Leadership in Professional Learning Communities at Work®

Page 1

Richard DuFour
by Doing
®
Facilitator’s Guide
Rebecca DuFour Robert Eaker Thomas Many Learning
in Professional Learning Communities at Work
LEADERSHIP

Copyright © 2010 by Solution Tree Press

Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher and the author.

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iii Table of Contents Notes to the Facilitator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Conducting the Workshop v Video Program vi The PLC Resource Continuum vi Print vi Video vii Web vii Workshop Overview at a Glance ix Workshop Teaching Suggestions 1 Learning Objectives 1 Program Overview 2 Materials 2 Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Welcome and Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Be Clear About Your Primary Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Disperse Leadership Throughout the School 4 Employ a System of Reciprocal Accountability 4 Create a School Culture That Is Simultaneously Loose and Tight 5 Learning by Doing 6 Overhead Masters 7 Shared Leadership 8 Feedback and Support 9 Compromises 10 Handout Masters 11 Three Big Ideas 12 Asking the Right Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Critical Issues for Team Consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 How Leaders Demonstrate Reciprocal Accountability . . . . . . . 16 Loose/Tight 17

Notes to the Facilitator

The purpose of this workshop is to help educators explore the concept of leadership in professional learning communities (PLCs). It is based on the work of Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Thomas Many. In this workshop, participants learn from their counterparts in other schools across North America. The workshop features a video program, approximately 28 minutes in length, which shows leaders from real PLC schools engaging in the strategies highlighted in the workshop.

This workshop is divided into six components:

1. Introduction—This segment introduces participants to the critical strategies that will help them create a viable conceptual framework for addressing their task as school leaders.

2. Be clear about your primary purpose—In PLC schools, principals focus on three big ideas to bring clarity and coherence to the purpose of their schools and their responsibilities as principals.

3. Disperse leadership throughout the school—PLC schools develop a strong leadership team that assumes collective responsibility for creating conditions that enhance student and adult learning.

4. Employ a system of reciprocal accountability—The best way principals can help others to lead is to put them in a position where they are called upon to lead and then provide them with feedback and support as they move forward.

5. Create a school culture that is simultaneously loose and tight—PLC schools employ strategies that are simultaneously loose and tight. They are tight about the school’s vision, values, and learning mission. They are loose about how they go about achieving that mission.

6. Learning by doing—The goal of leadership development ultimately involves action, not knowledge. Leaders help people to learn from their work rather than taking them away from their work to learn.

Conducting the Workshop

This workshop is designed to last about three hours. All the professional development materials you need to conduct this workshop—facilitator’s guide with detailed teaching suggestions, transparency and participant handout masters, as well as the video resources—are provided in this package.

To conduct a successful learning event, please consider the following issues:

• Preparation—Please view the entire video program, read all materials, and complete all activities yourself before leading the workshop.

v

• Location—The workshop should take place in an area that is large enough for individual, small team, and whole group work.

• Equipment—You will need a DVD player and may need multiple monitors. Ideally, you will have one video monitor for every ten to twelve participants. You will also need an overhead or computer projector to show handouts.

• Handouts—Reproducible masters for all participant handouts are included with this guide (starting on page 11, and on the CD). The handouts should be duplicated before the workshop begins and distributed to participants according to the workshop instructions. Masters for overhead transparencies are also included with this guide (starting on page 7, and on the CD). They should be duplicated before the workshop begins, or you may project the page from your computer onto a screen.

• Additional equipment—You will also need flip charts, chalkboards, or whiteboards with appropriate writing materials to conduct the workshop.

• Refreshments—The agenda for the three-hour workshop should include one or more breaks at which beverages are offered. Snacks are optional, but water should be available throughout the workshop.

Video Program

This workshop incorporates a video program that is approximately 28 minutes in length. The video features documentary footage from a diverse group of eight elementary, middle, and high schools, observations from principals and teachers in those schools, as well as commentary from some of the nation’s leading authorities on professional learning communities. The PLC process is embedded in the culture of these schools. The footage captures the sights and sounds of effective teacher teams and leaders in action. There are no scripted scenes in this program! Participants learn from the real-life experience of successful PLC practitioners.

