Power of Professional Learning Communities

Schalmont Central School DistrictSeptember 3, 2013

The Power of Professional Learning Communities

• “The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community”

– McLaughlin, 1995

– The path to change in the classroom lies within and through professional learning communites.

Clarity Precedes Competence

• “It is hard enough to explain what a complex idea means for action when you understand it… It is impossible when you use terms that sound impressive but you don’t really understand what they mean.

– Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000, p. 52

• Rollout plan

PLC Defined

• An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve.

• PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improve learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.

– (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2010)

Video Clip

• What is a PLC? -

PLC Structure

Characteristics of a learning community

• Shared vision, mission, values, goals• Collaborative teams focused on learning• Collective inquiry into best practice and

current reality• Action orientation and experimentation• Commitment to continuous improvement• Results orientation

Big Idea 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

• “Teaching without learning isn’t teaching, it’s just presenting”– National Superintendent of the Year

PLC’s focus on the Critical Questions of Learning

• 1. What is it we expect them to learn?• 2. How will we know when they have learned

it?• 3. How will we respond when they don’t

learn?• 4. How will we respond when they already

know it?

Second Big Idea

• Video clip 2

Collaborative Culture

• We are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through the development of high performing teams.

• COLLABORATE = CO-LABOR• Co-labor on the right work - educators work

and learn collaboratively with a clear focus on the learning of students as well as themselves.

Why should we collaborate?

• Gains in student achievement • Higher quality solutions to problems• Increase confidence among all staff• More peer support of strengths and

accommodation of weaknesses• Ability to test new ideas• More support for new teachers• Expanded pool of ideas, materials and methods

Teams in Professional Learning Communities

• Collaborate on the • Right• Issues • To • Impact• Child &• Adult • Learning

Collaboration

• Video clip 3

Results Oriented Goals

• 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.

Professional Learning Communities focus on results in two ways

• 1. To identify students who need more time and support for learning.

• 2. To identify strategies to improve upon both our individuals and collective ability to teach each essential skill and concept.

Third Big Idea

• Video clip 4

School Culture

• “ School culture is the set of norms, values and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the persona of the school”– Peterson, 2002

Necessary Cultural Shifts

In traditional schools each teacher in isolation:

• Decides what to teach and when to teach it

• Administers infrequent summative assessments

• Focuses on inputs of teaching

• Practices the “if only” model of improvement

• Determines what to do when students don’t learn

In Professional Learning Communities teams of teachers:

• Build shared knowledge about essential learning and pacing

• Administer frequent common formative assessments

• Focus on results – evidence of learning

• Practice the quote “What if” model of improvement – looking in the mirror

• Create systemic responses that ensure learning support for every student

Cultural Shifts and Reflections

• Video clip 5

Timetable for PLC

• Sept 4 - PLC presentation #1: Building Shared Knowledge: Mission, Vision and Collective Commitments

• Sept 11 - PLC Presentation #2: Building Shared Knowledge: PLC tenets and SMART goals

• Sept 18 – PLC Presentation #3: Structure of teams, setting norms and looking at SMART Goals

• Sept 25 – Time for completion of tasks based on presentations

• Sept 27 – Professional Development Day, presentation/work time on Common Formative Assessments

Hand in Hand, We All Learn

• “ Ultimately there are two kinds of schools: learning-enriched schools and learning-impoverished schools. I have yet to see a school where the learning curves… of the adults were steep upward and those of the students were not. Teachers and students go hand and hand as learners… or they don’t go at all.” Barth 2001, p. 23

Linking Learning and Improvement

Plan

Do

Study

Act

Pursuing Both Short Term and Stretch Goals

• “When building a results-oriented culture, leaders must find a balance between the attainable goals teams feel they can achieve in the short term and stretch goals – goals so ambitious they could not possibly be achieved unless practices within the organization change significantly.”

SMART Goals

• Strategic and Specific – Linked to strategic priorities part of a larger vision of success for

the entire school district• Measurable

– Being able to measure a change in results based on specific actions• Attainable

-Within the realm of our influence and control• Results oriented

– Define not only what is expected but a desired end point• Time bound

– Helps keep achievement of the goal a priority

SMAR

T G

oal W

orks

heet