
ity s
tude
nts.
Team
SM
ART
Goa
l
Our
Rea
lity:
Last
yea
r, 18
%of
our
third
gra
ders
wer
eun
able
to m
eet g
rade
-leve
lpr
ofici
ency
sta
ndar
ds in
read
-in
g flu
ency
and
com
preh
en-
sion
as m
easu
red
by a
stan
dard
ized,
in
divi
dual
ized
asse
ssm
ent
prog
ram
for
early
lite
racy
deve
lopm
ent.
Six
perc
ent o
fCa
ucas
ian
and
33%
of
min
ority
stu
dent
s we
re u
nabl
eto
dem
onst
rate
pro
ficie
ncy.
Stra
tegi
es a
nd
Actio
n St
eps
We
will
cre
ate
a co
mm
onte
am s
ched
ule
that
rese
rves
8:30
to 1
0:30
for
lang
uage
arts
eac
h da
y. W
e w
ill d
esig
-na
te 4
5 m
inut
es (9
:45
to10
:30)
eac
h da
y fo
r re
grou
p-in
g st
uden
ts in
to th
ree
grou
ps(in
tens
ive
supp
ort,
stra
tegi
csu
ppor
t, an
d ac
hiev
ing
benc
h-m
ark)
bas
ed o
n de
mon
stra
-tio
n of
read
ing
fluen
cy a
ndco
mpr
ehen
sion
.
Res
pons
ibili
ty
Third
-gra
de te
am w
ill a
dher
eto
the
agre
ed-u
pon
sche
dule
and
iden
tify
the
appr
opria
tere
adin
g gr
oup
for
each
stu
-de
nt b
y th
e en
d of
Sep
tem
-be
r.
Tim
elin
e
End
of S
epte
mbe
r
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
Stud
ents
will
be
assi
gned
toon
e of
thre
e gr
oups
on
the
basi
s of
indi
vidu
al re
adin
gas
sess
men
t res
ults
.
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et:
Thir
d-G
rade
Tea
m
Page 52
REPRODUCIBLE
128 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Team
SM
ART
Goa
l
Our
Goa
l:Th
is y
ear,
100%
of
third
gra
ders
will
dem
onst
rate
prof
icie
ncy
in re
adin
g flu
ency
and
com
preh
ensi
on a
s m
eas-
ured
by
the
stan
dard
ized,
indi
vidu
alize
d pr
ogra
m fo
rea
rly li
tera
cy.
Stra
tegi
es a
nd
Actio
n St
eps
The
team
will
exp
and
toin
clud
e th
e sp
ecia
l edu
catio
nte
ache
r, Ti
tle I
teac
her,
spee
ch th
erap
ist,
and
liter
acy
coac
h du
ring
the
desi
gnat
ed45
min
utes
eac
h da
y. St
u-de
nts
in n
eed
of in
tens
ive
supp
ort w
ill b
e as
sign
ed to
am
embe
r of
the
team
ingr
oups
of n
o m
ore
than
four
stud
ents
. Stu
dent
s in
nee
d of
mor
e st
rate
gic
supp
ort w
ill b
eas
sign
ed to
gro
ups
of n
om
ore
than
eig
ht s
tude
nts.
Stud
ents
at b
ench
mar
k pr
ofi-
cien
cy w
ill b
e as
sign
ed to
the
rem
aini
ng te
am m
embe
rs fo
rre
adin
g en
richm
ent a
ndex
tens
ion
activ
ities
cre
ated
by
the
team
. Stu
dent
pro
ficie
ncy
will
be
mon
itore
d on
an
ongo
-in
g ba
sis
and
mem
bers
hip
inth
e gr
oups
will
be
fluid
.
Res
pons
ibili
ty
The
team
will
:
1. W
ork
with
the
prin
cipal
and
staf
f mem
bers
list
ed a
bove
to c
reat
e th
e sc
hedu
le th
atal
lows
for
this
inte
rven
tion.
2. C
reat
e a
serie
s of
ong
oing
asse
ssm
ents
of r
eadi
ng fl
u-en
cy a
nd c
ompr
ehen
sion
and
anal
yze
the
resu
lts.
3. A
lign
asse
ssm
ents
with
the
cont
ent a
nd fo
rmat
of t
hest
ate
test
for
lang
uage
art
s.
4. Id
entif
y sp
ecifi
c an
d pr
ecis
ein
stru
ctio
nal s
trat
egie
s to
addr
ess
the
need
s of
stu
-de
nts
assi
gned
to e
ach
grou
p.
5. C
reat
e a
varie
ty o
f enr
ich-
men
t act
iviti
es fo
r pr
ofici
ent
read
ers,
inclu
ding
Jun
ior
Grea
t Boo
ks re
adin
g cir
cles,
inde
pend
ent a
nd g
roup
rese
arch
pro
ject
s, co
mpu
ter-
base
d ex
plor
atio
ns, s
ilent
sust
aine
d re
adin
g, a
ndte
ache
r re
ad-a
loud
s.
Tim
elin
e
The
team
will
adm
inis
ter
the
stan
dard
ized
asse
ssm
ent
thre
e tim
es th
is y
ear:
in m
id-
Sept
embe
r, Ja
nuar
y, an
d la
teAp
ril.
The
team
will
dev
elop
and
adm
inis
ter
its o
wn
asse
ss-
men
ts e
very
6 w
eeks
.
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
Evid
ence
will
incl
ude:
1. S
tude
nt m
ovem
ent t
ohi
gher
grou
ps
2. A
ll st
uden
ts d
emon
stra
ting
fluen
cy a
nd c
ompr
ehen
sion
on th
e st
anda
rdize
d as
sess
-m
ent
3. A
ll st
uden
ts m
eetin
g th
epr
ofic
ienc
y st
anda
rd o
n th
est
ate
test
in la
ngua
ge a
rts
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et:
Thir
d-G
rade
Tea
m (c
onti
nued
)
Page 53
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 129
Scho
ol:T
hom
as J
effe
rson
Mid
dle
Scho
olTe
am N
ame:
Eigh
th-G
rade
Mat
h Te
am L
eade
r:Ch
ris
Rau
ch
Team
Mem
bers
:Chr
is C
arte
r, D
olor
es L
ayco
, Mar
y Fi
sche
r
Dis
tric
t G
oal(s
): W
e w
ill in
crea
se s
tude
nt a
chie
vem
ent
and
clos
e th
e ac
hiev
emen
t ga
p in
all
area
s of
our
mid
dle
and
seco
ndar
ysc
hool
s, u
sing
a v
arie
ty o
f loc
al, s
tate
, and
nat
iona
l ind
icat
ors
to d
ocum
ent
impr
oved
lear
ning
on
the
part
of o
ur s
tude
nts.
Scho
ol G
oal(s
):W
e w
ill:
1.
Red
uce
the
failu
re r
ate
in o
ur s
choo
l.
2.
Incr
ease
the
per
cent
age
of s
tude
nts
scor
ing
at o
r ab
ove
the
esta
blis
hed
prof
icie
ncy
stan
dard
on
the
stat
e as
sess
men
t in
all a
reas
.
Team
SM
ART
Goa
l
Our
Rea
lity:
Last
yea
r, 24
%of
our
stu
dent
s fa
iled
one
orm
ore
sem
este
rs o
f mat
h. A
nd31
% p
erce
nt o
f our
stu
dent
swe
re u
nabl
e to
mee
t the
stat
e pr
ofic
ienc
y st
anda
rd in
mat
h.
Our
Goa
l:Th
is y
ear,
we w
illre
duce
the
perc
enta
ge o
f fai
l-in
g gr
ades
to 1
0% o
r le
ssan
d th
e pe
rcen
tage
of s
tu-
dent
s un
able
to m
eet s
tate
stan
dard
s to
no
mor
e th
an15
%.
Stra
tegi
es a
nd
Actio
n St
eps
We
will
alig
n ea
ch u
nit o
f our
mat
h pr
ogra
m w
ith s
tate
stan
dard
s, s
tudy
the
resu
ltsof
the
last
sta
te a
sses
smen
t,id
entif
y pr
oble
m a
reas
, and
deve
lop
spec
ific
stra
tegi
es to
addr
ess
thos
e ar
eas
in o
urco
urse
.
Dev
elop
com
mon
form
ativ
eas
sess
men
ts a
nd a
dmin
iste
rth
em e
very
3 w
eeks
. The
seas
sess
men
ts w
ill p
rovi
dere
peat
ed o
ppor
tuni
ties
for
stud
ents
to b
ecom
e fa
mili
arw
ith th
e fo
rmat
use
d on
the
stat
e as
sess
men
t.
Res
pons
ibili
ty
Entir
e te
am
Entir
e te
am
Tim
elin
e
We
will
com
plet
e th
e an
alys
ison
the
teac
her
work
day
prio
rto
the
star
t of t
he y
ear.
We
will
revi
ew o
ur fi
ndin
gs p
rior
to th
e st
art o
f eac
h ne
w u
nit.
Form
ativ
e as
sess
men
ts w
illbe
cre
ated
prio
r to
the
star
tof
eac
h un
it of
inst
ruct
ion
thro
ugho
ut th
e ye
ar. T
hey
will
be a
dmin
iste
red
on a
day
desi
gnat
ed b
y th
e te
am.
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
Writ
ten
anal
ysis
of s
tate
asse
ssm
ent a
nd s
trat
egie
s to
addr
ess
weak
ness
es
Stud
ent p
erfo
rman
ce o
nte
am-e
ndor
sed
com
mon
asse
ssm
ents
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et:
Eigh
th-G
rade
Mat
h
Page 54
REPRODUCIBLE
130 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Team
SM
ART
Goa
lSt
rate
gies
and
Ac
tion
Step
s
Afte
r ea
ch c
omm
on a
sses
s-m
ent,
we w
ill id
entif
y an
yst
uden
t who
doe
s no
t mee
tth
e es
tabl
ishe
d pr
ofic
ienc
yst
anda
rd a
nd w
ill w
ork
with
the
coun
selo
r to
hav
e th
ose
stud
ents
re-
assi
gned
from
stud
y ha
ll to
the
mat
h tu
tor-
ing
cent
er.
Repl
ace
faili
ng g
rade
s fro
mou
r co
mm
on a
sses
smen
tsw
ith th
e hi
gher
gra
de e
arne
dby
stu
dent
s w
ho a
re a
ble
tode
mon
stra
te p
rofic
ienc
y in
key
skill
s on
sub
sequ
ent
form
s of
the
asse
ssm
ent a
fter
com
plet
ing
tuto
ring.
Exam
ine
the
resu
lts o
f eac
hco
mm
on a
sses
smen
t in
anef
fort
to d
eter
min
e w
hich
mem
ber
of th
e te
am is
get
-tin
g th
e be
st re
sults
on
each
skill
, and
then
sha
re id
eas,
met
hods
, and
mat
eria
ls fo
rte
achi
ng th
ose
skill
s m
ore
effe
ctiv
ely.
Res
pons
ibili
ty
Mem
bers
of e
ntire
team
will
requ
est t
utor
ing
as th
eir
supe
rvis
ory
resp
onsi
bilit
y;te
am le
ader
will
wor
k w
ithth
e co
unse
lor
afte
r ea
chas
sess
men
t.
Entir
e te
am w
ill c
reat
e m
ulti-
ple
form
s of
eac
h as
sess
-m
ent.
Tuto
rs w
ill a
dmin
iste
rth
e as
sess
men
t afte
r a
stu-
dent
has
com
plet
ed th
ere
quire
d tu
torin
g.
Each
mem
ber
of th
e te
am
Tim
elin
e
Asse
ssm
ents
adm
inis
tere
dev
ery
3 we
eks.
Stu
dent
s w
illbe
ass
igne
d to
the
tuto
ring
cent
er w
ithin
1 w
eek
ofas
sess
men
t.
Mul
tiple
form
s of
an
asse
ss-
men
t will
be
crea
ted
prio
r to
the
star
t of e
ach
unit
ofin
stru
ctio
n. T
utor
s w
ill a
dmin
-is
ter
the
seco
nd a
sses
smen
tw
ithin
2 w
eeks
of a
stu
dent
’sas
sign
men
t to
the
tuto
ring
cent
er.
Ong
oing
thro
ugho
ut th
e ye
area
ch ti
me
a co
mm
on a
sses
s-m
ent i
s ad
min
iste
red.
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
Dai
ly li
st o
f stu
dent
s re
ceiv
ing
tuto
ring
in m
ath
Com
pila
tion
of re
sults
from
subs
eque
nt a
sses
smen
ts
!An
alys
is o
f fin
ding
s af
ter
each
com
mon
ass
essm
ent
is a
dmin
iste
red
!D
ecre
ase
in th
e fa
ilure
rate
!In
crea
se in
per
cent
age
ofst
uden
ts p
rofic
ient
on
stat
e as
sess
men
t
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et E
ight
h-G
rade
Mat
h (c
onti
nued
)
Page 55
REPRODUCIBLE
Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com 131
Scho
ol: J
ohn
Adam
s H
igh
Scho
ol
Tea
m N
ame:
Amer
ican
Gov
ernm
ent T
eam
T
eam
Lea
der:
Tom
Bot
imer
Team
Mem
bers
:Dan
Hah
n, A
ndy
Brad
ford
, Nic
k La
rsen
, Hel
en H
arve
y
Dis
tric
t G
oal(s
):W
e w
ill p
rovi
de m
ore
stud
ents
with
acc
ess
to o
ur m
ost r
igor
ous
curr
icul
um in
eac
h su
bjec
t are
a an
d gr
ade
leve
l.
Scho
ol G
oal(s
):W
e w
ill in
crea
se b
y at
leas
t 10%
the
num
ber
of s
tude
nts
enro
lling
in:
1.Ad
vanc
ed p
lace
men
t cou
rses
2.Ca
psto
ne c
ours
es in
a d
epar
tmen
tal s
eque
nce
Team
SM
ART
Goa
l
Our
Rea
lity:
All s
tude
nts
mus
t com
plet
e a
sem
este
r of
Amer
ican
Gov
ernm
ent a
s a
grad
uatio
n re
quire
men
t. La
stye
ar o
nly
10%
of t
he g
radu
-at
ing
clas
s fu
lfille
d th
atre
quire
men
t by
enro
lling
inad
vanc
ed p
lace
men
t (AP
)Am
eric
an G
over
nmen
t.
Our
Goa
l:At
leas
t 20%
of
the
curr
ent j
unio
r cl
ass
will
enro
ll in
and
com
plet
e th
ead
vanc
ed p
lace
men
t Am
eri-
can
Gove
rnm
ent c
lass
nex
tye
ar.
Stra
tegi
es a
nd
Actio
n St
eps
We
will
mak
e a
pres
enta
tion
in e
ach
sect
ion
of U
nite
dSt
ates
His
tory
, enc
oura
ging
stud
ents
to e
nrol
l in
APAm
eric
an G
over
nmen
t and
listin
g th
e ad
vant
ages
for
doin
g so
.
We
will
coo
rdin
ate
with
the
guid
ance
dep
artm
ent t
oen
sure
that
whe
n co
unse
lors
regi
ster
stu
dent
s fo
r cl
asse
s,th
ey e
ncou
rage
any
stu
dent
who
rece
ives
an
A at
the
end
of th
e fir
st s
emes
ter
of U
nite
dSt
ates
His
tory
to e
nrol
l in
APAm
eric
an G
over
nmen
t.
Res
pons
ibili
ty
Team
lead
er w
ill c
oord
inat
eth
e sc
hedu
le fo
r th
ese
pres
en-
tatio
ns w
ith th
e te
am le
ader
for
Unite
d St
ates
Hist
ory.
Each
mem
ber
of th
e te
am w
illas
sist i
n m
akin
g th
ese
pres
en-
tatio
ns a
nd w
ill d
istrib
ute
awr
itten
list
of a
dvan
tage
s cr
e-at
ed b
y th
e te
am.