The PLC Resource Continuum

This resource is designed to introduce educators to PLC concepts and build shared knowledge regarding the key terms and practice of leadership in PLC schools. The video is designed to provide a precise explanation of PLC leadership practices and to give educators suggestions for moving forward on the PLC continuum. Furthermore, while other resources typically stress the research base that supports PLCs, this video makes the case for professional learning communities through the stories of the people who have actually created them.

Print

Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities

A Leader’s Companion: Inspiration for Professional Learning Communities at Work

Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work

On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes

Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools

LEADERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AT WORK® vi

Video

Collaborative Teams in Professional Learning Communities at Work: Learning by Doing

Passion and Persistence: How to Develop a Professional Learning Community

The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life

Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School

Web

allthingsplc.info

go.solution-tree.com/plc

vii

Workshop Overview at a Glance

Time (in minutes)

10–20 Introduction

Section Handouts and Transparencies

35–45 Be Clear About Your Primary Purpose

Three Big Ideas Asking the Right Questions

35–45 Disperse Leadership Throughout the School Shared Leadership

45–60 Employ a System of Reciprocal Accountability Feedback and Support Critical Issues for Team Consideration How Leaders Demonstrate Reciprocal Accountability

35–45 Create a School Culture That Is Simultaneously Loose and Tight Loose/Tight Compromises

20–30 Learning by Doing

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Workshop Teaching Suggestions

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this workshop is to help educators explore the concept of leadership in professional learning communities. Special attention is given to four critical leadership strategies: (1) be clear about your primary purpose; (2) disperse leadership throughout the school; (3) employ a system of reciprocal accountability; and (4) create a school culture that is simultaneously loose and tight.

Learning Objectives

After viewing the video and participating in the activities for the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify the three big ideas of a PLC school.

• Identify ways to operationalize the three big ideas in PLC schools.

• Generate important questions to guide the implementation of the three big ideas.

• Explain the term shared leadership.

• Distinguish between the pros and cons of shared leadership.

• Identify different ways in which shared leadership can manifest itself in a PLC school.

• Define the term reciprocal accountability.

• Identify ways in which reciprocal accountability could be employed within the context of the three big ideas.

• Generate questions that a principal and team leaders could use to clarify reciprocal accountability surrounding a particular issue.

• Explain what it means to be simultaneously loose and tight and how that relates to the three big ideas.

• Describe the benefits of being tight on certain principles and loose about how they are implemented.

• Develop a plan for implementing a professional learning community in their schools.

1

Program Overview

This video program focuses on leadership in PLC schools. It explores four critical leadership strategies identified by the 3Rs (Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, and Robert Eaker) that school leaders must embrace. Educators, including the 3Rs, discuss the dimensions of leadership in a professional learning community and how it is used to ensure student learning. Footage of real leaders and teams at work illustrate the strategies. Learning by Doing coauthor and education expert Thomas Many is also featured in the program.

Materials

• Video program: Leadership in Professional Learning Communities at Work: Learning by Doing

• Transparencies

▶ Shared Leadership

▶ Feedback and Support

▶ Compromises

• Handouts

▶ Three Big Ideas

▶ Asking the Right Questions

▶ Critical Issues for Team Consideration

▶ How Leaders Demonstrate Reciprocal Accountability

▶ Loose/Tight

• Flip charts, chalkboards, or whiteboards with appropriate writing materials

Activities

You can show the video program without stopping (it is about 28 minutes in length) and then conduct the activities for each section of the guide. It is recommended, however, that you follow the activities as outlined in the workshop teaching suggestions and stop the video when prompted in the facilitator’s guide. The workshop suggestions in this guide are designed to support this second approach. After showing each segment of the video program, allow participants time to comment, express opinions, ask questions about the material, and complete the activities suggested in the guide. If requested, you can replay portions of the program as participants consider the questions and activities.

Welcome and Opening

1. Welcome participants to the workshop and introduce yourself and anyone else serving as a workshop host, co-leader, or an organizer.

2. If participants do not know one another well, conduct a “get to know you” activity. Ask participants to form pairs and interview each other for about five minutes. Then ask the pairs to introduce each other to the group, stating the person’s name, something interesting or different about the person, and what the person hopes to gain from the workshop. (If there

LEADERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AT WORK® 2

are more than twenty people in the group, have each pair join another pair and only make introductions within each group of four.)

