day 1—morning keynote what commitments are you prepared to … · 2018-02-16 · modeling...

What Commitments Are YouPrepared to Make—and More

Importantly, Keep?

Robert Eaker

RobertEaker

Day 1—Morning Keynote



Day 1—Morning Breakout

Day 2—Morning Breakout

Day 3—In-Depth Seminar

i

What Commitments Are You Prepared to Make—and More

Importantly, Keep?

Robert Eaker

Question

So, what have you learned?

What are the things you now know about the professional learning community framework, concepts, practices, and vocabulary?

The first step always taken in a PLC is to gain shared knowledge.

From Knowing to Believing

While it is essential to know and deeply understand the concepts, practices, and vocabulary that form the PLC at Work framework, do you truly, deep down, believethese concepts and practices can make a significant, positive impact on both student and adult learning in your district, school, or team?

Big Idea: From Believing to Doing

It’s simply not enough to “know” or even “believe.” Ultimately, the questions that must be addressed are:

“What am I prepared to do? What commitments am I willing to make—and more importantly, keep?”

DuFour, DuFour, Eaker. © Solution Tree 2018. SolutionTree.comDo not duplicate. 1

It is relatively easy for a faculty and staff to reach agreement about broad beliefs (“We believe all students can learn!” “We believe in the dignity of each child!”).

It is a much more difficult challenge to address the following questions—with fidelity:

What are we prepared to do? What commitments are we prepared to make—to become the district, school, team, or teacher we say we want to become?

From Commitments to Action

As critical as collaboratively developed commitments are, they are useless (except as a public relations gimmick) unless they cause us to act!

A Commitment to Action

Do we really mean it when we say we envision a district or school that focuses on ensuring high levels of learning for all students?

If so, wouldn’t we ask fundamentally different questions? More importantly, wouldn’t we behave in different ways?

What would lead us to believe we can significantly improve student learning levels if we continue to do essentially the same things in the same way?

From a “Fad” to “Fidelity”

Unfortunately, some educators view each new approach or initiative as something they must include in their district, school, or classroom.

Such a culture will rarely have little impact on student learning, and worse, administrators, teachers, and support staff are left to suffer from fad overload.

DuFour, DuFour, Eaker. © Solution Tree 2018. SolutionTree.comDo not duplicate.2

Modeling FidelityMore important than verbal pronouncements or written commitments are day‐in, day‐out leadership behaviors that communicate what a leader truly values—those things to which a leader is really committed.

Regardless of verbal pronouncements, banners, and public relations gimmicks, it is the day‐to‐day behaviors that communicate the real commitments of any leader. So, ask yourself:

• What do I plan for?

• What behaviors do I model?

• What do I monitor—check on?

• What behaviors am I willing to confront?

• What do I celebrate?

• What questions am I attempting to answer?

• What is the basis for allocating resources?

The answers to these questions communicate to others what you truly value—the things to which you are really and truly committed—the things you value the most!

The KeyThe key to success is not simply “being committed,” but rather being committed to specific behaviors and attitudes most likely to have a positive impact on student and adult learning, and then drilling these behaviors deep into the district, school, and team cultures withpurpose, persistence, and passion!A constant and consistent drip, drip, drip!


It’s Obvious

Most would agree that some commitments—some agreed‐upon behaviors and attitudes—have a much greater impact on both student and adult learning than others.

Consider the following critical commitments as you return to your school district, school, or team.

(Note: A strong research‐base supports each critical commitment.)

An Important Reminder

Critical commitments are interconnected and dependent each upon the other.

To develop a culture reflective of a PLC, all critical commitments must be addressed.

Critical Commitment: Building a Foundation for Learning for All!

A sharp focus on learning for all requires a solid foundation, a clear understanding by everyone of:• Why do we exist?—Our core, fundamental purpose? (Mission)

• Given our current reality, how would we like to be significantly different? Can we describe the district, or school, or team we seek to become? (Vision)

• What values or commitments are we going to promote, protect, defend, and celebrate?

