Alaska Summer Leadership Institute Processes and Protocols for Learning Teams

1. Alaska Summer Leadership Institute Processes and Protocols for Learning Teams Julia Payne-Lewis- Professional Development Specialist

2. Essential Questions: • What is the research connection between PLCs and results driven professional development? • How can administrators implement and support the effective use of PLCs for professional development purposes? Day One: • How can the collaborative use of specific protocols move teacher learning forward in order to improve student learning?

3. Agenda Day One • Research and Rationale Power Point 20 min. • Laying the foundation for the week • The Tuning Protocol 30 min. • Working in a PLC • Getting Started- Cody’s Experience 15 min. • Video Clip and discussion • Next Steps 10 min. • Wrap-up and Preview of Day Two

4. Agenda Day One • Research and Rationale Power Point 20 min. • Laying the foundation for the week • Save the Last Word Protocol 30 min. • Working in a PLC • Getting Started- Cody’s Experience 15 min. • Video Clip and discussion • Next Steps 10 min. • Wrap-up and Preview of Day Two

5. Research Based Practice: The research and literature on PLCs points to the importance of the workplace setting, where adult learning takes place in the context of problem solving and occurs in both structured meetings and informal peer-to-peer interactions. The need for self-directed and problem-centered approaches is stressed for results based learning.

6. Research Based Practice: Based on a review of the literature, the overarching issues and initiatives that PLCs address include: student learning and effective teaching, promoting equity and high expectations, building leadership capacity, development of shared norms and values, data-based decision making, collaborative planning, and curriculum development.

7. Research Based Practice: In describing the issues undertaken by PLCs, the literature points not only to school-based examples, but also to district-wide initiatives. Wood (2007) The research also presents comparative case studies from schools across districts, describing how learning communities successfully used meeting time to analyze student work based on standards, increase parent involvement, improve children’s literacy, and address problems concerning student behavior and motivation.

8. Research Based Practice: In conducting the studies, researchers found that the teaching culture and collaboration improved, and teachers became more focused on student learning than prior to implementation of PLCs. In addition, studies that included students’ learning outcomes reported improved achievement scores over time, suggesting that PLCs can have system-wide change.

9. Research Based Practice: Fullan (2006), reports that interest in learning communities has moved beyond the whisper of researchers to a growing movement among practitioners. However, Fullan cautions that the term has traveled faster than the concept, and that many schools have rallied around the banner of PLCs with only superficial implementation that shows little effect on student achievement.

10. • Supportive and shared leadership • Shared values and vision • Collective learning and the application of that learning • Shared practice • Supportive conditions for the maintenance of the learning community. What it Takes to Make Learning Teams Work

11. According to DuFour, a teams’ dialogue should center on these three critical questions, related to the big ideas: • What is it we want our students to learn? • How will we know when each student has learned it? • How can we improve on current levels of student achievement? Now What? The REALBig Three

12. To gain an authentic perspective on what students are learning, teachers need to look at the work students are producing in a formalized way. While many tools, such as summative test data, can be helpful sources of informationfor telling us how students are doing, we should not overlook collecting and analyzing the most important data—actual student work. Collecting samples of students’ work is a powerful way of gaining a picture of how students are doing. It provides data about students’ levels of proficiency and enables teachers to gather evidence of students’ progress over time, monitor the effectiveness of their own efforts, and reflect on ideas for revising classroom practices. Looking at Student Work

13. Save the Last Word for ME: This protocol serves two purposes, the first: To give each person in the group the opportunity to have their ideas, understandings, and perspective heard and enhanced by hearing from others. It is useful for team building and creating equity of voice. The second: The group can explore an article, clarify their thinking, and have their assumptions and beliefs questioned in order to gain a deeper understanding of the issue within the reading.

14. Thank You! See you tomorrow!