Professional Learning Communities at Work™ Plan Book by Solution Tree

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book Rebecca DuFour • Richard DuFour • Robert Eaker

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Copyright © 2006 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. 555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 800.733.6786 (toll free) / 812.336.7700 FAX: 812.336.7790

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2015 ISBN: 978-1-932127-95-9

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Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book Since the mid-1990s, Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour have championed a professional learning communities (PLC) model for school improvement. A professional learning community is educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better results for the students they serve. A PLC operates under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators. Professional learning communities are characterized by shared mission, vision, values, and goals; collaborative teams focused on learning; collective inquiry into “best practice” and “current reality”; action orientation and experimentation; commitment to continuous improvement; and a focus on results. A PLC places its emphasis on learning for all (students and adults), building a collaborative culture, and maintaining a constant focus on results. These factors are critical to the sustained and substantive school improvement process that characterizes professional learning communities at work.

Table of Contents Section 1 What Is a “Professional Learning Community”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Cultural Shifts in a PLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Building High-Performing Collaborative Teams That Focus on Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Critical Issues for Team Consideration (Reproducible) . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Team Feedback Sheet (Reproducible) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Student Achievement SMART Goal–Setting Worksheet (Reproducible) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Survey on Team Norms (Reproducible) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Team Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Year-at-a-Glance Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Class Roster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Seating Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Substitute Teacher Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Holidays and Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Section 2

How This Planner Is Organized Most plan books are designed to guide the individual classroom teacher in instructional decisions. They focus on, “What will I teach, when will I teach it, and how will I teach it?” The Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book is unique because it not only assists the individual teacher, but also guides the collaborative team planning and processes essential to schools that operate as PLCs. Most importantly, this plan book calls upon teachers to go far beyond the traditional questions of teaching to a relentless focus on learning—for both students and adults. The first section of the Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book contains an overview of the three big ideas that shape a PLC, cultural shifts that are to be expected, and keys to building high-performing collaborative teams. It also includes forms to help you work with your team more effectively as well as the standard forms you need to collect and organize information about your students and your classes. The 40 weeks of planning pages in the second section include text and activities to inform, inspire, and challenge you and your teammates as you take the professional learning community journey. The third section provides references and resources for further study.

Weekly Planning Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Section 3 References and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

About the Authors Since 2001, Rebecca DuFour has been featured in 3 video series on effective leaders and PLCs. She has co-authored 4 books and numerous articles and has consulted with educators throughout North America as they work to create PLCs in their schools and districts. Richard DuFour is one of North America’s leading authorities on bringing PLC concepts to life in the real world of schools. He has co-authored 8 books, more than 50 articles, and 3 video series on PLC concepts, principles, and practices. Robert Eaker has been cited as one of the nation’s leading experts in helping educators translate research into practice. He is the co-author of 7 books and numerous articles and has helped educators around the world implement PLC practices in their schools.

Solution Tree

What Is a “Professional Learning Community”? To create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.

staff finds itself asking, “What school characteristics and practices have been most successful in helping all students achieve at high levels? How could we adopt those characteristics and practices in our own school? What commitments would we have to make to one another to create such a school? What indicators could we monitor to assess our progress?” When the staff has built shared knowledge and found common ground on these questions, the school has a solid foundation for moving forward with its improvement initiative.

The answer to the third question separates learning communities from traditional schools. Here is a scenario that plays out daily in traditional schools. A teacher teaches a unit to the best of his or her ability, but at the conclusion of the unit some students have not mastered the essential outcomes. On the one hand, the teacher would like to take the time to help those students. On the other hand, the teacher feels compelled to move forward to “cover” the course content. If the teacher uses instructional time to assist students who have not learned, the progress of students who have mastered the content will suffer; if the teacher pushes on with new concepts, the struggling students will fall farther behind.

What typically happens in this situation? Almost invariably, the school leaves the solution to the discretion of individual teachers, who vary widely in the ways they respond. Some teachers conclude that the struggling students should transfer to a less rigorous course or should be considered for special education. Some lower their expectations by adopting less challenging standards for subgroups of students within their classrooms. Some As the school moves forward, every professional look for ways to assist the students before and after in the building must engage with colleagues in the school. Some allow struggling students to fail. ongoing exploration of four crucial questions that When a school begins to function as a profesdrive the work of those within a professional learnThe movement to develop professional learning sional learning community, however, teachers ing community: communities can avoid this cycle, but only if edubecome aware of the incongruity between their cators reflect critically on the concept’s merits. commitment to ensure learning for all students and 1. What do we want each student to learn? What are the “big ideas” that represent the core their lack of a coordinated strategy to respond when 2. How will we know when each student has principles of professional learning communities? some students do not learn. The staff addresses learned it? How do these principles guide schools’ efforts to this discrepancy by designing strategies to ensure 3. How will we respond when a student expe- that struggling students receive additional time sustain the professional learning community riences difficulty in learning? model until it becomes deeply embedded in the and support, no matter who their teacher is. In culture of the school? addition to being systematic and school-wide, the 2

