Transcript Document

Whole-Faculty
Study Groups
As developed by Carlene Murphy*
*Murphy, C. and Lick, D. (2001) Whole-Faculty Study
Groups: Creating Student Based Professional
Development. Corwin Press.
A Thought
• This process is NOT perfect,
but research tells us that it
provides the best hope for
real results in school
improvement!
What is WFSG?
(Whole Faculty Study Group)
• Organizing teachers into small groups or
study groups is not a new idea
• Organizing the ENTIRE school faculty into
study groups to bring about school wide
improvement is a new idea in our district
• Whole means ALL - all classroom, teachers,
all resource teachers, all special teachers,
librarian, counselor , and anyone else holding
professional certification
Why Whole Faculty Study Groups ?
•
WFSGs allow teachers more personal flexibility in site PD schedule
•
WFSGs allow teachers to use the study group action plan as their own
individual staff development plan
•
WFSGs can address most, if not all, or our SIP goals and objectives
•
WFSGs can allow for fewer staff meetings (if you donate some
traditional staff meeting time for study groups)
•
WFSGs reduce teacher isolation
•
WFSGs allow teachers to substitute required “workshop times”
•
WFSGs encourage teachers to experiment. In groups, teachers try
new materials, new techniques, new strategies, new technologies.
Teachers reflect on what works and does not work.
WFSG
A Model for Teacher Collaboration
• Why do we need teacher collaboration?
• 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
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
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
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” (the
group) if its internal
workings don’t allow
people to share their
talents.
• Sternberg
Assumptions
• If schools are to improve,
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
• WFSGs help teachers learn
to work in effective, high
performing teams
Where Do We Begin ?
To be successful, groups need:
TIME
Recommendation: A minimum of 1 hour every other week
An EXPLICIT PURPOSE
SIP objectives and each group’s action plan
An understanding of “HOW TO COLLABORATE”
Group norms, guidelines for meeting and use of protocols
To ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY for working collaboratively
Agreement to begin and develop action plans
What Will Guide the Work ?
• Questions:
– What do students need for US to do ?
– What are students learning and
achieving as a result of what teachers
are learning and doing in study
groups ?
Whole Faculty Study Group
Principles
• Students are first
• Leadership is shared
• Everyone participates
• Responsibility is equal
• The work is public
‘Murphy’s Whole-Faculty Study Groups’
Roles and Responsibilities in WFSGs
• Principal
• Focus Team
• Study Group Leader
• Individual Study Group
Member
• Instructional Council
Roles and Responsibilities in
WFSGs con’t
• Principal
– is the most important factor in the
successful initiation, implementation, and
continuation of WFSGs
– is an active participant in the training and
planning sessions
– receives action plans and responds to them
– receives the study group logs and
responds to them (see pg. 80-81for
comments to study groups)
– may assign some responsibilities to
assistant principals for responding to logs
– is a participant at all IC meetings
Roles and Responsibilities in
WFSGs con’t
• Focus Team
– composed of the principal and a representative
group of teachers
– attends local or regional training or reads
materials on how to design and lead the whole
faculty through a WFSG orientation
– leads the whole faculty though the WFSG
orientation
– leads the whole faculty through the decisionmaking cycle, resulting in the establishment of
study groups and what they will do
– decides which 3 members will be “standing”
members of and rotating facilitators for the IC for
one school year
Roles and Responsibilities in
WFSGs con’t
• The Study Group Leader
– rotates every meeting so that leadership is a shared
responsibility among all study group members
– confirms logistics of meetings with study group
members (e.g., date, time, location, and resources
needed)
– checks log from last meeting to confirm what the
focus of the meeting will be and if it is time to revisit
the action plan and the group norms and takes
appropriate action
– starts & ends meeting on time
– reminds members that stray from the focus of the
meeting to refocus
– sees that the study group log is completed and that
the members and the principal receive a copy
Roles and Responsibilities in
WFSGs con’t
• Individual Study Group Members
– respect norms established by the study group
– take turns serving as leader, recognizing that
leadership is a shared responsibility
– take turns representing the study group at an IC
meeting and bring back to the study group what he or
she learned
– participate in the development of the study group
action plan and commits to its actions
– take responsibility for his or her own learning and for
seeking resources for the study group
– take responsibility for regularly bringing student work
to the study group meeting
– bring back to the study group what he or she has done
in the classroom as a result of the study group work
Roles and Responsibilities in
WFSGs con’t
• Instructional Council
– represent each study group (one representative
per study group)
– rotate membership, except for the principal and
3 members of the focus team
– meet once every 4-6 weeks (dates are on school
calendar), with the first meeting held immediately
after the study groups have met twice
– review action plans
– share what each study group is doing, including
successes and challenges
– plan celebrations and whole-faculty sharing
times
– is facilitated by one of the 3 members of the IC
from the focus team
Process Overview. . .