• What steps will we take—and when will be take them—to reach short‐term (SMART) goals and long‐term (stretch) goals?


Connecting the Dots

Shared commitments serve as the “linking pin” within the foundation of a PLC.

They move the discussion from “beliefs” to “behaviors”—the behaviors and attitudes we commit to having as we move our district or school toward its mission of ensuring high levels of learning for all students.

Conceptualize this graphic: —DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, & Mattos, Learning by Doing (2016)

Critical Commitment: Collective Inquiry Into Best Practice

One of the most important cultural shifts in a PLC is from “averaging opinions” to collaborative inquiry into “best practice.”

In a PLC, when faced with a problem or issue, the first step is always to “gain shared knowledge.”

In Search of “Best Practice:” Research‐Based Decision Making

An essential characteristic of any profession is the expectation that our practice—what we do—is based on the latest and best information that is available at any particular time.

In fact, in a profession, failure to utilize “best practice” is referred to as “malpractice.”


—Du

Four, D

uFou

r, Eaker, Many, & M

attos, Lea

rning by

Doing

(201

6)


Importantly, “best practice” can be found in another classroom, team, school, or district, and in articles, workshops, research reports, or books.

The critical point is: In a PLC, the first step when faced with a challenge is always first to collaboratively gain “shared knowledge” through “shared learning.”

Averaging Opinions vs. Seeking Best Practice

Remember, just because people agree on something does not necessary mean it is the “best” practice.

Critical Commitment: Connect to the “Why”

Will you frequently and in meaningful waysconnect every key step and decision to your mission, vision, values, and commitments?

Will you explain “why” we are doing what we are doing, always putting student learning at the center?

Faculty and staff will go to extraordinary lengths and work exceedingly hard, if they feel it is good for kids!

Critical Commitment: The Standard of Care

Will you commit to creating a school that is good enough for your own child? Will this be the “standard of care” you promise to every parent and the community at large?• Every decision• Every school• Every team• Every classroom• Every lesson• Every interaction


Critical Commitment: A Sharp Focus on Learning of Each Student,

Skill by SkillSchools are not a place where students go to be “taught.” Instead, schools are a place where parents send their sons and daughters to “learn.”

The first idea of a PLC is a shift from ensuring students are taught to ensuring students, in fact, learn—standard by standard, unit by unit, lesson by lesson, skill by skill, name by name!

The Learning Gap

Isn’t there always a gap between what we teach, even is we teach it well, and what some students learn?

Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.

Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines.


The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn’t have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.

Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.

It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper!

The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter.


Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained!

Q: Categorize the main parts of the body.

A: The body has three parts – the brainium, the borax, and the

abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain. The borax

contains the heart and lungs. And, the abdominal cavity contains the

five bowels:A, E, I, O, and U.

Learning Significant Content

I think we all will agree that what we learn is more important than what we were taught. Even something that is seemingly as simple as learning to spell correctly is important.

Consider this example:

Critical Commitment: Organize Into Collaborative Teams

Having teachers work in isolation is a recipe for failure!Significant gains in student learning require high levels of meaningful collaboration through high‐performing collaborative teams. This will not happen through invitation or encouragement, but only through action.

As a superintendent or principal, will you commit to organizing your district or school into collaborative teams?

If you are a teacher or staff member, will you commit to being a positive, contributing member of a team?


The Power of Collaborative Teams

Here’s what we know: Virtually every successful organization has tapped into the power of collaborative teaming.

This means every administrator, teacher, and staff member should be a member of a collaborative team in which members work interdependently to achieve common goalsfor which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Critical Commitment:Direct, Monitor, and Celebrate

the Work of TeamsThe issue is not simply organizing into teams, but rather ensuring teams do the right work.

Will you commit to ensuring teams focus on the right work, support each team in their efforts to improve their effectiveness, and recognize and celebrate the right work when it occurs?

