Transcript Tenure and Dismissal

Critical Priorities in Building a
Professional Learning
Community
Illuminating the Vision in CUSD
“On Common Ground”
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Roland Barth
Doug Reeves
Rebecca & Richard DuFour
Jonathan Saphier
Robert Eaker
Mike Schmoker
Barbara Eason-Watkins
Dennis Sparks
Michael Fullan
Rick Stiggins
Lawrence Lezotte
“On Common Ground”
“If there is anything that the research
community agrees on, it is this: The right
kind of continuous, structured teacher
collaboration improves the quality of
teaching and pays big, often immediate,
dividends in student learning and
professional morale in virtually any
setting. Our experience with schools
across the nation bears this out
unequivocally.”
• Mike Schmoker
A Simple Concept - Schmoker
• It starts with a group of teachers
who
– meet regularly as a team to identify
essential and valued student learning,
– develop common formative
assessments,
– analyze current levels of achievement,
– set achievement goals,
– share strategies, and then
– create lessons to improve upon those
levels.
A Simple Concept - Schmoker
• Picture these teams of teachers
– implementing these new
lessons,
– continuously assessing their
results, and then
– adjusting their lessons in light of
those results.
A Simple Concept - Schmoker
• Importantly, there must be an
expectation that this
collaborative effort will
produce ongoing
improvement and gains in
achievement.
Addition by Subtraction
The challenge of becoming a
PLC demands more than
adopting new programs and
practices. We must also
demonstrate the discipline to
discontinue much of what we
have done traditionally.
The Need to Stop Doing
Most of us have an everexpanding “to do” list, trying to
build momentum by doing, doing,
doing – and doing more. And it
rarely works. Those who built
“good-to-great” organizations,
however, made as much use of
“stop doing” lists as “to do” lists.
They had the discipline to stop
doing all the extraneous junk.
• Jim Collins
A Powerful Guiding Principle
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
The First (and Biggest)
“BIG IDEA” of a PLC
The guiding principle of a PLC is that
the purpose of the school is to
ensure high levels of learning for all
students.
Making the Complex Simple
• If we could truly establish high
levels of learning for all students as
the guiding principle of the
school….
• And if we were willing to honestly
confront the brutal facts of the
current reality in our school….
• The right decisions about what to
do and what to stop doing often
become evident.
“To Do”
– Clarify what each student
must learn by course,
grade level, and unit of
instruction by engaging all
staff in an ongoing process
to build shared knowledge
of “essential learnings.”
“Stop Doing”
– Stop teaching much
of what we are
teaching.
– Stop pretending that
the work of individual
teachers is directed
by state standards
and/or district
curriculum guides.
Recognize that the
“intended” curriculum
and the
“implemented”
curriculum are likely
to be very different.
Why Engage Teachers in the Discussion of Essential
Learnings?
• The most wonderfully designed
curriculum on the planet will have
no impact unless it is taught!
• Professional study of and
dialogue about essential
learnings increases the likelihood
that essential curriculum will
actually be taught.
“To Do”
“Stop Doing”
• Create systems to
• Stop focusing on
monitor each
educational “inputs”
student’s attainment
(curriculum guides,
of the essential
textbooks, schedules,
learnings on a timely,
etc.) and focus
ongoing basis through
instead on student
frequent, common
outcomes – evidence
formative
of student
assessments.
achievement.
• Stop giving priority to
the intended
curriculum and begin
to make the “attained”
curriculum the priority.
“To Do”
Create systems to
ensure students
receive additional
time and support
when they
experience difficulty
in mastering
essential learnings.
“Stop Doing”
Stop leaving it up to
each teacher to
decide how to
respond when
students don’t learn.
Assess Your Collective Response to Kids Who Are Not
Learning
• Is it TIMELY? How quickly are we able to
identify the kids who need extra time and
support? Is our focus prompt intervention
rather than remediation?
• Is it DIRECTIVE rather than invitational? Are
kids invited to put in extra time or does the
system ensure they put in extra time?
• Is it SYSTEMATIC? Do kids receive this
intervention according to a schoolwide plan
rather than at the discretion of individual
teachers?
The Second “BIG IDEA”
of the PLC
We can achieve our fundamental
purpose of high levels of learning
for all students only if we work
together. We cultivate this
collaborative culture through the
development of high performing
teams.
“To Do”
• Create systems
and procedures to
develop the
collective capacity
of staff to work
together
interdependently
as members of
collaborative
teams.
“Stop Doing”
• Stop allowing
teachers to work in
isolation.
• Stop settling for
“collaboration lite.”
What Is Collaboration?
A systematic process in which
we work together
interdependently to analyze
and impact professional
practice in order to improve
our individual and collective
results.
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?
• How will we respond when they
already know it?
Keys to Effective Teams
• Collaboration embedded in routine
practices.
• Time for collaboration built into 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.
What Evidence Do We Have that Our Team
Collaboration…
• Focuses on the critical questions of
learning?
• Leads to change in classroom
practice?
