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PLC is the Key

Scott A. Cunningham

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Purpose

To build the leadership capacity of

principals and teacher leaders to

drive the PLC process at Franklin

Community Schools.

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Learning Outcomes

1. Develop strategies, knowledge, and skills to create and maintain a Professional Learning Community in Franklin Community Schools.

2. Create a clear understanding of how to lead around the 3 big ideas and 4 essential questions.

3. Gain an understanding of strategies Norton and other schools used to become recognized as National Model PLC Schools.

4. Create and learn practical strategies for facilitating a collaborative culture and using data to drive instruction.

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�What are your personal goals for this PD?

�What will you do to successfully achieve

these goals?

�Other needs?

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What is a PLC?

“A Professional Learning Community is a group of educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLC’s operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.”

DuFour, et. Al, 2006

+3 Big Ideas of a PLC

1. Focus on learning: Four essential questions

1. What do we want students to learn?

2. How will we know if they have learned?

3. What will we do if they don’t learn?

4. What will we do when they learn/if they already know?

2. Build a Collaborative Culture

3. Focus on results

+Six Characteristics of a PLC

1. Shared Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals

2. Collective Inquiry

3. Collaborative Culture

4. Action Orientation and Experimentation

5. Continuous Improvement

6. Focus on results

+Norton’s Story: Where we were

2006/2007

�Rated “Continuous Improvement”

�Performance Index below 85

�Poverty Rate 49%

�Minority Rate 35%

�ESL population 10%

�Did not make Federal AYP measure

�Low Achievement

+Major Focus Year 1:

�PLC Principles and concepts

�Four Essential Questions

�Developing and honoring a new Mission,

Vision, And Beliefs/Values

�Creating a Collaborative Culture

�Changing the school culture from

dysfunctional to high functioning

+Developing and honoring a new

Mission, Vision, And Beliefs/Values

Norton Middle School Mission Statement 06/07

To increase academic achievement for all learners: We will accomplish this by:

�Modeling excellent behavior

�Applying content standards to guide student learning

�Helping students make real life connections

�Collaboration and communication among all stakeholders

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Vision 06/07

�We will meet or exceed our Adequate

Yearly Progress (AYP) and will reach

effective status within two years and

excellent status within four years. We will

celebrate our diverse population, while

promoting high achievement and

continuous learning for all students.

+Values 06/07

�Statement #1: What promises are you willing to

make to your colleagues that will support our

success in achieving our mission and vision?

�Statement #2: When your students leave you,

how do you want them to be different, as people,

as a result of being with you all year long?

�Statement #3: What are your fundamental,

bedrock beliefs about how children learn and

your role in making that happen?

+Major Focus Year 2:

�Increased Collaboration

�Use data to drive instruction

�Using Assessments to collect data

�Professional Development on

Inclusionary practices

+Major Focus Year 3

�Increased collaboration time during the

day.

�Used data more effectively to drive

instruction and plan for interventions.

�Restructured our meetings to be

departmentalized, and on specific days

so the administration could attend all

meetings.

+Major Focus Year 4

�Added a PBS program (Positive

Behavior Support)

�Used the same online grading system

throughout the school

�Created Common Assessments

+Major Focus Year 5

�Using common assessments every six

weeks to drive instruction and prepare

for Interventions.

�Creating Action Plans every six weeks

for Intervention and Enrichments.

�Data Wall

+Values 12/13

�Statement #1: What promises are you willing to

make to your colleagues that will support our

success in achieving our mission and vision?

�Statement #2: When your students leave you,

how do you want them to be different, as people,

as a result of being with you all year long?

�Statement #3: What are your fundamental,

bedrock beliefs about how children learn and

your role in making that happen?

+Statement #1: What promises are you willing to make to

your colleagues that will support our success in

achieving our mission and vision?

� To collaborate with one another

� Positive role model

� Lead by example

� Positive Attitude

� Have meaningful lessons

� Respect others

� Support and implement the CIP

� Open minded, willing to change

+ Statement #2: When students leave your class, how do

you want them to be different, as people, as a result of

being with you all year?

� Become life-long learners

� Enjoy learning

� Open to new knowledge

� Make responsible decisions

� To ask Questions

� To fulfill their potential

� Value Education

� Open minded

+ Statement #3: What are your fundamental, bedrock beliefs about

how children learn and your role in making that happen?