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

The professional learning community model flows from the assumption that the core mission of By Richard DuFour formal education is not simply to ensure that stuThe idea of improving schools by developing dents are taught but to ensure that they learn. This professional learning communities is currently in simple shift—from a focus on teaching to a focus vogue. People use this term to describe every imag- on learning—has profound implications for inable combination of individuals with an interest schools. in education—a grade-level teaching team, a School mission statements that promise “learning school committee, a high school department, an for all” have become a cliché. But when a school entire school district, a state department of educa- staff takes that statement literally—when teachers tion, a national professional organization, and so view it as a pledge to ensure the success of each stuon. In fact, the term has been used so ubiquitously dent rather than as politically correct hyperbole— that it is in danger of losing all meaning. profound changes begin to take place. The school The professional learning community model has now reached a critical juncture, one well known to those who have witnessed the fate of other wellintentioned school reform efforts. In this all-toofamiliar cycle, initial enthusiasm gives way to confusion about the fundamental concepts driving the initiative, followed by inevitable implementation problems, the conclusion that the reform has failed to bring about the desired results, abandonment of the reform, and the launch of a new search for the next promising initiative. Another reform movement has come and gone, reinforcing the conventional education wisdom that promises, “This too shall pass.”

4. How will we respond when a student already knows it?

Big Idea #1: Ensuring That Students Learn

professional learning community’s response to students who experience difficulty is • Timely. The school quickly identifies students who need additional time and support.

• Directive. Instead of inviting students to seek additional help, the systematic plan requires students to devote extra time and receive additional assistance until they have mastered the necessary concepts. The systematic, timely, and directive intervention program operating at Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, provides an excellent example. Every 3 weeks, every student receives a progress report. Within the first month of school, new students discover that if they are not doing well in a class, they will receive a wide array of immediate interventions. First, the teacher, counselor, and faculty advisor each talk with the student individually to help resolve the problem. The school also notifies the student’s parents about the concern. In addition, the school offers the struggling student a pass from study hall to a school tutoring center to get additional help in the course. An older student mentor, in conjunction with the struggling student’s advisor, helps the student with homework during the student’s daily advisory period. Any student who continues to fall short of expectations at the end of 6 weeks despite these interventions is required, rather than invited, to attend tutoring sessions during the study hall period. Counselors begin to make weekly checks on the

Some school staffs equate the term “collaboration” with congeniality and focus on building group camaraderie. Other staffs join forces to develop consensus on operational procedures, such as how they will respond to tardiness or supervise recess. Still others organize themselves into committees to oversee different facets of the school’s operation, such as discipline, technology, and social climate. Although each of these activities can serve a useful purpose, none represents the kind of professional dialogue that can transform a school into a professional learning community.

Stevenson High School serves more than 4,000 students. Yet this school has found a way to monitor each student’s learning on a timely basis and to ensure that every student who experiences academic difficulty will receive extra time and support for learning.

The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning. This Like Stevenson, schools that are truly committed process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student to the concept of learning for each student will achievement. stop subjecting struggling students to a haphazard Collaborating for School Improvement education lottery. These schools will guarantee At Boones Mill Elementary School, a K–5 school that each student receives whatever additional serving 400 students in rural Franklin County, Virsupport he or she needs. ginia, the powerful collaboration of grade-level teams drives the school improvement process. The Big Idea #2: following scenario describes what Boones Mill A Culture of Collaboration staff members refer to as their teaching-learning Educators who are building a professional learnprocess. ing community recognize that they must work The school’s five third-grade teachers study state together to achieve their collective purpose of learning for all. Therefore, they create structures to and national standards, the district curriculum guide, and student achievement data to identify promote a collaborative culture. the essential knowledge and skills that all students Despite compelling evidence indicating that should learn in an upcoming language arts unit. working collaboratively represents best practice, They also ask the fourth-grade teachers what they teachers in many schools continue to work in isohope students will have mastered by the time they lation. Even in schools that endorse the idea of colleave third grade. On the basis of the shared knowllaboration, the staff ’s willingness to collaborate edge generated by this joint study, the third-grade often stops at the classroom door. Solution Tree

• Based on intervention rather than remediation. The plan provides students with help as soon as they experience difficulty rather than relying on summer school, retention, and remedial courses.

struggling student’s progress. If tutoring fails to bring about improvement within the next 6 weeks, the student is assigned to a daily guided study hall with 10 or fewer students. The guided study hall supervisor communicates with classroom teachers to learn exactly what homework each student needs to complete and monitors the completion of that homework. Parents attend a meeting at the school at which the student, parents, counselor, and classroom teacher must sign a contract clarifying what each party will do to help the student meet the standards for the course.