Team
lead
er w
ill a
tten
d th
eco
unse
lors
’ tea
m m
eetin
g to
enlis
t the
ir su
ppor
t, ex
plai
nad
vant
ages
of t
he A
P pr
o-gr
am, a
nd s
hare
the
team
’sst
rate
gies
for
supp
ortin
g st
u-de
nts
in A
P Go
vern
men
t.
Tim
elin
e
Com
plet
e pr
esen
tatio
ns b
yth
e en
d of
Jan
uary
prio
r to
stud
ents
regi
ster
ing
for
thei
rco
urse
s fo
r ne
xt y
ear.
End
of fi
rst s
emes
ter
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
The
pres
enta
tion
has
been
mad
e in
eve
ry U
nite
d St
ates
His
tory
cla
ss
Min
utes
of m
eetin
g
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et:
Am
eric
an G
over
nmen
t
Page 56
REPRODUCIBLE
132 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Team
SM
ART
Goa
lSt
rate
gies
and
Ac
tion
Step
s
We
will
adv
ise
pare
nts
of th
ebe
nefit
s of
AP
Amer
ican
Go
vern
men
t.
We
will
cre
ate
stud
y gr
oups
to re
view
mat
eria
l prio
r to
the
com
preh
ensi
ve a
sses
s-m
ents
we
adm
inis
ter
ever
y 6
week
s.
Res
pons
ibili
ty
The
team
will
dra
ft a
lett
er to
pare
nts
of s
tude
nts
who
ear
nan
A in
Uni
ted
Stat
es H
isto
ryat
the
end
of th
e se
mes
ter.
The
lett
er w
ill li
st th
e ad
van-
tage
s of
com
plet
ing
this
cour
se w
hile
in h
igh
scho
olfo
r an
y st
uden
t pla
nnin
g on
atte
ndin
g co
llege
. It w
ill a
lso
incl
ude
the
team
’s st
rate
gy to
prov
ide
stud
ents
with
add
i-tio
nal s
uppo
rt. T
he te
am w
illal
so c
reat
e a
flyer
on
the
ben-
efits
of t
he A
P pr
ogra
m to
be
dist
ribut
ed d
urin
g pa
rent
open
hou
se.
The
team
will
cre
ate
the
com
mon
com
preh
ensi
veas
sess
men
ts. E
ach
mem
ber
will
be
resp
onsi
ble
for
con-
duct
ing
one
stud
y gr
oup
tohe
lp s
tude
nts
revi
ew fo
r th
ese
test
s. S
tudy
gro
ups
will
be
held
on
thre
e ev
enin
gs in
the
week
prio
r to
the
test
.
Tim
elin
e
The
flyer
will
be
crea
ted
for
dist
ribut
ion
at th
e op
enho
use
in e
arly
Oct
ober
. The
lett
er w
ill b
e se
nt a
t the
end
of th
e fir
st s
emes
ter.
Ong
oing
thro
ugho
ut th
ese
mes
ter
Evid
ence
of
Effe
ctiv
enes
s
Com
plet
ed d
ocum
ents
Com
plet
ion
of c
omm
onas
sess
men
ts a
nd s
tude
nt p
er-
form
ance
on
com
mon
ass
ess-
men
ts. T
he n
umbe
r of
stud
ents
ear
ning
hon
orgr
ades
on
the
AP e
xam
inAm
eric
an G
over
nmen
t will
doub
le o
ver
last
yea
r’s to
tal.
SMA
RT
Goa
l Wor
kshe
et:
Am
eric
an G
over
nmen
t (c
onti
nued
)
Page 57
SAM
PLE
CO
MPR
EHEN
SIVE
SC
HO
OL
IMPR
OVE
MEN
T PL
AN
A
ny T
own
Elem
enta
ry S
choo
l
Yea
r: _
____
____
Dis
tric
t Goa
l 1: W
e w
ill in
crea
se s
tude
nt a
chie
vem
ent a
nd c
lose
the
achi
evem
ent g
ap in
all
area
s us
ing
a va
riety
of i
ndic
ator
s
to
docu
men
t im
prov
ed le
arni
ng o
n th
e pa
rt o
f our
stu
dent
s.
Scho
ol G
oal 1
: We
will
impr
ove
stud
ent p
erfo
rman
ce in
lang
uage
art
s as
mea
sure
d by
loca
l, di
stric
t, st
ate/
prov
inci
al, a
nd
Nat
iona
l ind
icat
ors.
TEA
M S
MA
RT
GO
ALS
SP
ECIF
IC A
CTI
VITI
ES/A
CTI
ON
STE
PS
WH
O IS
R
ESPO
NSI
BLE
TA
RG
ET
DA
TES
BU
DG
ET
EVID
ENC
E O
F SU
CC
ESS
Gra
de K
: C
urre
nt R
ealit
y: L
ast y
ear,
81%
of
kind
erga
rten
stud
ents
sco
red
a 2
on
the
Dis
trict
Rea
ding
Rub
ric in
May
. SM
AR
T G
oal:
This
yea
r, at
leas
t 87
% o
f kin
derg
arte
n st
uden
ts w
ill
scor
e a
2 or
hig
her o
n th
e D
istri
ct
Rea
ding
Rub
ic in
May
. G
rade
1:
Cur
rent
Rea
lity:
Las
t yea
r, 65
% o
f fir
st g
rade
stu
dent
s sc
ored
a 3
or
high
er o
n th
e D
istri
ct R
eadi
ng R
ubric
in
May
. SM
AR
T G
oal:
This
yea
r, at
leas
t 70
% o
f firs
t gra
de s
tude
nts
will
sco
re
a 3
or h
ighe
r on
the
Dis
trict
Rea
ding
R
ubric
in M
ay.
Gra
de 2
: C
urre
nt R
ealit
y: L
ast y
ear,
91%
of
seco
nd g
rade
stu
dent
s pa
ssed
the
Dis
trict
Sec
ond
Gra
de R
eadi
ng T
est
whe
n fir
st a
dmin
iste
red
in M
ay.
SMA
RT
Goa
l: Th
is y
ear,
at le
ast
93%
of s
econ
d gr
ade
stud
ents
will
pa
ss th
e D
istri
ct S
econ
d G
rade
R
eadi
ng T
est w
hen
first
adm
inis
tere
d in
May
.
Cur
ricul
um:
1. C
larif
y &
pac
e E
ssen
tial L
earn
ings
(s
kills
, con
cept
s &
dis
posi
tions
) in
each
ar
ea o
f Lan
guag
e A
rts u
tiliz
ing
Sta
ndar
ds D
ocum
ents
, Cur
ricul
um
Gui
des,
ass
essm
ent b
luep
rints
, and
te
xtbo
oks.
A
sses
smen
ts:
2. D
evel
op a
nd im
plem
ent l
ocal
, co
mm
on, f
orm
ativ
e gr
ade
leve
l as
sess
men
ts to
:1)
frequ
ently
mon
itor
each
stu
dent
’s le
arni
ng o
f ess
entia
l ou
tcom
es 2
.) pr
ovid
e st
uden
ts w
ith
mul
tiple
opp
ortu
nitie
s to
dem
onst
rate
pr
ogre
ss in
mee
ting
and
exce
edin
g le
arni
ng ta
rget
s.
Inst
ruct
ion:
3.
C
reat
e/im
plem
ent a
mas
ter
inst
ruct
iona
l sch
edul
e at
eac
h gr
ade
leve
l to
prov
ide
prot
ecte
d bl
ocks
of i
nstru
ctio
nal t
ime
for a
ll ar
eas
of th
e co
nten
t. 4.
In
itiat
e in
divi
dual
and
sm
all g
roup
pr
ogra
ms
to p
rovi
de a
dditi
onal
in
terv
entio
n an
d en
richm
ent
lear
ning
tim
e fo
r stu
dent
s.
All
Inst
ruct
iona
l S
taff
Gra
de-L
evel
Te
ams,
P
rinci
pal
Prin
cipa
l, In
stru
ctio
nal
Team
s P
rinci
pal,
Inst
ruct
iona
l Te
ams,
V
olun
teer
s
Rea
ding
: Oct
. 15
Writ
ing:
Nov
. 15
List
enin
g &
S
peak
ing:
Dec
.15
Sep
tem
ber-
May
ch
eckp
oint
s at
m
id-p
oint
of e
ach
nine
-wee
ks;
(dis
trict
be
nchm
ark
asse
ssm
ents
at
end
of e
ach
nine
-w
eeks
) A
ugus
t 20t
h D
aily
: S
epte
mbe
r - M
ay
List
s of
Eac
h Te
am’s
Ess
entia
l Le
arni
ngs
&
Pac
ing
Gui
des
In
crea
sed
resu
lts
for a
ll st
uden
ts o
n lo
cal,
dist
rict,
stat
e/pr
ovin
cial
, an
d na
tiona
l in
dica
tors
C
omm
on G
rade
Le
vel S
ched
ules
; Fa
culty
Sur
vey—
Janu
ary
& J
une
In
terv
entio
n/E
nric
hmen
t Sch
edul
e;
Stu
dent
Rec
ords
; V
olun
teer
Log
Page 58
TEA
M S
MA
RT
GO
ALS
(con
t.)
Gra
de 3
: C
urre
nt R
ealit
y: L
ast y
ear,
85%
of
third
gra
ders
met
or e
xcee
ded
stan
dard
on
the
stat
e’s
Writ
ing
Sub
test
in M
ay.
SMA
RT
Goa
l: Th
is y
ear,
at le
ast
90%
of t
hird
gra
ders
will
mee
t or
exce
ed s
tand
ard
on th
e st
ate’
s W
ritin
g S
ubte
st in
May
. G
rade
4:
Cur
rent
Rea
lity:
Las
t yea
r, th
e na
tiona
l per
cent
ile fo
r our
four
th
grad
ers
in v
ocab
ular
y on
the
Sta
nfor
d 9
was
62%
. SM
AR
T G
oal:
This
yea
r, th
e na
tiona
l pe
rcen
tile
for o
ur fo
urth
gra
ders
in
voca
bula
ry w
ill b
e at
leas
t 66%
. G
rade
5:
Cur
rent
Rea
lity:
Las
t yea
r, 78
% o
f fif
th g
rade
rs s
core
d at
or a
bove
pr
ofic
ienc
y on
the
stat
e’s
Rea
ding
/Lite
ratu
re a
nd R
esea
rch
Eng
lish
Sub
test
in M
ay.
SMA
RT
Goa
l: Th
is y
ear,
at le
ast
85%
of f
ifth
grad
ers
will
sco
re a
t or
abov
e pr
ofic
ienc
y on
the
stat
e’s
Rea
ding
/Lite
ratu
re a
nd R
esea
rch
Eng
lish
Sub
test
in M
ay.
SPEC
IFIC
AC
TIVI
TIES
/AC
TIO
N S
TEPS
5.
P
rovi
de p
aren
ts w
ith re
sour
ces
and
stra
tegi
es to
hel
p th
eir c
hild
ren
succ
eed
acad
emic
ally
. Inf
orm
atio
n w
ill b
e pr
ovid
ed th
roug
h gr
ade-
leve
l w
orks
hops
, wee
kly
fold
ers/
pare
nt
logs
; new
slet
ters
, and
pa
rent
/teac
her c
onfe
renc
es.
6.
Util
ize
a va
riety
of i
nstru
ctio
nal
stra
tegi
es to
hel
p st
uden
ts le
arn
all
Ess
entia
l Ski
lls a
t or a
bove
gra
de
leve
l pro
ficie
ncy
targ
ets.
St
aff D
evel
opm
ent:
7.
Col
labo
rativ
ely
stud
y st
anda
rds
&
curr
icul
um g
uide
s to
gen
erat
e
grad
e le
vel l
ists
of e
ssen
tial s
kills
. 8.
C
reat
e a
varie
ty o
f com
mon
, fo
rmat
ive
asse
ssm
ent i
nstru
men
ts
desi
gned
to m
onito
r stu
dent
le
arni
ng o
f ess
entia
l ski
lls in
re
adin
g an
d w
ritin
g.
9.
Dev
elop
, im
plem
ent,
and
eval
uate
Te
am A
ctio
n R
esea
rch
Pro
ject
s to
im
prov
e te
achi
ng &
lear
ning
.
U
se in
form
atio
n fro
m c
omm
on
asse
ssm
ents
to id
entif
y st
aff
deve
lopm
ent n
eeds
. Pro
vide
on
goin
g, jo
b-em
bedd
ed s
taff
deve
lopm
ent.
WH
O IS
R
ESPO
NSI
BLE
A
ll In
stru
ctio
nal
Sta
ff, P
rinci
pal
All
Inst
ruct
iona
l S
taff,
Prin
cipa
l A
ll In
stru
ctio
nal
Sta
ff, P
rinci
pal
All
Team
s,
Prin
cipa
l A
ll In
stru
ctio
nal
Team
s,
Prin
cipa
l
TAR
GET
DA
TES
Sep
tem
ber-
May
S
ept.
– D
ec.
Facu
lty M
eetin
gs,
Sta
ff D
ev. D
ays,
&
Tea
m m
eetin
gs
Sep
t. - M
ay
Facu
lty M
eetin
gs,
Sta
ff D
ev. D
ays,
&
Tea
m m
eetin
gs
Sep
tem
ber–
May
Fa
culty
Mee
tings
; S
taff
Dev
. Day
s;
Team
mee
tings
; A
dditi
onal
Tim
e by
team
requ
est
BU
DG
ET
$3,5
00.0
0 S
taff
Dev
. Fu
nds
EVID
ENC
E O
F SU
CC
ESS
Num
ber o
f P
aren
ts in
A
ttend
ance
, S
tudy
Gui
des
&
New
slet
ters
R
esul
ts o
n al
l in
dica
tors
; Le
sson
Pla
ns
Gra
de L
evel
Lis
ts
of E
ssen
tial S
kills
G
rade
Lev
el
Com
mon
A
sses
smen
ts
Qua
rterly
R
evie
ws;
Mid
Y
ear P
rogr
ess
Rep
orts
; End
-of-
Yea
r Tea
m
Eva
luat
ions
; A
sses
smen
t R
esul
ts
Page 59
Seven Keys to Effective Teams1. Embed collaboration in routine practices of the
school with FOCUS ON LEARNING.2. Schedule time for collaboration into the school
day and school calendar.3. Focus teams on critical questions.4. Make products of collaboration explicit.5. Establish team norms to guide collaboration.6. Pursue specific and measurable team
performance goals.7. Provide teams with frequent access to
relevant information.
Interpreting DataStudent Performance on the High-Stakes State Math Test:
Mean 178Median 177Mode 180
Use the data presented above to answer the following question: To what extent is this school helping all students achieve at high levels in math?
Schools Suffer from the DRIP Syndrome
Schools are often Data Rich, but Information Poor.
Data are not information; translating fact to understanding means relating data to something you know and can visualize. This typically requires comparison.
- Robert Waterman
Page 60
Student # Homeroom Class # 4 1 70 2 70 3 80 4 80 5 100 6 40 7 70 8 50 9 80 10 70 11 50 12 50 13 100 14 100 15 100
Average Score 74%Number Proficient 7 Percent Proficient 47%
STUDENT Class #1 Class #2 Class #3 Class # 4 Total
1 50 90 100 70
2 60 90 100 703 70 90 80 804 92 90 100 805 90 90 100 1006 100 100 92 407 90 100 80 708 90 83 83 509 83 100 100 8010 60 92 90 7011 92 100 90 5012 83 100 100 5013 92 100 80 10014 90 90 80 10015 100 100 90 10016 80 100 8017 90 9218 100
# Proficient 14 17 16 7 54/66
% Proficient 78% 100% 100% 47% 81%
To inform and impact professional practice, ensure
all teachers receive:
Timely and frequent information on the achievement of their students,
In meeting an agreed-upon standard, On a valid assessment, In comparison to others.
