SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

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SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
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Complete your Training, You Must.
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WHAT IS A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY?

• A PLC is a collection of collaborative teams
  whose members
• work interdependently to achieve common goals
• have a persistent dissatisfaction with the
  status quo
• are committed to the learning of each student
• are committed to the learning of each adult
• are action oriented and work to turn visions
  into reality
• set and pursue measurable improvement goals
• develop and monitor strategies to address
  weaknesses in learning
• assess their efforts on the basis of results
  rather than intentions

Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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P.L.C. Collaborative Culture Continuum Rubric
Stages Pre-Initiation Initiation Developing S
ustaining
Teachers work in isolation. There is little
awareness of what or how colleagues are teaching.

Teachers recognize a common curriculum that they
are responsible for teaching, but there is little
exchange of ideas regarding teaching, learning
and assessment strategies.
Teachers function as a group that meets
periodically to complete certain tasks such as
reviewing intended outcomes and coordinating
calendars.
Teachers work to gather relevant data, set
collective goals, develop strategies to reach the
goals. They learn from one another and function
as a team.
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
using shared planning to develop units, lessons,
and activities
Direct Benefit
divides the labor saves time because no one has
to do it all increases quantity and quality of
ideas
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
learning from one another by watching each other
teach
Direct Benefit
provides concrete examples of effective
practices expands the observer's repertoire of
skills, stimulates analytical thinking about
teaching
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
collectively studying student work to identify
weaknesses and plan new ways to teach to those
weaknesses
Direct Benefit
increases quantity and quality of insights into
student performance focuses efforts on "the
bottom line"--student learning increases
professionalism and self-esteem of learning
community members
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
sharing articles and other professional resources
for ideas and insights conducting book studies
of books on teaching and learning
Direct Benefit
expands pool of ideas and resources available to
members of the learning community
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
talking with one another about what and how you
teach and the results your teaching produces
Direct Benefit
decreases isolation increases experimentation
and analysis of teaching practices increases
confidence of teachers provides teachers with
greater access to a range of teaching styles,
models, and philosophies
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
providing moral support, comradeship, and
encouragement
Direct Benefit
enables teachers to stick with new practices
through the rough early stages decreases burnout
stress increases team members' willingness to
try new methods to share ideas concerns with
others
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
jointly exploring a problem, including data
collection and analysis conducting action
research
Direct Benefit
improves quality of insights and solutions
increases professionalism
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
attending training together and helping each
other implement the content of the training
Direct Benefit
helps learning community members get more out of
training enables them to go to one another with
questions or to get clarification about what was
presented during training
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
sharing the responsibility for making and/or
collecting materials
Direct Benefit
helps learning community members feel secure in
asking for help and advice enables the giving of
assistance and advice without establishing
one-up/one-down relationships
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
participating in continual quality improvement
activities
Direct Benefit
creates more efficient use of time takes
advantage of particular talents or interests of
learning community members
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
using collective decision making to reach
decisions that produce collective action
Direct Benefit
improves quality of instruction, student
performance, and school operations
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Learning Community Activity
providing support for "help-seeking" as well as
"help-giving"
Direct Benefit
makes a strong statement of shared responsibility
and commitment to one another's learning
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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If your school is not there yet, who is going to
step in and make a PLC happen?
I DO
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Eaker and DuFours Four Questions
KEY QUESTIONS FROM WHATEVER IT TAKES

• What do we want our students to know and be
  able to do?
• How will we know when they have learned?
• What will we do when they do not learn?
• What will we do if they already know the material?

Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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The quality of a school as a learning
community can be measured by how effectively
it addresses the needs of struggling
students. . . . James Wright (2005)
www.interventioncentral.org
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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DuFour's Pyramid
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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PYRAMID OF INTERVENTIONS
TIER IV Specially Designed Learning
TIER III SST-Driven Learning
TIER II Needs-Based Learning
TIER I Standards-Based Learning
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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ACTIVITY
Draw a pyramid to scale if S-B practices are not
implemented. Draw a pyramid to scale if Tier II
interventions are not developed.
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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INTENSIVE EXPENSIVE
INTENSIVE LESS EXPENSIVE
Best Teachers Assigned to Weakest Students Lunch
Learn with Administrators Before School and
After School Tutoring Tutoring During
Electives One Academic Postponed
Double Dosing Summer Intervention Saturday
School Additional Courses Smaller Class
Sizes Parapro for Class
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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GEORGIA STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE EIGHT
STRANDS OF QUALITY
Curriculum
Instruction
Assessment
Planning and Organization
Student, Family Community Support
Professional Learning
Leadership
School Culture
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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December 1
SAI SURVEY
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THE PYRAMID OF INTERVENTIONS
Case Conference
Academic Help Option
Staff Tutoring During the Day
Assignment of Peer Tutor From Outside Class
In-class Strategies Informal Peer Tutor,
Grouping, Extra Direction, Etc.
Subject Area Teachers Phone Parents re Lack of
Academic Success with Note to HR Teachers
Subject Area Teachers Phone Parents re Lack of
Academic Success with Note to HR Teachers
Subject Area Teachers Confer with Students about
Ways to Improve Academic Success.
Pyramid Base In the Fall all Homeroom Teachers
Phone all Parents and Create an Initial
Information Base.
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S P E C I A L
EDUCATION
SLT
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Professional Learning Standards By Elements
Learning Communities Leadership Resources
Context
Data Driven Research-Based Evaluation Learning
Design Collaboration
Process
Equity Quality Teaching Family Involvement
Content
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Follow Up for your PLC

• High Schools
• Chapter 3 and 4
• Middle Schools
• Chapter 5
• Elementary
• Chapters 6 OR 7

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Is there a disconnect between the posted
beliefs and the daily classroom practices?
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Does the staff of your school endorse this
statement?
ALL KIDS CAN LEARN.
Georgia will lead the nation in improving student
achievement.
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The Charles Darwin School
The Pontius Pilate School
We believe all kids can learn . . . based
on their ability.
We believe all kids can learn . . . if they take
advantage of their opportunity we give them to
learn.
The Henry Higgins School
The Chicago Cub Fan School
We believe all kids can learn . . . something,
and we will help all students experience academic
growth in a warm and nurturing environment.
We believe all kids can learn . . . and we will
work to help all students achieve high standards
of learning.
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• From what you learned from the Pyramid of
  Intervention, address this question at your
  table
• If you were called upon to build a system of
  interventions to assist students with their
  learning, what is a short-term win you would plan
  to achieve in the first 3 months and how would
  you celebrate that win?