After each teacher has examined the results of the common formative assessment for his or her students, the team analyzes how all third graders performed. Team members identify strengths and weaknesses in student learning and begin to discuss how they can build on the strengths and address the weaknesses. The entire team gains new insights into what is working and what is not, and members discuss new strategies that they can implement in their classrooms to raise student achievement.

Removing Barriers to Success

For meaningful collaboration to occur, a number of things must also stop happening. Schools must stop pretending that merely presenting teachers with state standards or district curriculum guides will guarantee that all students have access to a common curriculum. Even school districts that devote tremendous time and energy to designing the intended curriculum often pay little attention to the implemented curriculum (what teachers actuAt Boones Mill, collaborative conversations hap- ally teach) and even less to the attained curriculum pen routinely throughout the year. Teachers use fre- (what students learn) (Marzano, 2003). Schools quent formative assessments to investigate the must also give teachers time to analyze and discuss questions, “Are students learning what they need to state and district curriculum documents. learn?” and “Who needs additional time and supMore important, teacher conversations must port to learn?” rather than relying solely on summa- quickly move beyond “What are we expected to tive assessments that ask, “Which students learned teach?” to “How will we know when each student what was intended and which students did not?” has learned?” In addition, faculties must stop making excuses for failing to collaborate. Few educators publicly assert that working in isolation is the best strategy for improving schools. Instead, they give reasons why it is impossible for them to work together: “We just can’t find the time.” “Not everyone on the staff has endorsed the idea.” “We need more training in collaboration.” But the number of schools that have created truly collaborative culFor teachers to participate in such a powerful tures proves that such barriers are not insurprocess, the school must ensure that everyone mountable. As Roland Barth (1991) wrote, Collaborative conversations call on team members to make public what has traditionally been private—goals, strategies, materials, pacing, questions, concerns, and results. These discussions give every teacher someone to turn to and talk to, and they are explicitly structured to improve the classroom practice of teachers—individually and collectively.

Big Idea #3: A Focus on Results

Professional learning communities judge their effectiveness on the basis of results. Working together to improve student achievement becomes the routine work of everyone in the school. Every teacher team participates in an ongoing process of identifying the current level of student achievement, establishing a goal to improve the current level, working together to achieve that goal, and providing periodic evidence of progress. The focus of team goals shifts. Such goals as, “We will adopt the Junior Great Books program” or, “We will create three new labs for our science course” give way to, “We will increase the percentage of students who meet the state standard in language arts from 83% to 90%” or, “We will reduce the failure rate in our course by 50%.” Schools and teachers typically suffer from the DRIP syndrome—Data Rich/Information Poor. The results-oriented professional learning community not only welcomes data but also turns data into useful and relevant information for staff. Teachers have never suffered from a lack of data. Even a teacher who works in isolation can easily establish the mean, mode, median, standard deviation, and percentage of students who demonstrate proficiency every time he or she administers

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

Are teachers and administrators willing team agrees on the critical outcomes that they will belongs to a team that focuses on student learning. to accept the fact that they are part of Each team must have time to meet during the make sure each student achieves during the unit. the problem? . . . God didn’t create selfNext, the team turns its attention to developing workday and throughout the school year. Teams contained classrooms, 50-minute pericommon formative assessments to monitor each must focus their efforts on crucial questions related ods, and subjects taught in isolation. student’s mastery of the essential outcomes. Team to learning and generate products that reflect that We did—because we find working members discuss the most authentic and valid ways focus, such as lists of essential outcomes, different alone safer than and preferable to to assess student mastery. They set the standard for kinds of assessment, analyses of student achieveworking together. (pp. 126–127) each skill or concept that each student must ment, and strategies for improving results. Teams In the final analysis, building the collaborative achieve to be deemed proficient. They agree on the must develop norms or protocols to clarify expectations regarding roles, responsibilities, and relaculture of a professional learning community is a criteria by which they will judge the quality of stutionships among team members. Teams must question of will. A group of staff members who are dent work, and they practice applying those criteria adopt student achievement goals linked with determined to work together will find a way. until they can do so consistently. Finally, they school and district goals. decide when they will administer the assessments.

a test. However, data will become a catalyst for improved teacher practice only if the teacher has a basis of comparison.

