2021 Winter ST AllThingsPLC Magazine

all things

PLC M A G A Z I N E Winter 2021

YO U H AV E TO H AV E THE RIGHT TO O L S

Summer 2020

TO DO THE WO R K O F G I A N TS

A CHANGE FROM WITHIN

all things

PLC M A G A Z I N E

Winter 2021

Features Anchors or Sails David LaRose

Why some teams do and will and some teams don’t and won’t.

A COVID-19 PLC Case Study Breez Longwell Daniels

Using data to monitor and adjust for the learning gaps created from COVID-19.

Collective Efficacy in Professional Learning Communities at Work Robert Eaker, Scott Harrison, and Janel Keating Hambly

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The work of a high-performing PLC is the engine that drives school improvement.

How a School CARES During Crisis Michael M. Ford

Communication Affirmation Resources Engagement Stability.

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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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Education creates access, which creates equity.

Learning Champion

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Jacqueline Heller and the difference one caring adult can make.

Words Matter

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What is a guiding coalition?

Data Quest

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Common assessment analysis and response process.

Skill Shop

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Flipped teaching.

The Recommender

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Assessment that inspires hope, efficacy, and high achievement.

Research Report

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Trusting by doing.

Why I Love PLCs Power in purpose.

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PLC

First Thing Education Creates Access,

Which Creates Equity!

Brian Butler

M A G A Z I N E

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SOLUTION TREE: 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 Abigail Bowen, Laura Cox, Kelsey HergĂźl, Rian Anderson

AllThingsPLC (ISSN 2476-2571 [print], 2476-258X [Online]) is published four times a year by Solution Tree Press.

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W

hen I reflect on what education has done for me, I cannot help but acknowledge the sacrifice and foresight of my parents and grandparents, as well as many others. When my father was a senior in high school, he told his parents that he wanted to go to college. For many African Americans, this was a pipe dream, especially those living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the birthplace of Harriet Tubman.

My grandparents were forced to make a decision that would hurt them in the immediate present but gave my father an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty that the family had lived in for generations.

Growing up in the early twentieth century as African American sharecroppers, my grandmother only had a fifth-grade education and my grandfather only went to school through the third grade. Harsh segregation laws paired with stark economic inequality made it nearly impossible for them to gain upward mobility as laborers. When it was time for my father to go to college, the owner of the land expressed to my grandparents that if they allowed their son to attend university, they would be kicked off of the land without any recourse.

With this burdensome ultimatum at hand, my grandparents made the life-changing decision. They told my father that he had to go to college to break this cycle of poverty.

My father left and went to Bowie State College in Maryland. My grandparents did not have a phone, so my father had no communication with them after he left for college. When my father came back from university for winter break, my grandparents were gone. The landowner had stayed true to his word and removed them. My father went on to finish college and became a reading teacher and a school principal. My mom attended college at Maryland State University in Princess Anne, Maryland.

My grandparents, with a

fifth- and third-grade education, had the foresight to know that by making the sacrifice to lose their home and right to sharecrop the land, they would gain a powerful legacy. They not only changed my father’s life and my life, but they also changed my daughters’ trajectories. My grandparents’ decision changed generations for our family!

As I shared in the acknowledgments of our new book, What About Us? The PLC at Work Process for Grades PreK–2 Teams (Kerr, Hulen, Heller, & Butler, 2021), “It’s hard to put into words how blessed and fortunate I am; this same educator who, as a young boy, had a lot of self-doubt about his academic abilities and who struggled to learn to read fluently. A young boy who, during his primary school years, had the term retention mentioned to his parents by a well-meaning teacher; but his parents basically said, ‘No, we’ve got this. He won’t be retained’” (p. v). Even though I experienced early reading struggles, I was fortunate to be born into a house with a reading teacher. There was also an expectation for education in our house, both spoken and unspoken: the talk in our house included where and when my siblings and I were going to college, not if.

Why am I sharing this story to lead off this AllThingsPLC Magazine issue? I wanted to honor my parents and grandparents. My father passed away earlier this year, and I unfortunately never met my grandfather. He died before I was born. There is an old African proverb that goes “As I go, I am wearing you,” which means that we take and wear the people who have influenced us wherever we go for our entire life. I am definitely wearing my parents and grandparents and countless others who have helped me along the way. Their message was and is: education creates access, which creates equity, which ultimately leads to freedom.