Page 61
Sharing Data: Beginning of Community
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community. - Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
The Case for Formative Assessments
• ..developed through teacher learning communities promises the largest potential gains in student achievement
• Few initiatives in education have had such a strong body of evidence to support a claim to raise standards
• ...one of the most powerful, high-leverage strategies for improving student learning that we know of
• ...one of the most powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal
The Case for Common Assessments
• ...consistently used by schools with the greatest achievement
• ...represent a powerful, proven structure for improved results
• ...enable educators to diagnose student learning needs in time to make instructional modifications
• ...form the basis of professional dialogue in schools that double student achievement
Page 62
The Case for Formative Assessment to Improve Student Learning
Effective use of formative assessment, developed through teacher learning communities,
promises not only the largest potential gains in student achievement but also a process for
affordable teacher professional development (Wiliam and Thompson, 2006).
“There is strong and rigorous evidence that improving formative assessment can raise
standards of pupils' performance. There have been few initiatives in education with such a
strong body of evidence to support a claim to raise standards” (Black and Wiliam (1998,
p.20).
“Assessment for learning… when done well, this is one of the most powerful, high-leverage
strategies for improving student learning that we know of. Educators collectively at the district
and school levels become more skilled and focused at assessing, disaggregating, and using
student achievement as a tool for ongoing improvement” (Fullan, 2005, p.71).
“Studies have demonstrated assessment for learning rivals one-on-one tutoring in its
effectiveness and that the use of assessment particularly benefits low-achieving students”
(Stiggins 2004, p.27).
“Formative assessments are one of the most powerful weapons in a teacher's arsenal. An
effective standards-based, formative assessment program can help to dramatically enhance
student achievement throughout the K-12 system” (Marzano 2006, back cover).
“Formative assessment is a potentially transformative instructional tool that, if clearly
understood and adroitly employed, can benefit both educators and their students (p.3)
…formative assessment constitutes the key cornerstone of clearheaded instructional thinking.
Formative assessment represents evidence-based instructional decision-making. If you want to
become more instructionally effective, and if you want your students to achieve more, then
formative assessments should be for you” (Popham, 2008, p.15).
Page 63
The Case For Common Assessments
In my reviews of accountability data from hundreds of schools, the schools with the greatest gains in achievement consistently happen to use common assessments and collaborative scoring by faculty (Doug Reeves, 2007).
“Powerful, proven structures for improved results are at hand. It starts when a group of teachers meet regularly as a team to identify essential and valued student learning, develop common formative assessments, analyze current levels of achievement, set achievement goals, and then share and create lessons and strategies to improve upon those levels” (Schmoker, 2004).
“Common formative assessments provide regular and timely feedback regarding student attainment of the most critical standards, (and) also foster consistent expectations and priorities within a grade level, course, and department regarding standards, instruction, and assessment…Most importantly, common formative assessment results enable educators to diagnose student learning needs accurately in time to make instructional modifications” (Ainsworth, 2007, p.95-96).
The schools and districts that doubled student achievement added another layer of testing – common formative or benchmark assessments. These assessments were designed to provide detailed and concrete information on what students knew and do not know with respect to specific learning targets. Educators focused their collaborative discussions on the formative benchmark assessment data to determine collectively how to craft instructional units to help students learn objectives for particular units. Effectiveness of instruction was transparent and the subject of public and professional conversations and the focus of ongoing professional development. (Odden and Archibald, 2009).
The key to improved student achievement was moving beyond an individual teacher… looking at his or her classroom data. Instead, it took getting same-grade teacher teams to meet, analyze the results of each interim assessment to understand what concepts in the curriculum were posing difficulty for students, share ideas, figure out the best interventions, and actually follow up in their classrooms (Christman, et al., 2009).
“To the extent that we team to 1) analyze, understand and deconstruct standards, 2) transform them into high quality classroom assessments, and 3) share and interpret results together, we benefit from the union of our wisdom about how to help our students continue to grow as learners” (Stiggins, 2005, p.82).
Page 64
• Two strategies seem especially promising for schools. One is to expand the quality and variety of formative assessments; a second is to promote and organize collective inquiry into and discussion of student progress and achievement based on a range of assessments. - Judith Warren Little, (2006), p. 9
Linking Formative & Common Assessments
The Most Powerful Strategy for Improving Student Learning
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.
Reflective teaching must be based on evidence of student learning and reflection is most powerful when it is collaborative.
John Hattie, 2009
Transparency Rules
There is no way continuous improvement can occur without constant transparency fueled by good information. Effective organizations create systems to ensure clear and continuous display of results and clear and continuous access to practice -- that is, what is being done to get the results.
- Michael Fullan (2008)
Page 65
Why Common Assessments• Efficiency - by sharing the load, teachers save time• Fairness - promotes common goals, similar pacing, and
consistent standards for assessing student proficiency• Effective monitoring - provides timely evidence of
whether the guaranteed and viable curriculum is being taught and learned
• Informs individual teacher practice - provides teachers with a basis of comparison regarding the achievement of their students so they can see strengths and weaknesses of their teaching
• Team capacity - collaborative teacher teams are able to identify and address problem areas in their program
• Collective response - helps teams and the school create timely, systematic interventions for students
The Tale of One Team: Essential Writing Skills for Students
Developing a plan for writing Focusing on a central idea Grouping related ideas Including descriptive details that elaborate on
the central idea Revising writing for clarity Editing final copies for grammar, capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling
Students will write descriptive paragraphs by:
Developed four common writing prompts Agreed on the criteria by which they would
judge the quality of student writing Practiced applying those criteria consistently
to establish inter-rater reliability Identified anchor papers for each rubric stage Established the proficiency target of 3 out of 4 Shared standards, rubric, and anchors with
students, and taught them how to apply the rubric to their writing
The Tale of One Team: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life
Page 66
SMA
RT
GO
AL
AC
TIO
N P
LAN
TE
AM
:
Yea
r: _
____
__
D
istr
ict G
oal 1
: We
will
incr
ease
stu
dent
ach
ieve
men
t and
clo
se th
e ac
hiev
emen
t gap
in a
ll ar
eas
usin
g a
varie
ty o
f ind
icat
ors
t
o do
cum
ent i
mpr
oved
lear
ning
on
the
part
of o
ur s
tude
nts.
Sc
hool
Goa
l 1: W
e w
ill im
prov
e st
uden
t per
form
ance
in la
ngua
ge a
rts
as m
easu
red
by lo
cal,
dist
rict,
stat
e/pr
ovin
cial
, and
Nat
iona
l ind
icat
ors.
TEA
M S
MA
RT
GO
AL
STR
ATE
GIE
S/A
CTI
ON
STE
PS
WH
O IS
R
ESPO
NSI
BLE
TA
RG
ET
DA
TES/
TIM
ELIN
E
EVID
ENC
E O
F EF
FEC
TIVE
NES
S
Cur
rent
Rea
lity:
Las
t yea
r, 85
% o
f our
stu
dent
s m
et o
r ex
ceed
ed th
e ta
rget
sco
re o
f 3
on o
ur D
istri
ct’s
Writ
ing
Pro
mpt
in M
ay.
SMA
RT
Goa
l: Th
is y
ear,
at
leas
t 90%
of o
ur s
tude
nts
will
m
eet o
r exc
eed
the
targ
et
scor
e of
3 o
n ou
r Dis
trict
’s
Writ
ing
Pro
mpt
in M
ay.
Cur
ricul
um:
1. C
larif
y &
pac
e E
ssen
tial S
tude
nt
Lear
ning
Out
com
es in
Writ
ing
utili
zing
S
tand
ards
Doc
umen
ts, C
urric
ulum
G
uide
s, a
sses
smen
t blu
eprin
ts &
dat
a,
Wis
h-Li
st o
f Ski
lls
sses
smen
ts:
2. D
evel
op, i
mpl
emen
t, an
d co
llabo
rativ
ely
scor
e gr
ade
leve
l fo
rmat
ive
writ
ing
prom
pts
to:
a.)
frequ
ently
mon
itor e
ach
stud
ent’s
le
arni
ng o
f ess
entia
l writ
ing
outc
omes
b.
) pro
vide
stu
dent
s w
ith m
ultip
le
oppo
rtuni
ties
to d
emon
stra
te p
rogr
ess
in m
eetin
g an
d ex
ceed
ing
lear
ning
ta
rget
s in
writ
ing;
c.
) lea
rn w
ith a
nd fr
om e
ach
othe
r be
tter w
ays
to h
elp
stud
ents
bec
ome
prof
icie
nt w
riter
s In
stru
ctio
n:
3.
Pro
vide
stu
dent
s w
ith w
ritin
g as
sign
men
ts in
all
subj
ect a
reas
&
utili
ze a
var
iety
of i
nstru
ctio
nal
stra
tegi
es to
hel
p st
uden
ts le
arn
all
Ess
entia
l Writ
ing
Ski
lls.
All
Mem
bers
of
our T
eam
A
ll M
embe
rs o
f ou
r Tea
m
All
Mem
bers
of
our T
eam
A
ll M
embe
rs o
f ou
r Tea
m,
Prin
cipa
l, R
esou
rce
Sta
ff,
Vol
unte
ers
Oct
ober
15t
h O
ctob
er -M
ay
chec
kpoi
nts
at m
id-
poin
t of e
ach
grad
ing
perio
d;
(dis
trict
ben
chm
ark
asse
ssm
ents
at e
nd
of e
ach
sem
este
r)
Dai
ly:
Sep
tem
ber -
May
List
s of
Ess
entia
l Stu
dent
Le
arni
ng O
utco
mes
&
Pac
ing
Gui
de
Incr
ease
d re
sults
for a
ll st
uden
ts o
n te
am, d
istri
ct,
stat
e/pr
ovin
cial
, and
na
tiona
l ind
icat
ors
C
omm
on W
ritin
g P
rom
pts
Com
mon
Writ
ing
Rub
ric
Incr
ease
d re
sults
for a
ll st
uden
ts o
n te
am, d
istri
ct,
stat
e/pr
ovin
cial
, and
na
tiona
l ind
icat
ors
C
omm
only
sco
red
writ
ing
sam
ples
in m
ultip
le
subj
ects
; In
crea
sed
resu
lts fo
r all
stud
ents
on
team
, dis
trict
, st
ate/
prov
inci
al, a
nd
natio
nal i
ndic
ator
s
Page 67
Cur
rent
Rea
lity:
Las
t yea
r, 85
% o
f our
stu
dent
s m
et o
r ex
ceed
ed th
e ta
rget
sco
re o
f 3
on o
ur D
istri
ct’s
Writ
ing
Pro
mpt
in M
ay.
SMA
RT
Goa
l: Th
is y
ear,
at
leas
t 90%
of o
ur s
tude
nts
will
m
eet o
r exc
eed
the
targ
et
scor
e of
3 o
n ou
r Dis
trict
’s
Writ
ing
Pro
mpt
in M
ay.
4.
Initi
ate
indi
vidu
al a
nd s
mal
l gro
up
sess
ions
to p
rovi
de a
dditi
onal
in
terv
entio
n an
d en
richm
ent
focu
sed
on w
ritin
g.
5.
Pro
vide
par
ents
with
reso
urce
s an
d
st
rate
gies
to h
elp
thei
r chi
ldre
n
su
ccee
d as
writ
ers.
St
aff D
evel
opm
ent:
6.
Dev
elop
, im
plem
ent,
and
eval
uate
O
ur T
eam
Act
ion
Res
earc
h
Pro
ject
in W
ritin
g to
impr
ove
our
indi
vidu
al &
col
lect
ive
abili
ty to
hel
p
ou
r stu
dent
s le
arn
to w
rite
at h
igh
leve
ls.
Use
info
rmat
ion
from
our
com
mon
fo
rmat
ive
asse
ssm
ents
to id
entif
y
st
aff d
evel
opm
ent n
eeds
& e
ngag
e
in
ong
oing
, job
-em
bedd
ed s
taff
deve
lopm
ent i
n th
e ar
ea o
f writ
ing.
All
Mem
bers
of
our T
eam
A
ll M
embe
rs o
f O
ur T
eam
All
Mem
bers
of
Our
Tea
m
Dai
ly:
Sep
tem
ber-
May
1st
Sem
este
r W
orks
hop:
10/
20
2nd S
emes
ter
Wor
ksho
p: 1
/19
New
slet
ters
; End
-of
-Gra
ding
Per
iod
Con
fere
nces
W
eekl
y co
llabo
rativ
e te
am
mee
tings
; st
aff d
evel
opm
ent
days
; fa
culty
mee
ting
sess
ions
; ad
ditio
nal
prof
essi
onal
le
arni
ng ti
me
by
requ
est
Inte
rven
tion/
Enr
ichm
ent
Sch
edul
e; S
tude
nt
Lear
ning
Res
ults
N
umbe
r of P
aren
ts in
A
ttend
ance
, Stu
dy
Gui
des
& N
ewsl
ette
rs
Com
mon
Ass
essm
ents
Q
uarte
rly R
evie
ws;
M
id -Y
ear P
rogr
ess
Rep
orts
; E
nd-o
f-Yea
r Tea
m
Eva
luat
ions
; In
crea
sed
resu
lts fo
r all
stud
ents
on
team
, dis
trict
, st
ate/
prov
inci
al, a
nd
natio
nal i
ndic
ator
s
Page 68
ESSE
NTI
AL
WR
ITIN
G S
KIL
LS:
CO
MM
ON
ASS
ESSM
ENT
RES
ULT
S (T
AR
GET
SC
OR
E 3/
4)
FO
CU
S O
N C
ENTR
AL
IDEA
GR
OU
P R
ELAT
ED ID
EAS
DES
CR
IPTI
VE D
ETA
ILS
E
DIT
: CA
P., P
UN
CT.
, GR
AM
. & S
P
STU
DEN
TC
LASS
#1C
LASS
#2
CLA
SS #
3TO
TALS
CLA
SS #
1CLA
SS #
2C
LASS
#3
TOTA
LSC
LASS
#1C
LASS
#2
CLA
SS #
3TO
TALS
CLA
SS #
1CLA
SS #
2C
LASS
#3
TOTA
LS
14
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3
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44
34
33
44
34
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24
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13
31
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74
33
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23
42
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3
84
23
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94
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104
44
33
34
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43
3
112
33
32
33
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33
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122
33
23
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4
134
23
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142
43
14
33
43
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13
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33
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Aver
age
Scor
e3
33.4
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2.3
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32.
62.8
2.8
3.3
33.2
3.6
3.2
3.3
Page 69
Consider the results of the first writing prompt and answer the following question:
How might the team analyze and report data in a way that is more aligned with learning for all?
Using Results to Improve Achievement
Consider the results of the first writing prompt and answer the following questions:
Which team member should take the lead in intervention for students having difficulty with central idea?
Which team member should take the lead in intervention for students have difficulty with editing?
Using Results to Improve Achievement
Consider the results of the first writing prompt an answer the following questions:
Which area should the team consider as a focus for its own professional development?
What is an example of an interim SMART goal the team might set for central idea for the next writing assessment?
Using Results to Improve Achievement
Page 70
Assessing Your Current Reality
Consider the descriptions of 5 stages of PLC progress regarding:
A Focus on Results through providing teams with relevant information
Individually, silently, and honestlyassess the current status of your school for each
indicator on the Professional Learning Community Continuum
Progress and ProblemsShare your assessment with your colleagues:
• Where are areas of agreement? • Where are the areas of disagreement?• Where can you celebrate the greatest
progress?• What areas are you finding problematic?
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
• What steps could you take to make progress in these indicators?
• Complete the “Where Do We Go From
Here” worksheets to begin your plan for becoming a school committed to a focus on learning.
