Professional Learning Communities: Lessons Learned

1. Professional Learning Communities:Lessons Learned Dr. Jody Nace, Superintendent Northeastern School District of York County Manchester, PA nacej@nesd.k12.pa.us Lori J. Stollar, Program Specialist for Curriculum & PD Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 New Oxford, PA ljstollar@iu12.org

2. Professional Learning Community A community with the capacity to promote and sustain the learning of all professionals in the school community with the collective purpose of enhancing student learning. Bolam, et al, 2005, p. 145

3. 5 Essential Characteristics of PLCs • Shared values and norms • A clear and consistent focus on student learning • Reflective dialogue that leads to “extensive and continuing conversations among teachers about curriculum, instruction, and student development • Deprivatizing practice to make teaching public • Collaboration As cited in Vescio, et al, 2007

4. Research-Base • Learning communities are grounded in two assumptions: • That knowledge is situated in the day-to-day lived experiences of teachers and best understood through critical reflection with others who share the same experience. • That actively engaging teachers in PLCs will increase their professional knowledge and enhance student learning. Vescio, et al, 2007

5. Elements of a PLC Double-loop Learning Wang, 2010

6. Northeastern School District • York County, PA • 52 square miles • 3,812 students, K-12 • 1 High School serving grades 9-12 • 1 Middle School serving grades 7-8 • 2 Intermediate Schools serving grades 4-6 • 4 Elementary School serving grades K-3 • 295 Professional Staff/ 195 Support Staff/ 20 Administrators • Free and Reduced population= 38% • $53.7 million budget

7. Vision 100% of our students will graduate and be fully prepared for a post-secondary education.

8. What do we expect our students to learn? Lesson Learned: Lack of a solid core curriculum and an instructional framework for lesson plans…

9. Research Base “…a guaranteed and viable curriculum is the school-level factor with the most impact on student achievement.” --Marzano, 2003

10. Interview – Dr. Minnich Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction

11. 2nd Grade Instructional FOCUS Meeting Agenda Items: Learning Objective: Learners will discuss relevant quotes about education and share view points. Assignment was to read pages 50-89 In small groups discuss assigned quotes and be ready to share out. Share and discuss in cross-school groups. Work Accomplished: Prior to the next meeting… Read pg. 93-130. Pg. 101 read-i-cide… Identify one practice to eliminate in reading instruction and identify one effective practice to share at next PLC ( building and Focus Meets). Next meeting is March 29, 2012

12. How will we know if students have learned it? Lesson Learned: Not all teachers were administering common assessments and they did not know how to analyze them and use results to inform instruction…

13. Research Base “Powerful, proven structures for improved results already exist. They begin when a groups of teachers meet regularly as a team to identify essential and valued student learning, develop common formative assessments, analyze current levels of achievement, set achievement goals, and then share and create lessons and strategies to improve upon those levels.” --Schmoker, 1999

14. Common Assessments – District -wide • Common Assessment Analysis

15. How will we respond to students who have not learned? Lesson Learned: Our response was not systematic, timely, or directive…

16. Research Base “When a school begins to function as a professional learning community…teachers become aware of the incongruity between their commitment to ensure learning for all students and their lack of coordinated strategy to respond when some students do not learn.” --DuFour, 2005

17. Responding to students who struggle • Student Focus Meeting video clip

18. Public Display of Teacher Data -Celebration

19. How will we enrich for those who already know it? Lesson Learned: Teachers didn’t know where to begin, we were not finding out who already knows it, and we had a cultural belief that we did not have a high number of kids with high ability…

20. Research Base “To maximize the potential in each learner, educators need to meet each child at his or her starting point and ensure substantial growth.” --Tomlinson, 1999

21. Cultural Shift – “We have smart kids!” • AP Teacher Video

22. Lessons Along the Way… • We assumed leaders knew how to lead a PLC • Response: Deliberate recruitment and training of team leaders • Artifact: Agenda from Training (uploaded)

23. Lessons Along the Way… • Just having the structures in place to allow for meeting time is not enough • Response: Provide protocols • Artifacts: • PLC meeting template and benchmarks for what should happen at a PLC Meeting (uploaded) • Orendorf PLC menu (uploaded)

27. Lessons Along the Way… • We were good at making excuses • We had to confront the current reality. • Response: The Leadership Team communicated high expectations

28. Fidelity of PLC’s • Have we compromised, sold out, and lowered our expectations of the major tenets of a PLC? • Even though we agree that teaching in isolation is not effective, and we need to be collaborative, do we still allow teams to be only collegial and congenial instead of collaborative? • Do we meet regularly to identify kids for interventions that are timely, directive, and systematic? • Do we settle for team goals that are less than SMART? (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results Oriented, Time-Bound) Or worse yet, do we settle for no working team goals at all?

29. Fidelity of PLC’s • Do we hide behind excuses? Examples: (It is impossible to begin because we need more training.) Training can be a way of avoiding the “doing.” (We need to have teacher buy-in before we begin.) You will never begin if you are waiting for complete buy-in. (Our schedule is too complicated to change in order to allow for common collaborative time.) There are thousands of examples of schools that have figured it out at all levels. • Do we systematically provide data to teachers that is easily accessible, purposely arranged, and publicly discussed? • Do we accept excuses for missing PLC meetings and not making it a priority? • Do we insist on common, frequent formative assessments and pacing guides so that teachers can speak the same language at PLC meetings?

30. PLC Leadership • “The most common cause of the demise of PLC initiatives is not the result of a single cataclysmic event, but rather repeated compromises regarding the fundamental premises of PLCs. There is no one fatal blow: PLCs die from a thousand small wounds.” • Dufour, Robert, DuFour Rebecca, Eaker, Robert, Many, Tom. Learning by Doing, 2006.

31. Administrative Commitment Administrative PLC commitments (non-negotiables 11-12)

32. Lessons Along the Way… • Lack of accountability • The importance of conversation and support • Teacher/Principal Data Meeting Video • Artifacts for Data Meeting (uploaded) • Build your Guiding Coalition

33. Lessons Along the Way… • Lack of accountability • The importance of conversation and support • Build your Guiding Coalition

34. Questions?

35. References • Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Stoll, L., Thomas, S., & Wallace, M. (2005). Creating and sustaining professional learning communities. Research Report Number 637. London, England General Teaching Council for England, Department for Education and Skills. • DuFour, R. (2005). On common ground: The power of professional learning communities. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service. • DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R.., & Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. • Marzano, R.J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. • Schmoker, M. (1999). Results: The key to continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

36. References • Schmoker, M. (2011). Focus: Elevating the essentials to radically improve student learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. • Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. • Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2007). A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 80-91. • Wang, J.L.N. (2010). Searching for good practice in teaching: a comparison of two subject-based professional learning communities in a secondary school in Shanghai. Compare, 40(5), 623-639.