3. Play the Introduction segment from the video. Indicate to participants that the workshop will be exploring each of the strategies outlined in the video segment.

Be Clear About Your Primary Purpose

1. Indicate that the way in which people define their job has a significant impact on how they approach their work each day. Write the following question on the chart or board: “What is one thing that I, and only I, can do that if done well will make a difference in my school?” Ask each participant to answer this question for him- or herself in writing. When all are finished, ask for volunteers to share their thinking with the group.

2. Play the first portion of the next video segment. It begins when the title Be Clear About Your Primary Purpose appears on the screen. Stop the video when Becky DuFour completes her statement about the three big ideas.

3. Distribute a copy of the Three Big Ideas handout (page 12) to each participant. Indicate that these ideas were presented by Becky DuFour as the three keys to professional learning communities. Review the ideas with the class. Have participants generate a list of strategies that could be used in schools to operationalize each of these big ideas. Record their responses on the chart or board.

4. Ask the participants to watch and analyze the next portion of the video segment, using the Three Big Ideas handout as a framework. Then show the rest of the video segment, one principal at a time: Rafferty, Pearson, Jessie, Sale-Davis, and Gonzalez. The segment ends when the title Disperse Leadership Throughout the School appears on the screen. After they see and hear each principal, stop the video and have participants analyze what the principal said about his or her role in the school in terms of the three big ideas. Note: You may need to show portions of the segment again. Have participants record their observations on the handout.

5. Indicate to participants that principals of PLC schools provide clarity and coherence when they remain focused on the purpose of their schools and their responsibilities as principals. Point out that this certainty of purpose does not mean that they have all the answers. Rather, it means that they are skillful in asking the right questions and engaging people throughout the school in consideration of these questions. Engaging people in the right questions can help determine the focus and future of the school.

6. Next, distribute a copy of the Asking the Right Questions handout (page 13) to each participant. Divide the participants into three groups. Assign each group to one of the italicized statements on the Asking the Right Questions handout. Each of these statements is tied directly to one of the three big ideas. Have each group generate a list of questions, related to the statement, that should be kept at the forefront in operating a PLC school. Point out that for each statement, an example of a question is given. When the groups are finished, have them share their questions.

7. Ask each participant to rewrite their responses to the question, “What is one thing that I, and only I, can do that if done well will make a difference in my school?” based on what they learned in this segment.

Workshop Teaching Suggestions 3

Disperse Leadership Throughout the School

1. Begin by projecting the Shared Leadership overhead master (page 8) on a screen, board, or wall. Ask participants to share their reactions to the statement on the overhead. Then have them answer the following questions as a group:

▶ What does “widely shared leadership” mean to you?

▶ What would be some examples of shared leadership?

▶ What would you need to give up in order to share leadership in your school?

▶ What would you gain from sharing leadership in your school?

Indicate that this segment of the workshop deals with shared leadership.

2. Next, play the first portion of the video segment on dispersed leadership featuring Principals Anthony Muhammad and Janet Gonzalez. It begins when the title Disperse Leadership Throughout the School appears on the screen. Stop the video after Principal Gonzalez concludes her remarks. Ask participants to identify, as they watch, the argument for shared leadership offered in the video.

3. After they view the two principals, ask participants, “What did Principals Muhammad and Gonzalez say that added to your understanding of dispersed leadership?” Have them share their responses as a group.

4. Then have participants view the rest of the segment. It begins with the comments by Principal Clara Sale-Davis. It ends when the title Employ a System of Reciprocal Accountability appears on the screen. Ask participants to identify, as they watch, different ways in which dispersed leadership was used in the schools.

5. After they view the rest of the video segment, ask participants to identify the various ways in which dispersed leadership manifested itself in the segment. Record their answers on a chart or board. Have the participants work individually to consider each example of dispersed leadership listed on the chart or board. Have them answer the following questions for each example on the list: “Would this type of dispersed leadership work in my school? Why or why not?” When they have finished their work, ask for volunteers to share their thoughts with the group.

