Liaisons of Learning Team for the Hastings Public Schools, are strong advocates of three guiding principles:
1. Student learning as the ultimate HPS priority;
2. Staff working together interdependently (collaboration); and
3. Staff using results to improve, maintain, or celebrate student learning.
To assure the three principles are made operational, Learning Teams constantly engage in action research to answer the following four key questions :
1. What do we want our students to know and be able to do? (curriculum)
2. How will we determine what our students know or can do?
3. What will we do if our students don't know or can't do?
4. What will we do if our students do know and can do?
(assessment)
(instruction)
(instruction)
To assist and coordinate all genuine efforts to transform the District into an exceptional one, there is a
"division" called Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, which could also be called the "Division of the Four
Key Questions." Each liaison works under the guidance and direction of the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and serves as a conduit of information between Teams and the District.
Liaisons must be effective in:

Sharing with the CIA Office the strengths and potential areas for growth in the Team o Attend all Liaison meetings. o Contribute appropriately to Liaison meetings. o Update the CIA office, as directed or necessary, via telephone, email, or other means. o Ensure weekly completion of PLC Feedback (including attendance) to CIA Person(s). o Provide the CIA office with the Learning Team's required products in a timely fashion.
In past years, the district identified Facilitators/Curriculum Chairs whose responsibilities were slightly different from that of a liaison. Please note that the team, itself, is now responsible for the following:

Providing leadership for the Learning Team o Assure that each meeting has an agenda focused on one or more of the four key questions. o Assure each Team has operational norms and means for the enforcement of those norms. o Address legitimate professional needs of the Team to help work efficiently and effectively. o Re-direct the Team when the Team is not doing the work of a Learning Team. o Encourage the Team and each Team member to do the work of a Learning Team. o Attend most, if not all, of the Team's meetings.

Building the capacity of others on your Learning Team o Distribute roles and responsibilities, including leadership, among Members as appropriate. o Assure that all voices are heard while attaining Team consensus. o Assure that the consensus of the Team is based on research or best practice and that it is carried out by all members of the Learning Team.

Modeling the PLC process of action research to help the Team answer the four key questions o Engage in the process of continuous improvement. o Access outside resources for improvement. o Use Essentials and Common Assessments to guide instructional Units of Study.
CIA Management
From time to time, depending on the team, level and/or content area, the CIA office or designee may have the need for additional management tasks in the form of coordination, facilitation or actual CIA work. This may include budgetary assistance, inventory of materials, textbook adoption, test coordination, etc. These tasks could possibly, or even likely, be completed by the same person who serves as a liaison; they are, however,
July 2011

separate from the responsibilities of the liaison. These managerial tasks will generally be completed outside of contract, with substitute release, and/or during the summer.
July 2011