Ruth N. Quiles
4305 Fort Hamilton Pkwy
Brooklyn, NY 11219
How does a school community build upon existing structures and
“stretch” itself into a Professional Learning Community?
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Throughout my years at PS 131 I have gradually institutionalized structures that
support a professional learning community. Teachers have engaged in study
groups which first began with a coach or an administrator and now have evolved
to teachers leading them. We have gone from assigning teachers their course of
study for a year to their choosing where they want to grow. Coaches provide
demo lessons in a lab site with all the teachers on the grade in attendance.
Tenured satisfactorily rated teachers also have the opportunity to choose a
“Teacher Performance Review Model” as their observations for a year. This is
where they choose their area of growth and demonstrate their commitment to it all
year long.
It is my vision that continued work in developing and nurturing a Professional
Learning Community will lead to a school where the classrooms have no doors.
Where anyone can walk into anyone’s classroom and be welcomed and an
exchange of ideas will occur.
Process
 Presenting the challenge. I began by asking my inner cabinet (2 assistant
principals) to define a professional learning community (PLC). We came up with
three definitions. When I asked my outer cabinet (2 literacy coaches and a math
coach) the same question, their definitions were farther away from mine than
those of the inner cabinet.
 Creating a common vision. I realized that as a cabinet we needed to come to a
common vision of what a professional learning community should be before we
could share that with the staff. I did not want to give mixed messages when we
presented it to the staff. The concept needed to be clear to everyone.
o I engaged my inner cabinet in reading Learning by Doing, and my outer
cabinet read On Common Ground both by Richard Dufour.
o The inner cabinet met to look for evidence of a PLC within the school
community and discuss the elements that were present and absent with the
outer cabinet. These collaborative efforts resulted in the creation of our
action plan for next steps.
 Surveying Teachers. I created a six question survey for the staff to fill out during
a faculty conference. (Appendix A). The surveys were collected and read by the
cabinet so as to identify those teachers who were further along in the continuum
of a PLC. I then invited those individuals to meet with the cabinet. I convinced
them to take on a curriculum area as a study group and asked them to lead some
of the work of our faculty conferences.
 Faculty Conferences. There were six curriculum committees, each led by a
teacher. Committees were asked to develop their own goals and mission
statement. They completed a project and shared with the entire school
community. Teachers were able to choose which curriculum committee they
wished to belong to:
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o Reading, Writing, Math, Technology, Social Studies, or ESL
o We were able to monitor the committees by assigning a proposal for a
final project to be submitted and approved. We also decided monthly
which curriculum committees we would visit.
Outcomes
 The most obvious outcome of this work is how the cabinet remained focused on
finding evidence and continued to assess and implement next steps of a
professional learning community. Most of our conversation this year would in
some way tie back to: How does this fit with our vision of a professional learning
community?
 This focus has also shaped the decisions that we made when we had grade
meetings, created demo sites, chose grade leaders and curriculum committees.
One clear example of this is creating the model of debriefing. Every time
someone is sent out of the building for professional development they debrief
with the cabinet first. We then either decide to send the information out via email
or if and how we provide time for debriefing with involved parties.
 The curriculum committees provided a non-threatening place for people to get to
know one another as teachers. It was a place for peers to question, learn and
grapple with things together.
 Reflections (Appendix B) collected from the staff show hat they wish to remain in
their curriculum committees for next year.
On June 5th we will work to create a definition, as a staff, for our professional
learning community. The definition will be guided by a reading from On Common
Ground and a presentation of the work the cabinet was engaged in this year. Teachers
will see the elements of a professional learning community and have an opportunity to
rate our school. They will also be given time to think, discuss and write about how they
will contribute to our professional learning community and how the curriculum
committees will support our PLC next year. These responses will be compiled to form
our professional learning community resource book We will end June 5th with a
common definition, a clear vision, a resource book and next steps as individuals and as a
member of our school community.
Lessons Learned
 I learned that it’s important to take the time to explore concepts and develop
definitions together so that everyone uses common language and has a clear
understanding of the work at hand.
 I must create situations and opportunities for this work to happen. It will not
happen on its own
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Appendix A
Teacher Survey
1. What is our fundamental purpose?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What would our school look like if it were a great place for students?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What would it look like if it were a great place for teachers? __________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. What are the specific behaviors we can exhibit to make a personal contribution to
the success of our school? _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. How will we know if we are making progress toward achieving our vision? _____
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. What are the priorities of your school? ____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Appendix B
PUBLIC SCHOOL 131
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
RUTH N. QUILES,
PRINCIPAL
MEMORANDUM
TO:
All Teachers
FROM:
Ruth N. Quiles
DATE:
May 28, 2008
RE:
Committee Reflections
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I would like to thank you all for all the work you engaged in this year while in a
committee. I can’t wait to see the exit projects you’ve created. It is gratifying to
know that each one of you have engaged in learning, sharing and growing in one
specific area. You can be our in house expert in your particular area.
As this year comes to a close I would like you to take some time to reflect on your
work and begin to plan ahead for next year.
Highlights of the work:
_________
year.
Things we can do differently:
I would like to remain in the same committee for the 2008-2009 school
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_________
I would like to switch to another committee.
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