On Common Ground The Power of Professional Learning Communities

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On Common GroundThe Power of Professional
Learning Communities

• Robert Eaker and Janel Keating

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An Age of Uncertainty

• To borrow from Charles Dickens, these are
  perhaps the best of times and the worst of
  times for American public education. For sure,
  it is an age of uncertainty! Educators are being
  called upon to educate, at high levels, all
  students. Although few would argue that this is
  certainly a worthwhile goal, success has proven
  to be problematic.

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• On the other hand, we know more than weve
  ever known about how to successfully improve
  schools.
• This fact, in-and-of itself, has created a
  challenge for educators. With such a plethora of
  reform initiatives, researchers, and writers,
  educators are faced with a myriad of approaches,
  terms and conceptsso many, in fact, that many
  educators simply do not know where to turn or
  what to believe.

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Good News!

• However, there is some good news! There are
  some things about which there is a growing
  certainty. One of these, the concept of schools
  functioning as professional learning communities,
  presents a relatively simple way of thinking
  about how to embed best practices into a
  single school improvement framework.

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On Common Ground

• Consider these observations of Mike Schmoker
  concerning the professional learning community
  concept as a way to improve schools.

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• So, what if there was, right now, a fairly
  straightforward, well-established way to
  appreciably improve both teaching quality and
  levels of learning? What if evidence from
  numerous schools and the research community
  points to proven structures and practices that
• (1) stand to make an immediate difference in
  achievement and
• (2) require reasonable amounts of time and
  resources?
• The fact is that such structures and practice
  do exist and there is no reason to delay their
  implementation.

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• Well know we have succeeded when the
  absence of a strong professional learning
  community in a school is an embarrassment.
• 
  --Mike Schmoker

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• In fact, perhaps never before in the history
  of American public education has there been such
  wide-spread agreement among researchers, writers
  and practitioners alike regarding the most
  promising path to improving Americas schools.
  Consider the following

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Researchers and Writers

• Virtually every prominent educational
  researcher and writer has endorsed the concept of
  schools functioning as professional learning
  communities. Here are but a few
• Linda-Darling-Hammond, Doug Reeves, Bob
  Marzano, DuFour, DuFour Eaker, Rick Stiggins,
  Jonathon Saphier Dennis Sparks, Michael Fullen,
  Roland Barth, Mike Schmoker, Larry Lezotte, Andy
  Hargreaves, Dylan Wiliam, Shirley Hord, Phil
  Schlecty, Carl Glickman, Richard Elmore, and
  many, many more!

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Practitioners

• In addition to schools and school districts
  in every state successfully embedding
  professional learning community concepts and
  practices, virtually every major educational
  organization--including the National Education
  Association and the American Federation of
  Teachershas endorsed the professional learning
  community concept!

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Professional Learning CommunitiesA Way of
Thinking

• One of the reasons the professional learning
  community concept resonates with practitioners is
  the fact that it provides not only a rather
  simple framework for connecting best practices,
  it also provides educators with a common-sense
  vocabulary and a way of thinking about
  improving student learning.

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The Three Big Ideas of a Professional Learning
Community

• The professional learning community concept
  consolidates the work of the most prominent
  researchers and writers around three big
  organizing ideas
• A fundamental shift from a focus on
  teachingmaking sure content was taughtto a
  focus on learning.
• A collaborative culture that utilizes the power
  of collaborative teams. And,
• An intense and passionate focus on results.

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The First Big Idea A Focus on Learning

• The focus of traditional schools is
  teaching the focus of a professional learning
  community is learning. The difference is much
  more than semantics. It represents a fundamental
  shift in the teacher-student relationship. The
  new relationship would not allow for the familiar
  teacher lament, I taught itthey just didnt
  learn it!

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On Common Ground A Focus on Learning

• Schools that function as professional
  learning communities operate on the assumption
  that the fundamental purpose of schoolstheir
  core purpose is to ensure high levels of
  learning for all students. This idea of
  clarifying and focusing the entire organization
  on its core mission has profound implications for
  schools and is supported by prominent researchers
  and writers.