Freeport Intermediate School, located 50 miles south of Houston, Texas, attributes its success to an unrelenting focus on results. Teachers work in collaborative teams for 90 minutes daily to clarify the essential outcomes of their grade levels and courses and to align those outcomes with state standards. They develop consistent instructional calendars and administer the same brief assessment to all students at the same grade level at the conclusion of each instructional unit, roughly once a week. Each quarter, the teams administer a common cumulative exam. Each spring, the teams develop and administer practice tests for the state exam. Each year, the teams pore over the results of the state test, which are broken down to show every teacher how his or her students performed on every skill and on every test item. The teachers share their results from all of these assessments with their colleagues, and they quickly learn when a teammate has been particularly effective in teaching a certain skill. Team members consciously look for successful practice and attempt to replicate it in their own practice; they also identify areas of the curriculum that need more attention. Freeport Intermediate has been transformed from one of the lowest-performing schools in the state to a national model for academic achievement. Principal Clara Sale-Davis believes that the crucial first step in that transformation came when

Educators who focus on results must also stop limiting improvement goals to factors outside the classroom, such as student discipline and staff morale, and shift their attention to goals that focus on student learning. They must stop assessing their own effectiveness on the basis of how busy they are or how many new initiatives they have launched and begin instead to ask, “Have we made progress on the goals that are most important to us?”

implement these principles, their collective ability to help all students learn will rise. If they fail to demonstrate the discipline to initiate and sustain this work, then their school is unlikely to become more effective, even if those within it claim to be a professional learning community. The rise or fall of the professional learning community concept depends not on the merits of the concept itself, but on the most important element in the improveEducators must stop working in isolation and ment of any school—the commitment and persisthoarding their ideas, materials, and strategies and ence of the educators within it. An earlier version of begin to work together to meet the needs of all this article appeared in the May 2004 issue of Educational Leadership, pp. 6–11. students.

Collaboration has helped me as an educator and improved learning for students in so many ways. Now, we each teach with our own unique style, but [our] objectives are the same. . . . In this collaboration, each teacher’s strengths come out, we share those strengths, and you see that reflected in each other’s classrooms. —Amy Davenport, Social Studies Teacher, Marshall High School, Falls Church, VA When I first came to Stevenson High School, it was clear to me that this culture was different. It wasn’t just taking care of mundane tasks. We were trying to accomplish certain goals as a group. Everyone was excited about any new idea that you might have to share. Everyone was very supportive—willing to share with you, willing to work with you to help you become an integral part of each team. —Chris Kelly, First-Year Math Teacher, Adlai Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, IL When we join our wills together as a teaching staff to accomplish something, we often rely on the strength of our unity to do the impossible. When we join the wills of the teaching staff, the support staff, and the parents together, we accomplish even more. —Lisa Isselnane, First-Grade Teacher, Marjorie Veeh Elementary School, Tustin, CA

Solution Tree

When teacher teams develop common formative assessments throughout the school year, each teacher can identify how his or her students performed on each skill compared with other students. Individual teachers can call on their team colleagues to help them reflect on areas of concern. Each teacher has access to the ideas, materials, strategies, and talents of the entire team.

the staff began to honestly confront data on stu- Hard Work and Commitment dent achievement and to work together to improve Even the grandest design eventually translates results rather than make excuses for them. into hard work. The professional learning commuOf course, this focus on continual improvement nity model is a grand design—a powerful new way and results requires educators to change traditional of working together that profoundly affects the practices and revise prevalent assumptions. Edu- practices of schooling. But initiating and sustaincators must begin to embrace data as a useful indi- ing the concept requires hard work. It requires the cator of progress. They must stop disregarding or school staff to focus on learning rather than teachexcusing unfavorable data and honestly confront ing, work collaboratively on matters related to the sometimes-brutal facts. They must stop using learning, and hold itself accountable for the kind averages to analyze student performance and begin of results that fuel continual improvement. to focus on the success of each student. When educators do the hard work necessary to

Cultural Shifts in a PLC A Shift in Fundamental Purpose to a focus on learning

From an emphasis on what was taught . . .

to a fixation on what students learned

From coverage of content . . .

to demonstration of proficiency

From providing individual teachers with curriculum documents such as state standards and curriculum guides . . .

to engaging collaborative teams in building shared knowledge regarding essential curriculum

