Professional Learning Community Overview

1. Professional Learning Community Overview Jack Baldermann 708-243-0597 jackbaldermann@gmail.com

2. THE COMMUNITY ENTRUSTS TO US WHAT IS MOST SACRED IN THEIR LIVES.

3. “It may be buried under loads of putdowns, negative evaluations, low grades and test scores, delinquent behavior, self-hatred, and more, but like the seed in winter that lies dormant…only to blossom in the sun’s warmth in spring, this genius too can survive if you will take the time to study the optimum conditions for its growth in the classroom” (p. 48). Every Student is a Genius(Armstrong, 1998)

4. “This is the team. We’re trying to go to the moon. If you can’t put someone up, please don’t put them down.” - NASA Motto

5. “I look for people who are psyched and ready to do whatever it takes. Attitude is about being on fire—you’ve got to approach work like it’s a religious experience.” Charlie Trotter, Lessons in Excellence What We Believe and Live--Philosophy

6. “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.” What We Believe and Live--Philosophy High Expectations for ALL students

7. Riverside Brookfield High School:Results - Accomplishments • One of the Most Improved High Schools in Illinois/Nation • Top 100 – America’s Best High Schools – Newsweek (2006) • “A+” – Highest Rating – School Search, Inc. • “Outperformer” – Highest Rating – Standard & Poor’s • 99% Graduation Rate (2004, 2006) • 100% Graduation Rate for Hispanic & African American students (represent 17% of population) (2006) • Rated “10 out of 10” – Great Schools

8. Continuous Improvement “Good is the enemy of great.” Jim Collins

9. “No matter how much you have achieved, you will always be merely good relative to what you can become. Greatness is an inherently dynamic process, not an end point. The moment you think of yourself as great, your slide toward mediocrity will have already begun.” Jim Collins Good to Great

10. To gain a better understanding of what a professional learning community is and how it works. To emphasize the importance of collaboration in order to maximize student achievement. Outcomes

11. What are our schools’ strengths?

12. What is a Professional Learning Community?

13. Learning for All Learning as the constant, time and support as the variable A Culture of Collaboration “A systematic process in which we work together, interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve our individual and collective results.” -DuFour, DuFour & Eaker Focus on Results Three Big Ideas

14. “The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is building the capacity of school personnel to function as a professional learning community. The path to change in the classroom lies within and through professional learning communities.” -Milbrey McLaughlin Why PLC?

15. What is it we expect kids 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? Four Critical Questions

16. Teaching vs. Learning Shared Mission, Vision, & Values S.M.A.R.T. Goals Collaborative Teams Establish Essential Outcomes Create Common Assessments Examine Student Data to Improve Instruction Commitment to Continuous Improvement Results Orientation Implementing the PLC Model

17. Teaching vs. Learning

18. “Whereas many schools operate as if their primary purpose is to ensure that children are taught, PLCs are dedicated to the idea that their organization exists to ensure that all students learn essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions.”DuFour, Robert Eaker & Thomas Many; Learning by Doing Focus on Learning

19. “Rather than improving students, the business of the school becomes improving the educational experiences provided to students.” - Phillip C. Schlechty, Shaking Up the Schoolhouse, 2001

20. Shared Mission, Vision, & Values

21. “It is impossible to develop a results orientation unless we are clear about the core of the enterprise (mission), about the kind of school we’re seeking to become (vision), and the attitudes, behaviors and commitments we need to promote, protect and defend (values).” DuFour & Eaker Mission, Vision & Values

22. FOCUS ON LEARNING EMPHASIZE A COLLABORATIVE CULTURE HOLD HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS FOCUS ON RESULTS AND BE COMMITED TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT A PLC’s Mission and Vision Must…

23. S.M.A.R.T. Goals

24. Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely S.M.A.R.T. Goals

25. “Replace the voluminous strategic planning process with a few very specific goals.” -Learning by Doing Dufour, et. al. Page 120

26. Results by Mike Schmoker Big Hairy Audacious Goals B.H.A.G.S. – Jim Collins The Carrot Principle – Gostick and Elton School Goal Setting Rick Dufour Goals

27. Set “non-negotiable” goals for achievement Involve others in setting these goals Continually monitor progress and make corrections as needed Focus resources, especially for training, on district-wide goals Robert Marzano & J. Timothy Waters McREL’s meta-analysis of 27 studies on successful school leadership found:

28. The Power of Goals Provides Focus Sense of Accomplishment for Teachers/Students Pride Why Goals?

29. For each class, we will work to maintain a graduation rate of 95% or higher Strongly Support-82 Support-24 Disagree-1 Strongly Disagree-0 To increase academic achievement as measured by the PSAE/ACT so our students’ scores continuously improve and rank in the top 5% or higher of high school districts in Illinois Strongly Support-65 Support-38 Disagree-2 Strongly Disagree-1