Highly structured meetings—explicit expectations!
Common elements include:
•Focus on mission and student results
•Action Plans drive the interaction
•Logs required and posted for each
meeting
1.
Collect and analyze data.
7.
Whole faculty evaluates
impact of study groups on
student learning
6.
Each group implements
a cycle of
 Adjusting plan
 Taking action
 Collecting data
 Reflecting
Today’s
Focus
Student
Needs
5.
Each group designs an action
plan that specifies the
content (what and how) of
the study.
Note: The whole
faculty participates in
Steps 1 through 4 and 7.
2.
State student needs
3.
Categorize and
prioritize student
needs.
4.
Organize groups around
 same category or
 different categories of
students needs.
Decision Making Cycle Step #5
Each group or team develops an action plan
based on the selected category
The study group or team action plan drives
the meetings and helps maintain the focus
on the mission and student results!
WFSG 15 Guidelines
1.
2.
Keep the size of the study group between three
and six
2.
Determine study group membership by who wants to
address an identified student need (SIP goal/objective)
3.
Establish and keep a regular schedule, meeting every two
weeks.
Establish group norms and routinely revisit the norms.
Establish a pattern of study group leadership, rotating
among members.
Develop a Study Group Action Plan by the end of the
second study group meeting.
Complete a Study Group Log after each study group
meeting.
4.
5.
6.
7.
WFSG 15 Guidelines, con’t.
8. Have a curriculum and instructional focus that
requires members to routinely examine student
work and to observe students in classrooms
engaged in instructional tasks.
9. Make a comprehensive list of learning resources,
both material and human.
10. Use multiple professional development strategies,
such strategies as training, to accomplish the
study group’s intended results.
WFSG 15 Guidelines con’t.
11. Reflect on the study group’s work by keeping a
private journal.
12. Recognize all study group members as equals.
13. Expect and plan for transitions.
14. Assess the progress of the study group according to the
Student Performance Goals specified on the
Study Group Action Plan.
15. Establish a variety of communication networks
and strategies.
‘Murphy’s Whole-Faculty Study Groups’
The Study Group Plan & Log
Where in the Action Plan and log do you see
evidence of the following principles?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Students are first
Leadership is shared
Everyone participates
Responsibility is equal
The work is public
WFSG Learning Resources
EXAMPLES:
Student Work
Software
Teacher’s Manuals
Public TV
Student Textbooks
Workshops
“Expert Voices”
Commercial
Books
Peers
Journal Articles
SMSU/Drury
Internet
DESE
Developmental Stages of
Study Groups
 Forming (eager, high expectations,
anxiety, fear)
 Storming (dissatisfaction,
frustration, feel stuck)
 Norming (harmony, trust, support,
respect)
 Performing (empowered,
committed, motivated)
Keep asking:
What do MY students need for ME
to do?
What are MY students learning
and achieving as a result of what
I am learning and doing?
‘Murphy’s Whole-Faculty Study Groups’
Everyone’s Big Question
Q: Will WFSG’s increase
student achievement?
A: It depends on what
teachers do.
“It is what teachers do in the study
groups and in their classrooms that will
increase student achievement”
What Teachers Do…
Demonstrate lessons
Practice new teaching skills
Design rubrics, lessons, tools, etc.
Examine student work
“Without intellectually rigorous
work, the process is boring and
can be a waste of time.”
GOOD LUCK !!
Whole-Faculty Study
Groups
As developed by Carlene Murphy*
*Murphy, C. and Lick, D. (2001) Whole-Faculty Study
Groups: Creating Student Based Professional
Development. Corwin Press.