6. Ask participants to work in pairs. Have each group brainstorm some specific ways in which leadership could be dispersed in their schools. Ask them to speculate about the barriers they might encounter in implementing each of these strategies in their schools, and how they might overcome these barriers. Ask for pairs to volunteer to share their thinking with the group.

Employ a System of Reciprocal Accountability

1. Project the Feedback and Support master (page 9) on a screen or wall, revealing only the first paragraph. Review the paragraph as a group. When participants have absorbed the paragraph, reveal the second paragraph. Ask participants to define “reciprocal accountability” in their own words. Ask for volunteers to share their definitions with the group. Write their definitions on a chart or board. Ask participants why they think reciprocal accountability is necessary for the operation of a PLC school. Indicate that the next segment of the workshop deals with reciprocal accountability.

LEADERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AT WORK® 4

2. As a group, have participants brainstorm ways in which they could, in their schools, provide teacher leaders with feedback and support within the context of the three big ideas. Record their responses on a transparency made from the Three Big Ideas handout (page 12).

3. Show the next segment of the video. It begins when the title Employ a System of Reciprocal Accountability appears on the screen. It ends when the title Create a School Culture That Is Simultaneously Loose and Tight appears on the screen. Have participants look for ways in which principals in the video have implemented reciprocal accountability in their schools.

4. After they view the video segment, ask participants what they saw in the segment that was interesting to them. Then ask them to identify examples of principals employing reciprocal accountability in their schools. Add their responses to the transparency of the Three Big Ideas handout. Have them compare the list to the one they generated in step two.

5. Distribute a copy of the Critical Issues for Team Consideration handout (page 14) to each participant. Indicate that this handout is a useful tool to help principals, team leaders, and members of collaborative teams stay focused on the “right work” and to clarify their reciprocal accountability. Ask participants to work in pairs. Have each group choose at least one of the eighteen critical issues and brainstorm ways in which a leader might demonstrate reciprocal accountability by providing teachers with the structure and support to be successful in addressing that issue. Ask for pairs to volunteer to share their thinking with the group.

6. Distribute a copy of the How Leaders Demonstrate Reciprocal Accountability handout (page 16) to each participant. Indicate that the questions listed on the handout are the kind that leaders in a professional learning community should consider in demonstrating reciprocal accountability in the school. Carefully examine the questions listed on the transparency, as a group.

Create a School Culture That Is Simultaneously Loose and Tight

1. Distribute a copy of the Loose/Tight handout (page 17) to each participant. Indicate that PLC schools are simultaneously tight and loose. The schools are tight about certain common principles, priorities, and practices. At the same time, however, individuals and teams can benefit from considerable autonomy and freedom in terms of how things are done on a day-to-day basis, because the school is loose about much of the implementation.

2. Next, show the first portion of the next segment of the video. It begins when the title Create a School Culture That Is Simultaneously Loose and Tight appears on the screen. It ends when Robert Eaker completes his comments. Ask participants to use their Loose/Tight handouts to keep track of what Eaker says about a loose and tight culture in PLC schools.

3. Then show the rest of the video segment. It begins with Anthony Muhammad’s comments and ends when the title Learning by Doing appears on the screen. Ask the participants to use their Loose/Tight handouts to record more examples of how PLC schools are loose and tight.

4. After they view the rest of the segment, ask for volunteers to identify more about what PLC schools are loose and tight. Record these observations on the transparency. Ask, “How do the things that PLC schools are tight on compare to the three big ideas of PLC schools discussed earlier in the workshop?” You may want to refer participants back to the Three Big Ideas handout.

Workshop Teaching Suggestions 5

5. Ask participants to assume that they are principals in a PLC school. Have participants create short oral presentations to school staff describing what they are loose and tight about in their buildings. Ask for volunteers to deliver their presentations to the group.

6. Project the Compromises master (page 10) on a screen, board, or wall. Indicate that the transparency contains typical comments made by teachers in an effort to expedite the learning process. Ask for a volunteer to address each question. Have the volunteer decide whether he or she is tight or loose about the principle or priority underlying the question and then respond to the question from that loose/tight perspective. Note: PLC principals should be tight about each question.