Page 71
An
Aud
it of
Our
Com
mitm
ent t
o K
ey P
LC C
once
pts
Pa
rt II
I. A
Foc
us o
n R
esul
ts
We
asse
ss o
ur e
ffect
iven
ess o
n th
e ba
sis o
f res
ults
rath
er th
an in
tent
ions
. Ind
ivid
uals
, tea
ms,
and
scho
ols s
eek
rele
vant
dat
a an
d in
form
atio
n an
d us
e th
at
info
rmat
ion
to p
rom
ote
cont
inuo
us im
prov
emen
t. In
dica
tor
Pre-
Initi
atin
g In
itiat
ing
Impl
emen
ting
Dev
elop
ing
Sust
aini
ng
Each
of o
ur te
ams h
as id
entif
ied
a SM
AR
T go
al th
at a
ligns
with
one
of
our s
choo
l goa
ls.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. Ea
ch m
embe
r of t
he te
am re
ceiv
es
freq
uent
and
tim
ely
feed
back
re
gard
ing
the
perf
orm
ance
of h
is/he
r stu
dent
s on
team
, dis
trict
and
stat
e as
sess
men
ts.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. W
e us
e co
mm
on a
sses
smen
ts to
: a)
iden
tify
stud
ents
who
nee
d ad
ditio
nal
time
and
supp
ort f
or le
arni
ng; b
) di
scov
er st
reng
ths a
nd w
eakn
esse
s in
our i
ndiv
idua
l tea
chin
g; a
nd c
) hel
p m
easu
re o
ur te
am’s
pro
gres
s tow
ard
its g
oals.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. Fo
r eac
h of
the
acad
emic
and
af
fect
ive
goal
s we
have
iden
tifie
d fo
r stu
dent
s, w
e as
k, “
How
do
we
know
if
our s
tude
nts a
re a
chie
ving
this
go
al?”
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f m
embe
rs a
ppro
ach
the
task
with
a se
nse
of
com
plia
nce
rath
er th
an
com
mitm
ent.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
.
Page 72
REPRODUCIBLE
140 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Des
crib
e on
e or
mor
e as
pect
s of
apr
ofes
sion
al le
arni
ng c
omm
unity
tha
t yo
uw
ould
like
to
see
in p
lace
in y
our
scho
ol.
Each
team
tran
slat
es s
choo
l goa
ls in
to a
team
goa
l.
Goal
s ar
e SM
ART:
Str
ateg
ic, S
peci
fic, M
easu
rabl
e,At
tain
able
, Res
ult-O
rient
ed, a
nd T
imeb
ound
.
Team
mem
bers
ass
ist o
ne a
noth
er a
s th
ey w
ork
toge
ther
inte
rdep
ende
ntly
to a
chie
ve th
eir
colle
ctiv
ego
al.
Wha
t st
eps
orac
tiviti
es m
ust
bein
itiat
ed t
o cr
eate
this
con
ditio
n in
your
sch
ool?
Who
will
be
resp
onsi
ble
for
initi
atin
g or
sust
aini
ng t
hese
step
s or
act
iviti
es?
Wha
t is
a r
ealis
tictim
elin
e fo
r ea
chst
ep o
r ph
ase
of
the
activ
ity?
Wha
t w
ill y
ou u
seto
ass
ess
the
effe
ctiv
enes
s of
your
initi
ativ
e?
Whe
re D
o W
e G
o Fr
om H
ere?
Wor
kshe
etSc
hool
Im
prov
emen
t G
oals
Dri
ve T
eam
Goa
ls
Page 73
REPRODUCIBLE
64 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Des
crib
e on
e or
mor
e as
pect
s of
a
prof
essi
onal
lear
ning
com
mun
ity t
hat
you
wou
ld li
ke t
o se
e in
pla
ce in
you
r sc
hool
.
Each
teac
her
and
team
rece
ives
rele
vant
feed
back
.In
form
atio
n is
prov
ided
rega
rdin
g th
e ex
tent
to w
hich
stud
ents
mee
t agr
eed
upon
sta
ndar
ds o
f mas
tery
on
a va
lid te
st in
com
paris
on to
all
the
stud
ents
in th
esc
hool
att
empt
ing
to m
eet t
he s
ame
stan
dard
. The
team
s ut
ilize
form
ativ
e te
sts
thro
ugho
ut th
e ye
ar to
:
!Id
entif
y st
uden
ts w
ho n
eed
addi
tiona
l tim
e an
dsu
ppor
t.!
Hel
p in
divi
dual
teac
hers
iden
tify
area
s of
stre
ngth
and
wea
knes
s in
thei
r in
stru
ctio
n.!
Hel
p th
e te
am m
easu
re p
rogr
ess
towa
rds
itsgo
als
and
iden
tify
area
s in
nee
d of
att
entio
n.
Wha
t st
eps
orac
tiviti
es m
ust
bein
itiat
ed t
o cr
eate
this
con
ditio
n in
your
sch
ool?
Who
will
be
resp
onsi
ble
for
initi
atin
g or
sust
aini
ng t
hese
step
s or
act
iviti
es?
Wha
t is
a r
ealis
tictim
elin
e fo
r ea
chst
ep o
r ph
ase
of
the
activ
ity?
Wha
t w
ill y
ou u
se
to a
sses
s th
eef
fect
iven
ess
of
your
initi
ativ
e?
Whe
re D
o W
e G
o Fr
om H
ere?
Wor
kshe
etH
ow I
ndiv
idua
ls a
nd T
eam
s U
se A
sses
smen
t In
form
atio
n to
Im
prov
e Th
eir
Pro
fess
iona
l Pra
ctic
e
Page 74
If the purpose of school is truly to ensure high levels of learning for all
students, schools will: Clarify what each student is expected to learn
- the essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions - of each course/subject, unit-by-unit
Monitor each student’s learning on a timely basis through the use of frequent, formative common assessments
Create systems to ensure students receive additional time and support if they are not learning
Create systems to ensure students receive additional time and support if they are learning.
All Kids Can Learn
Based on ability If they take advantage of the opportunity Something, and we will create a warm,
pleasant environment for them And we will do whatever it takes to ensure
they achieve the agreed-upon standards
The School’s Response Increased levels of time and support
when student is not being successful Response is increasingly directive, not
invitational Response is timely Response is SYSTEMATIC
Page 75
A Support System for Students: Pre-enrollment initiatives
Counselor watch/Good Friend/Privilege For all entering students
Daily meeting with a faculty advisorDaily small group meeting with a
senior mentorWeekly meeting with counselorParticipation in two co-curricular
activitiesProgress reports or grades in every
A Systematic Response to Students Who Are Not Learning
At 3 weeks: conferences/ offer of tutoring services/ peer tutoring
At 6 weeks: mandatory tutoring/weekly progress reports
At 12 weeks: guided study and parent conferences
At 18 weeks: mentor program
A Syllogism of What Should Be Rhetorical Questions
1.Do we believe it is the purpose of our school to ensure all students learn at high levels?
2.Do we acknowledge that students learn at different rates and with different levels of support?
3.Have we created a schedule that guarantees students they will receive additional opportunities for learning through extra time and support, in a systematic way, regardless of who the teacher might be?
Page 76
210
WHATEVER IT TAKES
SpecialEducationPlacement
Case Study Evaluation
OmbudsmanPlacement
Child Review Team
Mentor ProgramPlacement
Guided Study Program
Itinerant Support Program
Insight Class
Student Assistance Team Referral
SST and Teacher Conference With Parent
Doctor Verification
Social Work Contact / Peer Mediation
Student Placement on Weekly Progress Reports
Counselor Conference With Student and Parent
Good Friend Program
Counselor Phone Calls to Parents
Counselor Meeting With Student
Counselor Watch / Survival Skills for High School
Freshman Advisory / Freshman Mentor Program
Page 77
Adlai Stevenson High SchoolEight 50 Minute Periods
Students take six classes (50 minutes) Freshmen and Sophmores have one study hall
(50 minutes) Juniors and Seniors passing all classes have one
free 50 minute period Freshmen have 25 min. advisory/25 min. lunch Sophmores, Juniors,and Seniors passing all
classes get 50 minutes for lunch
Cinco Ranch High SchoolSeven Periods
Freshmen must enroll in one study hall to provide time for intervention
Intensive study skills Target math study hall Before and after school tutoring. Each teacher tutors
twice a week as part of his/her duty. Choice of detention or tutoring if fail to go to tutoring NHS students tutor during their study hall Progress reports or report cards every 3 weeks On-line credit recovery
Monticello High School Seven Period Block
Tuesday and Thursday - classes begin at 9:00am periods 1,3,7 meet for 90 minutes, 55 minutes for lunch
Wednesday and Friday - classes begin at 9:00am periods 2,4,6 meet for 90 minutes, 55 minutes for lunch
Tuesday - Friday - period 5 meets for 55 minutes Mondays -
Required tutorial period from 8:50 to 9:30 for any student not passing classes or requested by teacher
Classes begin at 9:30, periods, 1,2,3,4,6,7 meet for 50 minutes, 35 minutes for lunch
Page 78
Monticello High SchoolTransition and Orientation Program -
Freshmen and transfer students meet in and advisory program 25 minutes each day for first 9 weeks to assist with transition into high school
CARE Program - Tuesdays through Fridays. Students not passing classes report to tutorial for first 25 minutes of their lunch period. Then provided 30 minutes for lunch.
Whittier Union High School
Monday - 6 period day with 48 minutes each period Tuesday-Friday - modified block of 3 classes for
100 minutes for first 5 weeks beginning sixth week, students passing all classes
with at least a C are released after 80 minutes for break, longer lunch, or early dismissal
students not passing classes with a C or better remain for intensive tutoring and small-group work
Bernice McNaughton H.S. Supplemental math and English class based on
proficiency assessment Math and science lunch labs RED (Remediation/Enrichment Days) after
common assessments Directed learning for 30 minutes at end of day for
study, homework completion, tutoring Hired full-time guided study teacher Grade 12 can carry lighter load if agree to tutor
twice a week
Page 79
Lakeridge Junior High Moved from 7 period day to modified A/B block with
FLEX time Students enroll in four 80-minute periods 30 minutes carved out Tues-Friday for FLEX time.
Students failing, report to mandatory tutoring. All others provided enrichment options or free time.
Those with continuing academic difficulty can be assigned to a double period of language arts or math.
Margaret Mead Middle School 9 period day, 40 minutes each, with one period
reserved for lunch Students missing assignments are assigned to
Guided Study instead of lunch If Guided Study does not resolve their difficulties,
they are assigned to Fast Track - an after school tutorial program
If Fast Track does not resolve their difficulties they are removed from an elective and assigned to an intensive study skills class for 9 weeks.
A Crucial Caution
• No system of intervention can compensate for weak and ineffective teaching. At the same time that a school is working to develop time and support for student learning, it must take steps to create the powerful collaborative teams and common assessments that contribute to adult learning.
Page 80
For Information on the Pyramid of Interventions of Schools
Throughout the Nation Go to www.allthingsplc.info “Evidence of
Effectiveness”
Go to www.solution-tree.com or call 800.733.6786 to purchase Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever it Takes
What Happens When Kids Don’t Learn?
High expectations for success will be judged not only by the initials staff beliefs and behaviors, but also by the organization’s response when some students do not learn.
—Lezotte, (1991)
• What is it we expect them 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?
Critical Corollary Questions: If We Believe All Kids Can Learn
Page 81
Align School Structures Traditional schedule
• Frequent interruptions to teaching or learning blocks
• Sporadic resource/specials classes throughout the week
• Sporadic planning time for instructional staff
• Little or no collaborative time built into the schedule
• No time for additional support built into the daily schedule except before- and after-school tutoring
New master schedule• Protected time for
teaching and learning • Daily specials for all
students• Daily individual
planning for all instructional staff
• Weekly collaborative planning for all teams
• Intervention or enrichment block for all grade levels during the school day
Is There a Better Way?(Can we change the way we do things around here?)
How can our school better allocate existing resources
—time, people, materials, money—to provide additional support for ALL
students to learn at higher levels than ever before?
A Pre-Requisite for Systematic Intervention
Before effective systems of intervention can be created, teams must first be able to agree upon:
Essential knowledge, skills, & dispositions; Common Pacing Guides/Curriculum Maps; Common formative assessments; Common standard of proficiency; Students who need additional time and support based
upon analysis of common assessment data; A designated grade-level block of time for
intervention/enrichment in addition to new direct instruction in all subject areas.
Page 82
3
rd G
rade
Sch
edul
e Fo
r Ins
truct
ion
Mon
day
Tues
day
Wed
nesd
ayTh
ursd
ay
Frid
ay 8
:00
- 8:1
5TE
AC
HER
WO
RK
DAY
BEG
INS
8:15
-8:4
0ST
UD
ENTS
AR
RIV
E- B
REA
KFA
ST, M
OR
NIN
G T
AK
E-IN
PR
OC
EDU
RES
8:40
- 8:
50TA
RD
Y B
ELL,
MO
RN
ING
AN
NO
UN
CEM
ENTS
, IN
STR
UC
TIO
NA
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AY B
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SPEC
IALS
LIB
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BC
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IM
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8:50
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3D3F
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3D3D
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9:25
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53D
3F3F
3D3J
3J9:
55 -
12:1
5
12:2
0 - 1
:00
LUN
CH
: 3J
12:2
0 - 1
2:50
; 3F
12:2
5 - 1
2:55
; 3D
12:
30 -
1:00
1:00
- 3:
00
3:00
- 3:
15A
ftern
oon
anno
unce
men
ts/K
and
1st
car
ride
rs a
nd lo
adin
g bu
ses;
3:05
dis
mis
sal f
or 2
nd-5
th g
rade
s; b
uses
dep
art a
t 3:1
03:
10 -
3:30
INS
TRU
CTI
ON
AL
STA
FF P
LAN
NIN
G
Page 83
Third
Gra
de M
aste
r Sch
edul
e Fo
r Ins
truct
ion
Mon
day
Tues
day
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NC
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ATH
2:15
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IEN
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3:00
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ftern
oon
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men
ts/K
and
1st
car
ride
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nd lo
adin
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ses;
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Page 84
1
st G
rade
Sch
edul
e Fo
r Ins
truct
ion
Mon
day
Tues
day
Wed
nesd
ayTh
ursd
ay
8:1
5 -
8:4
0M
OR
NIN
G W
OR
K/
BU
DD
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ME
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/ B
RE
AK
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T/B
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KS
TOR
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AN
KIN
G P
RO
JEC
T/E
TC 8
:40
- 8
:50
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ttend
ance
& L
unch
Cou
nt /
Pled
ges/
Mor
ning
Ann
ounc
emen
ts
8:5
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9:3
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WH
OLE
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OU
P LA
NG
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TS L
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SO
N
9:3
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0:00
SM
ALL
GR
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UID
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RO
UP
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G C
EN
TER
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roup
1)
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ALL
GR
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AD
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roup
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CH
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H
M
ATH
M
ATH
2:00
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30
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/RE
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./RE
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L.A
. End
-Of-D
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L.A
. End
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losu
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Page 85
INTERVENTION/ENRICHMENT SCHEDULE
8:20 – 8:50: FIFTH GRADE
8:50 – 9:20: FOURTH GRADE
9:30 – 10:30: FIRST GRADE – (CENTERS)
10:30 – 11:30: KINDERGARTEN –( CENTERS)
11:40 – 12:15: THIRD GRADE
12:15 – 1:00: LUNCH/PLANNING
1:00 – 1:30: SECOND GRADE
1:30 – 2:00: *ADDITIONAL TIME K – 5
(BY REQUEST)
2:00 – 2:30: FIFTH GRADE
2:30 – 3:00: RECORD KEEPING/PLANNING
*IF YOUR GRADE-LEVEL NEEDS ADDITIONAL INTERVENTION TIME, PLEASE SEE
THE PRINCIPAL (When no classes are scheduled, the tutors utilize time for Remedial Record
Keeping, creating new centers for Pod, assisting students & teachers with requested tasks.)
