PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES “ Best Practices For Enhancing Student Achievement”

1. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES“Best Practices For Enhancing Student Achievement”

2. Professional Learning Communities at Work • Mission, Vision, Values and Goals. • Collaborative Teams Engaged in Collective Inquiry. • Changing Your School’s Culture. • Planning a PLC-Model School.

3. In times of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.-- Eric Hoffer, 1972

4. FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS • We can make a difference. • Schools can be more effective. • “People Improvement” is the key to school improvement. • Significant school improvement will impact teaching and learning. BUT…. There are a variety of ideas about the purpose of schools.

5. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SCHOOLS? DIRECTIONS: Find handout #5 in your notebook. As a PLC team, take a minute to consider what you believe is the purpose of your job and of all schools. 3. Write a concise statement articulating your view.

6. DISCUSS AT YOUR TABLE: • Does your Mission Statement contain the commitment to ensure student learning? Where? Does it imply who is responsible?

7. A PLC is ... • PROFESSIONAL? “Every teacher is a leader; Every leader is a teacher.” • LEARNING? In a PLC School, learning applies as much to teachers, administrators, and parents as to students. Focus on instruction, curriculum and assessment • COMMUNITY? Support Cooperation vs. competition Focus intensely on the mission, vision, goals, and values. Improvement of the whole vs. striving to get ahead individually. A sense of purpose all staff embraces and commits to. • It’s not all about me!

8. PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS… • Emphasize learning. • Emphasize active student engagement and significant content. • Focus on student performance and production.

9. PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS…(CONT.) • Collaborate with colleagues. • Are students of teaching, consumers of research. • Function as leaders.

10. MISSION: The “WHAT”. What do we want to occur? Ex. All Children Can Learn whatever it takes! What do we expect all kids to know and be able to do? What is our response when they don’t? VISION: The “There”. How will get from here to there? The dream school you would design for your own child or grandchild! The way things “should be”. Ex. Vision: Students with a Future. MISSION VS. VISION

11. You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going ‘cause you might not get there!Yogi Berra

12. WHAT KIND OF PLACE DO I WANTMY SCHOOL TO BEFIVE YEARS FROMNOW?

13. THE FOUR PILLARS OF PLC MISSION Why do we exist? VISION What kind of school are we trying to create? VALUES What attitudes, behaviors, and commitments must we demonstrate in order to create the school of our vision? GOALS Which steps should we take first? What is our timeline? What evidence will we present to demonstrate our progress?

14. GOALS / PRIORITIES • Challenge areas agreed on by all • Steps we will take to get from here to there • Focus on outcome, Linked to vision • The gap between our vision and the current reality.

15. Collaborative Teams Engaged in Collective Inquiry

16. You cannot have students as continuous learners and effective collaborators, without teachers that have the same characteristics.Michael Fullan, 1993

17. Separated by their classrooms and packed teaching schedules, teachers rarely work or talk together about teaching practices. Linda Darling-Hammond, 1995

18. SIX STRATEGIES FOR CREATING TEAM TIME • Creative scheduling • Using paraprofessionals • Parent volunteers • Schoolwide activities • Theme and team-teaching • Purchased planning time

19. FOR EFFECTIVE TEAMS: • Build in time during the school day • Make purpose explicit • Train school personnel • Accept responsibility

20. TEAM MEETINGS • Agendas and prepared materials • Note-taking • Sticking to the task

21. COLLABORATIVE TEAMS • Grade-level or subject-area • Shared students • Schoolwide task forces • Professional training (teaching strategies, etc. • Vertical Teams

22. God didn’t create self-contained classrooms, fifty-minute periods, and subjects taught in isolation. We did---because we find working alone safer than and preferable to working together.Roland Barth, 1991

23. COLLECTIVE INQUIRY:THE SEARCH TO… • Clarify • Research collectively • Find, implement, test best practices

24. COLLECTIVE INQUIRY“The vehicle that takes you where you want to go.” • Looking closely at the underlying causes of the school’s challenges. • Inquiry into the relationship between your present situation and the way you’d like things to be at your school. • Inquiry into the priority areas where your current reality fell short of your vision.

