Using Professional
Learning Communities to
Address the AdvancED
Standards
Presenters:
Jeanne Cowan
Janet Hensley
Outcomes
• To become familiar with the Professional
Learning Communities (PLC) model
• To enhance your understanding of how a PLC
provides the structure for a “systems
approach” to school improvement by
concentrating on interdependent
relationships
• To learn how collaborative teams can help us
focus on the continuous improvement of the
entire organization while addressing the
AdvancED Standards and Indicators.
Professional Learning
Communities & AdvancED
• The Professional Learning Communities (PLC)
model is designed to improve teaching and
learning.
• A PLC provides the structure for a “systems
approach” to school improvement by
concentrating on interdependent
relationships.
• Collaborative teams focus on the continuous
improvement of the entire organization while
addressing each of the AdvancED Standards
and many of the Indicators.
6 Characteristics of PLCs
1) Shared Mission, Vision, Values and Goals—All
Focused on Student Learning
2) A Collaborative Culture With a Focus on
Learning
3) Collective Inquiry Into Best Practice
4) Action Orientation: Learning by Doing
5) A Commitment to Continuous Improvement
6) Results Orientation
5 AdvancED Standards
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Purpose and Direction
Governance and Leadership
Teaching and Assessing for Learning
Resources and Support Systems
Using Results for Continuous
Improvement
Shared Mission, Vision, Values and
Goals—All Focused on Student Learning
The very essence of a learning
community is a focus on and a
commitment to the learning of each
student.
• What AdvancED Standard(s) does this align with?
• What indicators seem to correlate with this PLC characteristic?
A Collaborative Culture
With a Focus on Learning
A PLC is composed of collaborative
teams whose members work
interdependently to achieve common
goals linked to the purpose of learning
for all.
• What AdvancED Standard(s) does this align with?
• What indicators seem to correlate with this PLC characteristic?
Collective Inquiry Into
Best Practice
The teams in a PLC engage in collective
inquiry into both best practices in
teaching and best practices in learning.
• What AdvancED Standard(s) does this align with?
• What indicators seem to correlate with this PLC characteristic?
Action Orientation: Learning by Doing
Members of PLCs are action oriented:
They move quickly to turn aspirations
into action and visions into reality.
• What AdvancED Standard(s) does this align with?
• What indicators seem to correlate with this PLC characteristic?
A Commitment to Continuous
Improvement
Inherent to a PLC are a persistent
disquiet with the status quo and a
constant search for a better way to
achieve goals and accomplish the
purpose of the organization.
• What AdvancED Standard(s) does this align with?
• What indicators seem to correlate with this PLC characteristic?
Results Orientation
Members of a PLC realize that all of
their efforts must be assessed on the
basis of measureable results rather than
intentions.
• What AdvancED Standard(s) does this align with?
• What indicators seem to correlate with this PLC characteristic?
PLC OVERVIEW
Professional Learning
Communities
• What is a professional learning community?
• What are the implications for AdvancED
schools?
PLC Defined
A Professional Learning Community
(PLC) is an ongoing process in which
educators work collaboratively in
recurring cycles of collective inquiry and
action research to achieve better results
for the students they serve.
Learning By Doing, 2010
The Big Arrow
Aim of the
District
District
Goals & Measures
Random Acts of Improvement
The Better Big Arrow
Aim of the
District
District
Goals & Measures
Aligned Acts of Improvement
A PLC is NOT…
• A program
• Something you can purchase
• A meeting on Tuesdays
• A PLC is not a meeting; it is a way being.
• A school does not do PLCs; they become a
PLC.
“Big Ideas” of a PLC
• Focus on student learning rather
than teaching.
• Work collaboratively on matters
related to learning.
• Hold everyone accountable for
the results that fuel continual
improvement.
Four Key Questions
1. What is it we expect our students to
learn? (standards)
2. How will we know when they have
learned it? (evidence, assessments)
3. How will we respond when they don’t
learn? (interventions—time and support)
4. How will we respond when they already
know it? (differentiation)
Advantages of Teachers
Working in Teams






Develop more creative solutions to complex problems
Reduce isolation among teachers
Build commitment and support for new ideas
Foster collective responsibility for students’ success
Successfully implement complex plans
Allow those closest to the work to collectively improve
teaching and learning
 Provide possibilities for empowerment that are not available
for individuals
One model of the BLT Team Process
This could be the same group as your AdvancED Leadership Team.
1. The BLT (Building Leadership Team) meets regularly and also prior to
each scheduled in-service.
2. At each BLT meeting, discussion is held regarding strategies to meet
district-wide goals or to plan in-service sessions.
3. The BLT Team takes the information identified at its meeting and plans
the best way to introduce and share the information with their whole
instuctional staff (may be building specific).
Structures for Teams
 Horizontal groups by grade level
 Vertical teams by subject area
 Interdisciplinary groups
 Groups with common planning times
 Groups formed around AdvancED goals, standards
and/or indicators
 Personal interest in working on a particular goal or
topic
 Others
Collaborative Teams
“Hardware” and “Software”
Hardware:
Software:
• Form a leadership team
• Organize instructional
staff into collaborative
teams
• Arrange regular meeting
times with agendas and
shared minutes
• Focus on goals with
results for improving
student achievement
• Create norms
• Develop collaboration skills
• Learn to deal with
“resistors”
• Celebrate learning with one
another!
The PLC Journey Begins…
What is it that we must do as a “systems
team” in order to work collaboratively and
efficiently as a Professional Learning
Community?
P (Professional)
L (Learning)
C (Community)
Ideas for Setting Up Your PLC
• What—share PLC concept with staff
• How—presentation, e-mail from principal
and leadership team
• Who—all instructional staff are on a team
• When—this semester, next semester;
meeting times
• Where--staff meeting, in-service day
Getting Started…
Helpful Resources:
•
•
•
•
•
Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (DuFour)
Learning by Doing (DuFour)
Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap, Whatever it Takes (DuFour)
Aligning School Districts as PLCs (Mark Van Clay, Soldwedel, Many)
Building a Professional Learning Community at Work (Graham and
Ferriter)
This website has practical ideas and reproducibles:
www.allthingsplc.com
http://pirll.tie.wikispaces.net/AdvancED+handouts
Getting Started…
Self-Assessment
Where do we go from here?
• What are some first step(s) that your
school can take to implement a PLC?
Getting Started…
Where Do We Go From Here?
Where do we go from here?
• What are the first step(s) that we must
take to structure or school as a PLC?
• Who will be responsible for initiating this?
• What is a realistic timeline for this?
Professional Learning Community
Taking ACTION
“Perhaps the greatest insight we have gained
in our work with school districts across the
continent is that schools that take the
plunge and actually begin doing the work of
a PLC develop their capacity to help
students learn at high levels far more
effectively than schools that spend years
preparing to become PLCs through reading
or even training.”
Richard DuFour, et. al.
Learning by Doing
Thanks for coming today!
Good luck on your PLC
Journey!
http://pirll.tie.wikispaces.net/AdvancED+handouts