With the social unrest that our country is experiencing and the continued issues with true inequity for underserved populations, I felt it was not only appropriate but my obligation to highlight how it should not matter what family a child is born into. Every child should have the same opportunities to enjoy, as my dear friend Mike Mattos often says, “a life filled with endless possibilities!” I hit the jackpot and was born into the right family at the right time. I am being brutally honest in saying that had I been born into a different family with my early learning challenges, I most likely would not be writing this article and my path would most likely have been very different.

Although I struggled early on, I had teachers who cared deeply about me and wanted the best for me, but the educators who worked in isolation used retention as their intervention when a student struggled. We now know that retention is one of the worst things that can happen to a student, and we know that working in isolation not only

hurts kids, but it hurts teachers as well. Because the PLC at Work process demands that we abandon the idea of the isolated classroom teacher in favor of teams of teachers who take collective responsibility for every single student and that all students should have access to grade-level essential curricula, it should not matter what family a child is born into or what individual teacher a student may be assigned to. The vehicle for equity is the team that develops common assessments and takes collective responsibility when a student struggles or needs his or her learning extended. This encompasses the PLC at Work’s four critical questions of learning (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, & Mattos, 2016): 1. What do we want our students to learn? Have we identified the essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions each student is to acquire as a result of each unit of instruction?

2. How will we know if each student has learned it?

Are we using ongoing formative assessments in our classrooms? Are we gathering evidence of student learning through one or more team-developed common formative assessments for each unit of instruction?

3. How will we respond when some students do not learn it? Can we identify students who need additional time and support by the student, by the standard, and for every unit of instruction in the early childhood grades? Do we use evidence of student learning from common formative assessments to analyze and improve our individual and collective instructional practice?

4. How will we extend learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency? Can we identify students who have reached proficiency on identified learning targets to extend their learning?

Engaging in these questions allows teams to create access, equity, and freedom for every single student.

Just as my parents said to that individual teacher who wanted to retain me, we educators who work in PLC at Work schools and districts should say to any parent: “We’ve got this!”

References DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Kerr, D., Hulen, T. A., Heller, J., & Butler, B. K. (2021).

What about us?: The PLC at Work process for grades preK–2 teams. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Winter 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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NCHORS OR SAILS WHY SOME TEAMS DO AND WILL AND SOME TEAMS DON’T AND WON’T

I

David LaRose

have had the honor of serving with a remarkable team of Solution Tree associates at several PLC institutes.

One of my most popular sessions is “Anchors or Sails?: Why Some Teams Do and Will and Some Teams Don’t and Won’t.” Common questions during each session include the following.

• How do we get our colleagues to buy in to this work?

• How do we address the colleagues who do not honor our commitments?

• How do we convince others that this is not just another trendy educational initiative and counter the mindset that this is “just more on our plate”?

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• Who is responsible for holding team members accountable when their behavior is hurting our team?

While the above topics are common “anchors” to team effectiveness and need to be addressed, it’s critical we begin the conversation with an audit of our PLC foundation to ensure a clear and compelling purpose has been articulated and embraced. Building highly effective collaborative teams is less about removing anchors and more about building strong, unshakeable “sails” that weather the inevitable distractions and disruptions that hold us back or get us off course.

WHY BEFORE WHAT

— D u Fo u r, D u Fo u r, E

an ny, a M , a ke r

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p. 1

6, 01

“The fundamental structure of a PLC is the collaborative teams of educators whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals for which members are mutually accountable.”

2)

have clarity of purpose before we consider how to police our PLC. Simply changing the name to “PLC” isn’t enough. Clear, common, and compelling language matters. Consider the highlighted quote. Underline the key terms or phrases that stand out to you. This simple exercise typically generates four common responses: collaborative teams, interdependently, common goals, and mutual accountability.

Further unpacking of the quote drives deeper team conversations: Does this statement describe our team?

Do we agree on what these key terms mean? What evidence do we have that our meetings are collaborative?

What actions or evidence do we have that reflects our reliance on and commitment to one another? Have we established common goals that drive what we discuss, evaluate, and create? Do we hold one another accountable for our shared goals and commitments? Would an observer of our team see these key terms in action?

