Transcript Professional Learning Communities at Work

The First Step in Building a
Professional Learning
Community
Austin G. Buffum, Ed.D.
Senior Deputy Superintendent
Capistrano Unified School District
FUNDAMENTAL
ASSUMPTIONS
• We can make a difference; our schools can
be more effective.
• People improvement is the key to school
improvement.
• Significant school improvement will impact
teaching and learning.
The Power of Professional Learning
Communities
• The most promising strategy for sustained,
substantive school improvement is building
the capacity of school personnel to function
as a professional learning community. The
path to change in the classroom lies within
and through professional learning
communities.
» - Milbry McLaughlin, Stanford University
Characteristics of Learning
Community
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Shared mission, vision, values, goals
Collaborative teams
Collective inquiry
Action orientation/experimentation
Commitment to continuous
improvement
• Results orientation
Barriers to Learning Community
• Inability to establish clear and focused
educational purpose and goals.
First step in Improving Results
• The first question in increasing
productivity has to be, “What is our
purpose?” “What is the task we are to
accomplish?”
–Peter Drucker
Critical Corollary Questions
• If we believe all kids can learn
–What is it we expect them to
learn?
–How will we know when they
have learned it?
–How will we respond when they
don’t learn?
Barriers to Learning Community
• Teachers work in isolation.
Teacher Isolation
• The crush…of our myriad daily events and
duties kept us from collaborating on such
obvious and challenging concerns as how
to teach composition more effectively, and
how to make literature more exciting…and
so we worked consciously and
unconsciously toward our own goals,
within the limitations of what each of us
knew or did not know.
» Mike Schmoker, Results
Need for a Collaborative Culture
• Throughout our ten-year study, whenever
we found an effective school or an effective
department within a school, without
exception that school or department has
been a part of a collaborative professional
learning community.
• Milbrey McLaughlin, Stanford University
Need for a Collaborative Culture
• Improving schools require collaborative
cultures….Without collaborative skills and
relationships, it is not possible to learn and
to continue to learn as much as you need to
know to improve.
– Michael Fullan
Need for a Collaborative Culture
• Creating a collaborative culture is the single
most important factor for successful school
improvement initiatives and the first order
of business for those seeking to enhance the
effectiveness of their schools.
• Eastwood and Lewis
Need for a Collaborative Culture
• If schools want to enhance their capacity to
boost student learning, they should work on
building a collaborative culture….When
groups, rather than individuals, are seen as
the main units for implementing curriculum,
instruction, and assessment, they facilitate
development of shared purposes for student
learning and collective responsibility to
achieve it.
» Fred Newmann
Group IQ
• There is such a thing as group IQ. While a
group can be no smarter than the sum total
of the knowledge and skills of its members,
it can be much “dumber” if its internal
workings don’t allow people to share their
talents.
• Sternberg
Assumptions
• IF schools are to improve, staff must
develop the capacity to function as PLCs.
• IF schools are to function as PLCs,
they must develop a collaborative culture.
• IF schools are to develop a collaborative
culture, they must overcome a tradition of
teacher isolation.
• IF schools are to overcome their tradition of
teacher isolation, teachers must learn to
work in effective, high performing teams.
Definition of Team
• A group of people working
INTERDEPENDENTLY to achieve a
common goal
Keys to Effective Teams
• Collaboration embedded in routine practices
WITH A FOCUS ON LEARNING
• Time for collaboration built in the school
day and school calendar
Parameters for Collaborative
Time
• Try not to keep the kids at home
• Try not to increase costs
• Try not to significantly impact instructional
time
Keys to Effective Teams
• Collaboration embedded in routine practices
• Time for collaboration built in to the school
day and school calendar
• Teams focus on key questions
• Products of collaboration are made explicit
• Team norms guide collaboration
• Teams pursue specific and measurable
performance goals
Identify a SMART goal
for your school
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Specific and Strategic
Measurable
Attainable
Results-oriented
Time bound
Are these SMART Goals?
• By the end of the 2004-2005 school year we will:
• Implement three new reading strategies
aligned with the skills and concepts outlined
in the state standards.
• Increase the use of cooperative learning
activities in our classrooms by 25%.
• At least 90% of second grade students will
score 80% or higher on the district reading
assessment.
Keys to Effective Teams
• Collaboration embedded in routine practices
• Time for collaboration built in the school
day and school calendar
• Teams focus on key questions
• Products of collaboration are made explicit
• Team norms guide collaboration
• Teams pursue specific and measurable
performance goals
• Teams have access to relevant information
DATA RICH, BUT
INFORMATION POOR
• Schools are often data rich, but information
poor. Data is not information. Translating
fact to understanding means relating data to
something you know and can visualize.
This typically requires comparison.
Feedback is Relevant
to Teachers When
• The results focus on the performance of
their students,
• In meeting an agreed-upon standard,
• On a valid assessment,
• In comparison to others.
Team Learning Process
• Clarify Common Outcomes by Course
or Grade Level
• Develop Common Assessments
• Establish Specific, Measurable Goals
• Analyze Results
• Identify Improvement Strategies
“With sex education, self-esteem, multiculturalism,
computer studies, and inclusion, I’m not going to have
time for reading, writing, and arithmetic. That’s where
you, as parents, come in ….”