atPLC mag Fall 2021 LOOK-INSIDE

all things

PLC M A G A Z I N E Fall 2021

TOUGH TEAMS DO

TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST

all things

PLC M A G A Z I N E

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Features Team-Building Lessons from Ted Lasso Carrie Kerley and Robert Eaker Affective leadership qualities that can go a long way in creating

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a truly effective team culture.

Preparing First-Year Teachers Monica Riley and Robyn Dawson The partnership between a PLC model school and higher education.

PLCs at Work in the Virtual Landscape Paul C. Farmer and Dennis King Critical insight for schools and districts as they navigate preparation for a new school year with effective cyber platforms

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and face-to-face instruction.

Clarity, Capacity Building & Collective Efficacy Curtis Finch, Paula Tseunis, Gayle Galligan, and Amy Moore The Deer Valley Unified School District story.

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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

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Do PLCs harm children?

ICYMI

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In case you missed it.

FAQs About PLCs

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What format should a team use for common assessments?

Learning Champion

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Scott Carr reflects on his work at Heritage Middle School.

Words Matter

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What are SMART goals?

Skill Shop

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Building relationships using Word Scrabble.

The Recommender

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Ensuring all students receive a high-quality literacy education.

Research Report

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The use of formative assessments in metacognitive regulation.

Why I Love PLCs One common purpose: student learning.

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all things

PLC M A G A Z I N E

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SOLUTION TREE:

First Thing Do PLCs

Harm

Children?

William M. Ferriter

CEO Jeffrey C. Jones

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PRESIDENT Edmund M. Ackerman SOLUTION TREE PRESS:

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PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Douglas M. Rife ART DIRECTOR Rian Anderson PAGE DESIGNERS Laura Cox, Abigail Bowen, Kelsey Hergül, 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 © 2021 by Solution Tree Press

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AllThingsPLC Magazine/Fall 2021

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itting in the lobby alongside two of the greatest minds in the school change movement, I had to pinch myself. I couldn’t believe that I’d been invited to think alongside them, and I couldn’t wait to learn more. Their ideas had shaped mine for well over a decade, and to know that they saw me as a colleague was a moment of real validation.

Things changed quickly, however, when they made a stunning argument. “Rick DuFour and the Professional Learning Community at Work movement harms children,” they said. “That work turns classrooms into test-prep factories, forcing teachers to overemphasize their curriculum in preparation for standardized exams—and little about those exams leaves students prepared for tomorrow’s world. If we really wanted to ensure high levels of learning for all students,” they argued, using Rick’s words against him, “we would be doing a whole lot more than just studying our curriculum.”

At first, I was shocked. After all, the PLC at Work process had forever changed my work for the better. Before joining a school structured around the ideas of Rick DuFour and Bob Eaker, my practice was stagnant and I was professionally bored. I used the same strategies year

after year without question or variation. Worse yet, I used the same strategies year after year without any evidence that they were having a positive impact on learners. Working with my collaborative team changed all that. I instantly had thinking partners who challenged my practice and who supported my continued growth—something I was missing when working alone. How could anyone really believe that teachers studying their practice together in continuous cycles of collective inquiry were harming children?

Over time, however, I have come to realize that there are a lot of misunderstandings about the PLC at Work model, and at the top of that list is the notion that the sole goal of collaborative teams is to raise student test scores. In many minds, answering the four critical questions of learning—What knowledge, skills, and dispositions should students acquire as a result of this unit of instruction? How will we know when each student has learned the knowledge, skills, and dispositions we identified as essential? How will we respond if students don’t learn the knowledge, skills, and dispositions we identified as essential?

How will we extend learning for students who are already proficient with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions we identified as essential?—is a direct response to the high-stakes accountability movement that has defined the work of educators for the past 20 years. And in those minds, collaborative teams are seen as the vehicle to keep schools from facing the consequences of persistent academic failure.

Now, make no mistake about it, ensuring every student masters the essentials in the required curriculum is a foundational part of the work of collaborative teams. As easy as it is to demonize the emphasis placed on mastery of the required curriculum, our job as educators is to respond to the expectations of the communities that we serve—and those expectations are defined in the required curriculum. To ignore them is to ignore the expressed will of the people who pay our salaries. That means most collaborative teams— particularly early in their work with one another—will spend significant time examining their standards, identifying those that matter most, developing common assessments to measure both the progress students are making and the effectiveness of their instructional practices, and intervening for students who struggle or who are ready to move beyond the basics.

