WCASD Professional Learning Communities

1. WCASD Professional Learning Communities October 19, 2011

2. PLC Steering Committee • Marc Bertrando, Assistant Superintendent • Tracy Clark, FMS Unified Arts Teacher • Katie Cloutman, EGE 4th Grade Teacher • Michele Curay-Cramer, PMS English Teacher • Debbie Dinsmore, WTE Reading Specialist • Debbie Fell, HHS Special Education Teacher • Robert Fraser, Director of Curriculum & Instruction • Shannon Genovese, RHS Science Teacher • Sara Missett, Director of Elementary Education • Leigh Ann Ranieri, Director of Pupil Services

3. Today’s Agenda • Overview of PLCs • Overview of our learning/planning process • Role of committee members

4. What’s In Your Folder? • Left-hand pocket: • Meeting Timeline • Committee Membership • Right-hand pocket: • PLC Basics Handout • Cultural Shifts in a PLC • PLC Endorsements • Four Background Readings

5. PLCs: Connecting the Dots in WCASD • Professional Learning • Curriculum • Instruction • Assessment • Data Analysis • Interventions *Ultimate goal of PLCs is to enhance student learning!

6. PLCs = Explicit Focus on Learning Four Recurring Questions Drive All PLCWork: • What do we want each student to learn? • How will we know when each student has learned it? • How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning? • How will we respond when a student demonstrates mastery?

7. A PLC Cycle of Continuous Improvement • Jointly determine what is most important for students to know and be able to do, and also how we will know whether students are mastering these essential concepts and competencies. • Implement the curricular goals and assessment strategies as determined above. • Gather and jointly analyze evidence of current levels of student learning. • Jointly develop strategies and ideas to build on strengths and address weaknesses in students’ learning (collective and individual). • Implement these strategies and ideas. • Continuously analyze the impact of the changes to discover what was effective and what was not, and adjust instruction and interventions accordingly. • Apply the knowledge in the next cycle of continuous improvement.

8. Endorsements by Professional Organizations • Teachers’ Associations: • NEA, PSEA, & AFT • Subject Area & Professional Associations: • NCTE, NCTM, NSTA, NMSA, NBPTS, & Learning Forward • Principals’ Associations: • NAESP & NASSP

9. WCASD Learning/Planning Process • Two separate two-day, in-district workshops facilitated by Solution Tree: 1.) Common Formative Assessments; 2.) Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) • Three separate committees: 1.) System of Assessments in PLCs; 2.) RtII; 3.) Determining PLC Protocols • A total of 102 WCASD educators will be involved: 65 teachers and 37 administrators (entire process will be co-led by WCASD and WCAEA leadership) • Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership (PIL) course that will award Act 45 hours for administrators

10. WCASD Learning/Planning Process • Committee meetings will follow each learning opportunity. • Each committee’s results will inform the following committee. Assessment -> RtII -> Protocols • You will receive 34 Act 48 hours: • Kickoff meeting: 1 hour • Solution Tree workshops: 15 hours each (30 total) • Committee meeting: 3 hours

11. WCASD Learning/Planning Process Process will gradually transition from district control to individual school control! *PLC implementation goal is beginning of the 2013-14 school year.

12. Role of Committee Members • First understand why you were selected: • Sought leaders: formal and informal • Sought teachers who hold credibility and influence • Sought master teachers who are knowledgeable in their content areas and pedagogically • Sought multiple perspectives: building and departmental • Sought teachers who think critically and will push others to think critically

13. Role of Committee Members • Keep what is best for students at the center of your thinking. • You are expected to lead… • in your school • in your department • when teachers ask you what all this PLC stuff is about! • Help us maintain the integrity of the PLC model. • Think deeply, challenge others to do the same, and challenge ideas that deserve examination. • Bring the practitioner’s lens to life. • Ultimately, your role is to help us make the best decisions possible.

14. Why PLCs? • …because research supports PLC principles and practices. • …because national professional learning standards endorse PLC principles and practices. • …because of the multitude of professional organizations and associations who have endorsed PLC principles and practices. • …because we desire in WCASD for PLC principles and practices to distribute leadership and empower teachers in their collective pursuit of team goals that are directly linked to their school’s goals. • …because we expect in WCASD that PLC principles and practices will enhance student learning… and that, ultimately, is what it is all about!