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FIVE TALKING STRATEGIES
to promote teacher reflection on their own
learning and teaching practices.
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• MAKE SUGGESTIONS. Do this during post-observation
  conferences and informally, day to day.
  Suggestions must be purposeful, appropriate, and
  non-threatening. Principals should listen
  carefully, share their own experiences, use
  examples and demonstrations, give teachers
  choices, contradict outdated or destructive
  policies, encourage risk taking, offer
  professional literature, recognize teachers
  strengths, and focus on improving instruction.
• 2. GIVE FEEDBACK. Effective principals "hold up a
  mirror," serve as "another set of eyes," and are
  "critical friends" to teachers. Feedback focuses
  on observed classroom behavior, is specific,
  expresses caring and interest, provides praise,
  is problem solving, responds to concerns about
  students, and stresses the principals
  availability for follow-up talk.

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3. MODEL. Demonstrate teaching techniques in
classrooms and during conferences. Model positive
interactions with students. Teachers viewed these
forms of modeling as impressive examples of
instructional leadership. 4. USE INQUIRY AND
SOLICIT ADVICE AND OPINIONS. Question teachers
and solicit their advice about instruction. 5.
PRAISE. Focus on specific and concrete teaching
behaviors
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• Six Strategies to Promote Professional Learning
• Emphasize the study of teaching and learning.
• Provide staff development opportunities that
  address emergent needs. Encourage teacher input,
  allow discretion in attending, and support
  innovation. Principals who were identified as
  effective leaders in the study often participated
  in staff development sessions.
• 2. Support collaboration among educators.
  Networks are essential for successful teaching
  and learning. Model teamwork, provide time for
  collaborative work, and advocate sharing and peer
  observation. Encourage teachers to visit other
  teachers, even in other schools, to observe
  classrooms and programs.

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• Develop coaching relationships. Encourage
  teachers to become peer coaches. Based on two
  decades of research, Joyce and Showers (1995)
  concluded training is effective only when it
  includes peer coaching in the classroom.
• Encourage teachers to redesign instructional
  programs and support diverse approaches to
  teaching and learning. Be flexible on grouping
  and strategies. Provide resources to support
  program redesign when possible.

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5. Apply principles of adult learning, growth,
and development to staff development. Create
cultures of collaboration, inquiry, lifelong
learning, experimentation, and reflection
consistent with the principles of adult learning
and an understanding of teachers life cycles,
roles, and motivation. 6. Implement action
research to inform instructional decision making.
Use action research. Effective principals in the
study are working to conduct staff development as
a large-scale action research project, although
the efforts are not yet extensive. This is
consistent with Calhouns (1994) thesis that
without class and school-based data about
learning, teachers cannot determine the effects
of what they do in the classroom.
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TIPS FOR ADMINISTRATORS
De-emphasize competition among teachers. Professio
nal development programs should teach practicing
and aspiring principals how to develop
professional dialogue and collegiality among
educators. The anchors for such programs should
be training in group development, theories of
teaching and learning for both adults and
children, action research methods, change, and
reflective practice.
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Keys to Effective PLCs

• Collaboration embedded in routine practices
• Time for collaboration built in 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
• Teams have access to relevant information

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REFLECTIVE BENCHMARKING

• My School Staff will say that
• I have a sense of humor.
• I am good at keeping the school safe.
• I like kids and kids respect me.
• I understand and can explain S-B practices.
• I am a good decision maker and believe in a
  democracy of ideas.
• I am driven to support professional learning for
  staff.
• I can explain why Differentiation is a great
  tool.
• I am highly visible in classrooms and the
  community.
• I can explain the power of Assessment for
  Learning practices.
• I am developing rising stars with my APs and my
  Leadership Team.

ACTIVITY
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REFLECTIVE BENCHMARKING

• My School Staff will say that
• I initiate and support change well.
• I am proactive and can see around the corners.
• I am very clear in communicating my
  expectations.
• I can think out of the box and in the box.
• I can identify problems, symptoms and root
  causes.
• I am good at getting people to work together.
• I am the lead learner in the school.
• I am their boss but I also am very much their
  coach.
• I model effective leadership and communicate
  follower-ship.
• I am organized, have a good memory and read a
  lot.

ACTIVITY
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LEADING THE CHARGE IN CHALLENGING TIMES

• Making AYP Now with Standards-Based Practices
• Stocking a New Toolbox for Teachers Leaders
• Surviving the Accountability Tsunami
  with a Balanced Leadership Approach
• Conquering the Knowing-Doing GAP with
  Professional Learning Teams
• Immediate Results with Differentiated Instruction
  and Assessment for Learning
• Using the Georgia School Standards to Move
  from Good to Great

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ROLE SELF ASSESSMENT
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
Very Involved with Curriculum, Assessment, Instruc
tion
Knowledge of Curriculum, Assessment, Instruction
Manager of Events Crisis
ACTIVITY