A Shift in Use of Assessments From infrequent summative assessments . . .

to frequent common formative assessments

From assessments to determine to assessments to identify which students failed to learn students who need additional by the deadline . . . time and support From assessments used to reward and punish students . . .

to assessments used to inform and motivate students

From assessing many things infrequently . . .

to assessing a few things frequently

From individual teacher assessments . . .

to assessments developed jointly by collaborative teams

From individual teachers determining the appropriate response . . .

to a systematic response that ensures support for every student

From fixed time and support for learning . . .

to time and support for learning as variables

From remediation . . .

to intervention

From invitational support outside of the school day . . .

to directed (that is, required) support during the school day

From one opportunity to demonstrate learning . . .

to multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning

A Shift in the Work of Teachers From isolation . . .

to collaboration

From each teacher clarifying what students must learn . . .

to collaborative teams building shared knowledge and understanding about essential learning

From each teacher assigning priority to different learning standards . . .

to collaborative teams establishing the priority of respective learning standards

From each teacher determining to collaborative teams of teachers the pacing of the curriculum . . . agreeing on common pacing From individual teachers attempting to discover ways to improve results . . .

to collaborative teams of teachers helping each other improve

From privatization of practice . . . to open sharing of practice

From each teacher determining to collaborative teams clarifying the criteria to be used in the criteria and ensuring assessing student work . . . inter-rater reliability when assessing student work

From decisions made on the basis of individual preferences . . .

to decisions made collectively by building shared knowledge of best practice

From an over-reliance on one kind of assessment . . .

to balanced assessments

From “collaboration lite” on matters unrelated to student achievement . . .

to collaboration explicitly focused on issues and questions that most impact student achievement

From focusing on average scores . . .

to monitoring each students’ proficiency in every essential skill

From an assumption that “these are my kids, those are your kids” . . .

to an assumption that “these are our kids”

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

From a focus on teaching . . .

A Shift in the Response When Students Don’t Learn

A Shift in Focus to a focus on results

From goals related to completion of project and activities . . .

to SMART goals demanding evidence of student learning

From teachers gathering data from their individually constructed tests in order to assign grades . . .

to collaborative teams acquiring information from common assessments in order to (1) inform their individual and collective practice and (2) respond to students who need additional time and support

From a focus on inputs . . .

A Shift in Professional Development From external training (workshops and courses) . . .

to job-embedded learning

From the expectation that learning occurs infrequently (on the few days devoted to professional development) . . .

to an expectation that learning is ongoing and occurs as part of routine work practice

From presentations to entire faculties . . .

to team-based action research

From learning by listening . . .

to learning by doing

From learning individually through courses and workshops . . .

to learning collectively by working together

From assessing impact on the basis of teacher satisfaction (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Did you like it?â&#x20AC;?) . . .

to assessing impact on the basis of evidence of improved student learning

From short-term exposure to multiple concepts and practices . . .

to sustained commitment to limited, focused initiatives

Solution Tree

Building High-Performing Collaborative Teams

1. What is it we expect them to learn? 2. How will we know when they have learned it? 3. How will we respond when they do not learn? 4. How will we respond when they already know it? In a PLC, these questions guide the conversations of the entire staff, the collaborative teams, and the day-to-day work of teachers in every classroom. You and your teammates are encouraged to reflect on your answers to these questions for each lesson you plan. 8

The issue of finding time for collaboration has been addressed effectively—and often—in the professional literature and is readily available for those who are sincerely interested in exploring alternatives. Therefore, the following list is not meant to be comprehensive but is merely intended to illustrate some of the steps schools and districts can take to create the prerequisite time for collaboration.