There is nothing inherently evil about this work, and teams who engage in it are certainly not harming children.

But it is also important to acknowledge that simple mastery of the required curriculum is unlikely to leave students fully

prepared to be successful in tomorrow’s world. Here’s why: With few exceptions, most of the content covered in our required curriculum remains knowledge-driven, and in a world where the answers to knowledge-driven questions are a simple Google search away, employers aren’t looking for folks who know those answers. Instead, they are looking for folks who are comfortable with uncertainty, who can identify paths worth pursuing, and who can solve complex challenges. I think that was the point my colleagues were trying to make when they suggested that the PLC at Work process was doing more harm than good.

Here’s where they were wrong, however: The PLC at Work process isn’t designed to tell collaborative teams what to spend their time studying. Instead, it is designed to show collaborative teams how to study their practice with one another. That means important decisions about what to collaborate around are made by individual teams that are working to advance the mission, vision, values, and goals of their communities. High-functioning teams recognize that the answer to “What do we want our students to know and be able to do?” isn’t limited to the content covered on their end-of-grade exams. Instead, high-functioning teams extend their collaborative study to the skills and dispositions necessary for success in a world where knowledge isn’t worth as much as it once was.

Need an example? My current learning team—a group of eighth-grade science teachers whose required curriculum and standardized test are completely fact-driven—spent last year studying critical thinking. Our first step was defining just what “critical thinking” looked like in action and assessing our students to see which important critical thinking skills they still needed to master. Next, we worked together to develop a set of exemplars that served as shared definitions of proficiency for both teachers and students. Finally, we engaged students in several learning experiences where they could practice with the critical thinking skills that we had identified as essential, providing both interventions and extensions to students who needed them. Throughout, we had meaningful conversations about the effectiveness of our instructional practices, tinkering with or researching new strategies for helping more students learn to think critically.

What is the lesson in this story for readers? Our goal isn’t—nor has it ever been—to simply prepare students for endof-grade exams. Instead, as our collaborative teams mature and as we perfect strategies for helping students master the content covered in our required curriculum, we should also focus our collaborative efforts on the kinds of essential skills and dispositions required for participation in tomorrow’s world. Only then are we fully meeting the fundamental charge of the PLC at Work process: ensuring that all students learn at the highest levels.

Fall 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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TEAM-BUILDING LESSONS FROM

TED LASSO

by C a r r i e Ke r l ey a n d R o b e r t E a ke r

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uch of what is written about team building focuses on the more structural aspects of creating high-performing teams—forming teams, selecting team leaders, providing resources for teams, monitoring the work of teams, and so on. Less is written about the “softer” side of team building, especially the affective leadership qualities that can go a long way in creating a truly effective team culture.

Indeed, successful organizations of all types have long recognized the correlation between these soft skills and team and organizational success.

To see this soft side of team building in action, we recommend watching Ted Lasso (Apple TV+). Not only will you find the show entertaining (perhaps even addictive!), but you will also witness some highly effective tools for successful team building. While Ted Lasso has primarily a comedic flavor, if one pays close attention, the show also perceptively reflects the importance of emotional intelligence to the success of teams.

Photo: Reuters / Mario Anzuoni - stock.adobe.com

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INTRODUCING Coach Ted Lasso

Like a duck out of water, Ted Lasso is a coach out of water. Although he knows nothing about soccer, he is hired to coach an English Premier League team. The owner of the team—who was awarded the team as part of a divorce settlement—wants the team to fail, thereby making her recent ex-husband, who loves the team more than anything, simply miserable.

Of course, Ted knows none of this and tackles his new job with a good-natured sense of honesty and incurable optimism. While initially he seems like an incompetent bumbler, with each episode it gradually becomes apparent that Ted possesses rich insights into leadership, team-building, and human relations—useful lessons for anyone engaged in transforming traditional schools into effective professional learning communities.