(2

Whether your school or district has been on its PLC journey for several years or is preparing to embark on the work, evaluating the strength of your foundation is a critical first step. Beyond mission and vision statements and powerfully phrased organizational values, has the school or district effectively communicated why you are investing time and resources into building a professional learning community? As Mike Schmoker (2004) tells us, “Clarity precedes competence” (p. 85).

Have you engaged all stakeholders in a thoughtful, rich, and enthusiastic conversation about the school system you aspire to become? Have you not only discussed what teams are expected to produce but also collaboratively developed goals based on learning for all students? Have you developed collective commitments (aka norms) about what you value and how you are going to behave as a team?

If anchors—like those noted previously—exist within the school and on specific teams, we need to be certain we

to

s

Winter 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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TEAMS THAT SAIL . . . OR DON’T Clarity also precedes confidence. Are your teams clear on what highly effective teams do? Beyond the products you expect teams to produce, it is critical for team members to believe in their capacity to build and be a part of a high-functioning team. Providing teams with a model of effective teamwork in action is essential and impactful, evoking the emotion necessary for teams to truly consider the nature of the time they spend together.

A favorite image of mine comes from a scene in the movie Apollo 13 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3csfLk MJT4). In this scene, the NASA team in Houston is responding to the dangerous and toxic carbon dioxide levels that are threatening the lives of the astronauts. Briefly, the team must creatively and collaboratively build a filter, or the astronauts will perish before they return to Earth.

The team demonstrates the following seven sails.

1. A clear objective, an explicitly defined essential need. The team meeting focuses on a

single, clear objective that is essential (can’t live without). Many teams reference this scene as they determine their priorities and ask themselves, “Is this a filter we are trying to build here?”

2. No wasted time, an immediate response. There is no delay. Every member of the team leans in and contributes.

3. All hands on deck. All team members are engaged. There are no job titles evident in the

response; the purpose is more important than the people. Success depends on the contribution of all, and interdependence is evident.

4. Failure is not an option. There is trust and faith in the team. The response reflects mutual respect and mutual accountability. The team believes in their collective ability to solve the problem.

5. No complaints, negativity, or blame. Although the challenge is not something the team

caused, no team members waste time or energy attempting to determine who is at fault. Further, no one questions why it is now their responsibility to find a solution.

6. Time sensitivity, a shared sense of urgency. The magnitude of their mission is clear and is more compelling due to an explicit timeline to complete their mission.

7. Solutions oriented. In seeking a solution, the team only focuses on what they have and

makes no reference to the need for more time, resources, or support. They believe “the answer is in the room” and only give attention to what is within their control.

The scene provides an emotional model for teams to reflect on in their own meetings: Do our meetings include the seven sails? Do we have too many goals or goals that are not “filters”? Is our goal overly general without a time-sensitive sense of urgency? Have we discussed the impact of not meeting our goal? Is it evident that we believe in our capacity to accomplish our goal? Do we focus on the resources we have and not waste time on 8

AllThingsPLC Magazine/Winter 2021

factors beyond our control? Many teams, after observing this scene, embrace (and add to their team norms) the following mantra for their meetings: Our team will not vent, we will invent!

Building highly effective teams is not only possible, we should expect it. If we have all experienced the sails and the anchors—and can articulate what propels or prevents them from being effective—then it is up to us to make it happen.

THE EIGHT

S OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEAMS The following framework serves to support teams in shifting from asking, “What are we supposed to do?” to “How do we make the most of our limited time together?” Effective teams use this framework to assess their current reality, affirm and celebrate their progress, and establish specific goals to become more intentional with their time.

1. Purpose: Have we clearly articulated why we

are invested in building a collaborative culture?

Are we clear on why we are doing this work (as a school/district), and do we recognize the intended value? Have we developed a shared vision for the team we aspire to be? Have we created a compelling picture of our future that inspires us, energizes us, and guides our decisions?

2. Promises: Have we established meaningful

norms that drive intentional, collaborative behaviors and ensure all are committed and accountable to the work? Do our norm statements reflect more than meeting structures (start on time, end on time) and reflect shared commitments about how we will communicate, make decisions, and hold each other accountable for honoring our norms?