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

• Electronic teams beyond the district or region Schools that function as professional learning in ways that enhance the learning of their stuthat are facilitated by web sites such as: communities are always characterized by a collab- dents?” Here are some team structures that answer orative culture. Teacher isolation is replaced with that question in the affirmative: ■ www.firstclass.com: This site has been collaborative processes that are deeply embedded • Course-level teams that include all teachers used by thousands of organizations to into the daily life of the school. Members of a PLC of that course create powerful online electronic commuare not “invited” to work with colleagues: They are nities that enable individuals and groups • Grade-level teams that include all teachers of called upon to be contributing members of a colof people to work more effectively. that grade lective effort to improve the school’s capacity to In a professional learning community, teams help all students learn at high levels. • Vertical teams that include, for example, grades K–2, grades 3–5, or French I–IV (par- have the benefit of time, focus, parameters, access to The driving engine of a PLC is the collaborative information, and ongoing support as they engage ticularly in small schools or departments) team, on which members work interdependently to in collective inquiry and action research. They work achieve a common goal for which each team mem• Similar-responsibility teams that allow together in a continuous effort to discover best ber is mutually accountable. All members of the resource or special education teachers, for practices (in the research and in their own school faculty are assigned to at least one, but never more example, to collaborate with general educaand classrooms) and to expand their professional than two teams. Individual teachers give up a tion teachers with whom they share students expertise to accomplish goals that they could not degree of personal autonomy in exchange for coland content achieve by working alone. lective authority to answer the four critical ques• Interdisciplinary teams that allow members tions of learning (see below). Seven Strategies for Creating Team with an overarching curricular goal across Time content areas to hold regular collaborative Team Structures Focused on Learning meetings with their content colleagues It is imperative that teachers be provided with The fundamental question in organizing teams is, time to meet during their contractual day. We • District or regional teams that may meet in “Do the people on this team have a shared responbelieve it is insincere and disingenuous for any person or electronically sibility for responding to the four critical questions school district or any school principal to stress the importance of collaboration and then fail to provide time for collaboration. One of the ways in FOUR CRITICAL QUESTIONS OF LEARNING which organizations demonstrate their priorities is through allocation of resources, and in schools, If we believe all kids can learn: one of the most precious resources is time.

That Focus on Learning

other end of that day.

Coordinate activities that require supervision For example, on the first workday of each week rather than instructional expertise. Non-teaching the entire staff of Adlai Stevenson High School in staff can supervise students during videos, Lincolnshire, Illinois, begins their workday at 7:30 resource lessons, read-alouds, assemblies, and testa.m., rather than at their usual start time of 7:45 ing while teachers engage in team collaboration. a.m. From 7:30 to 8:30, the entire faculty engages 6. Banking Time in collaborative team meetings. Student arrival Over a designated period of days, extend the begins at 7:40, as usual, but the start of class is delayed from the normal 8:05 until 8:30. Students instructional minutes beyond the required school are supervised by non-instructional and adminis- day. After banking the desired amount of time, end Solution Tree

the instructional day early to allow for faculty collaboration and student enrichment. At a middle school, for example, the traditional instructional day ends at 3:00 p.m, students board buses at 3:20, and the teacher contractual day ends at 3:30. The faculty may decide to extend the instructional day to 3:10. By teaching an extra 10 minutes for 9 days in a row, they “bank” 90 minutes. On the tenth day, instruction stops at 1:30, and the entire faculty has collaborative team time for 2 hours. The students remain on campus and are engaged in clubs, enrichment activities, and assemblies sponsored by a variety of parent and community partners and co-supervised by the school’s non-teaching staff. 7. In-Service/Faculty Meeting Time Schedule extended time for teams to work together on staff development days and during faculty meeting time. Rather than requiring staff to attend a traditional whole school in-service session or to sit in a faculty meeting while directives and calendar items are read to highly educated professionals, shift the focus and use of these days and meetings so members of teams have extended time to learn with and from each other.

How are teams provided time to collaborate in your school?

trative staff in a variety of optional activities such Build the master schedule to provide daily com- as breakfast, library and computer research, open mon preparation periods for teachers of the same gym, study halls, and tutorials. To accommodate course or department. Each team should then des- for the 25 minutes of lost instructional time, 5 ignate one day each week to engage in collabora- minutes is trimmed from five of the eight 50minute class periods. The school day ends at the tive rather than individual planning. usual 3:25 p.m., buses run their regular routes, and 2. Parallel Scheduling Stevenson teachers are free to leave at 3:30 rather Schedule common preparation time by assign- than the 3:45 time stipulated in their contract. ing the specialists (physical education teachers, By making these minor adjustments to the librarians, music teachers, art teachers, instruc- schedule on the first day of each week, the entire tional technologists, guidance counselors, foreign faculty is guaranteed an hour of collaborative language teachers, and so on) to provide lessons to planning to start each week, but neither their work students across an entire grade level at the same day nor their work week has been extended by a time each day. The team should designate one day single minute. each week for collaborative planning. Some 4. Shared Classes schools build back-to-back specials classes into the master schedule on each team’s designated collabCombine students from two different grade levorative day, thus creating an extended block of els or courses into one class for instruction. While time for the team to meet. one teacher or team instructs the students, the other team engages in collaborative work. The 3. Adjusted Start and End Time of teams alternate instructing and collaborating to Contractual Day provide equity in learning time for students and Gain collaborative time by starting the workday teams. Some schools coordinate shared classes to early or extending the workday one day each week ensure that older students adopt younger students to gain collaborative team time. In exchange for and serve as literacy buddies, tutors, and mentors. adding time to one end of the workday, teachers 5. Group Activities, Events, or Testing are compensated by getting the time back on the 1. Common Preparation