Teaming and the PLC at Work Process High-performing collaborative teams are the engine that drives the Professional Learning Community at Work process, and developing effective teams is one of the primary tasks in which leaders must not only engage but also succeed. Teaming is the primary tool for building a culture of collective efficacy.

Robert Eaker and Janel Keating (2015) observe that a “sense of self-efficacy, which is so critical to teacher effectiveness, is greatly enhanced when teachers work in teams rather than by themselves and when the team is doing the right work, for the right reasons, with specificity and fidelity” (p. 34).

Team building for collective efficacy is not something that is simply nice to do—something to make people feel involved and have a sense of ownership. Collective ownership has a huge effect on success, especially in schools. John Hattie (2016) ranks collective efficacy at the top of the list of factors that affect student achievement. To put Hattie’s findings into perspective, Matt Navo and Jared Savage (2021) write, “Not only does collective teacher efficacy rank number one on Hattie’s list of factors influencing student achievement, with an effect size of 1.57, collective efficacy is more than double (and in some cases triple) the effect size of other factors such as family dynamics and socioeconomic status, both with an effect size of 0.52” (p. 2).

While there is no “right way” to develop effective teams, there are basic leadership assumptions, behaviors, and tools that can enhance the chances for success. Ted Lasso is a treasure trove of insights about leadership, motivation, and team building. Here are a few examples.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

—Maya Angelou

Believe The cornerstone of Ted Lasso’s effectiveness is his unwavering belief that success is possible. He sees his role, primarily, as getting others to share this belief and sense of purpose. Notably, Ted tells his team, “I believe in ‘believe.’”

Likewise, effective team building is built on a foundation of believing—believing in what is being done and, importantly, why (Sinek, 2009). Extraordinary leaders recognize that real purpose comes not from going through the motions of job requirements but from believing in the mission of the team and tapping into the passionate beliefs of the faculty. This requires leaders to believe in themselves (self-efficacy), to develop a sense of belief in others, and ultimately to build belief throughout the team—collective efficacy. In other words, building a culture of believing begins with developing self-efficacy in order to create a culture of collective efficacy.

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Foster Hope “It’s the hope that kills you.” This is the prevailing mantra of the soccer team’s hometown, Richmond. Ted Lasso disagrees.

He believes in hope and understands “it is the leader’s job to foster hope throughout the organization” (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2006, p. 199). In fact, fostering a culture of hope is so important, especially in schools, that Robert Evans (1996) proclaims, “Of all the factors vital to improving schools, none is more essential—or vulnerable—than hope” (p. 290).

Ted understands that if the leader doesn’t model emotions such as passion, energy, confidence, and hope, no one else will.

Focus on People Obviously, effective leaders want to win—to be successful. Leaders must also have the insight to realize that success can be defined in a number of ways. The final score (such as test scores) isn’t the only measure of success. Ted understands that success flows from the unique efforts and talents of others and that ultimately people matter. For Ted this is not a superficial tool simply to get results; his interest is in the welfare of each person—who they are, how they feel, what they are thinking, and what they need. And, most important, his interest and belief in his team members are not superficial. They are genuine.

Ted takes an authentic interest in each individual team member (from equipment manager to star player) to build collective team efficacy. He recognizes that each team member has unique skills and insights and that each team member can

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contribute in a valuable way. This interest in others appears early in the first episode when Ted arrives at the stadium for the first time. He meets the equipment manager on the field (pitch), and when he asks the young man’s name, the person says, “You want to know my name? No one has ever asked my name before.” Later, when Ted sees the fellow again, he refers to him by his name, Nate. Nate is astonished that Ted remembers his name. Such instances seem insignificant, but taken together, they communicate a culture of caring. In the following episodes, we see Ted growing closer to each player simply by listening and demonstrating that he truly cares. Ted understands that team members’ motivation depends on how they think leaders think about them.

Be a Goldf ish The road to becoming a successful team is not easy. There are the inevitable obstacles to overcome. Mistakes will be made.

Things will go wrong. Success will take time. While effective leaders do not ignore mistakes, they do not obsess over them either. In an early episode, a player, Sam, makes a mistake in practice and his frustration is evident. Ted calls him over and asks, “Sam, do you know what the happiest animal is? A goldfish. Want to know why? Because their memory lasts only ten seconds. Sam, I need you to be a goldfish.”

