AllThingsPLC Magazine by Solution Tree

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PLC M A G A Z I N E Fall 2017

A CHANGE FROM WITHIN

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PLC M A G A Z I N E

Fa l l 2 0 1 7

Features The Four Pillars of Clinton High School

JR Kuch

Building a solid foundation.

Entropy Avoidance Timothy D. Kanold

Looking into the heart of a PLC life.

Now What?

Chris Hansen

The first 6 steps of implementing a PLC.

A Deliberate Choice for the American International School of Guangzhou Bernadette P. Carmody

Finding the golden rules of a PLC.

24 30 37

To o l s & R e s o u rc e s fo r I n s p i ra t i o n a n d E xce l l e n ce

First thing

Answer why before what and how.

FAQs about PLCs

Answering the â&#x20AC;&#x153;learn whatâ&#x20AC;? question.

Learning champion

Sharon Kramer: Saving lives with glasses.

Data quest

A data picture of your school.

Skillshop

Creating SMART goals.

The recommender

Leadership resources to PLC by.

Classic R&D

Leading districtwide improvement.

Contemporary R&D

Why collaborate? Because it enhances student learning!

Why I love PLCs PLCs change schools and communities.

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PLC M A G A Z I N E

SOLUTION TREE: CEO Jeffrey C. Jones

PRESIDENT Edmund M. Ackerman SOLUTION TREE PRESS:

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Douglas M. Rife ART DIRECTOR Rian Anderson PAGE DESIGNERS Abigail Bowen, Laura Cox, Rian Anderson

AllThingsPLC (ISSN 2476-2571 [print], 2476-258X [Online]) is published four times a year by Solution Tree Press. 555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 800.733.6786 (toll free) / 812.336.7700 FAX: 812.336.7790 email: info@SolutionTree.com SolutionTree.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to Solution Tree, 555 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN, 47404 Copyright © 2017 by Solution Tree Press

First Thing Answer Why Before

What and How “Why did they change our __________? What was wrong with the old one?”

ou can fill in the blank with any number of elements subject to change in schools: the schedule, attendance policy, student dismissal procedure, and so on. These questions often permeate a traditional school or district, usually at the beginning of each new school year when teachers are informed by the administration (the they) of structural changes—those changes made to certain policies, programs, practices, and procedures. Too often, the people who are most impacted by a structural change have no involvement in the decision-making process and therefore have no ownership of and little commitment to the change. In schools and districts that function as Professional Learning Communities at WorkTM (PLCs), structural changes are intentionally and strategically made after members of the organization learn together, answering the question “why?” before “what and how?” Structural changes in PLCs are intended to advance the mission and strengthen the desired culture of the organization—the assumptions, beliefs, values, and habits that constitute the norm and guide the work within the community. Because the mission of PLCs is to ensure high levels of learning for all—students and educators—the desired culture is one in which people throughout the organization are focused on learning, collaborate with one another, and have a results orientation. To address why before what and how, members of a PLC school or district first learn together about their current reality. Typically, the guiding coalition (also called a leadership team or school improvement team) gathers and organizes the information necessary for people to

make informed decisions about trends in learning, engagement, perceptions, and other important aspects of the organization. The team then shares information about the current reality with all members of the organization. Through a collaborative study of their current reality, all members are able to identify: • Areas of celebration—“We’re getting better at this; let’s keep doing what we’re doing!” • Areas of need—“Our results are declining or flat in this aspect. We need to learn about and implement better practices to address this need.” To access a reproducible current reality template, A Data Picture of Our School, go to www.allthingsplc.info/files/uploads /adatapictureofourschool.pdf or turn to page 22. When members of PLCs understand why change is necessary and have identified what area or areas need improvement, they next learn together about how: better or best ways to address

their needs. An ad hoc task force including representatives from every stakeholder group may convene to lead and share the learning with others. Or all members of the organization may initially be involved in the new learning. As well-intentioned people learn together by studying related research, reading articles and books, going on site visits to schools or districts that have successfully addressed a need, receiving training and coaching in new practices, engaging in action research, and then testing out that learning in their own setting, they own the learning and therefore will likely be more committed to making the necessary changes. The next time your school or district is considering a structural change that will ultimately impact your organization’s culture, take time to engage members in learning together about your current reality and better or best practices. Answer the question why before answering what and how, and do it together. Why not?

—Becky DuFour

Meet and exceed the expectations of ESSA through the proven PLC at Work™ process The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) presents educators and education stakeholders with a rare opportunity: to reconceive schooling to better address students’ needs. Discover how you can make the most of this opportunity by fully committing to the PLC at Work™ process. LEARN MORE SolutionTree.com/RespondingtoESSA

Heart of the PLC Life

Entropy A In the

“W

ell, Dr. Kanold, we have our final report for you.” It was spring 2002, and I had been waiting three days for this exit interview. The chairperson for the National Blue Ribbon School award committee was presenting me with a summary of her final report. Our school had been rejected in our first attempt 16 years before but since then had received the award three times. This would be an unprecedented fourth award spanning a 14-year period in our school’s history. After some hesitation, she said, “We have discovered that almost every stakeholder in your district—faculty, staff, administration, parents, and community members—have one united

fear.” A bit stunned, I could not possibly guess what that fear could be. I was convinced our school community was one of binding commitments to excellence and the requisite support for “whatever it takes” to improve student learning. There was silence. After another bit of hesitation, she said, “They fear the district will no longer continue to grow and change, that entropy will set in.” My first thought was one of relief. If this was our greatest fear, then we also had great hope. That fear could push our PLC culture forever forward.

