Professional Learning Communities

1. Professional Learning Communities Delayed Start Proposal January 26, 2012

2. Agenda • Proposal • Review of PLC’s • Research • Building Accomplishments and Delayed Start Activities • Schedule Highlights • Details

3. Proposal • Implement a one hour delayed start on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. • March 14 • April 11 • April 25 • May 9 • May 23 • Goal: Reach a sustaining level of implementation as defined by The PLC Communities at Work Continuums. (Samples Provided)

4. Defined • Professional Learning Community Defined • An on-going 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 improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators. (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Many, 2010)

5. PLC’s • The Big 3 Ideas: 1. Focus on Learning • What is it we expect them to learn? • How will we know when they have learned it? • How will we respond when they don’t learn? • How will we respond when they already know it? 2.Build a Collaborative Culture • To clarify essential student learning, develop common assessments, analyze evidence and use evidence to learn from each other 3.Focus on Results • Measure our effectiveness on the basis of results not intentions

6. Six Characteristics of a PLC • Goal: Full Implementation of the Six Characteristics of a PLC • Shared mission, vision, values and goals • Clarity, shared purpose, common understanding • Collaborative teams focused on learning • Working interdependently to achieve common goals • Collective inquiry • Relentlessly question the status quo (seek, test and reflect) • Action orientation and experimentation • Turn learning into action • Commitment to continuous improvement • Gathering evidence, develop strategies, implement, analyze, apply • Results orientation • Hungry for evidence of student learning

7. Research • Multiple studies have been conducted • Many esteemed experts and respected professional organizations in education endorse and advocate for the development of PLCs. In a review of this research DuFour’s conclude that; • “Successfully implementing professional learning community practices is the most promising path for sustained and substantive improvement of our schools and districts.” • What are the researchers common conclusions?

8. Research • Synthesis of Research on School Culture • Researchers* conducted “meta-analysis” of studies that have been done on productive school cultures. They determined these cultures were characterized by the following: 1. Predispositions of; student centered with frequent monitoring, high expectations, an improvement orientation 2. Collaborative work behavior; continuous dialogue among staff, focused on common goals 3. Professional productivity; group goals and commitments, focused and involved staff *Georgiades, Snyder, and Fuetes, 1983

9. Research • Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools • Five year study of 1,500 schools that were successful in linking their improvement initiatives with improved student learning. Schools were characterized by having: 1. A focused on and agreed-upon vision on what students should learn 2. Teachers that required students to think 3. Well functioning professional learning communities

10. Research • What works: School Factors That Increase Student Achievement • Robert Morzano (2003) synthesized 35 years of research of factors that impact student achievement 1. A guaranteed and viable curriculum; essential content 2. Challenging goals and effective feedback; emphasizing formative assessments 3. Parent and community involvement 4. Safe and orderly environment 5. Collegiality and professionalism; active learning and ongoing discussion

11. Research • Practices of Improving Schools and District • Doug Reeves (2006) research on 90/90/90 schools found the following to be present: 1. Promotion of distributed leadership 2. Frequent monitoring of valued outcomes 3. Frequent common assessments 4. Decisive timely intervention when students do not learn 5. Achievement data openly shared among teachers who work collaboratively

12. Research • Most Promising Practices for Improving Student Learning • John Hattie (2009) synthesized of 800 meta-analyses of factors impacting student achievement. He concluded: 1. Teachers work in collaborative teams 2. Teacher teams clarify the essential learning for each student 3. Teacher teams gather evidence of student learning 4. Teachers analyze evidence of student learning and implement powerful instructional strategies 5. Schools provide a collaborative culture

13. Research • Leadership That Leads to Learning • The Wallace Foundation commissioned the “largest in-depth study of school leadership to date” to determine the link between school leadership and student achievement. They concluded: 1. School leadership improves student achievement by strengthening a school’s professional learning community 2. The environment is characterized by: a. A common focus on student learning b. Collaboration in the development of curriculum c. Purposeful sharing of practice to improve student learning d. Shared leadership e. Clear goals, widely shared

14. Research • DuFour presented the Synthesis of Research on the Characteristics of Effective Schools (Lezotte 1991). The following is called the second generation of research and includes seven factors that are correlated with effective schools. • Safe and orderly environment • Climate of high expectation for student success • Instructional leadership; collaborative work behavior with a focus on productivity • Clear and focused mission • Opportunity to learn~student time on task • Frequent monitoring of student progress • Home school relations

15. Research Summary • The research has many commonalities • It is all embedded in the practices of PLCs • The District is engaged in these practices • We are on the right path • During our principal presentations, listen for activities that have occurred and are planned that are consistent with what research says is best practice.