Be Curious—Not Judgmental Ted Lasso believes people should be curious, not judgmental. In a defining scene in the series, he beats the team owner’s ex-husband (who is not a nice person, to say the least!) in a game of darts. Because the game of darts is popular in British

pubs but not so much in the US, no one expects Ted to win.

When he does win, Ted explains that throughout his entire life people have always underestimated him. They aren’t curious. They don’t ask questions, such as, “Have you played darts before?” Ted then points out that if they had asked—if they had been curious—he would have told them he has played darts ever since he was a young boy.

Effective leaders are curious. They are constantly questioning. Jim Collins (2001) writes in Good to Great that effective leaders lead with questions, not answers. They do not limit themselves to learning in a few, more traditional ways. When facing an issue or problem, the first step that is always taken in a professional learning community is not simply sharing opinions but learning together to gain shared knowledge—in other words, being curious.

Engage in Frequent and Meaningful Recognition and Celebration Ultimately, to be effective, leadership must touch the emotions (Goleman, 2002). An important aspect of touching the emotions of others is employing frequent and meaningful recognition, celebration, and rituals—tools that are frequently underused (Bolman & Deal, 2013).

Ted Lasso understands that accomplishing big goals will take time, but in the meantime, he celebrates small victories along

the way. From fulfilling team requests via a newly implemented suggestion box to celebrating birthdays and promotions, Ted and the Richmond soccer club maintain emotional momentum by understanding the importance of rituals, recognition, and celebrations.

Be Willing to Conf ront While recognition and celebration are important ways leaders communicate what is valued, so is confrontation. The behaviors and attitudes that get confronted communicate to others what the leader and the organization stand for. It is how leaders promote, defend, and protect an organization’s core values (DuFour & Eaker, 1998).

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian James McGregor Burns reminds us that nothing diminishes the credibility of a leader faster than the unwillingness to address an obvious problem.

Like all leaders, Ted Lasso faces behaviors and the brutal realities that are often part of organizational life, but his skilled confrontations of these unhealthy behaviors ultimately lead to a stronger team.

Effective confrontation is more than a willingness to confront the obvious; it is also how confrontations are conducted.

Every situation can be unique and require a different approach. Observe Ted Lasso confronting situations such as the reality of an underperforming aging star player or the behavior of a player who refuses to practice while falsely claiming an injury and see a master at work.

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The Format of Common Assessments format should a team use Q: What for common assessments?

A:

One of the biggest problems in teacher-made assessments is that the assessments do not align with what teachers say are in the intended outcomes. Consider the teacher who asserts that the most essential outcome of a unit on the Civil War is that students understand the racial and regional conflicts that led to the war and have persisted since its conclusion. If the assessment for that unit relies solely on multiple-choice and true/false questions on leading generals, important battles, and the dates of significant events, the assessment reveals nothing about what the team claimed was essential student learning.

The format of the assessment should reflect the essential learning the team is

targeting and provide the most helpful information about each student’s proficiency. For example, if a team wants each student to be able to write to a central theme, the best assessment is to have students write rather than take a multiplechoice test. If a team wants students to be able to identify the main idea of a reading passage, a selected-response or constructed-response could be most appropriate.

Furthermore, if teachers and principals are to succeed, they need information about student learning from a variety of sources. Relying on any one type, method, model, or format of assessment would be a seriously flawed assessment strategy. Assessment of a student’s work should provide a rich array of informa-

tion on his or her progress and achievement. The challenge is to match appropriate assessment strategies to curricular goals and instructional methodologies.

Have a question about PLCs? Check out Solution Tree’s effort to collect and answer all of your questions in one great book: Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Professional Learning Communities at Work™ by Mike Mattos, Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Thomas W. Many. This question and answer are in chapter 4, “How Will We Know When Our Students Have Learned It?”

Fall 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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LEARNING CHAMPION

Scott Carr

“To Do Anything Well, You Have to Commit to the Work”

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cott Carr grew up in Liberty, Missouri; attended the same schools his parents attended; and became principal of the middle school where he made memories as a student.