3. Process: Do we have embedded and protected

time to meet on a weekly basis? Is our time considered sacred and focused solely on the four questions? Is our work together as a team aligned with school and district goals? Is there dedicated time for our leadership team / guiding coalition to meet and support the work of our team? Is there intentional time for grade-level and department articulation? Do we have embedded intervention/ extension time that ensures additional time and support is not optional?

4. Protocols: Do we have tools, resources,

and sample products to ensure productive collaboration? Do we use consistent protocols to provide a framework and structure for the crucial and often difficult conversations we are expected to have—data analysis protocols, accountability strategies, and decision-making procedures?

5. Practice: Have we created a culture committed

to learning by doing, with clear and common goals across grade levels and departments? Are we tight on the work of teams and strategic in evaluating the impact of our work? Do we acknowledge that teams are in different stages of development, and do we regularly hear about, see, and learn from the work being done by other teams? Do we share our learning by doing and build our collective capacity for focused and meaningful collaboration?

6. Products: Do we invent or vent? Do we create

team products or use and critique tools that are provided to us? Do teams and team members take ownership of their work by creating, assessing, and responding to the products created? Are our products aligned with essential skills and behaviors? Are our products shared and accessible to other team members? Do we receive feedback on our work?

7. Plan: Do we have a clear, well-articulated plan

of action? Has our team calendared explicit learning goals based on data? Are our goals aligned with / supported by school goals? Is there alignment among teacher team meetings, leadership team meetings, and schoolwide meetings? Is there a strategic professional development plan (school/district) to support our work as teams? Do we have a schoolwide intervention plan that supports our students who struggle to master essential skills?

8. Proof: Are our teams focused on results rather

than activities and creating products? Do our meetings include timely, intentional, evidencebased discussions to continuously measure and identify effective practices? Do we generate timely and actionable data to ensure students who require additional time and support will receive it?

Winter 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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, ound ight s m a ? e k r o n id s it w OD a nal t doe u W GO b O uctio , r H s t s e R Y in “ E , y T AT know om, m ollect NO M ant to lassro w c s y r ten c e m ect ition als of ff earch ip a c ly in pract e rly res d pr la n o ositiv a PLCs h p c s it r akes but s Can ache m , e t ls T a o ” to o wh ice? riefly er sch rstanding pract you b m oth e e o d r . c f n e u u s ic introd storie tes to pract ers n will ntribu Cs in o m L ymak c u P c l t li o o u o c o p als s b i d a h ively, ch s an tive. T effect ague esear e r e r ll effec y o o r c a m h mpor work is wit conte PLCs nops y e s wn. k a is th your o to m n w o o Share e h r r o onde arn m who w eeper to le ig d and d

TRUSTING DOING BY

Heather K. Dillard

The Study Zak, P. (2017, January–February). The neuroscience of trust. Harvard Business Review, 84–90.

The absence of trust is often used as a crutch to excuse teams of teachers that cannot possibly work collaboratively with one another. However, trust does not precede building a collaborative culture; rather, trust comes as a byproduct of teachers doing the work collaboratively. The research described in “The Neuroscience of Trust” specifies ways that organizations can build trust in their company. Zak’s suggestions align directly with the basic tenets of the PLC at Work framework.

A team of researchers studying the brain activity of individuals in the midst of working recognized that the presence of oxytocin promoted trust between humans. This led to a decade-long study of the promoters and inhibitors of oxytocin in the brain. The first stage of research involved field tests to measure oxytocin and stress hormones as they assessed employees’ 46

AllThingsPLC Magazine/Winter 2021

productivity. These tests were administered across various parts of the world, including indigenous people of the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, to determine if the relationship between oxytocin and trust is universally present. These findings led to the development of a survey instrument to quantify trust within organizations. This survey was administered to several thousand companies from which the findings of this article are derived.

Findings The research team identified eight specific trust-fostering behaviors that management has the ability to both measure and manage. Leaders should: 1. Recognize excellence—By immediately offering public recognition of a met goal, trust is fostered in the individual while other employees are also inspired.

2. Induce “challenge stress”—Team members working toward a goal that is difficult yet achievable exhibit

Research Report

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

brain activity that enhances their work. If the goal is vague or deemed impossible, team members will lack motivation to attempt the work.

Give people discretion in how they do their work— After training employees on the requirements of the job, allowing autonomy to execute projects in their own way promotes innovation.

