Transcript On Common Ground The Power of Professional Learning

On Common Ground
The Power of Professional Learning
Communities
Robert Eaker and Janel Keating
An Age of Uncertainty
To borrow from Charles Dickens, these are
perhaps the “best of times and the worst of
times” for American public education. For
sure, it is an age of uncertainty! Educators are
being called upon to educate, at high levels,
all students. Although few would argue that
this is certainly a worthwhile goal, success has
proven to be problematic.
On the other hand, we know more than we’ve
ever known about how to successfully
improve schools.
This fact, in-and-of itself, has created a
challenge for educators. With such a plethora
of reform initiatives, researchers, and writers,
educators are faced with a myriad of
approaches, terms and concepts—so many, in
fact, that many educators simply do not know
where to turn or what to believe.
Good News!
However, there is some good news! There are
some things about which there is a growing
certainty. One of these, the concept of
schools functioning as professional learning
communities, presents a relatively simple way
of thinking about how to embed “best
practices” into a single school improvement
framework.
On Common Ground
Consider these observations of Mike
Schmoker concerning the professional
learning community concept as a way to
improve schools.
“So, what if there was, right now, a fairly
straightforward, well-established way to
appreciably improve both teaching quality and
levels of learning? What if evidence from
numerous schools and the research community
points to proven structures and practices that
(1) stand to make an immediate difference in
achievement and
(2) require reasonable amounts of time and
resources?
The fact is that such structures and practice do
exist and there is no reason to delay their
implementation.”
“We’ll know we have succeeded when the
absence of a ‘strong professional learning
community’ in a school is an
embarrassment.”
--Mike Schmoker
In fact, perhaps never before in the history of
American public education has there been
such wide-spread agreement among
researchers, writers and practitioners alike
regarding the most promising path to
improving America’s schools. Consider the
following:
Researchers and Writers
Virtually every prominent educational researcher
and writer has endorsed the concept of schools
functioning as professional learning communities.
Here are but a few:
Linda-Darling-Hammond, Doug Reeves, Bob
Marzano, DuFour, DuFour & Eaker, Rick Stiggins,
Jonathon Saphier Dennis Sparks, Michael Fullen,
Roland Barth, Mike Schmoker, Larry Lezotte, Andy
Hargreaves, Dylan Wiliam, Shirley Hord, Phil
Schlecty, Carl Glickman, Richard Elmore, and
many, many more!
Practitioners
In addition to schools and school districts in
every state successfully embedding
professional learning community concepts and
practices, virtually every major educational
organization--including the National Education
Association and the American Federation of
Teachers—has endorsed the professional
learning community concept!
Professional Learning Communities:
A Way of Thinking
One of the reasons the professional learning
community concept resonates with
practitioners is the fact that it provides not
only a rather simple framework for connecting
“best practices”, it also provides educators
with a common-sense vocabulary and “a way
of thinking” about improving student learning.
The Three “Big Ideas” of a
Professional Learning Community
The professional learning community concept
consolidates the work of the most prominent
researchers and writers around three “big
organizing ideas”:
• A fundamental shift from a focus on teaching—
making sure content was taught—to a focus on
learning.
• A collaborative culture that utilizes the power of
collaborative teams. And,
• An intense and passionate focus on results.
The First “Big Idea”:
A Focus on Learning
“The focus of traditional schools is teaching;
the focus of a professional learning
community is learning. The difference is much
more than semantics. It represents a
fundamental shift in the teacher-student
relationship. The new relationship would not
allow for the familiar teacher lament, ‘I taught
it—they just didn’t learn it!’ ”
On Common Ground:
A Focus on Learning
Schools that function as professional learning
communities operate on the assumption that
the fundamental purpose of schools—their
core purpose– is to ensure high levels of
learning for all students. This idea of
clarifying and focusing the entire organization
on its core mission has profound implications
for schools and is supported by prominent
researchers and writers.