� All students can learn

� All students learn differently

� Children learn by example

� Make it interesting

� Show real life connections

� Use data to drive instruction

� Positive, safe environment

� Meeting needs of students

� Uphold high standards

� Re-teach in ways that ensure student understanding

� Children are inherently curious

Norton 2006-2011

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 Six Year Trend

7th R 65 71.10 71.2 68.8 73.00 82 17% increase

7th M 58 67.40 68.7 61.9 71.76 81 23% increase

8th R 68 69.30 64.3 74.2 85.1 83 15% increase

8th M 62 62.80 65.6 64.4 66.1 79 17% increase

8th Sc 46 50.6 62.9 66.7 73.9 74 28% increase

� Value Added 2010/2011 + Above Expected growth in all areas.

� Performance Index 2010/2011: 95

� AYP (Federal Measure): Met all areas

� 2006/2007: Poverty Rate 48%- Rated “Continuous Improvement”

� 2011/2012: Poverty Rate 78%-Rated “Excellent”

+PLC Process at Franklin

Community Schools

�Focus on Learning

�Focus on Collaboration

�Focus on Results

+Collaboration

�Write down on chart paper a

success and concern that you have

experienced with collaboration.

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What do your teams collaborate

about?

Write down on chart paper and

share out.

+Intense Focus of Collaboration

1. Identifying Essential Outcomes

2. Know what is proficient

3. Developing and revising common assessments

4. Analyzing results

5. Creating action plans for interventions and enrichments

+Common Assessments

What do you do with your common

assessment data?

What do your team’s produce from

their common assessments?

+Interventions based on common

assessment.

�Write down on a post-it note all the

different interventions that you do based on

your common assessments.

�Have someone from your group write out

all the interventions on a piece of chart

paper

+Enrichments based on common

assessments

�Write down on a post-it note all the

different enrichment activities that you do

based on your common assessments.

�Have someone from your group write out

all the enrichments on a piece of chart

paper

+Create an Action Plan

1. Learning: What will you do to follow the four essential questions?

2. Collaboration: How will you create time for collaboration, and what will you collaborate about?

3. Data: How will you use data to create a system of Interventions and enrichments?

+Learning

1. What do we expect students to learn? Standards/Common Core

2. How will we know when they learn what they are expected to learn? Assessments

3. How will we respond when they don’t learn? Interventions

4. How will we respond when they learn? Enrichments

+Collaboration

�Time

�Focus on what to do after

assessments are given.

+Data

�Use data to drive instruction.

�Identify learning targets

�Create common assessments

�Analyze the data

�Create action plans for interventions

and enrichments based on the data.

+Getting Started

1. Focus on 3 big Ideas: Learning, Collaboration, Results.

2. Create together a collective Mission, Vision, and Values.

3. Establish SMART Goals for improvement1. School wide

2. Department

3. Teacher specific

4. Create an assessment cycle using common assessments to drive instruction

+Were Learning Outcomes Met?

1. Develop strategies, knowledge, and skills to create and maintain a Professional Learning Community in Franklin Community Schools.

2. Create a clear understanding of how to lead around the 3 big ideas and four essential questions.

3. Gain an understanding of strategies Norton and other schools used to become recognized as National Model PLC Schools.

4. Create and learn practical strategies for facilitating a collaborative culture and using data to drive instruction.

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Benchmarks Evidence

Strategies

GoalsTransform

Groups into

High

Performing

Collaborative

Teams

Collaborative

Action to

Improve

Based on Data

(Evidence)

School Improvement

through Collaborative

Application of Data Inform teachers of Individual Student Needs

Inform Students (Ownership

for Learning)

Inform Team Members –I.D. Strengths – Provide Support to Teachers

Inform Team of Areas for Collaborative Intervention

PLC Leader

Monitor/ Evaluate

Collect/ Chart Data

Analyze Data

Prioritize NeedDevelop

Smart

Goals

Common Instructional Strategies

Determine Result Indicators

Data Leader

SIP

Professional Learning Communities at WorkTM

RESOURCES

Online Course:

Foundations of

the PLC Concept

Presenters Richard DuFourand Rebecca DuFour

NEW!

Books and

DVDs

solution-tree.com 888-763-9045

Response to InterventionRESOURCES

Books and

DVDs

Online Course:

Pyramid

Response to

InterventionPresenters Austin Buffum Mike Mattos Chris Weber

solution-tree.com 888-763-9045

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October 1–3

Boston, MA

November 14–16

Dallas, TX

July 30–August 1

Seattle, WA

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April 12–14

Winnipeg, MB

June 25–27

Sacramento, CA2012 INSTITUTES

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Scott A. Cunningham