Page 86
STUDENT Class #1 Class #2 Class #3 Class # 4 Total
1 50 90 100 70
2 60 90 100 703 70 90 80 804 92 90 100 805 90 90 100 1006 100 100 92 407 90 100 80 708 90 83 83 509 83 100 100 8010 60 92 90 7011 92 100 90 5012 83 100 100 5013 92 100 80 10014 90 90 80 10015 100 100 90 10016 80 100 8017 90 9218 100
# Proficient 14 17 16 7 54/66
% Proficient 78% 100% 100% 47% 81%
Teacher #1 Teacher #2 Teacher #3 Teacher #4 Special Ed. Resource
The Questions Facing Each
How will we provide additional support for students who experience initial difficulty in a way that is timely, directive, and systematic?
How will we enrich and extend the learning for the students who already know it?
Who is available to assist our team in responding to our students?
Page 87
Extra Time and Support for Students in an Elementary School
Utilize Existing Human Resources, such as: General Education Teachers Special Education Teachers Resource Specialists Teacher Assistantsin a coordinated and systematic effort toprovide additional time and support forlearning.
Resource Specialists & “Floating Instruct “flexible groups” of identified students; Deliver intervention/enrichment services to
supplement (not supplant) new, direct classroom instruction;
Lead/supervise enrichment activities, allowing classroom teachers to serve as tutors for students identified for intervention.
Provide practice & reinforcement in study/test-taking/critical thinking/problem solving skills;
Utilize/develop lesson plans & activities aligned with essential skills in coordination with grade-level teams to guide their work;
Teacher #1
Teacher #2
Teacher #3
Teacher #4
Floating Tutor #1
Floating Tutor# 2
Special Ed. Staff
Resource Specialist
Resource Specialist
Page 88
Extra Time and Support for Utilize Grade Level Teachers, Resource Specialists, Teacher
Assistants, and Floating Tutors in a coordinated and systematic effort to provide additional time and support for learning.
Develop strategies to enlist additional human resources in the effort to support students:� Parent volunteers� Business partners� Senior citizens� Partnership with the high schools�Partnership with area colleges
Extra Time and Support for Students • Grade-level teachers, resource specialists, floating tutors
• Organize parent volunteers, business partners, senior citizens, and high school and college interns to serve as mentors and tutors along with the school-based team.
• Team designs parent materials for at home tutorials.
• Develop buddy programs and peer tutoring.
• Save one student.
• Redefine focus of child study team to plan additional interventions.
Extra Time and Support for Students in an Elementary School
Utilize Grade Level Teachers, Resource Specialists, and Floating Tutors in a coordinated and systematic effort to provide additional time and support for learning.
Develop Strategies to Enlist Additional Human Resources in the Effort to Support Students
Develop strong parent partnerships to provide students with additional Time & Support at home.
Page 89
Spec
ial
Educ
atio
n R
efer
ral
Very
Inte
nsiv
e Su
ppor
t (In
divi
dual
ized
Sch
edul
e)
S
tude
nts
rece
ive
indi
vidu
aliz
ed, i
nten
sive
inte
rven
tions
that
targ
et th
e st
uden
ts’ s
kill
defic
its
for t
he re
med
iatio
n of
exi
stin
g pr
oble
ms
and
the
prev
entio
n of
mor
e se
vere
pro
blem
s.
Inte
rven
tion
& E
nric
hmen
t for
All
In
Tie
r 2, s
tude
nts
not m
akin
g ad
equa
te p
rogr
ess
in th
e co
re c
urric
ulum
are
pro
vide
d
with
incr
easi
ngly
inte
nsiv
e in
stru
ctio
n m
atch
ed to
thei
r nee
ds o
n th
e ba
sis
of le
vels
of
perfo
rman
ce a
nd ra
tes
of p
rogr
ess.
D
aily
New
Dire
ct In
stru
ctio
n fo
r ALL
Stu
dent
s
All
stud
ents
in T
ier 1
rece
ive
high
-qua
lity,
sci
entif
ical
ly b
ased
inst
ruct
ion,
diff
eren
tiate
d to
mee
t the
ir ne
eds,
and
are
scre
ened
on
a pe
riodi
c ba
sis
to id
entif
y st
rugg
ling
lear
ners
who
nee
d ad
ditio
nal s
uppo
rt.
Tier
III
Tier
II
Tier
I
A P
yram
id o
f Int
erve
ntio
ns
An
Ans
wer
to “R
espo
nse
to In
terv
entio
n” (R
tI)
Page 90
Building Strong Partnerships The National PTA
• Conduct parent workshops at least twice each school year.
• Provide tools, tips, and materials for at-home practice during parent workshops and via frequent grade-level newsletters.
• Establish ongoing systems for two-way communication with each parent.
• Send student work folders home—with teacher feedback—for parent review, comments, questions, and signature.
• See Chapter 14 - Revisiting PLCs at Work for more information on parent partnerships
To sustain the continuous improvement momentum, PLCs…
…Celebrate small wins early and often!!
What Are You Celebrating?
Celebrations weave our hearts and souls into a shared destiny. People come together to celebrate beginnings and endings, triumphs and tragedies. Bolman and Deal, Leading With Soul: An Uncommon
Journey of Spirit
Page 91
Actively Promote a Climate of Achievement: Incentives and Celebrations
Recognize improvement/achievement on daily school announcements & within classrooms
Create classroom, grade level and school-wide incentive programs (i.e. display “Hand in Hand We All Learn” people chain, recognizing books read.)
Celebrate via classroom/school/district newsletters, media broadcasts, etc.
Provide public recognition at awards assemblies, PTO/PTA Meetings, Family Nights, School Board Meetings, etc.
Share professional learning & achievements at team, vertical, faculty, and district level meetings.
What was/is the Impact of Systematic Interventions?
Just to name a few… Increased student achievement on local, district,
state/provincial & national indicators Decreased discipline infractions Improved perceptions about the school Greater job satisfaction for educators
Visit schools listed under “Evidence of Effectiveness”
www.allthingsplc.info
• Are our students assured extra time and support for learning?
• Is our response timely? How quickly are we able to identify the kids who need extra time and support? Does our focus prompt intervention or enrichment rather than sluggish remediation?
• Is our response directive rather than invitational? Are kids invited to put in extra time or does our system ensure they put in extra time?
• Is our response systematic? Do kids receive this intervention or enrichment according to a schoolwide plan rather than at the discretion of individual teachers?
Assess Your School’s Response When Kids Don’t Learn or
Already Know It
Page 92
Guidelines for Applying as a National Model of a Professional Learning Community Evidence of Effectiveness
* In order to be considered for the All Things PLC website (allthingsplc.info), it is important to include information for all questions on this form.
** If you would like an example to guide you please reference the website. Districts (Blue Valley) Elementary (Boones Mill, Snow Creek) Middle (Pioneer, Overland) High (Adlai Stevenson, James Madison)
School Information School Name: Highland Elementary School District Name: Montgomery County Maryland School District School Address: 3100 Medway St, Silver Spring, MD 20902 School Phone: 301.929.2040 School Fax: 301.929.2042 Principal: A. Raymond Myrtle Principal email: [email protected] Demographics Number of Students: 639 Percent Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 73% Percent of Limited English Proficient: 60% Percent of Special Education: 13% Racial/Ethnic Percentages:
- White: 5.2 - Black: 14.7 - Hispanic: 75.1 - Asian/Pacific Island: 4.9 - Other: 0.2
Student Achievement Data: Percentage of students passing: School Scores/State Scores
Grade: 3 Reading HES/MD
Reading Adv. Prof.
HES/MD Math
HES/MD
Math Adv. Prof.
HES/MD Year 2004-05 47/76 4/18 69/77 14/26 Year 2005-06 78/78 3/15 79/79 8/25 Year 2007-08 95/83 31/17 92/83 24/27 Year 2008-09 92/85 14/22 80/84 14/29 Percentage of students passing: School Scores/State Scores
Grade: 4 Reading HES/MD
Reading Adv. Prof.
HES/MD Math
HES/MD
Math Adv. Prof.
HES/MD Year 2004-05 76/81 4/18 74/77 21/27
Page 93
Year 2005-06 78/82 9/23 81/82 19/32 Year 2007-08 95/88 44/28 95/89 55/42 Year 2008-09 97/87 59/27 98/89 64/50 Percentage of students passing: School Scores/State Scores
Grade: 5 Reading HES/MD
Reading Adv. Prof.
HES/MD Math
HES/MD
Math Adv. Prof.
HES/MD Year 2004-05 56/74 7/30 57/69 1/17 Year 2005-06 76/77 16/34 80/73 9/19 Year 2007-08 93/87 80/51 92/80 20/25 Year 2008-09 94/89 94/50 98/81 35/25
Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant. As the chart demonstrates, by 2008 Highland Elementary students outperformed students throughout the state in every subject area and grade level. When compared to schools serving similar populations of ELL and high poverty students, Highland ranked first in the state in both reading in mathematics. Furthermore, a higher percentage of Highland students achieved advanced proficiency in reading and math then the state as a whole. The difference in reading was particularly striking, with 55 percent of Highland students qualifying for advanced proficiency versus 36 percent of Maryland elementary students. Within two years of beginning its school improvement initiative, Highland Elementary had been removed from the state’s program improvement list. In its fourth year it was presented the United States Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award. It serves as a model of what schools can accomplish when clarity about purpose, priorities, and processes replaces ambiguity; when interdependence replaces isolation; and when systematic and collective efforts replace rampant individual autonomy. Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers. Highland Elementary was among the first schools in the county to participate in the Professional Learning Community Project. Principal Myrtle readily acknowledges he was “tight” in stipulating clearly that profound changes were needed in the structure and culture of the school, that the changes would impact everyone in the school, that teachers would work together collaboratively rather than in isolation, that procedures would be put in place to monitor student learning, and that the school would intervene in a systematic and timely way when students experienced difficulty. He also demonstrated that he was perfectly willing to confront any staff member who was not contributing to this new direction. At the same time, however, Myrtle also committed to 1) engaging staff in the decisions regarding the implementation of the school’s new direction and 2) providing staff with the training, resources, and support to help them succeed at what they were being asked to do. The school created several different structures to ensure teachers played an active role in guiding the improvement initiative. Myrtle met with team leaders and the two school-level union representatives twice each month to monitor any issues arising from the staff. These same leaders are joined by reading and mathematics coaches, counselors, paraprofessionals and parents every six weeks to review trends in school achievement and
Page 94
discipline data and to identify and address any concerns. Reading and math coaches helped grade-level teams become skillful in clarifying outcomes, gathering evidence of student learning, and addressing concerns. This widely dispersed leadership has created a greater sense of ownership among staff regarding the direction of their school. Please elaborate strategies you have found to be effective in the following areas:
1. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning. Reading Intervention at Highland Elementary School Highland depicts its systems of intervention for reading in the form of a decision-making tree as shown below.
For example, if a fourth-grade student is having difficulty, the grade-level team reviews the data from running records and common assessments to determine if the student is reading at or above the K/L level on the district’s text gradient system or roughly mid-year of second grade. If the student is not proficient at that level, the team attempts to determine if the primary problem is decoding or comprehension. Students struggling with decoding are assigned to one of three options. The first is to provide the student with a double dose of guided reading instruction each day. The second option is to utilize the Wilson Reading System – a twelve-step system that provides direct, multi-sensory, structured, reading instruction aimed at providing students with skills in phonological coding. The third option, the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing System, is another program aimed at developing phonemic awareness and phonics. Students who have difficulty with comprehension rather than decoding are assigned to the SOAR to Success program which provides additional small-group guided instruction in reading comprehension using level-appropriate trade books. This program is designed to increase students’ understanding of what they read by engaging them in dialogue with the teacher to help them acquire the skills of summarizing, clarifying, questioning, and predicting.
Page 95
In order to provide this additional time for reading instruction, each grade-level team carves out thirty to forty-five minutes in its daily schedule for intervention. The schedule for the 2008-09 school year is as follows:
Intervention Team Daily Schedule
Papallo/Casey Whitthaus Healy/Key Chapman/Lee
9:00 – 9:30 am 5th Grade Math Planning
9:40 – 10:20 am Fourth Grade Fourth Grade Fourth Grade
10:20 – 11:00 am First Grade First Grade First Grade
11:15 – 12:00 pm Third Grade Third Grade Third Grade Kindergarten
Page 96
12:00 – 12:30 pm Lunch Lunch Lunch 11:25 – 12:25
12:30 – 1:00 pm Planning First Grade Math Planning Fourth Grade Math
1:00 – 1:40 pm Second Grade Second Grade Second Grade 12:45 – 1:45
1:40 – 2:20 pm Fifth Grade Fifth Grade Fifth Grade
2:25 – 3:00 pm Planning Planning Planning
During intervention time additional personnel descend on the grade level to provide students with intensive small-group and individual support. Myrtle uses funding from Reading First, Title I, and discretionary district funds to hire part-time intervention teachers. Most of the intervention staff are certified teachers whose family situation or life-style make part-time tutoring a particularly attractive option for them. The school’s reading coach, reading specialist, and special education and ELL teachers also participate in this effort to provide students with additional focused support. During intervention students from all of the classrooms in a grade level are regrouped and the staff provides specific, differentiated instruction based on the needs of students. While some staff members focus on enrichment, others are implementing the intervention plan for a small group. The intervention teachers are assigned specific students, by name, and they know exactly which skills they need to address with those students. Because assessment is ongoing, student placement in groups is very fluid and they are able to move into and out of groups as their proficiency dictates. To ensure the communication essential to a coordinated effort, intervention teachers provide grade-level teams with scores from each embedded assessment as well as brief anecdotal feedback on the progress of each of the students they are serving. For example, one intervention teacher reported: “Becky has shown much growth this marking period; now uses all strategies; participates often; high level of effort continues; uses text support in written responses; still hesitates to use her own words in retelling but if encouraged will try; if she does not know the answer will search the text; oral reading is strong.” This coordinated effort to clarify the specific knowledge and skills students are to acquire, to monitor each student’s proficiency, to respond to students in a systematic way, and to communicate results among all stakeholders has enabled teams to become what Myrtle describes as “well-oiled machines.” Students have clearly benefitted. 3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students. The staff began the school’s transformation by adopting a common parallel schedule as the school’s new master schedule. The school established large blocks of uninterrupted time for math and language arts instruction at every grade level each day. The new schedule also assigned all the students of a particular grade level to art, music, physical education, library, and writing classes at the same time so that the grade-level team could have common planning for fifty minutes, four days each week. Myrtle stipulated that the teams were to reserve one of those days to focus their collaborative work on reading and another to focus on mathematics. ELL and special education teachers were also assigned to particular teams and helped to co-teach in many of the classrooms.
Page 97
Teams were not merely encouraged to “go collaborate,” but were provided with a weekly template to help guide their work. The template helped the teams to establish the intended essential learnings for that week in reading, writing, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and math, and to translate the learnings into specific statements regarding what students would know and be able to do as result of the unit. Each team would also discuss whole group and small group instructional strategies and establish recommended topics, activities, and strategies for each day of the week. Finally, the template asked teams to clarify action steps that needed to be taken in order to implement its plan and assigned responsibility for each step to members of the team in order to divide the work and avoid duplicated effort. For example, at the conclusion of one meeting one teacher agreed to develop writing prompts, another to create independent work that would allow students to demonstrate their ability to determine cause and effect, and a third to develop the parent conference materials that would be sent home to parents. Principal Myrtle also supported the work of the teams by providing time for them to collaborate beyond their common planning period each week. Once each quarter he hired substitute teachers to give an entire grade-level team a full day of uninterrupted collaborative time to plan their work for the coming quarter. Focused and job-embedded professional development was a major aspect of the improvement initiative at Highland Elementary. Staff members had access to both material and human resources to assist them in building shared knowledge about district and state learning standards, effective assessment practices, working collaboratively, and effective use of curricular programs that were available to assist them. Grade-level teachers learned how to co-teach more effectively with special education teachers, English Language Learners teachers, reading specialists, math specialists and intervention teachers. With the benefit of this time and support, grade level teams were able to clarify essential learning standards in reading, writing, and mathematics for each unit of instruction. They were also able to create common formative assessments to monitor student learning. Most teams used a quick math assessment virtually every day and a more comprehensive assessment every few weeks. The teams typically administered reading and writing assessments every week or two. Initially, teams would analyze the results of the assessments, and divide the students among the members of that team on the basis of student proficiency during the intervention period provided in the schedule each day. Teachers discovered that this strategy of short-term, focused intervention was effective in helping students acquire math skills, but it was not effective in helping many of their students who were struggling to read. At that point, the teams recognized they needed to have more sustained and focused intervention for reading, and they created the structures to the decision-tree support that kind of intervention.