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The first question any organization must
consider if it hopes to improve results is the
question of purpose.
Why does our organization exist in the first
place?
What are we here to do together?
What exactly do we hope to accomplish?
What is the business of our business?
Drucker, DuFour, DuFour & Eaker, Bardwick,
Champy, Senge, et al.
“Great organizations simplify a complex world
into a single organizing idea or guiding
principle. This guiding principle makes the
complex simple, helps focus the attention and
energy of the organization on the essentials,
and becomes the frame of reference for all
decisions.”
--Jim Collins
“There is no point in thinking about changes
in structure until the school achieves
reasonable consensus about its intellectual
mission for children.”
--Newmann & Wehlage
A synthesis of effective school leadership
concluded that a key leadership responsibility
was creating a “powerful community” that
was clear on its purpose and goals.
--Marzano, et al.
What Would We Want
For Our Own Child?
Janel Keating, the Deputy Superintendent of
the White River School District in Buckley,
Washington, proposes that we examine the
core purpose of schools through two, very
profound, lenses…..
What kind of schools, classrooms and lessons
do we want for our own child?
And
What would a focus on learning look like in
schools, if we really meant it?
What Would People
Actually See Happening?
Janel asks this simple question of the faculty
and staff in White River; if we really mean it
when we say our mission is to ensure high
levels of learning for all students, what would
people see us doing in our district meetings,
schools, and classrooms? What would be the
sharp focus of our work?
A Quick Check
• What would people see as the focus of our
planning?
• What would they see us monitoring?
• What behaviors would they observe being
“confronted” ?
• What behaviors would they see being
modeled?
• What would they see us celebrate?
If We Really Mean It….
If we really mean it, and that’s a huge “if”,
when we say our core purpose is to ensure
high levels of learning for all students,
wouldn’t the first obvious question we would
have to address be, “Learn what?”
If We Really Meant It….
Rather than….
Leaving it up to individual teachers to
determine what state and district standards
mean and the relative importance of each…
Wouldn’t we….
Engage collaborative teams of teachers in a
process that is designed to clarify and
determine the meaning of the standards for
each subject, grade, and course and wouldn’t
we also have teams of teachers determine the
relative importance of each standard and then
collaboratively develop pacing guides?
And, wouldn’t teams collaboratively address
the question, “What would this standard, if
met, look like in student work?”
And, wouldn’t we reduce the amount of
content, focusing on more significant content
and more depth and taught in more
meaningful ways?
On Common Ground:
A Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
The idea that schools should ensure students
have access to a guaranteed and viable
curriculum is supported by such researchers
and writers as:
Marzano, Reeves, Hattie, Lezotte, Saphier, Brophy,
Childress, Doyle & Thomas
And, to paraphrase Janel Keating, “wouldn’t
we want a ‘guaranteed and viable’ curriculum
for our own child” or would we prefer the
“luck of the draw”—that being , what your
child is taught will be up to the school they go
to or the teacher to whom they are assigned!
A Practical Matter!
And, as a practical matter, it’s simply
important that we all learn certain, essential
things!
Consider this example:
How Will We Know
What Students Are Learning?
In addition to clarifying and adding meaning
to state and district standards, professional
learning communities then ask the next logical
question, “How will be know if students are
learning?”
So, in professional learning communities,
collaborative teams monitor the learning of
each student, skill-by-skill, on a frequent and
timely basis through the use of collaboratively
developed, common formative assessments.
On Common Ground:
Common Formative Assessments
Utilizing collaboratively developed, common
formative assessments to monitor and improve
student learning is one of the most widely
supported strategies for improving student
achievement.
These are but a few researchers and writers
who have recognized the power of formative
assessments.
Reeves, Schmoker, Ainsworth, Odden &
Archibald, Christman, Chenoweth, Hatti, Black
& Wiliam, Fullen, Stiggins, Marzano, Popham.
