LEADING CHANGE IN
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
COMMUNITIES
New Insights on How PLCs
Improve Schools
Richard DuFour & Rebecca DuFour (December 2010)
Adapted: Dr. Bessie Karvelas
What We Think about Learning?
We learn about…
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--- of what we read
--- of what we hear
--- of what we see
--- of what we see and hear
--- of what we discuss with others
--- of what we experience personally
--- of what we teach to someone else
Student Learning Begins
with Staff Learning
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“…teacher knowledge, skill and
collaboration contribute to improved
instruction and student achievement.
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Staff members within these schools who
learn together create a spirit on which
improvement efforts thrive.”
Joellen Killion 1999
What is a Professional Learning
Community (PLC)?
Highly effective teams that are committed
to…
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Collective inquiry
Action experimentation
Continuous improvement
Results
Elements of PLCs
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The professional learning community 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.
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PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to
improved learning for students is continuous, jobembedded learning for educators.
What PLCs Do?
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Develop an understanding of academic content
Support the implementation of curricula and
instructional activities
Integrate and give coherence to a school’s
instructional programs and practices
Identify a school wide instructional need
Study the research on teaching and learning
Monitor the impact of instructional initiatives on
students
Examine student work
What Do We Know About the
World’s Best School Systems?
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“The best school systems in the world recognize
that the quality of an education system cannot
exceed the quality of its teachers. The only way
to improve outcomes is to improve instruction.
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So, high-performing systems use the
professional learning community process to
support powerful professional development
through teacher collaboration (Barber and
Mourshed, 2007).
If We Implemented What We Know
to Be Best Practice…
Schools would be organized into
collaborative teams in which members
work together interdependently to achieve
common goals for which members are
mutually accountable.
Where We Are Now?
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A good thing happening in my school or
classroom…….
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Schools that help all students to learn pay
attention to……
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Developing or enhancing my PLCs is an
opportunity to…………
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To make this project successful I am prepared
to………..
Moving from Good to Great
1)
Everyone collaborates
2)
Principals lead PLCs
3)
Staff analyzes data to inform decisions
What We’ve Learned in AMPS
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Principal participates in instructional
practice
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Has the ability to support instruction
directly or indirectly
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Insures that teachers meet about the right
things
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Manages a small number of initiatives with
focus
What We’ve Learned in AMPS
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Asks good questions
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Strategic about his or her time
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Makes decisions that benefit students
(willing to make unpopular decisions
about budget and scheduling if needed)
Role of Principal in Leading PLCs
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Sharing basic norms and values about
students, learning and teaching
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Reflective dialogue about teaching practice
and student learning
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Fostering a sense of collective responsibility
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Supporting collaborative time/work
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Focusing on results
PLC in Schools
1) Administrative Team
2) Instructional Leadership Team (ILT)
3) Response-to-Intervention Team (RtI Team)
4) Department Chairs Team
5) Content-Area Team
6) Course Team
“Teams Get Results”
Katzenbach and Smith 1993
Instructional Leadership Teams
A PLC that…
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Expands the use of a variety of instructional
strategies
Supports enhanced instructional practices by
teachers
Provides support for colleagues
Develops a plan for the school leadership team
to apply and share
Facilitates a school wide plan to implement
instructional strategies
Creating a collaborative culture among your staff
BUILDING TEAMS
In high-performing teams, members
hold each other accountable. Everyone
carries his or her own weight
(Blanchard, 2007).