Enable job crafting—Allowing employees the freedom to decide which projects to work on promotes focused energy.

Share information broadly—When employees understand the company’s goals and direction, they have less stress about where they are being led.

Intentionally build relationships—Intentionally built social ties improve the performance of employees, especially when managers show interest in their success and well-being.

Facilitate whole-person growth—When managers provide consistent feedback for employees as they work to meet the goals clearly set for them, employees are able to develop a growth mindset about their own development.

Show vulnerability—When leaders ask their employees to help them achieve specific tasks, the employees’ trust grows as well as their cooperation.

Implications for PLCs In Learning by Doing, DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, and Mattos (2016) establish basic introductory training on the Professional Learning Communities at Work model. They begin by describing the three big ideas of a PLC. The purpose of the school is to 1. Focus on learning rather than teaching. This focus can be achieved when the school establishes a 2. Collaborative culture in which teachers work interdependently to achieve common goals. The teachers then measure their work by having a laser-like 3. Focus on results, rather than their intentions.

Next, Learning by Doing explains the need to collectively establish the four pillars of mission, vision, values (collective

commitments), and goals for the school. When alignment is established across all four pillars, leaders and faculty members are crystal clear on the work they are expected to do within the school.

DuFour et al. also clarify how to build a loose/tight leadership model. Within the school, there are specific items that leaders must hold tight and monitor explicitly. Teachers must work collaboratively in job-alike teams to establish a guaranteed and viable curriculum that will be taught by each teacher in the grade or subject. Assessments for this curriculum should be collectively written, given, and analyzed by the teachers to determine the next steps for teaching their students. Additionally, the school should have a system to provide interventions and extensions to assist students in their learning. While these fundamental components are held tight, teachers are given the autonomy to determine how they will do the work.

Moreover, Learning by Doing explains the need to celebrate along the way. The PLC journey never ends; therefore, it is imperative that victories, both large and small, are publicly acknowledged and celebrated. In so doing, teachers and students are given the encouragement they need to persist in the work of learning for all. Rather than waiting to begin the collaborative work until all components of the PLC are fully established, the practices are established and improved during the act of doing the work. Consequently, Zak’s research findings provide a useful research-based tool for leaders for building trust as the work of teams is being undertaken, day in and day out. By utilizing the PLC at Work method, the teachers are not only learning by doing, they are also trusting by doing.

Reference DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (3rd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

HEATHER K. DILLARD, associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University, teaches the Schools as Professional Learning Communities course in the ALSI Doctoral Program.

Winter 2021/AllThingsPLC Magazine

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Why I Love PLCs Power in Purpose

BY STACEY RIENDEAU When assessing the positive impact PLCs have had at Heritage High School (HHS), the one phrase that comes to mind is power in purpose. PLCs have empowered our teachers to shift their thinking from “what I teach” to “who I teach.” Having consistent time to create a guaranteed viable curriculum, agreed-upon essential learnings, and meaningful common assessments has allowed our teachers to use data points to identify students who require targeted interventions or extensions of concepts. Our model of a built-in, fourday-a-week advisory/enrichment period has allowed our teachers to use their collaborative teams to identify students in need and to act quickly to provide those students with immediate resources and assistance. The timeliness and consistency of ensuring student understanding really helps our students stay on track academically.

This is true academic PLC work, and HHS teachers have taken this concept to the next level. We have layered this academic work with an intense focus on the social, emotional, and mental well-being of our students. Our teams now emphasize and empathize with “the why” for all of our students. PLC work became increasingly more powerful at HHS when our teachers began to fully understand that there is always a reason for a student’s successes, struggles, and failures.

Our PLC work grew organically into buildingwide conversations akin to the RTI process. Teachers in every content area came together on diverse crosscurricular teams to look at students through a much more holistic lens. As a staff, we started to dig into students and their academic, social, and emotional 48

histories to discover what caused a student’s success level to change and when this shift occurred. With a deeper understanding of academic data, as well as a variety of additional social-emotional learning data points, we, as a staff, began asking students—and each other—different questions. Instead of blaming student struggles on outside influences, we created systems to address students’ most basic needs, from food, shelter, and clothing to technology resources and utilities assistance. We became more focused on who students are as people and how we can individualize our approach to meeting their postsecondary goals and aspirations.

