Professional Learning
Community Overview
Jack Baldermann
708-243-0597
jackbaldermann@gmail.com
THE COMMUNITY ENTRUSTS TO US
WHAT IS MOST SACRED IN THEIR
LIVES.
Every Student is a Genius
(Armstrong, 1998)
• “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).
“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
What We Believe and Live-Philosophy
“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
“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.”
High Expectations for ALL students
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
Continuous Improvement
“Good is
the enemy
of great.”
Jim Collins
Good to Great
“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
Outcomes
• 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.
What are our schools’
strengths?
What is a
Professional
Learning
Community?
Three Big Ideas
• 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
Why PLC?
“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
Four Critical Questions
1. What is it we expect kids to learn?
2. How will we know when they have
learned it?
3. How will we respond when they
don’t learn?
4. How will we respond when they
already know it?
Implementing the PLC Model
• 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
Teaching
vs.
Learning
Focus on Learning
“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
“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
Shared
Mission,
Vision, &
Values
Mission, Vision & Values
“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
A PLC’s Mission and Vision
Must…
– FOCUS ON LEARNING
– EMPHASIZE A COLLABORATIVE
CULTURE
– HOLD HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL
STUDENTS
– FOCUS ON RESULTS AND BE
COMMITED TO CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT
S.M.A.R.T.
Goals
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
“Replace the voluminous strategic
planning process with a few very
specific goals.”
-Learning by Doing
Dufour, et. al.
Page 120
Goals
• 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
McREL’s meta-analysis of 27
studies on successful school
leadership found:
• 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
Why Goals?
The Power of Goals
• Provides Focus
• Sense of Accomplishment for
Teachers/Students
• Pride
• 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
• 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
Collaborative
Teams
Collaborative Culture
“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
• 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
Tips for Team Norms
• 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
Sample – Norms for Team
Meetings
• 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 Purposes and
Non-Purposes
• 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
Collaborative Culture
“In a PLC, collaboration represents a
systematic process in which teachers
work together interdependently in
order to impact their classroom
practice in ways that will lead to better
results for their students, for their
team, and for their school.”
www.allthingsplc.info/
Isolation  Collaboration
“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
“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
Collaborative Culture
Effectiveness =
Focus on
STUDENT LEARNING
Pyramid of Interventions
Special Education Placement
Case Study Evaluation
Child Review Team
Mentor Program Placement
Guided Study Program
Student Assistance Team Referral
SST and Teacher Conference with Parent
Social Work Contact/Peer Mediation
Student Placement on Weekly Progress Reports
Counselor Conference with Student and Parent
Good Friend Program
Counselor Phone Calls to Parents
Counselor Meeting with Student
Counselor Watch/Survival Skills for High School
Freshman Advisory/Freshman Mentor Program
DuFour et al., Whatever It Takes, 2004. p. 210
Riverside Brookfield High School
Response to Interventions (RtI) Strategies
Individualized Strategies
Administrative Teaming, Alternative Placement,
Alternative Schedule, Behavior/Academic
Contracts, Classroom Observation, IEP,
504 Accommodation Plan, Intervention Teams,
Outside Referrals, Progress Monitoring, Records Review,
Weekly Progress Reports
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
Universal Strategies
Before School/After School Help, Articulation with Feeder Schools, CAP,
Clubs/Sports/Extra-Curricular Activities, College Planning Workshops and Programs,
Common Assessments, Drug/Alcohol Prevention Presentations, Ed-Line, Freshman Orientation,
Naviance, Parent/Teacher Conferences, Progress Reports, Universal Freshman Screening, W/F List
Establish
Essential
Outcomes
Essential Learning
1. Must be aligned with state standards
and district curriculum guides
2. Must ensure students demonstrate
proficiency on state, district, and
national assessments
3. Must provide timely information and be
precise
Dufour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. Learning by Doing, 2006. (pp.46-47)
What is Essential?
• 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)
Create Common
Assessments
Common Assessments
• 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)
The Research on Formative
Assessments
• 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
Two Types of Assessments
• 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?
Common Assessments
• 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)
Examine Student
Results to Inform
Instruction
Examine Student Data
• Tests, homework, student products
• Protocols to collaboratively study lesson
design
• Protocols to collaboratively examine
student work
Examine Student Data
• Use feedback on results to inform, not
punish.
• Provide the basis of comparison that
translates data into information.
• Use apples-to-apples comparisons.
• Use balanced assessments.
• Teachers and principals must engage in data
analysis rather than outsourcing the task to
others.
• A fixation with results does not mean
inattention to people.
Dufour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. Learning by Doing, 2006. (pp.158-160)
Commitment to
Continuous
Improvement
Continuous Improvement
“Good is
the enemy
of great.”
Jim Collins
Good to Great
“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
Results
Orientation
Results Orientation
• Essential to
–Organizational effectiveness
–Team effectiveness
–Motivation
–Continuous improvement
Dufour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. Learning by Doing, 2006. (pp.150-151)
Show Me The Data
www.allthingsplc.info/
•
•
School success stories from around the
country
Tools and resources developed by
schools like you
On Common Ground
DuFour, et al.
•
Best minds in education agree about PLC