Learning by Doing

1. Begin by showing the final video segment. It begins when the title Learning by Doing appears on the screen. Ask participants to identify the advice that the school leaders give in the segment about how to get started on becoming a PLC school.

2. After they view the first portion of the video segment, ask participants what they saw in the segment that was interesting to them. Then ask:

▶ What advice did you get from the school leaders in the segment about implementing professional learning communities?

▶ Did you find that advice useful? Why or why not?

▶ What might teachers who have always worked in isolation find attractive about collaborative teams?

▶ What might teachers who have always worked in isolation find difficult about working on a collaborative team?

▶ What can school leaders do to make the transition to being a PLC easier?

3. Ask participants to work in pairs to develop a plan for implementing a PLC in their schools, based on the approach stated at the beginning of the segment: “Don’t take people away from their work to learn, help them learn from their work.” When they have finished, ask pairs for volunteers to share their plans with the group.

4. Thank participants for engaging in the workshop.

LEADERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES AT WORK® 6

Overhead Masters

7

Shared Leadership

If principals are to create the conditions that help the adults in their schools continually improve upon their collective capacity to ensure all students acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to their success, they must embrace the concept of widely shared leadership.

— Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008, p. 310)

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Feedback and Support

When principals ask teachers to lead, they are asking them to take responsibility for something beyond their classroom. Therefore, principals of PLCs recognize they have an obligation to provide staff with the resources, training, mentoring, and support to help them successfully accomplish what they have been asked to do.

— Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008, p. 312)

This relationship between principal and teachers is referred to as reciprocal accountability: “for every increment of performance I demand of you as a teacher, as the principal, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation” (Elmore, 2006).

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Compromises

Couldn’t we simply use the questions from the textbook to monitor student learning instead of working together to create a common assessment?

Can’t I opt out of the collaborative team meetings as long as I am getting good results?

Shouldn’t students who fail to demonstrate proficiency suffer the consequences of failure rather than being provided with additional opportunities to learn?

Aren’t systematic interventions “enabling” students?

Do we really need to examine student achievement data?

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Handout Masters

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Three Big Ideas

1. Focus on Learning

2. Culture of Collaboration

3. Focus on Results

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Asking the Right Questions

Because we are committed to helping all students acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to their success, our collective inquiry should explore the following questions:

Example—What systems are in place to monitor the learning of every student on a frequent and timely basis?

Because we understand we cannot help all students learn without a collaborative and collective effort, our collective inquiry should explore the following questions:

Example—What evidence do we have that teams are focusing on the right things—the issues that can have the greatest impact on student learning?

Because we recognize our collective efforts must be assessed on the basis of results rather than activities, our collective inquiry should explore the following questions:

Example—Are we providing every teacher and every team with ongoing and timely information about results, and are they able to use that information to improve their individual and collective practice? How do we know?

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Critical Issues for Team Consideration

Team Name:

Team Members:

Use the following rating scale to indicate the extent to which each statement is true of your team.

1. _____ We have identified team norms and protocols to guide us in working together.

2. _____ We have analyzed student achievement data and established SMART goals to improve upon this level of achievement we are working interdependently to attain. (SMART Goals are Strategic, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Oriented, and Time-bound. SMART Goals are discussed at length in chapter 6 of Learning by Doing.)

3. _____ Each member of our team is clear on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions (that is, the essential learning) that students will acquire as a result of (1) our course or grade level and (2) each unit within the course or grade level.

4. _____ We have aligned the essential learning with state and district standards and the highstakes assessments required of our students.

5. _____ We have identified course content and topics that can be eliminated so we can devote more time to the essential curriculum.

6. _____ We have agreed on how to best sequence the content of the course and have established pacing guides to help students achieve the intended essential learning.

7. _____ We have identified the prerequisite knowledge and skills students need in order to master the essential learning of each unit of instruction.

8. _____ We have identified strategies and created instruments to assess whether students have the prerequisite knowledge and skills.

9. _____ We have developed strategies and systems to assist students in acquiring prerequisite knowledge and skills when they are lacking in those areas.

10. _____ We have developed frequent common formative assessments that help us to determine each student’s mastery of essential learning.