This led to teachers in every content area joining forces to teach cross-curricular skills no matter the content area. Having teacher leaders understand and provide ownership and voice to the collective mission of student success created a mentality for staff that we would all be responsible for and rally around our students. Our PE teachers now intentionally embed math and science into their classes, and our practical arts teachers create capstones for career readiness that highlight math and language arts standards for graduation competencies. This buildingwide journey to discover our students’ various academic pathways has led to powerful and difficult conversations about everything from gradebooks to schedule changes to adding a variety of supports for all students.

I vividly remember sitting in many collaborative and case-study teams and being so proud of the collegial conversations and philosophical debates surrounding the examination of standards, instructional strategies, gradebook expectations, and the best approaches to ensuring students

understand content, its relevance, and its application.

For me, the true power in PLCs is the shared collective purpose that all students should and will find success. When all content-area educators come together to share ideas, analyze data, and find solutions for kids, we truly become a team instead of working in isolation as individual educators. These powerful collaborative structures have allowed me to hear one of the greatest phrases an educator could ever hear. As a rising senior who had previously struggled finally met graduation competencies in math and language arts, he proudly exclaimed, “Wow, I really am good at school.”

What do PLCs mean to me? They mean student success, being part of a true team of educators, and an ownership from everyone in the school that all kids will become the best versions of themselves.

PLCs move us from “we think we can” to “we know we can!” In that moment, there is true power in purpose.

STACEY RIENDEAU is the proud principal of Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado. Heritage has been a PLC model school since 2018, and the teachers at HHS truly exemplify character, pride, and excellence in all they do.

AllThingsPLC Magazine | Winter 2021 ll

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H AV E YO U AV E TO H G H T I THE R LS O O T

PLC

Discussion Questions

E Z I N 0 G A Summer 202 M nteAr 2021 Wi

Use this convenient tear-out card to go over and reinforce the topics discussed in this issue with the members of your team.

TO HE DO T K WO R T S IAN OF G

E ANG N I A CH WITH FROM

Anchors or Sails (p. 6) 1. What are the anchors and sails of your PLC? 2. How does your team rate against the eight Ps of highly effective teams?

3. How does your team respond to anchor behaviors during collaborative

meetings?

Collective Efficacy (p. 26) 1. What is collective teacher efficacy?

2. In your opinion, why has collective teacher efficacy become the “new

number one” influence on student achievement?

3. In what ways does your PLC create the conditions for collective efficacy?

Are there areas that could use improvement?

How a School CARES During Crisis (p. 32) 1. What elements from the CARES protocol can your school incorporate to

better support your operating procedures in the time of COVID-19?

2. What is the most important thing for your students during this time?

How will you know your students are getting this most important thing?

How will you respond when students are not getting this more important thing? How will you respond when students are getting this most important thing?

3. How are you balancing your students’ need for social-emotional well-

being with their need to maintain academic competencies?

SolutionTree.com/PLCmag

AllThingsPLC Magazine | Winter 2021

Refresher Course Because everyone needs a reminder now and again.

The 3 Big Ideas of a PLC 1. FOCUS ON LEARNING 2. BUILD A COLLABORATIVE CULTURE 3. FOCUS ON RESULTS

1

The fundamental purpose of the school is to ensure high levels of learning for all students. This focus on learning translates into four critical questions that drive the daily work of the school. In PLCs, educators demonstrate their commitment to helping all students learn by working collaboratively to address the following critical questions: 1. What do we want students to learn? What should each student know and be able to do as a result of each unit, grade level, and/or course?

2. How will we know if they have learned? Are we monitoring each student’s learning on a timely basis?

3. What will we do if they don’t learn? What systematic process is in place to provide additional time and support for students who are experiencing difficulty?

2 3

4. What will we do if they already know it?

agll thin s

PLC M A G A Z I 202 1 N E Sum mer 202

Win ter

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• No school can help all students achieve at high levels if teachers work in isolation.

• Schools improve when teachers are given the time and support to work together to clarify essential student learning, develop common assessments for learning, analyze evidence of student learning, and use that evidence to learn from one another.

• PLCs measure their effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions.

• All programs, policies, and practices are continually assessed on the basis of their impact on student learning.

• All staff members receive relevant and timely information on their effectiveness in achieving intended results.

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