This hometown hero was the principal at Heritage Middle School for 21 years. During that time, the school became a Model PLC, made Missouri’s top 10 list on the state assessment, and was recognized as Outstanding School of the Year by the Missouri Center for School Reform.

Carr received an undergraduate degree in biology education from Missouri State University.

He earned a master of arts and an education specialist degree in educational administration at the

University of Missouri-Kansas City. He earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Missouri Parent Teacher Association for his work to improve parent involvement and most recently was awarded the Middle Level Principal of the Year from the Greater Kansas City Principals Association.

AllThingsPLC Magazine caught up with Scott during this bittersweet time in his life as he is making the transition from principal to full-time Solution Tree PLC associate.

AllThingsPLC Magazine: When did you know that you wanted to be an educator?

Carr: I caught the teaching bug in high school. I Fall 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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grew up playing sports in a small town. During my senior year, I decided to coach a parks and recreation fifth-grade basketball team with a friend. I absolutely fell in love with it. The program had a draft setup, and we had some players on our team that other coaches didn’t want on their teams. I loved coaching, loved seeing kids be successful and become better players.

Back then I had no idea what I was doing; we were just having fun and playing basketball, but I really liked the idea of coaching.

One of my heroes was my cross-country coach; he was also my eighth-grade science teacher. He created a program where he focused more on the kids who weren’t great runners than on the ones who were, which was completely opposite of how most coaches operated their programs. He just really knew how to value kids and how to build them up and turn them into athletes and great human beings. I was hugely impacted by him and inspired by the way he lived life and invested in his students.

When I went off to college, I wasn’t dead set on what I was going to do. I was a science nerd, so I wanted to do something in the area of science. I was working on my biology degree and was trying to decide between either working in wildlife and conservation or coaching and teaching. Coaching and teaching won out.

I got a job teaching eighth and ninth graders at Liberty Junior High School. I taught physical science and biology and broadcasting, whatever somebody threw at me, and had a blast. I never taught the same thing more than two years in a row, so I was constantly changing. I also coached cross-country, track, and basketball.

ATPLC: Your cross-country coach obviously influenced your teaching style. What else shaped the type of educator you became?

Carr: Yes, I would say that everything I did growing up as an educator was very much tailored around how he did things. He always put kids first. He was always willing to put in the time and the commitment to the work. That’s really what got me started in teaching.

I was very fortunate in that I had great teachers growing up. I really did! It’s not that everyone was perfect, obviously. But I had great teachers who really took care of kids and connected with education.

In particular, I had a biology teacher in high school who really inspired me to become a science teacher. He made the class come alive with storytelling and experiences. And I think that’s why I have 24

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always endeavored to ensure that school is an experience for students, not just some place for them to fill their time, something to check off their list so they can move on to something better. I always wanted school to be a unique experience for kids that they couldn’t get any place else.

ATPLC: And you were able to create that when you became principal?

Carr: When I was first asked if I had ever thought about becoming principal, I said, “Are you kidding?

Absolutely not. I can’t imagine being the administrator. That sounds awful.” And the next thing I knew, I was an assistant principal. I had planned on being the principal’s assistant for years and years, but within five months, she was transferred to another building.

So I took over and became the principal. That was in 2000. I can honestly say after doing it for so long that it’s an awesome job. It’s nothing like what I thought it was going to be. It’s a lot of fun, and I had a blast for those 21 years.

I don’t do well with status quo, with doing things the way that they’ve always been done. Sometimes that has been a strength for me, and other times, it’s been a challenge. But I’m proud that that attitude led us to create a culture of risk taking, a culture of being creative and pushing the boundaries. We began to do a lot with project-based learning and with authentic learning.

We traveled to other schools around the country that had been doing this type of work for years. And here we thought we were on the cutting edge! We traveled, saw it working in schools, and immersed ourselves in working with other professionals. Mike Mattos was a huge support in connecting us with other professionals who understood authentic learning and experiential learning. I also reached out to several Solution Tree associates. It’s just such an

Words Matter What Are

SMART Goals?

Before teams can create SMART goals, members must understand the meaning of the term.

Goals are SMART when they are:

STRATEGIC AND SPECIFIC Strategic goals are linked to strategic priorities that are part of a larger vision of success for the entire school district. Strategic and specific mean that these goals will have both broad-based and long-term impacts because they are focused on the specific needs of the students for whom the goal is intended.