List awards and recognitions your school has achieved:
- One of six schools in Maryland to receive the 2009 Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education
- One of 12 schools in the nation to receive the 2009 Urban Schools of Excellence Award - Featured in Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever it Takes as a model PLC - Principal Myrtle was one eight principals in the nation to receive the Terrell Bell Award
for outstanding school leadership from the United States Department of Education in 2009.
Page 98
An
Aud
it of
Our
Com
mitm
ent t
o K
ey P
LC C
once
pts
Pa
rt I.
Lea
rnin
g as
our
Fun
dam
enta
l Pur
pose
(Con
tinue
d)
We
ackn
owle
dge
that
the
fund
amen
tal p
urpo
se o
f our
scho
ol is
to h
elp
all s
tude
nts a
chie
ve h
igh
leve
ls o
f lea
rnin
g, a
nd th
eref
ore
we
are
will
ing
to
exam
ine
all o
f our
pra
ctic
es in
ligh
t of t
heir
impa
ct o
n le
arni
ng.
Indi
cato
r Pr
e-In
itiat
ing
Initi
atin
g Im
plem
entin
g D
evel
opin
g Su
stai
ning
W
e pr
ovid
e a
syst
em o
f int
erve
ntio
ns
that
gua
rant
ees e
ach
stud
ent w
ill
rece
ive
addi
tiona
l tim
e an
d su
ppor
t fo
r lea
rnin
g if
he/sh
e ex
perie
nces
in
itial
diff
icul
ty.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
ant a
ctio
n to
m
ake
it a
real
ity.
We
have
beg
un to
do
this
, but
at t
his s
tage
of
the
impl
emen
tatio
n pr
oces
s, m
any
staf
f ap
proa
ch th
e ta
sk w
ith
a se
nse
of c
ompl
ianc
e ra
ther
than
co
mm
itmen
t.
We
have
mov
ed
beyo
nd in
itial
im
plem
enta
tion
and
cont
inue
to w
ork
our
way
thro
ugh
the
proc
ess.
Supp
ort i
s gr
owin
g, b
ut c
hang
es
rem
ain
frag
ile.
This
pra
ctic
e is
dee
ply
embe
dded
in o
ur
cultu
re. M
ost s
taff
ar
e co
mm
itted
to d
oing
th
is a
nd fe
el it
is a
n im
porta
nt fa
ctor
in th
e co
llect
ive
effo
rt to
im
prov
e th
e sc
hool
. St
uden
ts a
re re
quire
d ra
ther
than
in
vite
d to
dev
ote
the
extra
tim
e an
d re
ceiv
e th
e ad
ditio
nal s
uppo
rt un
til
they
are
succ
essf
ul.
We
have
not
yet
beg
un
to a
ddre
ss th
is is
sue.
We
are
talk
ing
abou
t th
is, b
ut h
ave
take
n no
sig
nific
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Page 99
Assessing Your Current Reality
Consider the descriptions of 5 stages of PLC progress regarding:
Systematic Interventions Ensure Students Receive Additional Time and Support for Learning
Individually, silently, and honestlyassess the current status of your school on the Professional Learning Community Continuum
Progress and ProblemsShare your assessment with your colleagues:
Where are areas of agreement? Where are the areas of disagreement?Where can you celebrate the greatest
progress?What areas are you finding problematic?
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
What steps could you take to make progress in these indicators?
Complete the “Where Do We Go From
Here” worksheets to begin your plan for becoming a school committed to a focus on learning.
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REPRODUCIBLE
80 Learning by Doing © 2006 Solution Tree ! www.solution-tree.com
Des
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Page 101
Common Mistakes in Building Consensus
• We try to go it alone, rather than building a guiding coalition including opinion leaders.
Include Opinion Leaders on Guiding Coalition
• Who supports an idea is more important to its adoption than the merits of the idea.
• About 15% of the members of organizations are Opinion Leaders - socially connected, knowledgeable, and trusted by others in the organization. Get them on board and the others will follow.
- Patterson , et al., 2008
Common Mistakes in Building Consensus
• We try to go it alone, rather than building a guiding coalition including opinion leaders.
• We use a forum that is ill-suited to the dialogue that is typically necessary for consensus.
• We use a process that allows cynics and skeptics to dominate.
• We pool opinions rather than build shared knowledge.
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A Cardinal Rule of PLCs• The answer to the question, “how do we
begin.....” virtually every aspect of the PLC concept is building shared knowledge. Put another way, a learning community always begins the decision-making process by learning together.
• Building shared knowledge is the prerequisite homework of a PLC when it is time to make a collective decision.
Common Mistakes in Building Consensus
• We try to go it alone, rather than building a guiding coalition including opinion leaders.
• We use a forum that is ill-suited to the dialogue that is typically necessary for consensus.
• We use a process that allows cynics and skeptics to dominate.
• We pool opinions rather than build shared knowledge.
• We feel we need consensus on each, specific detail of implementation.
• We set an unrealistic standard for consensus and invest too much energy in resisters.
Consensus
We have arrived at consensus when all points of view have been heard, and the will of the group is evident-- even to those who most oppose it.
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Necessary Commitments From the Principal
• Provide time for teachers to meet in teams, on a regular basis, during school day.
• Provide resources and training for teams as identified by team.
• Protect our school from competing improvement initiatives.
• Will not use results of common assessments in teacher evaluation.
Cons Pros
Fist to Five
5 - I’ll champion4 - Strongly Agree3 - Agree2 - Reservations1 - OpposeFist - Veto
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Consensus
We have arrived at consensus when all points of view have been heard, and the will of the group is evident-- even to those who most oppose it.
Focus on Behavior The central challenge and core problem
of all substantive change initiatives is changing people’s behavior. Change efforts must focus on what people do, and the need for significant changes in what people do. John Kotter and Dan Cohen, The Heart of Change
Which is Most Likely To Persuade an Educator to Change? Supervision and evaluation process Workshops or Courses A research article or book Evidence of his/her skewed grade
distributions
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Three Powerful Levers to Change Behavior
Kerry Patterson’s research on the most effective strategies for changing someone’s behavior cites 3 powerful levers.
Effective PLCs are designed to use all three!
Lever One: Concrete Evidence of Irrefutably Better Results
Nothing changes the mind like the hard cold world hitting it with actual real-life data. Patterson, et. al
Teachers have to feel there is some compelling reason for them to change practice, with the best direct evidence being that students learn better. The key to enduring change in teacher practice is demonstrable results in terms of student achievement. Richard Elmore, 2003
Transparency of results creates an aura of “positive pressure - pressure that is actionable in that it points to solutions and pressure that at the end of the day is inescapable. Michael Fullan, 2008
Lever Two:Positive Peer Pressure
When seeking tools to influence, no resource is more powerful and accessible than the people who make up our social networks. The approval or disapproval of our fellow human beings can do more to assist or destroy our change efforts than almost any other source. Patterson, et al. (2008)
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Lever Three: Personal Experience
The great persuader is personal experience. It is the mother of all cognitive map changes! Kerry Patterson, 2008, p. 51
We must turn aspirations into actions. It will not be enough to run visioning workshops; the visions will have to be reflected in daily behaviors. It will not be enough to declare an intent; leaders will have to deliver results. To accomplish results leaders engage employees’ hearts (emotions), minds (cognitions), and feet (action).
—Dave Ulrich, (1996), p. 211
Bringing the Big Ideas to Life:Turn Aspirations Into Actions
Learning by Doing Capacity building … is not just
workshops and professional development for all. It is the daily habit of working together, and you can’t learn this from a workshop or course. You need to learn it by doing it and having mechanisms for getting better at it on purpose. —Michael Fullan (2005)
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Recommended PLC Definitions We suggest the following definitions for key terms regarding PLCs. Professional Learning Community: educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLC’s operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators. Simultaneous Loose and Tight School Culture: a leadership concept in which leaders encourage autonomy and creativity (loose) within well-defined parameters and priorities that must be honored (tight). The concept has also been referred to as “directed empowerment” (Waterman, 1987), a “culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship” (Collins, 2001, p.124), and “defined autonomy” (Marzano and Waters, 2009). Team: a group of people working interdependently to achieve a common goal, for which members are held mutually accountable. Collaborative teams are the fundamental building blocks of PLCs. Collaboration: a systematic process in which people work together, interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve individual and collective results. Critical Questions of Collaborative Teams: In a PLC, collaboration focuses on the critical questions of learning: 1) what is it we want each student to learn, 2) how will we know when each student has learned, 3) how will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning, and 4) how will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient? Essential Learnings: the critical skills, knowledge, and dispositions each student must acquire as a result of each course, grade level, and unit of instruction. Essential learnings may also be referred to as essential outcomes, power standards, or guaranteed curriculum. Common Assessment: an assessment to monitor the learning of students who are expected to acquire the same knowledge and skills. The assessment will include the same instrument or a common process that uses the same criteria for determining the quality of student work. State and provincial assessments and district benchmark assessments are “common” assessments; however, in a PLC, common assessments are also created by a team of teachers who are collectively responsible for the learning of a group of students. Formative Assessment: an assessment for learning used to advance and not merely monitor each student’s learning (Stiggins, 2002). Formative assessments are used to monitor each student’s learning on a timely basis and to ensure any student who experiences difficulty reaching or exceeding proficiency is given additional time and support as well as additional opportunities to demonstrate his or her learning. Formative assessments are also used to help students monitor their own progress toward an intended standard of proficiency. Summative Assessment: an assessment of learning (Stiggins, 2002) designed to provide a final measure to determine if learning goals have been met. (Ainsworth and Viegut, 2006). Summative assessments yield a dichotomy – pass or fail, proficient or not proficient. Additional support is typically not forthcoming.
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Reciprocal Accountability: “For every increment of performance we ask of educators, there is an equal responsibility to provide them with the capacity to meet that expectation” (Elmore, 2006, p. 93). For example, principals of professional learning communities recognize they have an obligation to provide staff with the resources, training, mentoring, and support to help them successfully accomplish what they have been asked to do. Team Norms: In PLCs norms represent collective commitments developed by each team to guide members in working together. Norms help team members clarify expectations regarding how they will work together to achieve their shared goals. SMART Goal: goals that are Strategic & Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Oriented, and Time-Bound (Conzemius & O’Neill, 2005). Pyramid of Interventions: a school-wide plan that ensures every student in every course or grade level will receive additional time and support for learning as soon as they experience difficulty in acquiring essential knowledge and skills. The intervention occurs during the school day and students are required rather than invited to devote the extra time and secure the extra support for learning.
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CONFERENCE EVALUATION AND SURVEY OF FUTURE INTERESTS Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below. We greatly value your input! The information collected will be used to plan future professional development. Thank you very much for your time. 1.) How would you rate your experience with PLC’s?
____ Just getting started ____ Familiar with the concepts ____ Some experience with implementation ____ Actively engaged in a PLC; We’re almost there!
2.) How did this conference meet your needs? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.) Follow up in which of the following PLC areas would be most beneficial to you? (Please order your preferences starting with 1)
a. ___ Assessing current reality b. ___ Barriers to Learning Communities c. ___ Assessments d. ___ Collaborative Teams e. ___ Team Norms f. ___ Results-Orientated Goals g. ___ Effective use of achievement data h. ___ Interventions i. ___ Changing the Culture
4.) I would prefer follow-up professional development: (Please order your preferences starting with 1)
___ After school ____ On line ___ During the school day ____ Summer ___ Saturdays
5.) If you were to return to a conference with the DuFour’s next year, what topics would you like to see covered that were not addressed at this year’s event? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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NOTES
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NOTES
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NOTES
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Recommended PLC Resources
For interactive, no-commerce PLC information, visit www.allthingsplc.info
For books, videos, or events, contact Solution Tree at www.solution-tree.com or (800) 733–6786
Books Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, available June 2008) A Leader’s Companion (Eaker, DuFour, & DuFour, 2007) Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2006) Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2006) On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, Eds., 2005) Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Karhanek, 2004) Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Learning Communities (Eaker, DuFour, & DuFour, 2002) Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement (DuFour & Eaker, 1998)
Videos The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life (DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, 2007) Let’s Talk About PLC: Getting Started (DuFour, Eaker, DuFour, & Sparks, 2003) Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School (DuFour, 2002) How to Develop a Professional Learning Community: Passion and Persistence (DuFour, 2001) Articles (Available at www.allthingsplc.info) “Leadership Is an Affair of the Heart.” (Rick DuFour). Journal of Staff Development, Winter 2004. “What Is a Professional Learning Community?” (Richard DuFour). Educational Leadership, May 2004, 61(8), 6–11. “Building a Professional Learning Community.” (Rick DuFour). The School Administrator, May 2003. “Central-Office Support for Learning Communities.” (Rebecca Burnette DuFour). The School Administrator, May 2003. “How We Formed Our Community: Lights and Cameras Are Optional, but Action Is Essential.” (Becky Burnette DuFour). Journal of Staff Development, Winter 2002. “Pull Out Negativity by Its Roots.” (Rick DuFour & Becky Burnette). Journal of Staff Development, Summer 2002. “The Learning-Centered Principal.” (Richard DuFour). Educational Leadership, May 2002, 59(8), 12–15.
Other Resources National Staff Development Council: www.nsdc.org American Association of School Administrators: www.aasa.org “Learning Communities: What Do They Look Like and How Do You Get There?” Special issue of The School Administrator, May 2003.
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Resources to Support and Grow Your Professional Learning Community
Visit the All Things PLC Website at: www.allthingsplc.info
MISSION
The All Things PLC website provides research, articles, data and tools to educators who seek information about Professional Learning Communities at Work™. This information is provided so schools and districts have relevant, practical knowledge and tools as they create and sustain their Professional Learning Community.
VISION
The All Things PLC website will be the definitive clearinghouse of information for educators building or refining their Professional Learning Community.
GOALS
To provide up–to–date, timely and useful information to educators regarding Professional Learning Community concepts and practices.
To provide educators with insights from leading practitioners through an interactive web log (blog).
To provide research and articles about Professional Learning Community concepts. To provide information about schools that have successfully implemented the Professional
Learning Communities at Work model.
Look for Updates on Local Events and Resources at the Placer County Office of Education PLC Website: www.placercoe.k12.ca.us/plc
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EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
May 2004 | Volume 61 | Number 8
Schools as Learning Communities Pages 6-11__________________
What Is a "Professional Learning Community"?
To create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than teaching, workcollaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.
By Richard DuFour
The idea of improving schools by developing professional learning communities is currentlyin vogue. People use this term to describe every imaginable combination of individuals withan interest in education—a grade-level teaching team, a school committee, a high schooldepartment, an entire school district, a state department of education, a nationalprofessional organization, and so on. In fact, the term has been used so ubiquitously that itis in danger of losing all meaning.
The professional learning community model has now reached a critical juncture, one wellknown to those who have witnessed the fate of other well-intentioned school reform efforts.In this all-too-familiar cycle, initial enthusiasm gives way to confusion about thefundamental concepts driving the initiative, followed by inevitable implementation problems,the conclusion that the reform has failed to bring about the desired results, abandonment ofthe reform, and the launch of a new search for the next promising initiative. Another reformmovement has come and gone, reinforcing the conventional education wisdom thatpromises, "This too shall pass."
The movement to develop professional learning communities can avoid this cycle, but only ifeducators reflect critically on the concept's merits. What are the "big ideas" that representthe core principles of professional learning communities? How do these principles guideschools' efforts to sustain the professional learning community model until it becomesdeeply embedded in the culture of the school?
