WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Impacting
Learning through
Professional
Learning
Communities
October 25-26, 2010
West Virginia Dept. of
Education
Kim Bailey kbailey4learning@me.com
Our goals for the next two days:
Review the concepts of Professional Learning
Communities (shared knowledge)
Examine the “end in mind” (shared vision)
† Collaborative
teams
Discuss and practice some of the strategies
associated with highly effective teams
Meet and design plans for implementing,
refining, and supporting PLC’s at your site
Alphabet
introductions
Your first sentence must be
about your expectations for
learning during the next two
days AND that sentence must
begin with a word that starts
with A. Moving clockwise
around the table, the next
person begins their sentence
with a word starting with B,
and so on
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
1
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Common Vocabulary
A PLC is not...
...a program
...a passing fad
...a meeting
...a process
...a bookclub
So...what is a PLC?
What?
ƒ
Why?
ƒ The goal of their actions is to enhance their
A structure and a culture in which the
teachers in a school and its administrators
continuously seek and share learning and then
act on what they learn.
effectiveness as professionals so that
students benefit.
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
2
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Improved
Learning
Random Acts of
Improvement
Aligned Acts of
Improvement
(integrated and results
oriented)
3 Big Ideas of
Professional Learning Communities
Focus on Learning
Collaborative Culture
Focus on Results
3 Big Ideas of
Professional Learning Communities
Focus on Learning
Collaborative Culture
Focus on Results
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
3
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Fundamental Assumption
To have a mission of learning for
all:
You must believe all students
can learn at high levels.
You must take responsibility to
assure that all students learn.
From Mission to Vision to Action
Beliefs and Core Values
Mission
Goals and
Actions
Vision
What is our
purpose?
What is our
business?
What would
it look like
if…
from the
student’s
perspective,
What steps do
we need to
take to get from
our reality to
our vision?
Collective Commitments
(how will we support this vision?)
Goal #4
Goal #3
Goal #2
Goal #1
Organizational Foundation
What are we here to do? MISSION
Where are we trying to go VISION
What are our beliefs? VALUES
How will we close the gap between our current reality and
our vision? GOALS
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Focus on Learning
We accept high levels of
learning for all students as the
fundamental purpose of our
school and therefore are
willing to examine all practices
in light of their impact on
learning.
Learning for All Students
In a PLC, there is a collective
commitment to ensure the learning for
all students
† By
name by need
“your student” versus “my student” but
OUR students
† Failure not an option
† Not
An Example of a Simple Message
The purpose of our school is to see to it that all
our students learn at high levels, and the future of
our students depends upon our success.
We must work collaboratively to achieve that
purpose because it is impossible to accomplish if
we work in isolation.
We must continually assess our effectiveness in
achieving our purpose on the basis of results—
tangible evidence that our students are acquiring
the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to
their future success.
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
5
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
TALK TIME
Discuss your current context and how it
compares to the concepts discussed in
Big
Idea #1(Focus
oninLearning)?
• What
practices
are already
place in our school or team
that are consistent with a focus on learning?
•What cultural evidence demonstrates our
commitment to the learning of all students?
•Are there any practices that are incompatible with the
belief that all students can learn?
3 Big Ideas of
Professional Learning Communities
Focus on Learning
Collaborative Culture
Focus on Results
Shoulder partners
How do you define a
collaborative team?
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
6
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
What makes a group a team?
They all own shared goals
Members are interdependent
†
organized around a process, each performing a
critical function required for success
They work collaboratively and
purposefully to achieve the goals
There is accountability WITHIN
the team
Qualities of Effective Collaborative Teams
Purpose and Cohesive Plan
†
†
Clear vision of what they’re
working toward and why
Focus on learning, not
teaching
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
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
“Improving schools requires
collaborative cultures. Without
collaborative skills and relationships,
it is not possible to learn and to
continue to learn as much as you need
to know to improve.”
—Michael Fullan
Effective collaboration is:
The systematic process in which we
work together to analyze and impact
professional practice in order to
improve our individual and collective
results.
†
Excerpt from ‘Collaboration lite’ puts student achievement
on a starvation diet by Rick DuFour, Journal of Staff
Development, Summer 2003
An Example of a Simple Message
The purpose of our school is to see to it that all
our students learn at high levels, and the future of
our students depends upon our success.
We must work collaboratively to achieve that
purpose because it is impossible to accomplish if
we work in isolation.