16. Time • #2 Factor of Effective Teaming*; “Scheduling time for collaboration into the school day and school calendar” • If we value and want these practices, successful implementation requires the District and Buildings to make the commitment of time. *DuFour, DuFour, Eaker

17. Commitment/Planning • Focus of this time will be devoted to building and engaging in the practices of PLC’s. • Each principal has developed a plan for utilization of this time, based on their stage of implementation. • They will cover: • What they have Accomplished • Next steps / Delayed Start Activities

18. Outcome • Five schools engaged in a systematic, self sustained, relentless pursuit of increased student learning

20. Collaborative Teams WHAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR • Teams Developed • 4th Grade Team • 5th Grade Team • 6th Grade Team • Language Arts (7/8) Team • Social Studies (7/8) Team • Math (7/8) Team • Special Education/Reading Specialist Team

21. Accomplished • Wednesday morning meetings 7:15-7:50 AM • Team norms established • S.M.A.R.T Goals written for each team • Essential Skills created for each unit • Common Formative Assessments created across grade levels.

22. Delayed Start Activities • Continued work on common formative assessments • Continued work on our Essential Skills – Making sure we are teaching our most critical elements of each unit • Analyzing student data to make informed decisions about the direction of our lesson planning and instruction • Creating RTI processes and rules that will help insure consistency school wide with multiple levels of support

23. Why? • Right now we have momentum. • Our teachers can accomplish more with increased time. • It is imperative that we provide the necessary time to accomplish the important work we have ahead of us. • The great thing is – The Teachers Are Asking For The Time!! • This Collaborative team time is the most powerful piece that has been implemented into our district practice. • Creating this TEAM time will move this district forward into one of the premier learning environments in the state.

25. PLC at Mari-Linn • We have established 3 teams • Middle School (grades 6-8) and Behavior Support Assistant • Intermediate School (grades 3/4, 4/5) and Music teacher • Primary School (grades K-2) • PE is not currently on team due to ½ time schedule • Reading Specialist and Special Education join teams depending on the week’s focus

26. Current Structures • We hold two meetings weekly • Mondays are general staff meetings in which we cover general information and upcoming events, we also review whole school data or work on learning the principles of PLC (which has been impacted by time limits) • Wednesdays are our team meetings in which teams review more student specific data and have attempted to develop formative assessments • Delayed start will allow our staff as a whole to develop and deepen our knowledge and skills of a PLC • This joint knowledge will allow for us to work more efficiently and effectively

27. Accomplished • Used teams to review student behavior and academic data to move students in and out of intervention groups • Completed Session One of the Professional Learning Communities at Work • Two staff members (Andy Rasmussen & Laura Murray) attended the DuFour Conference this month

28. Delayed Start Activities • Clarify and Define Essential Learning Outcomes • Four Fundamental Questions • Use the PLC continuum to develop a Plan of action • Clarify and Define Effective Interventions • Intervention does not mean an automatic pull out to resource room of reading specialist • How do we use data to impact intervention • Develop a pyramid of intervention for Mari-Linn

29. Delayed Start Activities • Focus on Results • The importance of using common formative assessments • Define and building “SMART goals” • How will we monitor students proficiency of each essential skill • How will we celebrate progress in meeting set goals • Plan for 2012-2013 • Using the knowledge gained, how will we plan for improvement for the following year • Given barriers, how will we connect with more horizontal teams within the district • Set SMART Goals for 2012-2013 at the team and individual level

31. Accomplished • Implemented a Professional Learning Community model in order to build a collaborative team environment, provide clear, precise learning targets directly connected to State Standards, implement formative assessments to provide concise data to guide student interventions, instruction and planning • Built shared knowledge by introducing PLC foundations and supporting research • Completed building wide common agreements and commitments through a collaborative activity at ‘back to school’ in-service • Created a PLC leadership team with representatives from each grade level • Completed “The Power of PLC at Work” video series • Attended PLC Du Four conference

32. Accomplished • Created horizontal (3 times/month) and vertical (1 time/month) PLC teams that meet regularly • Following the “Critical Issues for Team Consideration” • PLC teams created SMART goals in the area of math as well as team working agreements • Vertical teams are targeting their team goals, reviewing data, and planning for interventions