Avoidance Timothy D. Kanold

My second thought was not as good. The statement might also be a commentary about the new superintendent for the upcoming 2002–03 school year. Perhaps our educational stakeholders were asking, “Would the PLC school culture of adult and student risk-taking of the past 10 years survive?” We had brought focus to our work, and our engagement, time, and energy had been built on a safe culture of adult transparency and sharing results without shame. Perhaps this would suddenly disappear with the new superintendent on board. Who was the new superintendent? Me. I spent my previous 17 school seasons with the school

district. It had been a labor of love, sweat, tears, arguments, hard work, really hard work, risk taking, and growth. We built a culture of positive and professional impact. We stared down the personal and professional question: Does our teaching and leading professional work life make a difference? We decided we wanted a magnified impact. And now, it could all be at risk. What if I could not lead us past this fear of entropy? I knew from experience that change is messy. Change causes an emotional and sometimes visceral response from every

stakeholder in the district. I was also familiar with the stuckin-a-rut failure of minding the status quo. It was our biggest cultural enemy when I first arrived. The signs were everywhere you looked.

Signs of Entropy Merriam-Webster describes entropy as “chaos, disorganization, and randomness.” These are not good words in our profession. Once you start the slippery slide into entropy, chaos sets in. Stop taking risks, The school loses its focus. Random change initiatives wear you down. Your work effort is no longer relevant. Then fear sets and you stop in—the fear of not being able to sustain meaningful change in becoming. Entropy your work, the fear that your voice will no longer matter or be heard, and ultimately, the fear of regressing as others around sets in. You leave you continue to move forward. your unrealized My experience over the years is that entropy kicks in to your school culture fast unless you relentlessly pursue your expecpotential at the door tations for improving current student performance—together. as a professional. My colleague and lifetime friend Rick DuFour said it like this: “Think of the culture of your school as a garden. Inattention inevitably results in weeds, which not only are perfectly capable of growing on their own but also are certain to flourish if the garden is left unattended. A strong culture of continuous improvement needs constant attention Answer each statement with yes or no, and identify an area and nurturing” (R. DuFour, personal comfor personal improvement. munication, April 23, 2016). 1. I have a tendency toward superficiality. Following are some signs that you might need to tend to your personal and profession2. I have tension with colleagues. al cultural garden. If you answer no to any of 3. I no longer know my story (why I am a these statements, then chances are entropy is professional educator). settling in to your life. Our work within a PLC culture becomes 4. I tend to be a problem maker and not a much more than just about the stuff to get problem solver. done during the school year. It is about the 5. I do not want the problem solved. risk-taking culture we pursue for effective 6. I seek to control rather than collaborate. change at the grassroots level—our classrooms. And that begins by understanding the 7. I speak of my students or colleagues as an imposition emotional charge of change. on my time.

ENTROPY Test

I lose grace and civility with others.

I demonstrate a loss of confidence in my own judgment and wisdom.

10.

I forget that vision (what I am trying to become) can never be separated from risk (the actions it will take to get me there).

AllThingsPLC Magazine/Fall 2017

The Emotional Charge of Change Think about what change means to you. Change is a chargedup and emotional word. Does the idea of change leave you with a good or a bad feeling? For some, change signals action, excitement, hope, joy, and renewal. “Yes!” For others, change feels like anger, sadness, bleariness, or oppression. “Here we go again with the next new thing.” Or, “You want us to do what?!” Change can make you feel like you are not very good sometimes. And this is true. You and I are never good enough. One aspect of our professional work is to help our colleagues embrace the idea of continuous improvement, forever. Change can make you feel like you must take risks. This is true, too. Once you stop taking risks, entropy will set in and you are no longer effective. You eventually come to understand that if you are to effectively take risks and create a successful change and growth PLC culture, then you have three markers on which to evaluate the quality of your change efforts, whether large or small. One marker requires you to look forward and determine if the risk-taking actions connect to and honor the school’s vision for instruction, assessment, and intervention. The second marker requires you to look backward and reflect on whether those vision-focused actions mattered. Is there evidence of improved student learning outcomes as a result of that risk action? Did your students achieve those hoped-for and measurable learning goals? The third marker requires you to take action and examine the culture for change created around your deliberate and focused risk-taking practice. How well do you provide highly effective impact feedback to your students and your colleagues about the risks they are taking to improve?