We must continually assess our effectiveness in
achieving our purpose on the basis of results—
tangible evidence that our students are acquiring
the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to
their future success.
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
8
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
We can achieve our fundamental
purpose of high levels of learning for all
students only if we work together. We
cultivate a collaborative culture through
the development of high performing
teams!
—DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker
Cultural Shifts in a PLC –
A Focus on Learning
Focus on learning
†
†
Shift from isolated “good works” to systems
thinking and collaboration
†
†
†
For students
For adults
Shared learning across schools
Team goals
Collaboration time
All of our students (not yours, mine)
Working Together
The engine behind school improvement in a
professional learning community is the team-grade level teams, departmental teams, and/or
course teams. The actions of these teams are
guided by the following questions:
†
†
†
†
What should students know and do?
How do we know they are learning?
What do we do when they're not learning?
How do we respond when they’ve already learned the
information?
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Collaborative cultures, which by
definition have close relationships,
are indeed powerful, but unless they
are focusing on the right things, they
may end up being powerfully wrong.
—Michael Fullan
3 Big Ideas of
Professional Learning Communities
Focus on Learning
Collaborative Culture
Focus on Results
Focus on Results
We assess our effectiveness on the
basis of results rather than
intentions. Individuals, teams,
schools, and districts seek relevant
data and information and use that
information to promote continuous
improvement.
—DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
10
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
An Example of a Simple Message
The purpose of our school is to see to it that all
our students learn at high levels, and the future of
our students depends upon our success.
We must work collaboratively to achieve that
purpose because it is impossible to accomplish if
we work in isolation.
We must continually assess our effectiveness in
achieving our purpose on the basis of results—
tangible evidence that our students are acquiring
the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to
their future success.
Formative Assessment Defined
“Formative assessment is a planned process in
which assessment-elicited evidence of students’
status is used by teachers to adjust their
ongoing instructional practices or by students
to adjust their current learning tactics.”
Popham (2008), Transformative Assessment, p. 6
Support for Common Assessments
1.
Improves the level of student achievement,
2.
Clarifies curriculum and intervention strategies,
3.
Enhances communication between teachers
about student learning (and students),
4.
Creates opportunities for teachers to sharpen
pedagogy and deepen understanding of
content.
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
11
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Systematic and Timely Interventions
PLCs have established a systematic
response that ensures support for every
student
Not up to individual teachers to figure out how
to support their students
† A system of interventions outlines how the
school will respond to learner needs with
additional time and support
† Not by invitation
†
„ Failure
is not an option
Key Characteristics of PLCs
(see handout and pp. 11-14 in LBD)
3.
Shared mission, vision, values & goals
Collaborative teams focused on learning
Collective inquiry
4.
Action orientation and experimentation
5.
Commitment to Continuous
improvement
6.
Results orientation
1.
2.
Key Characteristics
Table jigsaw
•
•
•
Table distributes essential characteristics of a PLC
amongst members
Individually, read and reflect upon your assigned
essential characteristic
Come back to whole group and share out the part that
resonated...here are some sample starters:
o
o
o
This reminds me of...
Seeing this in action would mean...
I experienced how powerful this can be when...
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
12
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Stretch Break
Did you know that stretching can
improve your thinking by
reducing stress and increasing
focus?
This does not happen by
accident...
Table discussion
Observations
†
What were some of the actions/behaviors you
saw exhibited by the team in the video?
Affinity process
†
What are some skills and concepts that would
need to be learned and supported across
collaborative teams in your school?
„ Individual
brainstorming
arrangement
„ Category heading
„ Group
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
13
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
A shift in the work of teachers (p. 250 in LBD)
From isolation...
From each teacher clarifying
what students must learn...
From each teacher
determining the pacing of
the curriculum...
From individual teachers
attempting to discover ways
to improve results...
From privatization of
practice...
From decisions made on the
basis of individual
preferences...
From “collaboration lite” on
matters unrelated to student
achievement...
From an assumption that
these are “my kids, those
are your kids”...
To a [collaborative] focus on learning
To collaborative teams building
shared knowledge and
understanding about essential
learning
To collaborative teams of teachers
agreeing on common pacing
To collaborative teams helping each
other improve
To open sharing of practice
To decisions made collectively by
building shared knowledge of best
practice
To collaboration explicitly focused on
issues and questions that most
impact student achievement
To an assumption that these are “our
kids”
What
should
teams
focus on?
