Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

1. Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Presented by Teresa Schutt Michelle Saylor March 25, 2010

2. Outcomes for Today • Reflect on your own beliefs and philosophies about education and learning as a leader. • Develop an understanding of a professional learning community. • Make a commitment to continue your journey of leading a professional learning community and learning with them.

3. Where I Stand: Rules of the Road • All answers are acceptable in the Where I Stand exercise. • The first thing that comes to your mind is probably the most accurate indication of how you feel. • You are free at any timeduring the exercise to change where you stand, your vision, and your opinion. • Assume that where you stand is independent of your school. It is feasible and doable; you have no limitations. • Trust the process.

4. Cultural Shift Self Pre-Assessment Activity: Traditional Schools versus Professional Learning Communities

5. What is a Professional Learning Community? • Professional members of a profession • Learning cognitive process of acquiring knowledge or a skill • Community members of common interest; common ownership

6. What is a Professional Learning Community? “…A Professional Learning Community is a complex organization where all participants are actively engaged in learning through various venues and experiences. (Fullan, 1993; Pouravoud, 1997; Riel & Fulton, 2001; DuFour, Eaker, and Many, 2006)

7. What is a Professional Learning Community? “…A Professional Learning Community is a collaboration of teachers, administrators, parents, and students, who work together to seek out best practices, test them in the classroom, continuously improve processes, and focus on results.” • Rick DuFour, 2002

8. Fundamental Assumptions • We can make a difference: Our schools can be more effective. • Improving our people is the key to improving our school. • Significant school improvement will impact teaching and learning. PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators. -DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, (2006)

9. Key Findings from the Research • Professional development should be intensive, ongoing, and connected to practice. • Professional development should build strong working relationships among educators. • Sustained and intensive professional development for educators is related to student achievement gains. • Collaborative approaches to professional learning can promote school change that extends beyond individual classrooms. • Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the U.S. and Abroad (NSDC)

10. PLC Supporting Research Studies were Conducted by the Following Organizations • The Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools • WestEd • National Staff Development Council • National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future

11. Purpose and Function of a PLC • Dedicate & Share Resources • Acquire, Analyze, and Utilize Data • Take Risks • Continuous Support • Meaningful Communication and Reflection • Cultivate Leadership “One should never impose one’s views on a problem; one should rather study it, and in time a solution will reveal itself.” – Albert Einstein

12. The ONE Thing …in a Professional Learning Community, “learning” rather than “teaching” is the fundamental purpose of your school/organization.

13. Three Big Ideas of PLCs • Focus on Learning • We accept learning as the fundamental purpose of our organization and therefore are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning. • Collaboration • We are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high-performing teams. • Focus on Results • We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, and schools seek relevant data and information and use that information to provide continuous improvement.

14. Essential Questions of PLCs • What are the essential outcomes that we expect students to learn? • What assessment will we use to determine if the students have learned? • How will we intervene when students do not learn or learn more than anticipated?

15. Six Characteristics of a Professional Learning Community • Shared Mission, Vision, Values, Goals • Collaborative Culture • Collective Inquiry • Action Orientation / Experimentation • Commitment to Continuous Improvement • Results Orientation Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

16. Shared Mission, Vision, Values, Goals • What distinguishes a learning community from an ordinary school/organization is its collective commitment to guiding principles that articulate what the staff of the school believes and that govern their actions and behaviors. • Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

17. Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals… …is the district/school/organization’s core ideology. “The core ideology clarifies what doesn’t change for an organization in an environment of rapid and unpredictable change.” Built to Last (1997)

18. WSDMission Statement • Educational Excellence today for tomorrow by: • Accentuating Rigor • Building Relationships • Creating Relevance • The ABCs of the 3 R’s

19. WSD Vision • We strive to: • Create a fiscally attentive, collaborative, enriching, and respectful learning environment where students are challenged in a rigorous standards-based curriculum utilizing technology and data-driven instruction. • Collaboration in order to share expertise and improve upon our educational portfolio • Data-driven in order to understand our strengths and adjust our weaknesses • Standards-based in order to guarantee that our curriculum is aligned to national, state, and local standards of achievement • Rigorous in our approach to teaching and learning in order to insure success for all learners.

20. WSD Vision Planks • Improve upon and expand Wilson’s portfolio to advance student success • Increase organizational agility and capacity for all students and employees • Grow Wilson regionally and nationally as a result of staff and student success • Artfully develop and use infrastructure for all stakeholders • Create a flatter organizational structure for stakeholder collaboration and relationship building • Control for fiscal accountability throughout the District

21. Collaborative Culture • Professionals in a learning community work in teams that share a common purpose. They learn from each other and create the momentum that drives improvement. They build with the organization the structure and vehicles that make collaborative work and learning effective and productive. • Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

22. Collaborative Culture Collaborative teams are the engine of a Professional Learning Community. Professionals in a learning community work on interdependent teams that share a common purpose. They learn from each other and create the momentum that drives improvement.

23. 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. • DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker (2002)

24. Collaboration Activity: Temperament Survey

25. Collective Inquiry • People in a learning community relentlessly question the status quo, seek new methods of teaching and learning, test the methods, and then reflect on the results. • They reflect publicly on their beliefs and challenge each other’s beliefs. • They share insights and hammer out common meanings. • They work jointly to plan and test actions and initiatives. • They coordinate their actions, so that the work of each individual contributes to the common effort. • Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

26. Action Orientation / Experimentation • Members of professional learning communities constantly turn their learning and insights into action. They recognize the importance of engagement and experience in learning and in testing new ideas. • Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

27. Commitment to Continuous Improvement • Members of a learning organization are not content with the status quo and continually seek ways to bring present reality closer to future ideal. They constantly ask themselves and each other: • What is our purpose? • What do we hope to achieve? • What are our strategies for improving? • How will we assess our efforts? • Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

28. Commitment to Continuous Improvement • Members of a learning organization are not content with the status quo and continually seek ways to bring present reality closer to future ideal. They constantly ask themselves and each other: • What is our purpose? (Take a few minutes to discuss in your groups and begin to collect ideas to this first question.)

29. Results Orientation • Professionals in a learning organization recognize that no matter how well- intentioned the efforts, the only valid judgment of improvement is observable and measurable results. Assessment and re-evaluation are the key to continued improvement. • Adapted from Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker (1998), Professional Learning Communities at Work

30. 4 Corner Article Activity • Divide into groups by going to the number on the wall that aligns to your assigned number • Choose a leader, a recorder, and a facilitator • Read the assigned article independently • Discuss in group the key concepts from article • List on chart paper • Whole group share out – begin with a brief summary of the article

31. Keys to Successful PLC! • Be Committed • Be Engaged • Be Trusting • Be Open • Take Risks • Think Outside the Box! • Genuine communications! • Be Committed • Be Engaged • Be Trusting • Be Open • Take Risks • Think Outside the Box! • Genuine communications! • EMPOWER the staff! • Provide Support! TIME! Staff/Teachers Administrators and Supervisors

32. Getting Started! • Involve teacher leaders • Consider leading and participating in a book study • Make your work relevant and purposeful. Relate it to existing data. • Pay attention to the pitfalls • Lack of understanding • Lack of confidence • Lack of time

33. Resources • www.allthingsplc.info • Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities, Robert Eaker, Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour • Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement, Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker • on common ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities, DuFour and others • Powerful Designs for Professional Learning, NSDC • Finding Time for Professional Learning, NSDC

34. Final Thoughts! “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; and working together is success.” Henry Ford