MEASURABLE Measurable means being able to know whether actions made the kind of difference we wanted: being able to measure a change in results because of those actions.

Measurement can and should occur in a number of different ways using a variety of different tools and strategies.

ATTAINABLE A goal needs to be attainable (within the realm of our influence or control) and doable (given current resources). To know whether a goal is attainable, you must know your starting point (baseline), how much time you have to accomplish the goal, and what kinds of resources you have to make the necessary changes.

RESULTS ORIENTED SMART goals are results oriented—aimed at specific outcomes that schools can measure or observe. Results-oriented goals define not only what is expected but also desired as an end point. Results could come in the form of student achievement in a particular area, a percentage of students who improve in a certain area, or as a demonstration of learning that teachers can define and measure.

TIME BOUND SMART goals are time bound. Specifying a time frame for achieving the goal helps in two ways—first by providing a reference point for determining attainability, and second by helping to keep the goal a priority.

Source: Conzemius, A. E., & O’Neill, J. (2014). The handbook for SMART school teams: Revitalizing best practices for collaboration (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

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SKILL

SHOP

Building Relationships Using Word Scrabble to Memorialize Our 2 x 10s Jeff Sefcik

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he Word Scrabble Merry-Go-Round team-building activity I created was published in the Summer 2020 issue of AllThingsPLC Magazine. I’ve used this activity over the years in many different ways with our grade-level and contentarea teams. Recently, I added the Word Scrabble idea to the 2 x 10s I’ve been holding with some of my more difficultto-reach students.

I’m sure most of you have a pretty good idea what a 2 x 10 is and probably have done this many times during your career.

But just in case this is the first time you’ve heard of this strategy, here’s a brief overview. Researcher Raymond Wlodkowski originally called this strategy the two-minute intervention.

Simply put, the 2 x 10 strategy helps build relationships with difficult-to-reach students by spending 2 minutes engaging in conversation with a student for 10 consecutive days. In my opinion, the two most important things you need to do to be successful with this strategy are to make sure you are consistent and follow through and never talk about school-related topics.

Being consistent—making sure you meet 10 consecutive days—is often a struggle. Oftentimes, attendance is an issue for the difficult-to-reach students. I’ve had to track absent students down with the help of their friends. If there’s a will, there’s a way! Many times I have a friend text or Snapchat the absent student to let them know I’m looking for them.

This past school year, due to COVID-19, Wednesdays were an asynchronous day for most of our students. I exchanged cell numbers with the students and we FaceTimed. I let the parents know that we would be connecting this way. I’ve even had parents text or call to make sure their child followed through and connected with me.

After conducting many 2 x 10s last school year, I started thinking about the long-term impact. What happens after day 10? Is there something I can do to keep the connection alive? I even contacted Dr. Wlodkowski to pick his brain. This is where the Word Scrabble idea comes in.

I start every puzzle by writing the student’s full name in the spaces—for example, Jeffrey Michael Sefcik. I connect the names just like you would in playing the Scrabble board game.

At the end of the two-minute conversation, I ask the student to summarize what we talked about. Is there a theme or a word that memorializes our time together? Sometimes they are quick to respond, and other times we discuss and agree on a word. That word then gets added to our Word Scrabble puzzle. From there,

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it becomes a game of Scrabble. The rules are simple. The word must fit into the puzzle just like in the real game. Oftentimes this isn’t easy and leads to more robust conversations.

After the 10 days together, I write a little note on the back of the Word Scrabble puzzle and mail it to the student’s home. My hope is that it will be a constant reminder of our time together and that the staff at Stanton School really does care about them.

Earlier, I mentioned wondering about the long-term impact the 2 x 10 was having on my students. Well, check out this email I received from a parent of a recent 2 x 10 “graduate.”

Good morning and happy Friday!