Teams need time that is . . .
Consistent and frequent
Committed and continuous
Uninterrupted
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
14
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Building Awareness
Central
Office
Teachers &
Teacher
Leaders
Administrators
PLC
School
Board
Community
Building Capacity
Central
Office
Teachers &
Teacher
Leaders
Administrators
PLC
School
Board
Community
Elmore and Burney:
The focus in effective districts
It is about learning and only learning
Instructional change is a long, multi-stage
process
Shared expertise is the driver of instructional
change
Focus on system-wide improvement
Good ideas come from talented people working
together
Set clear expectations, then decentralize
Collegiality, caring respect
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
15
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Reciprocal Accountability
“We can't implement the process throughout a district
unless they build the capacity of principals to lead it in
their schools. Principals will not develop their schools
as high-performing PLCs unless they develop the
knowledge and skills of key staff members to lead the
collaborative work essential to PLCs.
Every leader must consider the questions: "How can I
fulfill my responsibility to support others? What
support can I provide that will help them accomplish
what needs to be accomplished?”
Learning by Doing (2nd Edition), p. 1
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Central Office
Servant leadership
Expectations with support
Loose v. tight
The constant balance…
Site Based
Management
Centralized
Management
Michael Fullan
“We made the mistake of assuming that sitebased management was the answer, because
that was where ownership was required. Partly
true, but what was missing was that you can’t
get large scale improvement without a
proactive role on the part of the district.”
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
17
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
“In other words, if large scale
reform is the goal,
infrastructure matters…”
Our Goal:
To foster a district in which every school
community collectively focuses on continuous
improvements in learning for all students,
including those that struggle…
And possesses the capacity and knowledge to
guide everyone toward a common vision...
† …using meaningful data to assist reflection and
planning
†
“Leadership that fosters autonomy
and creativity (loose), within a
systematic framework that
stipulates clear, non-discretionary
priorities and parameters (tight).”
DuFour, (2007, November), In Praise
of Top-Down Leadership, School
Administrator, p. 38–42
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Loose-Tight Leadership
Tight about what?
† Students
learn more when those who
teach them are very clear and very
committed to ensuring each student
receives the intended knowledge, skills,
and dispositions of each course
(guaranteed, viable curriculum).
Loose-Tight Leadership
Tight about what?
†Students
learn more when their
teachers check for understanding on
an ongoing basis and use frequent
common formative assessments rather
than individually created summative
assessments.
Loose-Tight Leadership
Tight about what?
†Students
learn more when their school
has timely, directive and systematic
interventions that guarantee them
additional time and support when they
experience difficulty.
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Loose-Tight Leadership
Tight about what?
† Students
learn more when their teachers
work in collaborative teams rather than
in isolation IF their teachers focus on
the right work…
„ Working
interdependently to achieve specific,
results-oriented goals linked to student
learning, for which they are mutually
accountable.
Loose-Tight Leadership
Tight about what?
†Students
learn more when
professional development in their
school is job-embedded and structures
are in place to help teachers learn
from one another as part of their
routine, weekly practice.
Lunch Break
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
20
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
A more effective way...
Build shared knowledge
Build consensus
†Shared
mission, vision, values and
goals
Build commitments
Build leadership capacity
Developing
(or refining) Norms
Effective Teams have Norms for
Working Together
Norms answer the question:
† How
will we agree to work
together?
† What guidelines do we need to
ensure that our team is effective?
† How do we ensure that we
collaborate with respect for each
other?
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
21
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Process for Establishing Norms
(see pp. 137-138 in Learning by Doing)
Members identify their own needs (quickwrite
or affinity* process)
Members share their norms (round-robin
process)
Clarify what the norms “look like” or “sound
like” for abstract norms
Ask for missing norms. Recommend or
prompt others (e.g. How does the group want to
work with situations in which….?)
Ask for agreement from total group/get
consensus
Review periodically
Practice
Using the “Group Norms”
handout, work as a CTN team to
establish group norms
Whole group share out:
†
†
What were the norms you created?
Reflect on the process...doable?
Break!
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
22
WvaDOE Professional Learning Communities
Looking at your foundation
Individually and then collectively,
examine the current reality of your
school’s implementation of each
indicator provided in the Professional
Learning Communities at Work
Continuum: Laying the Foundation
Complete this sentence...
PLCs are like
________________ because
they ________________.
Walk around
survey
Kim Bailey
Solution Tree
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