30. To challenge and support all of our students to the best of their ability including building one of the best AP programs in the state and nation and having our school rated as one of the top ten high schools in Illinois using the Newsweek Challenge Index Strongly Support-50 Support-49 Disagree-8 Strongly Disagree-0 We will continue to implement the Professional Learning Community Model including collaboratively developing common assessments and reviewing student performance data to improve curriculum and instruction Strongly Support-64 Support-28 Disagree-0 Strongly Disagree-0 More info-15

31. Collaborative Teams

32. “Creating a collaborative culture is the single most important factor for successful school improvement initiatives and the first order of business for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their schools.” Eastwood & Lewis Collaborative Culture

33. Advantages for Teachers Gains in student achievement Higher quality solutions to problems Increased confidence among all staff Ability to support strengths and accommodate weaknesses Ability to test new ideas More support for new teachers Expanded pool of ideas, materials, methods Judith Warren Little Collaborative Culture

34. Each team establishes its own norms Norms are stated as commitments to act or behave in certain ways Norms are reviewed at the beginning and end of each meeting until internalized Tips for Team Norms

35. Be honest and share what you think and feel Participate in the conversation. It is your responsibility to get your voice in the room. Focus on the task. Think creatively and comprehensively. Treat each other as equals. Listen to and understand one another’s viewpoints. Ensure equal time for all participants. Sample – Norms for Team Meetings

36. Purpose – to share best practice Non – to compete or out-do each other Purpose – to identify criteria for solving a problem and /or to brainstorm solutions Non – Shame or blame others for the problem. Purpose – to collaboratively raise reading scores for 11th grade students. Non – plan and schedule field trips Sample Purposes and Non-Purposes

37. “In a PLC, collaboration represents a systematic process in which teachers work together interdependently in order to impacttheir classroom practice in ways that will lead to better results for their students, for their team, and for their school.” www.allthingsplc.info/ Collaborative Culture

38. “It should be evident that schools will never realize the fundamental purpose of helping all students achieve at high levels if the educators within them work in isolation.” DuFour et al., Whatever It Takes, 2004. p. 60 Isolation  Collaboration

39. “Schools can guarantee all students have access to the same essential outcomes only when the teachers… work together to clarify and commit to those outcomes.” DuFour et al., Whatever It Takes, 2004. p. 60 Isolation  Collaboration

40. Effectiveness = Focus on STUDENT LEARNING Collaborative Culture

41. Pyramid of Interventions DuFour et al., Whatever It Takes, 2004. p. 210

42. Riverside Brookfield High SchoolResponse to Interventions (RtI) Strategies Targeted Strategies Academic Support, ADA, Ambassador Program, Behavior/Academic Referrals, Blitz, Classroom Profiles, Correspondence Courses, Counselor Watch Program, Drug & Alcohol Counseling, ESL, Executive Functioning Program, Freshman Academic Success Seminar, Learning Resource Center, National Honor Society Tutoring, Parent/Student/Counselor/Teacher Meetings, Parent Support Groups, Progress Monitoring, Read 180, Social Worker Groups, Study Skills Course, Summer School, Credit Recovery, Transition Teams, Truancy Tickets, Zone Program

43. Establish Essential Outcomes

44. Must be aligned with state standards and district curriculum guides Must ensure students demonstrate proficiency on state, district, and national assessments Must provide timely information and be precise Dufour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. Learning by Doing, 2006. (pp.46-47) Essential Learning

45. Do students need to know this to be successful at the next level of schooling? Do students need to know this to be successful on district, state, and national tests? Do students need to know this to be successful in life? (relevance) What is Essential?

46. Create Common Assessments

47. Summative Infrequent Specific deadline “assessment of learning” Formative Frequent Inform teachers regarding effectiveness Provide for additional time and practice “assessment for learning” Dufour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. Learning by Doing, 2006. (p.55) Common Assessments

48. Black and Wiliam – Inside the Black Box Ahead of the Curve – Reeves, Guskey, Stiggins, Marzano, DuFour et all. Mindset – Dr. Carol Dweck Fixed vs. Growth Mindset The Research on Formative Assessments

49. Assessment of Learning - Did the kid make it to Minneapolis? Assessment for Learning - Was the kid passing through Kansas City at the time I thought she/he might? - How long did it take him/her to get to Kansas? - At this rate, when do I think s/he’ll reach Minnesota? - Do I need to investigate alternate transportation methods? * What kind of support does the child require to catch up with his/her peers? Two Types of Assessments

50. More efficient More equitable Guarantee common curriculum Inform the practice of individual teachers Build capacity to improve Systematic, collective response to struggling students Dufour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. Learning by Doing, 2006. (p.57) Common Assessments