Stages of Team Development
 Orientation
Stage---------- Forming
◦ Testing
◦ Polite
◦ Impersonal
◦ Watchful
◦ Guarded
Stages of Team Development
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Dissatisfaction Stage------Storming
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Infighting
Controlling Conflicts
Confronting People
Opting Out
Difficulties
Feeling Stuck
Stages of Team Development
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Resolution Stage-----------Norming
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Getting organized
Developing Skills
Establishing Procedures
Giving Feedback
Confronting Issues
Stages of team Development
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Production Stage-----------Performing
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Mature closeness
Resourcefulness
Flexible
Open
Effective
Close and Supportive
Group Activity
Complete Chart on Stages of
Team Development
One Focus of ILTs – PD
Powerful staff development…
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Builds a culture that supports innovation, experimentation,
and collegial sharing
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Engages people in daily planning, critiquing and problem
solving
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Deepens content knowledge
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Expands instructional skills within the content
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Teaches assessment skills that help people regularly
monitor student learning
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Provides on-going practice based assistance.
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Connects people to networks beyond the workplace
PD should be…
1) Standard-Based
◦ Content: What knowledge and skills must
educators learn to produce higher levels of
learning for all students?
◦ Process: How will learning be organized to
support adult acquisition of new knowledge
and skills?
◦ Context: How will the organization be
structured to support adult learning?
PD should be……
2) Results-Driven
◦ What do students need to know?
◦ What do educators need to know and be able
to do to ensure success?
◦ What professional development will ensure
that educators acquire the necessary
knowledge and skills?
PD should be…
3) Job-Embedded
◦ Happens during the work day in the work
place.
◦ Designed to support team learning.
◦ Offered to all teachers all the time.
◦ At school, everyone’s job is to learn.
Job-Embedded Learning provides...
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The development of a deeper understanding of
academic content
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Support implementation of curricular and
instructional initiatives
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Provides coherence to school programs
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Focuses on a specific school-wide need
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Supports the study of teaching and learning
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Monitors impact of an initiative
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Provides time for dialog
Job-Embedded Practices
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Sharing article and professional resources for
ideas and insights
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Talking with one another about what and how
you teach and the results your teaching produces
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Providing moral support, comradeship and
encouragement
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Jointly exploring a problem (i.e. data collection
and analysis; conducting action research)
Job-Embedded Action Items
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Attending training together and helping each
other implement the content of the training
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Participating in the continual quality improvement
activities
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Using collective decision making to reach
decisions that produce collective action
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Provide support for “help–seeking” as well as
“help-giving”
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Sharing responsibility for making and/or collecting
materials
Essential Questions
At the point of…
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Delivery --- Did the students (they) like it?
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Knowledge --- Did they learn it?
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Application --- Are they using it?
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Results --- Did it impact student learning?
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Organizational Support/Change --- Did it impact
the organization?
Tom Guskey 2000
Teaching & Learning
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According to the 2009 Metlife survey of
teachers in the United States, 84 percent
of teachers are “very confident that I have
the knowledge and skills to enable all of
my students to succeed academically.”
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According to that same survey, only 36
percent of teachers believe all their
students have the ability to succeed
academically.
What We Know Versus What We Do
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In most schools, assessments will
continue to be developed and
administered by individual teachers and
will be used primarily for summative
purposes.
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Unless assessment serves as a
catalyst for adult learning and changes in
teacher practice, it will not be effective in
improving student achievement.
Why Common Assessments?
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Impact on professional practice — the
irrefutable evidence of better results and the
positive peer pressure of a collaborative team
working interdependently to achieve a common
goal provide the most powerful levers for
impacting practice.
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Efficiency — by sharing the load teachers save
time.
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Equity — promotes a guaranteed curriculum,
similar pacing, and consistent standards for
assessing student proficiency.
Assessment Drives Collaboration
Teachers can…
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Monitor the learning of students who are
expected to acquire the same knowledge and
skills.
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Use the same instrument/process for assessing
the quality of student work.
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Gauge the alignment of the curriculum and the
effectiveness of their instruction.
Sample PLC Activities
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Using shared planning to develop units,
lessons, and activities
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Learn from one another by watching each
other
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Collectively study student work to
identify weaknesses and plan new ways to
teach
Strategies to Build Strong PLCs
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Jigsaw
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Consulting Line
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Academic Controversy
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Give One/Get One
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Carousel Brainstorm