The Professional Learning Community

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The Professional Learning Community

• Presented by
• Karen Rowe Tom Jennings

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(No Transcript)
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Guiding questions for this presentation

• What is a Professional Learning Community?
• Why should a school become a PLC?
• What are the critical questions of a PLC?
• What is todays assignment?
• Whats next?

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What is a Professional Learning Community?

• Learning
• Collaboration
• Reflection
• Collective Knowledge
• Continuous Improvement
• Measurable Results
• Administrator assurances and teacher commitments

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Race Car Professional Learning Community
Engine Collaborative Teams
Drivers Students
Gas Data
Continuous Improvement
Status Quo
Tires Administrators
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Why should a school become a PLC?

• Good is the enemy of great.
• (Good to Great - Collins, 2001)

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• Richard DuFour
• Robert Eaker
• Jonathon Saphier
• Philip Schlechty
• Thomas Sergiovanni
• Mike Schmoker
• Michael Fullan
• Richard Marzano
• Larry Lezotte
• Roland Barth
• Rick Stiggins
• Dennis Sparks
• Barbara Eason-Watkins
• Douglas Reeves
• Some of the researchers who endorse the PLC
  concept.

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• American Federation of Teachers - AFT
• Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory -
  MCREL
• National Association of Elementary School
  Principals - NAESP
• National Association of Secondary School
  Principals - NASSP
• National Board of Professional Teaching Standards
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
  Education - NCATE
• National Council of Teachers of English
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• National Education Association - NEA
• National Science Teachers Association
• National Staff Development Council
• New York State Union of Teachers - NYSUT
• North Central Regional Educational Laboratory -
  NCREL
• Southwest Educational Development Laboratory -
  SEDL
• Some of the organizations that endorse the PLC
  concept.

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What are the Critical Questions of a PLC?

• What is it we want our students to learn?
• How will we know if each student has learned it?
• How will we respond when some students do not
  learn it?
• What can we do to extend and enrich the learning
  for students who have demonstrated proficiency?

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What is Todays Assignment?

• Team Norms
• What is professional?
• What is it we want students to learn?
• SMART Goal
• How will we know when each student has learned
  it?
• Common Assessment
• Proficiency rubric/grading scale

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Whats Next?

• How will we respond when some students dont
  learn?
• Teacher response in the classroom
• School response Pyramid of Interventions
• What can we do to extend and enrich the learning
  for students who have demonstrated proficiency?

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References

• All Things PLC. Retrieved November 12, 2007,
  Website http//www.allthingsplc.org
• Asking the Right Questions A Leaders Guide to
  Systems Thinking about School Improvement.
  (2000). McRel.
• Balanced Leadership What 30 years of research
  tells us about the effect of leadership on
  student achievement. (2003). McRel.
• Collins, Jim. (2001). Good to Great. New York.
  Harper Collins.
• DuFour, Richard. (May, 2004) What is a
  Professional Learning Community? Educational
  Leadership. V.61 No. 8 pgs 6-11.
• Dufour, Richard. (2006). Learning by Doing A
  Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at
  Work. Solution Tree.
• Guide to Using Data in School Improvement
  Efforts. (2004). Learning Point Associates.
• Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., McNulty, B.A.
  (2005). School Leadership that Works From
  Research to Results. Alexandria, Va. Association
  for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Schmoker, Mike. (February, 2004). Tipping Point
  From Feckless Reform to Substantive Instructional
  Improvement. Phi Delta Kappan. V.85 No.6 pgs
  424-432.