Big Idea #1: Ensuring That Students Learn
The professional learning community model flows from the assumption that the core missionof formal education is not simply to ensure that students are taught but to ensure that theylearn. This simple shift—from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning—has profoundimplications for schools.
School mission statements that promise "learning for all" have become a cliché. But when aschool staff takes that statement literally—when teachers view it as a pledge to ensure thesuccess of each student rather than as politically correct hyperbole—profound changesbegin to take place. The school staff finds itself asking, What school characteristics andpractices have been most successful in helping all students achieve at high levels? Howcould we adopt those characteristics and practices in our own school? What commitmentswould we have to make to one another to create such a school? What indicators could wemonitor to assess our progress? When the staff has built shared knowledge and foundcommon ground on these questions, the school has a solid foundation for moving forwardwith its improvement initiative.
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As the school moves forward, every professional in the building must engage withcolleagues in the ongoing exploration of three crucial questions that drive the work of thosewithin a professional learning community:
* What do we want each student to learn?
* How will we know when each student has learned it?
* How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?
The answer to the third question separates learning communities from traditional schools.
Here is a scenario that plays out daily in traditional schools. A teacher teaches a unit to thebest of his or her ability, but at the conclusion of the unit some students have not masteredthe essential outcomes. On the one hand, the teacher would like to take the time to helpthose students. On the other hand, the teacher feels compelled to move forward to "cover"the course content. If the teacher uses instructional time to assist students who have notlearned, the progress of students who have mastered the content will suffer; if the teacherpushes on with new concepts, the struggling students will fall farther behind.
What typically happens in this situation? Almost invariably, the school leaves the solution tothe discretion of individual teachers, who vary widely in the ways they respond. Someteachers conclude that the struggling students should transfer to a less rigorous course orshould be considered for special education. Some lower their expectations by adopting lesschallenging standards for subgroups of students within their classrooms. Some look forways to assist the students before and after school. Some allow struggling students to fail.
When a school begins to function as a professional learning community, however, teachersbecome aware of the incongruity between their commitment to ensure learning for allstudents and their lack of a coordinated strategy to respond when some students do notlearn. The staff addresses this discrepancy by designing strategies to ensure that strugglingstudents receive additional time and support, no matter who their teacher is. In addition tobeing systematic and schoolwide, the professional learning community's response tostudents who experience difficulty is
* Timely. The school quickly identifies students who need additional time and support.
* Based on intervention rather than remediation. The plan provides students with help assoon as they experience difficulty rather than relying on summer school, retention, andremedial courses.
* Directive. Instead of inviting students to seek additional help, the systematic plan requiresstudents to devote extra time and receive additional assistance until they have masteredthe necessary concepts.
The systematic, timely, and directive intervention program operating at Adlai StevensonHigh School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, provides an excellent example.
Every three weeks, every student receives a progress report. Within the first month ofschool, new students discover that if they are not doing well in a class, they will receive awide array of immediate interventions. First, the teacher, counselor, and faculty advisoreach talk with the student individually to help resolve the problem. The school also notifiesthe student's parents about the concern. In addition, the school offers the strugglingstudent a pass from study hall to a school tutoring center to get additional help in the
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course. An older student mentor, in conjunction with the struggling student's advisor, helpsthe student with homework during the student's daily advisory period.
Any student who continues to fall short of expectations at the end of six weeks despitethese interventions is required, rather than invited, to attend tutoring sessions during thestudy hall period. Counselors begin to make weekly checks on the struggling student'sprogress. If tutoring fails to bring about improvement within the next six weeks, the studentis assigned to a daily guided study hall with 10 or fewer students. The guided study hallsupervisor communicates with classroom teachers to learn exactly what homework eachstudent needs to complete and monitors the completion of that homework. Parents attend ameeting at the school at which the student, parents, counselor, and classroom teacher mustsign a contract clarifying what each party will do to help the student meet the standards forthe course.
Stevenson High School serves more than 4,000 students. Yet this school has found a way tomonitor each student's learning on a timely basis and to ensure that every student whoexperiences academic difficulty will receive extra time and support for learning.
Like Stevenson, schools that are truly committed to the concept of learning for each studentwill stop subjecting struggling students to a haphazard education lottery. These schools willguarantee that each student receives whatever additional support he or she needs.
Big Idea #2: A Culture of Collaboration
Educators who are building a professional learning community recognize that they mustwork together to achieve their collective purpose of learning for all. Therefore, they createstructures to promote a collaborative culture.
Despite compelling evidence indicating that working collaboratively represents best practice,teachers in many schools continue to work in isolation. Even in schools that endorse theidea of collaboration, the staff's willingness to collaborate often stops at the classroom door.Some school staffs equate the term "collaboration" with congeniality and focus on buildinggroup camaraderie. Other staffs join forces to develop consensus on operational procedures,such as how they will respond to tardiness or supervise recess. Still others organizethemselves into committees to oversee different facets of the school's operation, such asdiscipline, technology, and social climate. Although each of these activities can serve auseful purpose, none represents the kind of professional dialogue that can transform aschool into a professional learning community.The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is asystematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroompractice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promotedeep team learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement.
Collaborating for School Improvement
At Boones Mill Elementary School, a K-5 school serving 400 students in rural FranklinCounty, Virginia, the powerful collaboration of grade-level teams drives the schoolimprovement process. The following scenario describes what Boones Mill staff membersrefer to as their teaching-learning process.
The school's five 3rd grade teachers study state and national standards, the districtcurriculum guide, and student achievement data to identify the essential knowledge andskills that all students should learn in an upcoming language arts unit. They also ask the 4thgrade teachers what they hope students will have mastered by the time they leave 3rd
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grade. On the basis of the shared knowledge generated by this joint study, the 3rd gradeteam agrees on the critical outcomes that they will make sure each student achieves duringthe unit.
Next, the team turns its attention to developing common formative assessments to monitoreach student's mastery of the essential outcomes. Team members discuss the mostauthentic and valid ways to assess student mastery. They set the standard for each skill orconcept that each student must achieve to be deemed proficient. They agree on the criteriaby which they will judge the quality of student work, and they practice applying thosecriteria until they can do so consistently. Finally, they decide when they will administer theassessments.
After each teacher has examined the results of the common formative assessment for his orher students, the team analyzes how all 3rd graders performed. Team members identifystrengths and weaknesses in student learning and begin to discuss how they can build onthe strengths and address the weaknesses. The entire team gains new insights into what isworking and what is not, and members discuss new strategies that they can implement intheir classrooms to raise student achievement.
At Boones Mill, collaborative conversations happen routinely throughout the year. Teachersuse frequent formative assessments to investigate the questions "Are students learningwhat they need to learn?" and "Who needs additional time and support to learn?" ratherthan relying solely on summative assessments that ask "Which students learned what wasintended and which students did not?"Collaborative conversations call on team members to make public what has traditionallybeen private—goals, strategies, materials, pacing, questions, concerns, and results. Thesediscussions give every teacher someone to turn to and talk to, and they are explicitlystructured to improve the classroom practice of teachers—individually and collectively.
For teachers to participate in such a powerful process, the school must ensure thateveryone belongs to a team that focuses on student learning. Each team must have time tomeet during the workday and throughout the school year. Teams must focus their efforts oncrucial questions related to learning and generate products that reflect that focus, such aslists of essential outcomes, different kinds of assessment, analyses of student achievement,and strategies for improving results. Teams must develop norms or protocols to clarifyexpectations regarding roles, responsibilities, and relationships among team members.Teams must adopt student achievement goals linked with school and district goals.
Removing Barriers to Success
For meaningful collaboration to occur, a number of things must also stop happening.Schools must stop pretending that merely presenting teachers with state standards ordistrict curriculum guides will guarantee that all students have access to a commoncurriculum. Even school districts that devote tremendous time and energy to designing theintended curriculum often pay little attention to the implemented curriculum (what teachersactually teach) and even less to the attained curriculum (what students learn) (Marzano,2003). Schools must also give teachers time to analyze and discuss state and districtcurriculum documents.
More important, teacher conversations must quickly move beyond "What are we expected toteach?" to "How will we know when each student has learned?" In addition, faculties muststop making excuses for failing to collaborate. Few educators publicly assert that working inisolation is the best strategy for improving schools. Instead, they give reasons why it isimpossible for them to work together: "We just can't find the time." "Not everyone on the
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staff has endorsed the idea." "We need more training in collaboration." But the number ofschools that have created truly collaborative cultures proves that such barriers are notinsurmountable. As Roland Barth (1991) wrote,
Are teachers and administrators willing to accept the fact that they are part ofthe problem? . . . God didn't create self-contained classrooms, 50-minuteperiods, and subjects taught in isolation. We did—because we find workingalone safer than and preferable to working together. (pp. 126–127)
In the final analysis, building the collaborative culture of a professional learning communityis a question of will. A group of staff members who are determined to work together will finda way.
Big Idea #3: A Focus on Results
Professional learning communities judge their effectiveness on the basis of results. Workingtogether to improve student achievement becomes the routine work of everyone in theschool. Every teacher team participates in an ongoing process of identifying the currentlevel of student achievement, establishing a goal to improve the current level, workingtogether to achieve that goal, and providing periodic evidence of progress. The focus ofteam goals shifts. Such goals as "We will adopt the Junior Great Books program" or "We willcreate three new labs for our science course" give way to "We will increase the percentageof students who meet the state standard in language arts from 83 percent to 90 percent" or"We will reduce the failure rate in our course by 50 percent."
Schools and teachers typically suffer from the DRIP syndrome—Data Rich/Information Poor.The results-oriented professional learning community not only welcomes data but also turnsdata into useful and relevant information for staff. Teachers have never suffered from a lackof data. Even a teacher who works in isolation can easily establish the mean, mode,median, standard deviation, and percentage of students who demonstrated proficiencyevery time he or she administers a test. However, data will become a catalyst for improvedteacher practice only if the teacher has a basis of comparison.
When teacher teams develop common formative assessments throughout the school year,each teacher can identify how his or her students performed on each skill compared withother students. Individual teachers can call on their team colleagues to help them reflect onareas of concern. Each teacher has access to the ideas, materials, strategies, and talents ofthe entire team.
Freeport Intermediate School, located 50 miles south of Houston, Texas, attributes itssuccess to an unrelenting focus on results. Teachers work in collaborative teams for 90minutes daily to clarify the essential outcomes of their grade levels and courses and to alignthose outcomes with state standards. They develop consistent instructional calendars andadminister the same brief assessment to all students at the same grade level at theconclusion of each instructional unit, roughly once a week.
Each quarter, the teams administer a common cumulative exam. Each spring, the teamsdevelop and administer practice tests for the state exam. Each year, the teams pore overthe results of the state test, which are broken down to show every teacher how his or herstudents performed on every skill and on every test item. The teachers share their resultsfrom all of these assessments with their colleagues, and they quickly learn when ateammate has been particularly effective in teaching a certain skill. Team membersconsciously look for successful practice and attempt to replicate it in their own practice;they also identify areas of the curriculum that need more attention.
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Freeport Intermediate has been transformed from one of the lowest-performing schools inthe state to a national model for academic achievement. Principal Clara Sale-Davis believesthat the crucial first step in that transformation came when the staff began to honestlyconfront data on student achievement and to work together to improve results rather thanmake excuses for them.
Of course, this focus on continual improvement and results requires educators to changetraditional practices and revise prevalent assumptions. Educators must begin to embracedata as a useful indicator of progress. They must stop disregarding or excusing unfavorabledata and honestly confront the sometimes-brutal facts. They must stop using averages toanalyze student performance and begin to focus on the success of each student.
Educators who focus on results must also stop limiting improvement goals to factors outsidethe classroom, such as student discipline and staff morale, and shift their attention to goalsthat focus on student learning. They must stop assessing their own effectiveness on thebasis of how busy they are or how many new initiatives they have launched and begininstead to ask, "Have we made progress on the goals that are most important to us?"Educators must stop working in isolation and hoarding their ideas, materials, and strategiesand begin to work together to meet the needs of all students.
Hard Work and Commitment
Even the grandest design eventually translates into hard work. The professional learningcommunity model is a grand design—a powerful new way of working together thatprofoundly affects the practices of schooling. But initiating and sustaining the conceptrequires hard work. It requires the school staff to focus on learning rather than teaching,work collaboratively on matters related to learning, and hold itself accountable for the kindof results that fuel continual improvement.
When educators do the hard work necessary to implement these principles, their collectiveability to help all students learn will rise. If they fail to demonstrate the discipline to initiateand sustain this work, then their school is unlikely to become more effective, even if thosewithin it claim to be a professional learning community. The rise or fall of the professionallearning community concept depends not on the merits of the concept itself, but on themost important element in the improvement of any school—the commitment andpersistence of the educators within it.
References
Barth, R. (1991). Restructuring schools: Some questions for teachers and principals. PhiDelta Kappan, 73(2), 123–128.Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria,VA: ASCD.
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Richard DuFour recently retired as Superintendent of Adlai Stevenson High School inLincolnshire, Illinois. He currently resides in Moneta, Virginia, and may be reached at (540)721-4662; [email protected]. His forthcoming book is Whatever It Takes: How aProfessional Learning Community Responds When Kids Don't Learn (National EducationalService, in press).
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In Praise of Top-Down Leadership
by Dr. Rick DuFour
I have noticed an interesting phenomenon when I work with educators on strategies to
improve student achievement in their schools. They sometimes confide in me that the
central office has issued a “top-down” mandate that all their schools must embrace and
model certain key concepts and practices. The phrase “top-down” is uttered with disdain,
a pejorative term used in much the same way Rush Limbaugh would use “liberal,” and
they expect me to be appalled at this affront to the autonomy of educators. After all, isn’t
there ample evidence that top-down improvement doesn’t work (Fullan, 2007)? Isn’t it
clear that improvement initiatives will not occur unless there is buy-in, a willingness of
those engaged in the initiative to rally around it. Haven’t researchers warned that without
this buy-in you will only generate resentful compliance that dooms the initiative to
inevitable failure (Hargreave and Fink, 2006; McLaughlin and Talbert, 2006)? Shouldn’t
the people closest to the action, those at the school site, decide the direction of their
schools?
In the ongoing debate of the efficacy of top-down versus bottom-up strategies to improve
school districts, top-down is clearly losing. Many district leaders are reluctant to
champion improvement for fear of being labeled with the epithet, “top-down leader,” the
unkindest cut of all.
The glib advice given to superintendents and principals who actually hope to foster
improvement is they must simply build widespread consensus for a concept or initiative
before proceeding. But what happens when a well-intentioned leader does everything
right in terms of engaging staff members in the consideration of a change initiative and
makes a compelling case for moving forward, but the staff prefers the status quo? Now
let’s add one more element to the scenario. The initiative unquestionably represents a
clearly better way of operating than what currently is in place. Is the laissez-faire
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leadership of simply allowing people to do as they wish really the only alternative when
collective inquiry, persuasion, and attempts at building consensus fail to stir people to act
in new ways?
The tension regarding “who decides who decides” how (or even if) a school will be
improved, ignores a more central question: does professional autonomy extend to the
freedom to disregard what is widely considered best practice in one’s field? I suggest that
educators have danced around this question rather than addressing it, and their inattention
to the issue has fostered an unhealthy and unrealistic sense of what constitutes
professional autonomy. District leaders have contributed to this peculiar view of
professionalism because they have allowed teachers and principals the discretion to
ignore even the most widely recognized best practices of the profession.
There is considerable evidence that leaving the issue of school improvement to each school
to resolve on its own does not result in more effective schools (Fullan, 2007; Schlechty,
2005; Elmore, 2003). Conversely, there is considerable research to suggest that high-
performing districts have coherent strategies for improvement that hold adults accountable
for impacting student learning in a positive way (Harvard PELP Project, 2007; Shannon
and Bylsama, 2004).
