Whole-Faculty Study Groups

1. 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.

2. A Thought • This process is NOT perfect, but research tells us that it provides the best hope for real results in school improvement!

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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 ?

13. 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’

14. Roles and Responsibilities in WFSGs • Principal • Focus Team • Study Group Leader • Individual Study Group Member • Instructional Council principal is the most Principal important factor in the successful initiation, implementation, and continuation of WFSGs. The principal is an active participant in the training and planning sessions. The principal receives action plans and responds to them. The principal receives the study group logs and

15. 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

16. 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 decision-making 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. Note: The whole faculty participates in Steps 1 through 4 and 7. Student Needs 1. Collect and analyze data. Decision-Making Cycle 7. Whole faculty evaluates 2. impact of study groups on State student needs student learning 6. Each group implements 3. a cycle of Categorize and Adjusting plan · prioritize student Taking action · needs. Collecting data · Reflecting · Today’s Focus 4. 5. Organize groups around Each group designs an action same category or · plan that specifies the different categories of · content (what and how) of students needs. the study.

22. 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!

23. WFSG 15 Guidelines • 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. 4. Establish group norms and routinely revisit the norms. 5. Establish a pattern of study group leadership, rotating among members. 6. Develop a Study Group Action Plan by the end of the second study group meeting. 7. Complete a Study Group Log after each study group meeting.

24. WFSG 15 Guidelines, con’t. • 8. Have a curriculum and instructional focus that requires members to routinelyexamine student work and to observestudents 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.

25. 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’

26. The Study Group Plan & Log Where in the Action Plan and log do you see evidence of the following principles? 1. Students are first 2. Leadership is shared 3. Everyone participates 4. Responsibility is equal 5. The work is public

27. 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

28. 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)

29. 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’

30. 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”

31. 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.”

32. 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.