Would you be so kind as to share more info re: PLC ~ Michelle Walker-Wade ~

A group professional educators, engaged in a discussion about Professional Learning Communities, asked me: “Would you be so kind as to share more info re: PLC…Could you help me to understand how to get this process in place. What would be the first step-What logistics would need to be in place to implement this effectively?” I am publishing my response in hopes to help other educators and education leaders. Here is a brief summary of a messy process that involves team building, consensus research, training, and development.

1. First, start by having a strong mission statement that is measurable enough to guide your work as a PLC

2. Establish a culture of collaboration in the PLC participants. You essentially need a “flat” structure, where no one person’s opinions or wants can trump the rest of the team. This of course must be balanced with certain decisions that must be made at the Administrator/Management level; It can be facilitated by Admin/Mgmt, but it should not be “run” by them.

3. All members in the collaborative team should be working from the same set of essential learning standards. Using these standards, the collaborative team must decide which standard(s) to focus on, interpret and unwrap.

4. The collaborative team should then develop learning objectives directly for the chosen essential standard(s).

5. The collaborative team then develops an assessment (along with a rubric) that will be used to score the assessment. - This is the Common Formative Assessment

6. The collaborative team members then compare curriculum and decide at what point in the delivery of the curriculum will all students take the common formative assessment (for example, after Unit 3)

7. The teachers will deliver instruction of their content as usual – the will NOT teach to the test. The teacher will administer any classroom assessments (quizzes, unit tests etc) as normal.

8. The teacher will administer the common formative assessment at the agreed on point in the curriculum.

9. All members of the collaborative team will bring assessments & results to a team meeting where they will compare the results, learning from one another about what delivery methods and materials may have helped students perform/learn the material best.

Would you be so kind as to share more info re: PLC ~ Michelle Walker-Wade ~

10. Teachers will use this data and discussion to inform their own teaching strategies

and methods, as well as to determine what they can do now to help students in area where they did not do well, preparing them to have better success on the end-of-the-term summative assessment.

11. Then next year (or next term) teachers will do the same thing (teach and give this common formative assessment, compare results, readjust their instruction) again.

12. Once complete, the collaborative team may decide to start this same process with another essential standard.

As you can see, this is no walk in the park, neither is it a short-term training project. It is a process that will go on for quite some time. However in doing this process you will see where the teachers have skill gaps in pedagogy, lesson planning and instructional delivery. The facilitator will have to incorporate training in these areas into the overall planning.