So, If We Really Meant It
Rather than…
Relying almost solely on summative
assessments that are administered by the
state department,
Wouldn’t we….
Have teams of teachers collaboratively
develop common formative assessments that
are designed to monitor the learning of
individual students on a timely basis—kid-bykid, skill-by-skill?
What Would We Want
For Our Own Child?
When we send our kids to school, don’t we
want their teachers to check and see how well
they are learning along the way, rather than
waiting until report cards are sent home to
discover they didn’t quite “get it”?
How Will We Respond When Some
Students Don’t Learn?
This is a critical question for schools that
“really mean it” when they declare a mission
of ensuring high levels of learning for all
students.
“It is disingenuous for any school to claim its
purpose is to help all students learn at high
levels and then fail to create a system of
intervention to give struggling learners
additional time and support for learning.”
--Dufour, DuFour, Eaker & Many
Learning by Doing
On Common Ground
The importance of schools developing a
systematic plan to provide students with
additional time and support when they
struggle with their learning is supported by
researchers and writers such as:
Barber & Mourshed, Odden, Reeves, Council of Chief
School Officers, Lezotte, Marzano
What Would We Want
For Our Own Child?
When our own child struggles with their
learning, don’t we want them to receive
additional time and support within the school
day, regardless of the teacher to whom they
are assigned? And, wouldn’t we want the
assistance to be systematic, timely, flexible,
and direct—rather than “invitational”?
Why Label Kids?
We don’t so much need to figure out the
correct “label” for kids. Kids who aren’t
learning or those who have learned a lot don’t
need a label. They need additional time,
support or enrichment.
So, If We Really Meant It….
Rather than….
Leaving it up to individual teachers to decide if
and how students will be given additional
time and support if they experience difficulty
in their learning,
Wouldn’t we….
Develop a school-wide systematic plan to
provide students with additional time and
support or enrichment within the school day,
regardless of the teacher to whom they are
assigned?
Interventions Matter!
The fact is, the quantity and quality of
interventions students receive in school makes
a huge difference in their learning levels, and
thus in their lives! Believe this; interventions
do matter!
Consider this example:
The First “Big Idea”: Summing Up
In summary, the first “big idea” of a
professional learning community—and school
districts and schools that “really mean it”
when they declare a “learning mission”, is an
intense, passionate and persistent focus on
the learning of each student. Therefore, there
is deep, meaningful, collaborative work
centered on these questions:
• What do we expect all students to learn?
• How will we know if they have learned it?
• What happens when they don’t learn?
• What happens when they do?
The Second “Bid Idea”:
The Power of Collaborative Teams
In a district or school that functions as a
professional learning community, there is the
recognition that we simply cannot be successful
in ensuring all our students are learning if
teachers work in isolation, by themselves.
Schooling has become too difficult and
complex, and the challenges teachers face are
too difficult to overcome alone.
On Common Ground:
Collaborative Teaming
A host of researchers and writers promote the
power of collaborative teaming. In fact, the use
of collaborative teams has become so prevalent
during the past three decades that it is hardly
discussed anymore—it’s just assumed! Here’s a
sample of researchers and writers:
Senge, Pinchot, Pfeffer & Sutton, Ulich, Katzenbach &
Smith, Tichy, Blanchard, Patterson, and Wheatley.
What Should Be the Focus of The
Work of Collaborative Teams?
“Collaborative cultures, which by definition
have close relationships, are indeed powerful,
unless they are focusing on the right things
they may end up being powerfully wrong.”
--Michael Fullen
The “Right” Work
• Collaboratively developing and utilizing team
norms.
• Clarifying and aligning “essential” learning.
• Developing common pacing guides.
• Determining what a standard, if met, would
look like in student work.
• Developing common scoring rubrics.
• Collaboratively developing an utilizing
common formative assessments.
• Collaboratively analyzing student work and
student learning data.
• Collaboratively developing specific
intervention and enrichment strategies for
individual students.