25. COLLECTIVE INQUIRY(CONT.)* Based on the premise: “No one is as smart as “all of us”. • Inquiry is all about understanding WHY your challenge area exists BEFORE attempting to solve it, so that your solution will truly address the specific challenge vs. a band aid fix.

26. Collective Inquiry IS NOT: • Jumping to conclusions • Jumping on another bandwagon

27. Collective Inquiry IS NOT(cont.): • Making Assumptions without forming and testing hypotheses • Placing Blame on any group in the community

28. By emphasizing needed changes in the culture of the schools and the daily practice of professionals, the reform movement can concentrate on the heart of the school---the teaching and the learning process. Karen Seashore Louis, Sharon Kruse and Mary Ann Raywid, 1996

29. Shared Mission, Vision, Values, Goals Collective Inquiry Collaborative Teams 4. Action Experimentation 5. Continuous Improvement 6. Focus on Results The “CULTURE” of aProfessional Learning Community

30. The processes involved in school improvement are analogous to farming. We must plant the seeds of school improvement, cultivate, nurture, and care for them. We must practice patience…. Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Mary Ann Ranells, 1992

31. Organizations cannot proclaim a change in attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. People are often unaware of the uniqueness of their organization’s culture. In fact, culture has been described as “the way we do things around here” and “the assumptions we don’t see.” Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker, 1992

32. If you intend to introduce a change that is incompatible with the organization’s culture, you have only three choices: modify the change to be more in line with the existing culture, alter the culture to be more in line with the proposed change, or prepare to fail.David Salisbury & Daryl Conner, 1994

33. STRUCTURE Day-To-Day Policies & Procedures CULTURE Long-Term Beliefs, Expectations, and Habits STRUCTURE VS. CULTURE

34. ASCHOOL’S CULTURE MIGHT MEAN…… • Shared decision-making and teamwork. • Effective meetings. • Focus on goals. • Excitement and support.

35. KEYS TO PLCCULTURE • Continuous Improvement • Results Orientation

36. TO CHANGE YOUR SCHOOL’S CULTURE • Promote your mission, vision, values and goals. • Bring your staff together to find best practices. • Sustain the culture through communication. • Persist. • Confront problems.

37. WHY CELEBRATE? • Public honor and reward motivate recipients. • Appropriate celebration reinforces shared values. • Recognition provides living examples of cultural values.

38. WHY CELEBRATE?(CONT.) • Celebration fuels momentum. • It’s fun!

39. Share – Own - Solve Share Concerns Own the Problem Solve the Problem Together

40. FIRST STEPS • TAKE STOCK • FORGE VISION - MAKE IT VISIBLE • ITENTIFY 4 PRIORITIES • STAFF SELF-SELECTS TO TEAMS • ESTABLISH A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM • TRAIN STAFF IN PLC • PRACTICE INQUIRY • START SMALL • CELEBRATE YOUR FIRST “WIN”

41. MEETING NORMS • Start and end on time • Attendance • Agenda • Roles • Meeting times • Stay on the agenda • Make meetings worthwhile • NO SIDE BARS • NO PUT DOWNS • BE brief and directive • Include all in decision making • Provide a way for everyone to contribute

42. ROTATE ROLES • Facilitator • Recorder • Timekeeper • Gatekeeper • Visionary • Inquirer • Resource • Closure • Reporter • Refreshments

43. AGENDA Team Name Date of Meeting Present Absent • Call to Order • Reports • Discussion • Decisions • Assignments • Next meeting

44. Parent Engagement K-Bowden 1-White 2-Smith 3-Masters 4-Norris S-Chandler Cl-Thomas P-Eslick C-Eslick Time On Task K 1 2 3 4 S Cl P C Collaborative Teams

45. PLAN YOUR WORK; WORK YOUR PLAN • REFLECT ON THE BENEFITS OF A PLC. • WHAT STEPS WILL YOU TAKE THIS FALL TO BEGIN THE PROCESS? • WITH WHICH STEPS ARE YOU MOST COMFORTABLE? UNCOMFORTABLE? • HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?