The Right Work of Teams: What Do Effective Teams Do?

In addition to the day‐to‐day work of learning together, collaboratively developing unit plans, analyzing student learning, reflecting on their instructional effectiveness, providing additional time, support, and extension for learning, as well as goal setting, collaborative teams focus their work on the four critical questions associated with student learning.

Four Questions to Guide PLCs1. What do we expect students to learn? Developing norms;

clarifying and adding meaning to standards; identifying what standard s look like in successful student work; unit planning; common scoring; setting learning targets; spacing

2. How do we know if they learn it? Collaborative development anduse of common formative assessments; quick checks for understanding; exit passes; questioning techniques

3. How do we respond when students experience difficulty in learning? Differentiated instruction; pyramids of intervention; response to intervention; and positive behavior intervention systems

4. How do we respond when students do learn? Differentiatedinstruction; project learning; technology


Critical Commitment:Work Collaboratively to Reduce Content

Will you commit to collaboratively reducing content?

• From curriculum overload• To less, but more significant, content taught at greater depth and in more meaningful ways

Critical Commitment: Focus on Factors That Hinder Learning

Will you commit to engaging in discussions aimed at avoiding practices that hinder student learning and contribute to failure?

Collaborative teams engage in deep, substantive discussions about practices that may hinder student learning and contribute to failure.

Consider these examples:

Examples• Averaging grades• Thoughtless use of zeros• Unequal range between grades• How we grade student first attempts• Not requiring students to do make‐up work• Inappropriate use of worksheets• Inappropriate use of homework• Giving too much weight to assignments that require parent participation

• And many others …

Critical Commitment: Common Formative Assessments

Highly effective teams monitor the learning ofeach student, skill‐by skill, by capturing the power of commonly developed, formative assessments.

Will you commit to using collaboratively developed, common formative assessments with specificity—kid by kid, skill by skill, unit by unit, lesson by lesson, name by name?


Critical Commitment: A Systematic Plan to Provide Additional, Time, Support, and Extension of Learning

A school will never make a significant, positive impact on student learning without a collaboratively developed, effective plan to provide students with additional time, support, and extension of learning within the school day, regardless of the teacher to whom they are assigned.

Time and Support

Will you commit to collaboratively developing a plan to provide additional time, support, and extension of learning that is:• Written, systematic, schoolwide• Within the school day• Not in lieu of core instruction• Timely• Directional (rather than invitational)• Flexible• Continually monitored for effectiveness

The Critical Piece:Timely Interventions

Interventions can literally save a kid’s life!

Consider:

Critical Commitment: Seeking and Supporting Great Teaching

While developing great schools requires a focus on learning by highly effective collaborative teams that have a razor‐sharp focus on results–ultimately, everything depends on passionate, committed, persistent teachers—teachers who have the knowledge, skill, and wisdom to deliver highly effective instruction.


A Crucial Point!

A shift in focus from teaching (making sure the content was covered) to learning (making sure the content was learned) does not diminish in any way the critical role of the teacher.

A focus on learning only makes the role of the teacher more crucial!

From a Checklist to a ToolboxEffective teaching strategies are contextual. There is no one effective way to teach. Rather than viewing research‐based teaching strategies as the basis for observational checklists, it’s more effective to view teaching strategies as “tools.”

Some teachers only know how to use one or two tools. Teachers can increase their “instructional intelligence” and thus add a number of new tools to their toolbox. Knowing how and when to skillfully use a wide range of tools can increase teachers’ instructional effectiveness and improve learning levels of their students.

The “Get to” Teacher

Teacher attitude is critical. Teachers should “look inside” and examine their basic attitudes because attitudes drive behavior.

One way for teacher to “look inside” is simply by asking, “Am I a ‘get to’ teacher or a ‘have to’teacher?”