Change Marker #1: Look Forward “Tell me your 30-second vision for instruction and assessment for the students in this school.” This is the request I make of random faculty, administrators, and community members when I visit a school. I am trying to determine if there is coherence in their responses.

Vision helps you achieve clarity on what you are supposed to be changing toward. It should push all adult risk-taking actions forward. A well-articulated and understood vision places boundaries on your risk-taking efforts and provides you with direction in order to make good judgments and decisions each day. Every risk-taking action you take cannot be random behavior. It should be interdependent with the understood and operational vision for your professional work. Vision then becomes the voice of authority in your school. In a healthy school culture, you take risks (change) because you have become part of a culture that calls you to meet the professional obligation of honoring the school or department vision for your daily practice. From the moment a new teacher joins your staff, you teach him or her with great clarity the vision for instruction, assessment, and intervention expected in your school programs and help him or her learn how to behave in ways that honor the vision. Vision then becomes an entropy destroyer. No randomness. No chaos. Only focused risk-taking and change. Ultimately, however, vision is not enough for sustainable change. It is necessary but not sufficient. Your risk-taking efforts should not be wasted on actions that do not make a significant difference in improved student learning.

Change Marker #2: Look Backward When you choose a professional work life in the corporate sector, money is placed into the organization in order to produce more money. The output of your work is profit. When you choose a career in the education profession, in a social sector job, money is placed into the organization, and the output is different. Our output is smart and good students. Therefore, your success is measured by student learning and character development. You measure your change effectiveness via actual evidence of student learning. “Did our team make a difference in student learning?” is a much tougher standard to measure success against than a dollar amount. Our success, then, rests in the hands of the students and in our ability to move student learning toward predetermined levels of student achievement for each grade level or course. And that can be a very challenging reality.

Fall 2017/AllThingsPLC Magazine

Why I Love PLCs PLCs Change Schools and Communities

BY SCOTT A. CUNNINGHAM

The first time I learned about PLCs was during a visit to Adlai Stevenson High School with a team of teachers and administrators in 2003. Tim Kanold was the superintendent of Stevenson at the time, and we were so impressed with everything they did, we decided we were going to become a PLC too. At that time, I was an assistant principal at a large urban high school in Columbus, Ohio. Our administrative team put together a plan about how we were going to implement common assessments and increase collaboration time, while keeping an intense focus on learning for all. We took the plan to our superintendent. As our principal presented all of the incredible ideas that we just stole from Adlai Stevenson, he was interrupted by the superintendent, who said, “Boys, I was young and dumb just like you guys. That PLC stuff isn’t going to work. It’s just another thing that our teachers won’t want to do.” We left his office with our tails between our legs, and after reflecting and feeling sorry for ourselves, we decided that we did not need permission and started to implement the PLC process at our school anyway. We increased collaboration time and really focused on common assessments, and we started to see positive results immediately. The following summer, I became the principal of Norton Middle School in Columbus, which fed the high school I had worked at previously. I attended a PLC institute, where I fell in love not only with the PLC process but also with Rick and Rebecca DuFour. The easy and understandable way they were able to articulate the PLC process was just incredible. Don’t get me wrong; implementing systemic and systematic change is not easy.

AllThingsPLC Magazine/Fall 2017

But the process was explained so clearly that I was convinced that even I could lead a high-poverty, highly diverse, highly dysfunctional school to great academic heights. Based on my previous experience of looking for affirmation and approval before moving forward, I decided that I would never mention the phrase professional learning communities because I did not want the teachers to say that this was just another program, this too shall pass. Even though we did not mention the phrase, we implemented the PLC process. We started by focusing on our foundation by collectively creating a new mission and vision, and we used the following questions to create our collective commitments. QUESTION 1: What promises are you willing to make to your colleagues that will support our success in achieving our mission and vision? QUESTION 2: When your students leave you, how do you want them to be different, as people, as a result of being with you all year long? QUESTION 3: What are your fundamental, bedrock beliefs about your role in making sure that all students learn at high levels?

We set goals immediately, which was important but hard because we had to look at our current reality that showed we were one of the lowest performing schools in the state of Ohio. We increased collaboration time, giving teachers three hours per week of department time to focus on the four essential questions, two hours per week of interdisciplinary planning to focus on the RTI process, and one hour a week to focus on vertical planning.

After six years of implementing, learning, and improving, we became one of the highest performing high-poverty schools in the state of Ohio. Not only did this process have an impact on our students and families but it also had an impact on everyone involved. Teachers who were not doing the right things for the students ended up leaving the school; 16 teachers left after two years. Six teachers became district leaders because the PLC process helped us build leadership from within. We all grew, and most important, all of our students grew. We moved from admiring our problems and blaming students, parents, and society to learning about and gaining a clear understanding of our problems and attacking them together. The PLC process helped change an entire school and community, and that is why I love PLCs.

SCOTT A. CUNNINGHAM is principal of Orange Middle School (Olentangy Local School District) in Ohio. He has over 23 years of experience in education as a principal, assistant principal, and teacher.

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