33. Delayed Start Activities • Horizontal PLC Building Teams • Continue creation and alignment of essential learning targets with State Standards in math • Complete common pacing guide for math • Complete at least 2 common formative assessments in math • Use common assessment data to identify strengths and address weaknesses • Plan for grade level teacher-led intervention days following analysis of common formative assessments for both students struggling to master learning targets, as well as those that are excelling • Continue school-wide shared knowledge training/collaborative activities • Building Specialists • Work in job-alike collaborative teams with other District specialists to create learning targets for upcoming units of study • Complete PLC webinar training/The Power of PLC’s at Work to build shared knowledge • Continue school-wide shared knowledge training/collaborative activities

34. Delayed Start Activities • Horizontal (grade level teams) • 4 Sessions: • Continue specific work in teams on creating a map of identified learning targets, scope and sequence pacing alignment, common formative assessment development and data tracking/analysis, and the creation/implementation plan for teacher-directed targeted interventions in math • 1 Session: • Continue school-wide shared knowledge training/collaborative activities

35. Delayed Start Activities • Building Specialists • Two (2) Sessions: • Work in job-like teams with District specialists to create learning targets for upcoming units of study • Two (2) Sessions: • Complete PLC webinar training/The Power of PLC’s at Work to build shared knowledge • One (1) Session: • School-wide shared knowledge training/collaborative activities to share and model team accomplishments and work to date

37. Accomplished • Since August our staff has formed professional learning teams using vertical alignment due to the size of our teaching staff, established team norms and commitments, teams have created a professional SMART goal to be worked on collaboratively throughout the year, instead of individually. • The staff has also completed surveys of team effectiveness, selected essential learning skills in math and focused on learning targets for each lesson. • We have also been working interdependently to purposely plan instructional lessons using Bloom’s Taxonomy that requires our students to use higher level thinking skills to challenge every student to his/her highest level.

38. Delayed Start Activities • Teachers will work in their PLC teams to design common formative assessments and analyze both these and our state summative assessments to create individual action plans and instructional lessons to motivate students. • Our staff will interpret and prioritize the ten elements of an effective PLC using resources from the Dufour Conference that the administrative and teacher teams attended. I will seek the help and support from our PLC Leadership Team to present and instruct others.

39. Delayed Start Activities • Teams will also work to develop effective systemic interventions as well as enrichment for those students who already know the material. • We will continue to share ideas on how to implement higher order thinking within our daily lessons/target objectives. • We will strive to celebrate the successes of all of our students and staff. This will be an important piece for our PLC teams to plan and be involved with.

41. Accomplished • Teams Developed • Language Arts • Math • Social Studies • Applied and Fine Arts (Vertical teaming opportunities) • Science • Health/Physical Education (Vertical teaming opportunities) • Special Education

42. Accomplished • Wednesday Collaborative Meetings 7:15-7:50 2/mo • Staff meetings 1/mo • Collaborative Leads meeting 1/mo • Team norms established • S.M.A.R.T. goals written for each team • Working on Essential Skills/Common Formative Assessments depending on subject Area • Five (5) additional individuals trained at DuFour

43. Delayed Start Activities 1. Establish Effective Collaborative Teaming practices 2. Focus on implementation and learning of the four (4) critical question of a PLC • What is it we expect them to learn? (Essential Skills) • How will we know when they have learned it? (Common Formative Assessments) • How will we respond when they don’t learn? (Interventions) • How will we respond when they already know it? (Enrichment) • Implementation of Electronic Collaborative Team for specialists (MWEC) • Analyze student learning data to plan for 2012-2013 • Master Schedule • Interventions available to students

44. Why? • “If you keep doing the things you have always done, you will be where you always have been” (Anon) • Collaboration is powerful • No longer working in isolation • It becomes a true focus on kids and learning

45. Building Schedule Highlights • Stayton Elementary • One hour delayed start • Switch Music/PE time to afternoon • Cancel Kindergarten strategic program • Adjust Special Education and English Language Learner times • Kindergarten sessions: • 9:05-11:20 • 12:20-2:30

46. Building Schedules Highlights • Sublimity • Delayed start one hour • Kindergarten Sessions: • 9:00-11:15 • 12:15 to 2:35 • Condensed schedule K-8

47. Building Schedules Highlights • Mari-Linn • Delay start one hour • Increase .5 employees by 1 hour • Condensed middle school schedule • Kindergarten Session • 8:45 to 11:00

48. Building Schedules Highlights • Stayton Intermediate/Middle School • Delayed start one hour • Condensed schedule in Intermediate and Middle School

49. Building Schedules Highlights • Stayton High School • Delayed start one hour • Condensed schedule • Transitions program delayed one hour • Chemeketa programs delayed one hour at this time

50. Employee Schedules • Certified: • Same • May need to add time to .5 time people • Classified: • same