Leaders who create schools and districts capable of sustained substantive improvement
are not laissez-faire in their approach to education but rather are skillful in implementing
the concept of simultaneous loose and tight leadership. The concept has also been
referred to as directed empowerment (Waterman,1987) or a culture of discipline within
an ethic of entrepreneurship (Collins, 2001). This leadership approach fosters autonomy
and creativity (loose) within a systematic framework that stipulates clear, non-
discretionary priorities and parameters (tight).
Of course, one of the most essential elements of effective loose-tight leadership is getting
“tight” about the right things. There is abundant evidence that certain practices,
processes, and school cultures result in high levels of student achievement. For example,
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students learn more when those who teach them are very clear about and very committed
to ensuring that each student acquires the intended knowledge, skills, and dispositions of
each course, grade level, and unit of instruction. They learn more when their teachers
check for understanding on an ongoing basis and use frequent team-developed common
formative assessments rather than individually created summative assessments. They
learn more when their school has timely, directive, and systematic interventions that
guarantee them additional time and support for learning when they experience difficulty.
They learn more when their teachers work in collaborative teams rather than in isolation -
if their teachers stay focused on the right work. They learn more when members of those
collaborative teams work interdependently to achieve specific, results-oriented goals
linked to student learning, goals for which they are mutually accountable. They learn
more when each teacher has the benefit of frequent and timely information on the
achievement of his or her students, user-friendly information that helps the teacher
determine the strengths and weaknesses of various instructional strategies. They learn
more when professional development in the school is job-embedded and structures are in
place to help teachers learn from one another as part of their routine work practice. These
practices are supported by research, proven to be effective in hundreds of schools, and
endorsed by professional organizations. Most importantly, they are not counter-intuitive.
They pass the test of common sense.
For simplicity sake, let’s call the conditions described in the preceding paragraph the
practices of a professional learning community (PLC). How might district leaders attempt
to integrate these practices in their schools?
A tale of three districts
I witnessed the following change processes in three districts that attempted to implement
PLC concepts in their schools
District A. The Autocratic Approach.
The district had shown little interest in professional learning communities until one of its
schools demonstrated remarkable gains in student achievement. When the faculty
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attributed the gains to their implementation of PLC concepts, the central office
announced every school was now required to become a PLC. Unfortunately the
pronouncement was not accompanied by any attempt to clarify the term, by training, by
time for faculties to do the work of PLCs , or by resources of any kind. The central office
made no effort to monitor the progress of the initiative in any school and did nothing to
model its own commitment to PLC practices. This central office approach had no effect
on student achievement, but it did cause a great deal of resentment toward the school that
had been singled out for its success.
District B. The Laissez-Faire Approach
The superintendent of this large district became convinced of the merits of the PLC
concept and the Board of Education stipulated in its annual goals that every school would
become a PLC. The district devoted considerable resources to the initiative, offering
ongoing training for all principals and for a teacher team from each of its schools.
Unfortunately, the central office did not speak with one voice regarding the priority of the
initiative. Some assistant superintendents supported principals, clarified expectations,
monitored the progress of each school, and worked with the district’s professional
development department to coordinate training according to the specific needs of each
school. Other assistant superintendents left the initiative to the discretion of each
principal. Many of their principals opted not to attend the training. No effort was made to
monitor the progress of their schools. At the end of two years some schools had made
remarkable progress while others had made none.
District C: Loose-Tight Leadership at Work
The superintendent had become convinced that the PLC concept offered the best hope for
significant, sustained school improvement for his district. He arranged for two-days of
introductory training for the principal and a team of teachers from every school. He
advised the teacher union representative of the training and invited her to attend. He
actively participated in all of the training, and his entire central office leadership team
attended as well.
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The training was specifically designed to create a common vocabulary, build shared
knowledge about the PLC concept, make a compelling case for the benefits of the
concept, and give all participants the opportunity to express their concerns and questions
to the consultants providing the training. A segment of each day was devoted to “ask the
superintendent,” and everyone in the room was invited to present a question directly to
the superintendent for an immediate and public response. The superintendent made
certain to check in with his central office staff, principals, and teachers during lunch and
breaks to get their perspectives on what they were learning.
By the end of the two days there was palpable, widespread enthusiasm for the concept.
Then, in the midst of the initial enthusiasm, the union representative posed a critical
question to the superintendent, “This all sounds fine, but are you saying we will be
required to do this? Is this a top-down mandate?” It was a pivotal moment in the
improvement process. His answer captured the essence of loose-tight leadership.
He said: “Why wouldn’t we do this? Is anyone aware of any evidence that this is
detrimental to student learning, teacher effectiveness, or positive school cultures? This
concept is supported by research, endorsed by our professional organizations,
implemented with great success in schools around us, and it just makes sense. Knowing
the commitment of the teachers in this district to do what is best for kids, how could we
not go forward with this? I admit I am not certain as to all the details of implementation,
and I will need your ideas as to how we can help all your colleagues becoming familiar
with the concept. I know all of us will need time and resources to move forward, and we
will need to consider what we will remove from our plates if we take on this challenge.
But I propose this is the work we should be doing, and we need to build on the energy
and enthusiasm in this room today and commit to doing whatever it takes to make this
happen in our district.”
Over the course of the next two years the district supported ongoing training for every
school in the district. Practices were aligned with the initiative, schedules were adjusted
to provide teachers with time to engage in the work of PLCs, the focus of administrative
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meetings changed to support principals in their implementation efforts. Central office
staff met with concerned faculties and groups of teachers to address their questions. In
two years, the district had the greatest gains in student achievement in the state.
If some regard the scenario described in District C as “top-down leadership,” then I come
to praise top-down leadership, not to bury it. One of the most essential responsibilities of
leadership is clarity – clarity regarding the fundamental purpose of the organization, the
future it must create to better fulfill that purpose, the most high-leverage strategies for
creating that future, the indicators of progress it will monitor, and the specific ways each
member of the organization can contribute both to its long-term purpose and short-term
goals (Buckingham, 2005). If educational leaders contend that the purpose of the
organization is to ensure all students learn at high levels (as virtually all our mission
statements contend), and then they allow people throughout the organization to opt out of
practices and processes that are clearly more effective at promoting learning than the
prevailing practices, they send mixed messages that will succeed in creating confusion
and cynicism but will fail to improve their schools and districts. Thus, they will fail as
leaders.
Leaders should certainly utilize every component of an effective change process (see
sidebar #1) and should commit to what Richard Elmore (2006) has referred to as
“reciprocal accountability.” This principle calls upon leaders to help build the capacity of
the members of the group to accomplish what they have been asked to accomplish. For
example, if teachers are being asked to collaborate, leaders have an obligation to create
structures that make collaboration meaningful rather than artificial, to guarantee time for
collaboration during the contractual day, to establish clear priorities and parameters so
that teachers focus on the right topics, to help teams make informed decisions by making
the essential knowledge base easily accessible to them, to provide meaningful and timely
training based on the specific needs of each team, to offer templates and models to guide
their work, and to specify clear expectations and standards to help them assess the quality
of their work. In this sense, the leader functions as a “servant leader” asking, “what can I
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do to give people in this organization the tools and skills to ensure their eventual success
as they undertake this challenge.”
But just as certainly, leaders must be prepared to insist that those within their
organizations heed rather than ignore clear evidence of the best, most promising
strategies for accomplishing its purpose and priorities. Educational leaders must provide
both pressure and support if they are to play a role in improving their schools and
districts.
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
I offer four assertions.
First, students will not achieve at higher levels unless the schools that serve them undergo
significant changes in both their structures (policies, programs, procedures, schedules)
and cultures (assumptions, beliefs, values, expectations, and habits that constitute the
norm for that school). While it is relatively easy to implement structural change, it is very
difficult to change the culture of an organization. Every existing system has a well-
entrenched culture already in place. It is only natural that people working within that
system will typically seek to preserve the status quo. They will also be inclined to filter
improvement initiatives through the lens of the existing culture, distorting the initiative to
fit the culture rather than changing the culture to align with the initiative. In the midst of
cultural change educators are likely to perceive that their school has been weakened, their
opinions are not valued, and that the stability of the school has been undermined. Periods
of frustration, and even anger, are not uncommon (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005).
Conflict and disagreements are inevitable (Fullan, 2007). In short, real cultural change is
real hard, and it is unrealistic to believe it will be universally embraced.
Second, cultural change will not occur without intentional leadership. There is abundant
evidence regarding the positive impact on student achievement when the practices
mentioned earlier in this article are in place. Furthermore, educators will typically
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acknowledge the benefits of those practices. Too often, however, they take no steps to
implement them. Schools suffer from what Pfeffer and Sutton (2000) call the “knowing-
doing gap” – the puzzling mystery of why knowledge of what needs to be done so often
fails to result in action consistent with that knowledge. The key to improving schools is
ensuring that educators do the right work, but too often leaders settle for the illusion of
doing. Strategic planning isn’t doing, training isn’t doing, writing mission statements
isn’t doing, talking isn’t doing, even making a decision isn’t doing unless it results in
action. Getting people to do differently, to act in new ways, remains the central challenge
of every improvement process (Kotter and Cohen, 2002), and it takes intentional
leadership to meet that challenge.
3. Leaders should fully engage staff in the consideration of a change process.
Leaders make a mistake when they say, “I have looked at the data and research, and I
know what needs to be done.” They are much more effective when they engage staff in
learning together, building shared knowledge. It is clear that people are more committed
to a decision if they were engaged in the process that led to the decision (Covey, 1989;
Axelrod, 2002). And while large group convocations may be an efficient way for leaders
to present an initial case for change, small group dialogues are more effective in engaging
people in the decision-making process. During these conversations leaders should honor
the concerns and objections that are presented and be willing to compromise if the
modification does not violate the fundamental principles of the initiative. But it is also
legitimate for leaders to present evidence and arguments that are intended to convert
those who resist the initiative. Howard Gardner’s (2006) insights on how to change
someone’s mind offer helpful advice on this topic (see sidebar #2).
If, however, all attempts to persuade educators to do the right work fails to persuade them
to do it, leaders should exercise their authority to require that the work be done. A
“professional” is someone with expertise in a specialized field, an individual who has not
only pursued advanced training to enter the field, but who is also expected to remain
current in its evolving knowledge base. A professional does not have the autonomy to
ignore what is regarded as best practice in the field. We would have contempt for a
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doctor who continued to use a razor blade to perform radial keratotomy on a patient’s eye
rather than use the much more effective, pain-free process of lasek surgery. We would
not tolerate an attorney who continued to cite arguments from case law that had been
overturned by higher courts. We would not support the notion that a United Airlines pilot
should have the right to fly a propeller plane rather than a jet because he has an affinity
for propellers. Leaders within a profession have every right to expect people to seek and
implement the best practice in their field.
Much is required of school leaders if they are to build the capacity of people throughout
the organization to help more students learn at higher levels. They must encourage people
throughout the organization to examine and articulate their assumptions. They must help
build shared knowledge and encourage learning by doing. They must create new
experiences for people that call upon them to act in new ways. They must build
continuous improvement processes into the routine practices of each school. They must
demonstrate fierce resolve and consistent commitment to a sustained direction over an
extended period of time. And, very significantly, they must be emphatically assertive
when necessary and use the power of their position to get people to act in ways that are
aligned with the mission of higher levels of learning for all.
Sidebar #1: Key steps in Leading a Change Process
The old adage asserts that managers do things right while leaders do the right things.
What are some of the “right things” that leaders do when initiating a substantive change
process?
1. Remember the Law of the Few – the ability of a small close-knit group to champion an
idea or proposal until it reaches a “tipping point” and spreads throughout the organization
(Gladwell, 2002). Create a guiding coalition to assist in building consensus, reaching a
tipping point, and implementing the change process.
2. Engage staff in examining the current reality – an honest assessment of the brutal facts
regarding student achievement and the existing practices within their schools.
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3. Provide evidence of the benefits of the proposed initiative – the supporting research
base, examples from successful schools, endorsements of professional organizations –
and ask staff to examine the evidence with you.
4.Create a forum for small-group dialogues to hear the concerns and questions of staff.
5. Engage in active listening. Seek to understand rather than be understood. Solicit ideas
from staff regarding how the initiative might be modified in order to be more effective
and be willing to compromise while remaining true to the core principles of the initiative.
6. Create pilot programs to test the initiative and learn by doing.
7. Use all of Gardner’s research-based strategies on persuasion and seek to find common
ground. Create a critical mass for moving forward rather than waiting for unanimity as a
basis for action.
8. Encourage site-based autonomy in the details of implementation while remaining tight
on the core principles of the initiative.
9. Protect schools from competing initiatives and help create a list of things schools can
“stop doing” in order to devote more time to the priority.
10. Provide resources –time, materials, training – to support the implementation effort.
11. Align all district policies, practices, and procedures with the core principles of the
initiative.
12. Create a precise common language regarding key concepts of the initiative.
13. Provide clear standards for assessing all aspects of the work to be completed and
ensure that people throughout the organization know how to apply those standards to
their efforts.
14. Communicate the significance of the initiative by creating processes to monitor its
progress.
15. Celebrate small wins as the initiative moves forward.
16. Celebrate failed attempts for the insights that were gained.
17. Create systems to embed the initiative into the routine practices of the school.
18. Tell stories that appeal to both the head and the heart - stories that capture the efforts
of people throughout the organization and describe the impact it is having on the lives of
students.
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19. Ensure that leaders throughout the organization are speaking with one voice on what
the district is “tight” about.
20. Confront those who violate what you have proclaimed must be tight.
Sidebar #2
Effective leaders will encourage rather than ignore or squash disagreement because they
recognize that when managed well, disagreements provide an opportunity to draw out
assumptions, build shared knowledge, clarify priorities, and find common ground. They
will recognize there will be more than one way to solve any given problem and will be
open to exploring alternative strategies or timelines for implementation. On the other
hand, they will hold firm to the core principle that professionals have an obligation to
seek out and implement the best practices for achieving the purpose and priorities of the
school and district. Toward that end, they will be willing to utilize every strategy that
Howard Gardner has identified for changing someone’s mind as presented below.
1. Reasoning and rationale thinking. “Doesn’t it make sense that we can accomplish
more by working together collaboratively rather than in isolation, by checking for student
understanding through formative assessments rather than waiting for the results of
summative assessments, by creating timely school-wide systematic interventions when
students experience difficulty rather than expecting each teacher to try to figure out how
to respond?”
2. Research. “I have shared the research with you that supports this initiative. I
found it very compelling. Do you interpret it another way? Do you have any research
refuting it we could look at together?”
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3. Resonance. “I know you believe in equity and fairness. Wouldn’t it be more
equitable and fair if we could assure students they would have access to the same
guaranteed curriculum no matter who their teacher is, that their work would be assessed
according to the same criteria, that we have a consistent way of responding when they
struggle to understand?”
4. Representational Re-description. “I have presented you with the data regarding
the fact that large numbers of our students are not being successful. But let me put those
numbers in human terms. Let me tell you some stories of the impact their failure is
having on their lives.”
5. Rewards and Resources. “I acknowledge this will be difficult. That is why I ask
your help in identifying the resources you will need to be successful – time, training,
materials support, etc.. Let’s work together to identify them and I pledge I will do
everything in my power to make them available.”
6. Real-World Events. “I understand you have misgivings and predict negative
consequences if we implement this initiative. But let’s visit some schools and districts
that have done it successfully. You will hear the enthusiasm of the teachers as they
explain how they and their students have benefited.”
7. Require. “I understand you remain unconvinced, but this is the direction in which
we are going, and this is what you must do to help us get us there. My hope is, as you
work through the process it will be a positive experience, and you will come to have a
more positive disposition toward it.”
Effective leaders must recognize that school improvement cannot wait for everyone in the
organization to have a favorable attitude toward the proposed change. There is abundant
evidence in the fields of psychology, organizational development, and education that
changes in attitudes follow rather than precede changes in behavior. When work is
designed to require people to act in new ways, the possibility of new experiences are
created for them. If those new experiences are positive, the can lead to new attitudes and
assumptions over time.
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