• Monitoring the results of
intervention/enrichment strategies.
• Reflecting on the effectiveness of instructional
strategies while sharing and learning together.
• Collaboratively reflecting on the effectiveness
of the team.
What Would We Want
For Our Own Child?
Wouldn’t we want our own child to go to a
school where an entire team--indeed, an
entire school--would take responsibility for
their learning?
The Second “Big Idea”: Summing Up
“In a professional learning community,
collaboration represents a systematic process in
which teachers work together interdependently
in order to impact their classroom practice in
ways that will lead to better results for their
students, for their team, and for their school.”
--DuFour, DuFour, Eaker & Many
Learning by Doing
The Third “Big Idea”:
A Focus on Results
If schools embrace “learning” as their
fundamental, core purpose, then they are not
satisfied my merely making sure lessons were
taught well. Instead, they have an intense
passion and sharp focus on the question, “Are
the students learning, and how do you know?”
Then they drill deeper asking, “Is each student
learning, and how do you know?”
On Common Ground: Developing
A Results--Orientated Culture
Numerous researchers and writers have
emphasized the importance of developing a
results-oriented culture. Among them are:
Little, The Annenberg Institute for School Reform,
Elmore & City, Hattie, Gallimore, Chenoweth, Odden
& Archibald, Barber & Mourshed, Fullen, Schaffer &
Thompson, Collins, Drucker, Schmoker, Reeves,
Schlechty, Marzano, Lezotte.
What Happens in a
Results-Oriented Culture?
• In a professional learning community,
collaborative teams of teachers (and everyone
else) are utilizing data to inform them of
student learning levels.
• The district, school and teams set SMART goals
as a result of their analysis of learning data.
• And, they publicly and frequently celebrate
improvement of both individuals and groups.
They Develop a “Stop Doing” List
And, equally important, teams in a professional
learning community engage in deep, rich
discussions focusing on practices that may
actually may be hindering student success.
Examples
• Averaging grades and avoiding the “range” issue
• The thoughtless use of zeros
• Too much weight given to the grade for students’
first attempts
• Not requiring students to do make-up work
• The inappropriate use of worksheets
• The inappropriate use of homework
• Giving too much weight to assignments that require
parent participation
• Others….
What Would We Want
For Our Own Child?
Wouldn’t we like our own child to attend a
school where a team of teachers monitors the
learning data of each child along the way and
provides additional time and support when
they struggle, enriches their learning when they
are proficient, and celebrates their
improvement publically and frequently along
the way?
Touching The Emotions!
Ultimately, to be successful, we must touch
the emotions of both students and adults.
Let’s face it, as Pat Summit, the University of
Tennessee women’s basketball coach, is fond
of saying, “Students will not care what we
know--until they truly know we care!
Relationship Matter—A Lot!
Let’s face it, relationships matter an awful lot.
Watch this and consider how strong a
relationship can become after only one year!
Passion and Persistence
Successful school re-culturing requires both
structural changes and cultural changes. But,
it also requires a huge dose of passion and
persistence. Leaders must approach the task
of ensuring student learning with the zeal of a
missionary and the tenacity of a terrier!
Successful school leaders live by the motto:
“Relentless Pressure, Gracefully Applied!”
You Can Determine
the Weather Each Day!
Be a thermostat….not a thermometer!!
Remember, you have the power to set the
temperature, not simply react to it! You can
make it a sunny day for your students or a
cloudy day, a calm day or a stormy day! Think
about it!
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I
am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s
my daily mood that makes the weather. As a
teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make
a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool
of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can
humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all
situations, it is my response that decides
whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated
and a child humanized or de-humanized.”
-- Hiam Ginott
We Just Don’t Know!
Remember, the students you see in front of
you are not what they will become! We just
don’t know. The best we can do is care for
and encourage them and make sure they are
safe, feel special, and learn. The students we
have the most doubts about today may
ultimately truly surprise us!