REPRODUCIBLE

Critical Issues for Team Consideration Team Name:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Team Members:__________________________________________________________________________________

1 2 3 Not True of Our Team

5 6 Our Team Is Addressing

1. ___ We have identified team norms and protocols to guide us in working together. 2. ___ We have analyzed student achievement data and have established SMART goals that we are working interdependently to achieve. 3. ___ Each member of our team is clear on the essential learnings of our course in general as well as the essential learnings of each unit. 4. ___ We have aligned the essential learnings with state and district standards and the highstakes exams required of our students. 5. ___ We have identified course content and/or topics that can be eliminated so we can devote more time to 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 learnings.

9 10 True of Our Team

11. ___ We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our common assessments. 12. ___ We have developed common summative assessments that help us assess the strengths and weaknesses of our program. 13. ___ We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our summative assessments. 14. ___ We have agreed on the criteria we will use in judging the quality of student work related to the essential learnings of our course, and we practice applying those criteria to ensure consistency.

16. ___ We evaluate our adherence to and the effectiveness of our team norms at least twice each year.

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

17. ___ We use the results of our common assessments to assist each other in building on strengths and addressing weaknesses as part of a process of continuous improvement designed to help students achieve at higher levels.

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

The Critical Issues for Team Consideration guide the collective inquiry and action research of each collaborative team in a professional learning community. This plan book explores these issues in greater detail at strategic intervals. You and your teammates will be challenged to “build shared knowledge”—to learn together—about each issue and ultimately generate a product as a result of your collective inquiry and action research.

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

7. ___ We have identified the prerequisite knowledge and skills students need in order to master the essential learnings of our courses and each unit of these courses.

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

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

Use the scale below to indicate the extent to which each of the following statements is true of your team.

REPRODUCIBLE

Team Feedback Sheet Team Name:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Meeting Date: __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Frequent, timely communication between the teams and administration is essential to the success of PLCs. How will your team communicate on a regular basis with your supervisors and administrators? The Team Feedback Sheet is one way to facilitate two-way communication. During every team meeting, a member of the team takes responsibility for completing the form, either electronically or on hard copy. The feedback sheet and any product(s) completed at each meeting are submitted to the department chair or building administrator overseeing the work of the team. The administrators monitor the work of the teams, respond immediately to any questions or concerns listed, provide feedback on the products, and engage in ongoing two-way communication. Administrators can also attend team meetings, either at the invitation of the team or in response to evidence that a team is experiencing difficulty.

______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ Team Members Present:

Team Members Absent (List Reason):

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

_________________________________________

__________________________________________

Topics/Meeting Outcomes:

Questions/Concerns:

Administrator:__________________________________________________________________________________________ Date:______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Team Goal(s):__________________________________________________________________________

REPRODUCIBLE

Student Achievement SMART Goal–Setting Worksheet School:_________________________________ Team Name:_________________________________ Team Leader:______________________________________ Team Members:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ District Goal(s):__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Team SMART Goal

Strategies and Action Steps

Responsibility

Timeline

Evidence of Effectiveness

School Goal(s):__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REPRODUCIBLE

Survey on Team Norms Team:_________________________________________ Date:__________________________________________ Use the following ratings to honestly reflect on your experiences as a member of a collaborative team:

1 We encourage collaborative teams to engage in routine self-reflection regarding their effectiveness, productivity, results, and adherence to team norms. During the first few months of team meetings we advise members to begin and end every meeting with a review of their norms and to monitor and adjust personal behaviors to increase the team’s effectiveness. High-performing teams in PLCs also engage in a more formal assessment at least twice each year as a way to ensure high levels of team learning and continuous improvement. The Survey on Team Norms is one way to evaluate your team’s effectiveness.

Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

1. ___ I know the norms and protocols established by my team. Comments: ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. ___ Members of my team are living up to the established norms and protocols. Comments: ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. ___ Our team maintains focus on the established team goal(s). Comments: ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. ___ Our team is making progress toward the achievement of our goal(s). Comments: ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. ___ The team is having a positive impact on my classroom practice. Comments: ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Strongly Disagree

Team Information Team Contacts Name

E-mail

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Team Meeting Times Day

Time

Location

_______________________________________________

_______________________________

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Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

Phone

• Collaboration or Coblaboration? (page 23) • Bradley Elementary School: Turning Over a New Leaf (page 25) • What Are Norms? (page 27)

FEBRUARY

• What Is Collective Inquiry? (page 21)

• Viers Mill Elementary School: Identifying and Addressing Barriers (page 65) • Using Results to Motivate (page 67) • Marjorie Veeh Elementary School: Responding to Change (page 69)

SEPTEMBER

Year-at-a-Glance Guide • How Will We Respond? (page 71)

• Examples of SMART Goals (page 33) • Team Tools (page 35) • Wynnebrooke Elementary School: Weathering the Storm (page 37)

• Creating Systematic Interventions (page 73) • Tips for Interventions (page 75) • Southmoreland Junior High: A Rural Success Story (page 77) • Action Orientation (page 79)

APRIL

• Adams Middle School: Streamlining Improvement (page 81)

• Establishing Essential Learnings (page 41) • Getting Crystal Clear on “Learn What” (page 43) • Levey Middle School: An Urban Success Story (page 45)

• Common Pacing (page 47)

• What Is a Professional Teacher? (page 83) • Centreville High School: Something Extra (page 85) • Kildeer Countryside Elementary School: Good to Great (page 87)

• Creating Opportunity for Many Winners (page 89)

MAY

• What Is a Common Formative Assessment? (page 49) • Assessment Resources (page 51) • Developing Common Formative Assessments (page 53)

• Celebration: A Key to Sustaining PLCs (page 91) • The Power of Storytelling (page 93) • Eastview High School: High Expectations (page 95)

• What Is Balanced Assessment? (page 55)

• Sanger High School: Collaborating for Excellence (page 57) • Using Common Rubrics (page 59) • Common Assessment Information (page 61)

JUNE

JANUARY

MARCH

OCTOBER

• What Are Essential Learnings? (page 39)

DECEMBER

• What Are SMART Goals? (page 31)

NOVEMBER

• Tips for Establishing Team Norms (page 29)

• A Culture of Celebration (page 97) • Why Teach? (page 99)

• Analyzing Information (page 63)

Solution Tree

FORMS

Class Roster Student Name

Guardian Name

Home Phone

Cell Phone

Work Phone

Email Address

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 16

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

Seating Charts Class _____________________________ Period __________________

Class _____________________________ Period __________________

FORMS

Draw your seating chart in pencil to allow for changes. When you arrange your studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; desks, be sure to leave ample room in high-traffic or emergency exit areas.

Solution Tree

FORMS

Substitute Teacher Information Classroom Procedures

Teacher________________________________________ Room______________

When students finish early______________________________________________

Administrator__________________________________ Room______________

______________________________________________________________________

Student assistants

______________________________________________________________________

When students are disruptive__________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Supplies and Information School map / Floor plan________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ School crisis response plan______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

When students are well-behaved ____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

First-aid kit________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

Instructional Assistants and Student Teachers

Lesson plans and materials______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Art supplies__________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Special Needs Students Name

Support Teacher

Special Need(s)/Service

Time/Location

________________________________

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

Helpful Contacts

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

FEBRUARY

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

MARCH

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

APRIL

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

MAY

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

JUNE

OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

___________________________________________________________

Solution Tree

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

JANUARY

___________________________________________________________

FORMS

SEPTEMBER

Holidays and Birthdays

MONDAY FRIDAY

THURSDAY

WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

Week Beginning:

What Is Collective Inquiry? Collective inquiry: The process of building shared knowledge by clarifying the questions that a group will explore together.

The focus of collective inquiry is both a search for best practice for helping all students learn at high levels and an honest assessment of the current reality regarding teaching practices and student learning. The dialogue generated from these questions is intended to result in the academic focus, collective commitments, and productive professional relationships that enhance learning for teachers and students alike. A lot of our staff have become empowered where we are no longer afraid to stand up and share information with the other teachers and where we are no longer afraid to accept as being true what other teachers have to share with us. . . . At one time we would not even listen to what another teacher had to say: “They don’t know what they’re talking about. We’re going to get a professional to come in.” But now we are all professionals. —Mary Rogers, Principal, Emmett Louis Till Math and Science Academy, Chicago, IL

Solution Tree

Teachers in a PLC work together collaboratively in constant, deep collective inquiry into the critical questions of the teaching and learning process, questions such as: “What is it our students must learn? What is the best way to sequence their learning? What are the most effective strategies to use in teaching this essential content? How will we know when they have learned it? How will we respond when they don’t learn? What will we do when they already know it? What can we learn from each other to enhance our effectiveness?”

MONDAY FRIDAY

THURSDAY

WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY

Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book