An intense and persistent focus on the learning of each student requires energy, enthusiasm, and a positive attitude—the kind of attitude exhibited by Margaret Ann Smith who teaches Latin and English Literature at Providence School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Mrs. Smith, who is in her eighties, simply gushes with excitement and enthusiasm when talking about her students and getting to school each day.


Richard MariusFor years, a tradition at the University of Tennessee was for students from all across campus to attend Richard Marius’ opening lecture each term. Later, when Richard taught at Harvard, the university course catalogue noted that his course on William Faulkner was limited to 15 students.

When Richard passed away his biographer examined Richard’s grade books and found that grades were regularly given to 75 or 80 students!

Richard did not “have to” teach those students, but rather felt blessed by the opportunity to do so!

Critical Commitment: Reciprocal Accountability

Will you commit to providing both adults and students with excellent teaching, resources, training, mentoring, and support to help them accomplish what they have been asked to do?Richard Elmore of Harvard University refers to this as “reciprocal accountability” explaining, “For every increment of performance I demand of you, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation.”

Critical Commitment: Get StartedWill you commit to get started? Don’t wait until everyone is “on board.” Everyone will never be on board.

Don’t wait until the time is right. The time will never be right. Don’t let your “quest for perfection” keep you from getting started. The goal is to continually get better, not necessarily to get perfect.

There will always be “Yeah, buts” in the audience. Remember, they are often only pointing out the obvious.

The Divine Right of the SlothDon’t let one or two people who simply don’t “want to” do anything stop an initiative that is good for student learning. Do not accept the notion that because someone is an educator, they have a divine right to absolute autonomy.

One of the biggest challenges in becoming a PLC is deciding if what is good for student learning takes precedence over the individual happiness of a few adults.


The fundamental question …

Are you committed to getting started, then getting better—continuously?

Critical Commitment: Touching the Emotions

Changing school culture so more kids learn more, requires much more than educators who are effective “technicians.”

Great leaders, whether at the district, school, team, or classroom level, have the ability and will to touch the emotions of those around them.

They are master motivators because of their ability to inspire!

“There are only two ways to influence human behavior; you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”

—Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2009)

Plans Are Necessary, But They Are Not Enough

Obviously, collaboratively developed, effective planning is necessary.

Remember, Martin Luther King Jr. did not ignite a nation because of he had a plan, but rather because he communicated an inspiring dream!


Critical Commitment: Recognition and Celebration

Effective leaders motivate and inspire both students and adults by frequently creating lots of winners and celebrating success, emphasizing IMPROVEMENT, as well as achieving arbitrary standards.

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

The Fundamental Question

My dearest friend and professional partner for four decades, Rick DuFour, frequently posed this question. It’s one on which each of us should reflect.

“Don’t ask if you are leading. You are. Don’t ask if you will make a difference. You will. The question is, what kind of leader will you be and what kind of difference will you make?”

—DuFour & Marzano, Leaders of Learning (2011)

One Year!Being a great teacher means much, much more that one year’s growth with one year’s instruction.

It means students will take memories of you with them for the rest of their lives! It is hard to imagine the bond that can be established in one year’s time.

Consider this true story:


Critical Commitments By Robert Eaker

Commitment 1: Build a Foundation for Learning for All A sharp focus on learning for all requires a solid foundation, a clear understanding by everyone of:

Why do we exist? What is our core, fundamental purpose? (Mission) Given our current reality, how would we like to be significantly different? Can we describe the district,

or school, or team we seek to become? (Vision)

Commitment 2: Conduct Collective Inquiry Into Best Practice One of the most important cultural shifts in a PLC is from averaging opinions to collaborative inquiry into best practice. In a PLC, when faced with a problem or issue, the first step is always to gain shared knowledge.

Commitment 3: Connect to the “Why” Will you frequently and in meaningful ways connect every key step and decision to your mission, vision, values, and commitments? Will you explain why we are doing what we are doing, always putting student learning at the center? Faculty and staff will go to extraordinary lengths and work exceedingly hard, if they feel it is good for kids!