I just wanted to thank you very much for your time and your caring for my son. I think your sessions truly helped him feel cared for and not feel singled out as a bad kid. He is a kid of few words, and when I asked him about his day every day, he really wouldn’t bring up these sessions. When he received your paper in the mail yesterday, he was unsure what to expect as he is all too familiar with the not-so-good news that seems to follow him. So he made me open it and was surprised to find your session discussion sheet. He did open up about it, just a little, but that little meant more to me because I knew then he had that feeling of “Hey, I am a good kid, and my principal has helped me recognize that in myself.” Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart!

In Visible Learning, John Hattie (2009) shows that teacherstudent relationships have an effect size of .72, making them the third most influential factor in the control of the teacher.

I’m going to challenge my staff to use this strategy with me.

Recently, our assistant principal started using the Word Scrabble activity, and he has seen the positive impact it has on our students. What if every adult in your building spent 2 minutes with a student for 10 consecutive days? What if they did this with 5, 6, or even 10 students throughout the school year? Can you imagine the impact this could have on your students?

JEFF SEFCIK is the principal at Stanton School in Fox Lake, Ill.

Reference Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge.

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Why I Love PLCs One Common Purpose: Student

Learning

MATTHEW TREADWAY “The fundamental purpose of school is learning, not teaching.” —Dr. Richard DuFour

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What a short yet powerful statement!

Unfortunately, as you truly consider what school has looked like for so many generations of students over the course of time in US education, the exact opposite has been true. For far too long, the focus of school has been solely on what the adult in the classroom is doing rather than what the child is learning. What I love about having a strong professional learning community is that it takes that idea, flips it upside down, and reorients the school toward Dr. DuFour’s concept of a school’s fundamental purpose. In the process, it focuses on the learning of both the students and the teachers, empowers shared leadership within the school building, and ensures equity as a result. It should not come as a surprise that a professional learning community accomplishes these three feats either. In fact, they align perfectly with the three big ideas of a PLC: focus on learning, build a collaborative culture, and focus on results.

Having a clear focus on learning is at the forefront of any PLC. Being crystal clear about our learning goals for students (critical question 1), having a systematic process of assessing their learning (critical question 2), intervening when they haven’t yet mastered the content (critical question 3), and extending those who have (critical question 4) is the cyclical process collaborative teams continually go through together. While that certainly ensures that students are learning at high levels, it also ensures teachers are growing professionally together as they engage in the ongoing process of collective inquiry.

Perhaps that is one of the most underappreciated aspects of a PLC. It prioritizes

the learning of both the students and their teachers. Subsequently, the best professional learning that teachers engage in is not the six-hour events that occur in the summer right before school begins.

Instead, it is the ongoing learning that takes place every single day as teachers work collaboratively with each other.

Simultaneously, a PLC also gives teachers a new platform of influence in their school building. This is another lesserknown fact. A professional learning community disperses the leadership of the building from the front office to each of the hallways that compose a building.

Principals who truly value this process are willing to cede a great deal of control over to professional educators who are collectively making decisions that advance student learning in their classrooms. Teachers feel empowered and more committed to the work happening in their school. This only reinforces the PLC process and establishes a culture that is collaborative in nature.

Equity has been one mammoth of a topic for discussion in education over the course of the past few years. For good reason too. Without question, the events that have occurred in our country have highlighted the incredible amount of work yet to be done in ensuring equity across all aspects of society. Education is certainly no different. There’s good news though.

The PLC process is the instrument that will provide rich learning experiences for all students in your building. When teachers are focused on the learning of students, operate within a culture that is truly inclusive and collaborative, and utilize data to make adjustments, all students

learn at high levels. The formula for ensuring equity is not a complicated algorithm to crack. In fact, the process is pretty straightforward and is outlined in the previous paragraphs. That doesn’t mean it is easy work though. In fact, it is quite challenging. Developing a culture that values the PLC process is the work that will unquestionably move students forward regardless of their background, race, or home life.

As a school principal, I love being part of a PLC because it bonds the entire team around one common purpose: student learning. It provides a framework for teachers to operate within that gives them control and ownership of the process. It also propels the word equity from an idealistic goal to an achievable reality within the school setting. While it is not easy work, it is the right work. And now is the right time to get started.

MATT TREADWAY is the principal of Freedom Elementary School in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. In 2020, Freedom was honored as a PLC Model School. He is also an associate with Solution Tree, where he is able to work with schools and districts across the country on implementing the PLC process.

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