11. _____ We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our common assessments.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not True of Our Team Our Team Is Addressing This True of Our Team
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12. _____ We use the results of our common assessments to assist each other in building on strengths and addressing weaknesses as part of an ongoing process of continuous improvement designed to help students achieve at higher levels.

13. _____ We use the results of our common assessments to identify students who need additional time and support to master essential learning, and we work within the systems and processes of the school to ensure they receive that support.

14. _____ We have agreed on the criteria we will use in judging the quality of student work related to the essential learning of our course, and we continually practice applying those criteria to ensure we are consistent.

15. _____ We have taught students the criteria we will use in judging the quality of their work and provided them with examples.

16. _____ We have developed or utilized common summative assessments that help us assess the strengths and weaknesses of our program.

17. _____ We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our summative assessments.

18. _____ We formally evaluate our adherence to team norms and the effectiveness of our team at least twice each year.

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How Leaders Demonstrate Reciprocal Accountability

Reciprocal accountability is based on the premise that leaders who ask others to be accountable for completing certain tasks or achieving certain goals have a responsibility to provide them with the clarity, support, training, and resources important to their success. In a professional learning community, in addition to providing educators with the resource of time to address key tasks, leaders should also provide educators with the answers to the following questions:

Why—Why should we do this? What is the rationale for addressing this in the first place?

What—What do you mean? Have we established a clear, common language? What tools, templates, examples, and resources will you provide us to assist in completing the task?

How— Is there a procedure or process you recommend that we use in addressing this task?

When— Do we have agreement on a reasonable timeline?

Guiding questions—Are there specific questions we should keep in mind as we proceed?

Criteria—What criteria should we use to assess the quality of our work? Are there clear parameters and clear performance indicators that can help us monitor our effectiveness?

Tips—What tips and suggestions can you offer that will facilitate our work as we go forward?

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Loose Tight

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Collaborative Teams in Professional Learning Communities at Work®

Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Thomas Many

This video shows exactly what collaborative teams do. Aligned with the bestselling book Learning by Doing, it features unscripted footage of collaboration in action. Learn how teams organize, interact, and find time to meet; what products they produce; and more. DVF023

Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work®

Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, and Robert Eaker

This 10th-anniversary sequel to the pivotal book Professional Learning Communities at Work ® offers advanced insights on deep implementation, the commitment/consensus issue, and the human side of a PLC. Gain greater knowledge of common mistakes to avoid and new discoveries for success. BKF252

Learning by Doing, Third Edition

Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, and Mike Mattos

The third edition of this comprehensive action guide includes new strategies, tools, and tips for transforming your school or district into a high-performing PLC. BKF746

The Collaborative Administrator

Austin Buffum, Cassandra Erkens, Charles Hinman, Susan Huff, Lillie G. Jessie, Terri L. Martin, Mike Mattos, Anthony Muhammad, Peter Noonan, Geri Parscale, Eric Twadell, Jay Westover, and Kenneth C. Williams

Foreword by Robert Eaker

Introduction by Richard DuFour

How do you maintain the right balance of “loose-tight” leadership? How do you establish profound, lasting trust with your staff? What principles strengthen principal leadership? This book answers these questions and much more in compelling chapters packed with strategies and inspiration. BKF256

The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work®

Featuring Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour

This four-program video series takes you inside eight diverse schools, where teachers and administrators engage in candid conversations and collaborative team meetings. See how successful schools radically improve student learning, and learn the fundamentals of PLC with this powerful, fun staff development tool. DVF052

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap

Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Gayle Karhanek

This sequel to the best-selling book Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn expands on original ideas and presses further with new insights. Foundational concepts combine with real-life examples of schools throughout North America that have gone from traditional cultures to PLCs. BKF378

Visit solution-tree.com or call 800.733.6786 to order.

We realize improving student learning doesn’t happen overnight. And your school or district shouldn’t be left to puzzle out all the details of this process alone.

No matter where you are on the journey, we’re committed to helping you get to the next stage.

Take advantage of everything from custom workshops to keynote presentations and interactive web and video conferencing. We can even help you develop an action plan tailored to fit your specific needs.

Wait! Y our professional development journey doesn’t have to end with the last pages of this book. Let’s get the conversation started. Call 888.763.9045 today. solution-tree.com

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