Commitment 4: Promise a Standard of Care Will you commit to creating a school that is good enough for your own child? Will this be the standard of care you promise to every parent and the community at large?

Every decision Every school Every team Every classroom Every lesson Every interaction

Commitment 5: Maintain a Sharp Focus on Learning of Each Student, Skill by Skill Schools are not a place where students go to be taught. Instead, schools are a place where parents send their sons and daughters to learn.

The first idea of a PLC is a shift from ensuring students are taught to ensuring students, in fact, learn—standard by standard, unit by unit, lesson by lesson, skill by skill, name by name!

(page 1 of 3)


Commitment 6: Organize Into Collaborative Teams Having teachers work in isolation is a recipe for failure! Significant gains in student learning require high levels of meaningful collaboration through high‐performing collaborative teams. This will not happen through invitation or encouragement, but only through action.

As a superintendent or principal, will you commit to organizing your district or school into collaborative teams? If you are a teacher or staff member, will you commit to being a positive, contributing member of a team?

Commitment 7: Direct, Monitor, and Celebrate the Work of Teams The issue is not simply organizing into teams, but rather ensuring teams do the right work.

Will you commit to ensuring teams focus on the right work, support each team in their efforts to improve their effectiveness, and recognize and celebrate the right work when it occurs?

Commitment 8: Work Collaboratively to Reduce Content Will you commit to collaboratively reducing content?

From curriculum overload To less, but more significant, content taught at greater depth and in more meaningful ways

Commitment 9: Focus on Factors That Hinder Learning Collaborative teams engage in deep, substantive discussions about practices that may hinder student learning and contribute to failure.

Will you commit to engaging in discussions aimed at avoiding practices that hinder student learning and contribute to failure?

Commitment 10: Use Common Formative Assessments Highly effective teams monitor the learning of each student, skill‐by skill, by capturing the power of commonly developed, formative assessments.

Will you commit to using collaboratively developed, common formative assessments with specificity—kid by kid, skill by skill, unit by unit, lesson by lesson, name by name?

(page 2 of 3)


Commitment 11: Create a Systematic Plan to Provide Additional, Time, Support, and Extension of Learning A school will never make a significant, positive impact on student learning without a collaboratively developed, effective plan to provide students with additional time, support, and extension of learning within the school day, regardless of the teacher to whom they are assigned.

Commitment 12: Seek and Support Great Learning While developing great schools requires a focus on learning by highly effective collaborative teams that have a razor‐sharp focus on results—ultimately, everything depends on passionate, committed, persistent teachers—teachers who have the knowledge, skill, and wisdom to deliver highly effective instruction.

Commitment 13: Maintain Reciprocal Accountability Will you commit to providing both adults and students with excellent teaching, resources, training, mentoring, and support to help them accomplish what they have been asked to do?

Richard Elmore of Harvard University refers to this as reciprocal accountability explaining, “For every increment of performance I demand of you, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation.”

Commitment 14: Get Started Will you commit to get started? Don’t wait until everyone is on board. Everyone will never be on board.

Don’t wait until the time is right. The time will never be right. Don’t let your quest for perfection keep you from getting started. The goal is to continually get better, not necessarily to get perfect. There will always be “Yeah, buts” in the audience. Remember, they are often only pointing out the obvious.

Commitment 15: Touch the Emotions Changing school culture so more kids learn more, requires much more than educators who are effective technicians.

Great leaders, whether at the district, school, team, or classroom level, have the ability and will to touch the emotions of those around them. They are master motivators because of their ability to inspire!

Commitment 16: Recognize and Celebrate Effective leaders motivate and inspire both students and adults by frequently creating lots of winners and celebrating success, emphasizing improvement, as well as achieving arbitrary standards.

(page 3 of 3)


day 1—morning keynote what commitments are you prepared to … · 2018-02-16 · modeling...

Documents