• Increases the team’s ability to achieve
its goals?
• Helps individual teachers, the team at
large, and the school do a better job of
helping all students learn at high
levels?
The Learning Leader
PLCs will shift the focus of their
school-improvement efforts from
the supervision and evaluation of
individual teachers to an emphasis
on building the capacity of teams of
teachers to take responsibility for
their own learning.
Individual Growth Does Not Ensure
Organizational Growth
Developing the skills and
knowledge of individual teachers
is important, but insufficient.
Effective leaders will focus on
developing the culture and the
capacity of the organization.
A Third “BIG IDEA” of the PLC Concept
We assess our individual and
collective effectiveness in helping
all students learn at high levels on
the basis of results rather than
activity. We eagerly seek out
multiple indicators of student
achievement and use that
information to promote continuous
improvement.
Interpreting Data
• Student Performance on the High-Stakes
State Math Test:
- Mean
178
- Median
177
- Mode
180
• Use the data presented above to answer
the following question: To what extent is
this school helping all students achieve at
high levels in math?
The DRIP Syndrome
Schools typically suffer from the DRIP
syndrome – Data Rich, Information
Poor. Data alone will not inform
professional practice. Data can
become a catalyst for improvement
only when we have a basis of
comparison.
Main Idea/Detail
Student #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Average Score
# Proficient
Homeroom Class #4
70
70
80
80
100
40
70
50
80
70
50
50
100
100
100
74%
7 (47%)
Main Idea/Detail
Student
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Class #1
50
60
70
92
90
100
90
90
83
60
92
83
92
90
100
80
90
100
Class #2
90
90
90
90
90
100
100
83
100
92
100
100
100
90
100
100
92
Class #3
100
100
80
100
100
92
80
83
100
90
90
100
80
80
90
80
Class #4
70
70
80
80
100
40
70
50
80
70
50
50
100
100
100
Average Score
# Proficient
% Proficient
84%
14
78%
95%
17
100%
90%
16
100%
74%
7
47%
To Inform and Impact Professional
Practice, Ensure All Teachers Receive:
Timely and regular information on the
achievement of their students
– In meeting an agreed-upon
standard.
– On a valid assessment.
– In comparison to others.
Sharing Data: Beginning of
Community
Collecting data is only the first step
toward wisdom, but sharing data is the
first step toward community.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Teachers of the same course or grade
Insist
on Common
Assessments
level
should
have absolute
common
agreement on what they expect all their
students to know and be able to do.
Therefore, they should administer
common, collaboratively-scored
assessments at least once each quarter.
The classroom activities leading up to
those assessments might differ. The
need to administer the same assessment
should not differ.
Doug Reeves
Assessment for Learning as the Catalyst for
School Improvement
Assessment for learning, when done well,
is one of the most powerful, high-leverage
strategies for improving student learning
that we know of. Educators collectively
become more skilled and focused at
assessing, disaggregating, and using
student achievement as a tool for ongoing
improvement.
Michael Fullan
Creating the Foundation for Results
The combination of three concepts
constitutes the foundation for results:
meaningful teamwork; clear, measurable
goals; and the regular collection and
analysis of performance data…good faith
efforts to establish goals and then to
collectively and regularly monitor and
adjust actions toward them produce
results, and results goad, guide, and
motivate groups and individuals.
Mike Schmoker
“To Do”
• Sustain the PLC
initiative by
appealing directly
to the heart - to
the fundamental
human longings.
“Stop Doing”
• Stop using fear
and test scores as
the primary
motivators for
school
improvement.
If Your Goal Is Improved Test Scores…
• Increase the drop-out rate.
• Assign more students to special education.
• Eliminate electives to devote more time to
tested areas.
• Redraw attendance boundaries to send highperforming students to at-risk schools.
• Warehouse low-performing students in one
school.
• Identify kids “on the bubble.” Focus on them
and ignore the students too far behind and
those who already meet standards.
• Doug Reeves
What is our vision of a PLC?
• The Instructional Leader:
– Expects that all teachers will be a part of a team
– Keeps the focus on student learning in all
activities—professional development,
evaluations/observations, walkthroughs
– Monitors teams for their progress toward the
goals and action plans they designed to improve
achievement
– Facilitates embedded professional development
to address the goal areas in a sustained fashion
over time, and supports the implementation of
new learning
What is our vision of a PLC?
• Teachers are held accountable to work within
teams that center their focus on:
– Clarifying the content and sequence of the
curriculum
– Monitoring learning of all students in the areas
deemed priority for the course/grade level using
common assessments
• Designed or selected by teams
• Defined by collective agreement of “proficiency”
– Using Information/Data gained from a variety of
sources to adjust instruction and improvement
strategies
An unexamined life
is not worth
living…
- Socrates
Unexamined efforts
are not worth
doing…
Where did
your school
begin?
Where is
your school
now?
What are
your next
steps?
Fundamental Human Longings
• To be successful
(achievement)
• To belong (connection)
• To make a difference
(significance)