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• The first question any organization must
  consider if it hopes to improve results is the
  question of purpose.
• Why does our organization exist in the first
  place?
• What are we here to do together?
• What exactly do we hope to accomplish?
• What is the business of our business?
• Drucker, DuFour, DuFour Eaker, Bardwick,
• Champy, Senge, et al.

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• Great organizations simplify a complex world
  into a single organizing idea or guiding
  principle. This guiding principle makes the
  complex simple, helps focus the attention and
  energy of the organization on the essentials, and
  becomes the frame of reference for all
  decisions.
• 
  --Jim Collins

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• There is no point in thinking about changes
  in structure until the school achieves reasonable
  consensus about its intellectual mission for
  children.
• 
  --Newmann Wehlage

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A synthesis of effective school leadership
concluded that a key leadership responsibility
was creating a powerful community that was
clear on its purpose and goals.
--Marzano, et al.
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What Would We Want For Our Own Child?

• Janel Keating, the Deputy Superintendent of
  the White River School District in Buckley,
  Washington, proposes that we examine the core
  purpose of schools through two, very profound,
  lenses..

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• What kind of schools, classrooms and lessons
  do we want for our own child?
• And
• What would a focus on learning look like in
  schools, if we really meant it?

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What Would People Actually See Happening?

• Janel asks this simple question of the
  faculty and staff in White River if we really
  mean it when we say our mission is to ensure high
  levels of learning for all students, what would
  people see us doing in our district meetings,
  schools, and classrooms? What would be the sharp
  focus of our work?

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A Quick Check

• What would people see as the focus of our
  planning?
• What would they see us monitoring?
• What behaviors would they observe being
  confronted ?
• What behaviors would they see being modeled?
• What would they see us celebrate?

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If We Really Mean It.

• If we really mean it, and thats a huge if,
  when we say our core purpose is to ensure high
  levels of learning for all students, wouldnt the
  first obvious question we would have to address
  be, Learn what?

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If We Really Meant It.

• Rather than.
• Leaving it up to individual teachers to
  determine what state and district standards mean
  and the relative importance of each
•  

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• Wouldnt we.
• Engage collaborative teams of teachers in a
  process that is designed to clarify and determine
  the meaning of the standards for each subject,
  grade, and course and wouldnt we also have teams
  of teachers determine the relative importance of
  each standard and then collaboratively develop
  pacing guides?
•  

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• And, wouldnt teams collaboratively address
  the question, What would this standard, if met,
  look like in student work?
• And, wouldnt we reduce the amount of
  content, focusing on more significant content and
  more depth and taught in more meaningful ways?

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On Common Ground A Guaranteed and Viable
Curriculum

• The idea that schools should ensure students
  have access to a guaranteed and viable curriculum
  is supported by such researchers and writers as
• Marzano, Reeves, Hattie, Lezotte, Saphier,
  Brophy, Childress, Doyle Thomas

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• And, to paraphrase Janel Keating, wouldnt
  we want a guaranteed and viable curriculum for
  our own child or would we prefer the luck of
  the drawthat being , what your child is taught
  will be up to the school they go to or the
  teacher to whom they are assigned!

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A Practical Matter!

• And, as a practical matter, its simply
  important that we all learn certain, essential
  things!
• Consider this example

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How Will We Know What Students Are Learning?

• In addition to clarifying and adding meaning
  to state and district standards, professional
  learning communities then ask the next logical
  question, How will be know if students are
  learning?

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• So, in professional learning communities,
  collaborative teams monitor the learning of each
  student, skill-by-skill, on a frequent and timely
  basis through the use of collaboratively
  developed, common formative assessments.

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On Common Ground Common Formative Assessments

• Utilizing collaboratively developed, common
  formative assessments to monitor and improve
  student learning is one of the most widely
  supported strategies for improving student
  achievement.

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• These are but a few researchers and writers
  who have recognized the power of formative
  assessments.
• Reeves, Schmoker, Ainsworth, Odden
  Archibald, Christman, Chenoweth, Hatti, Black
  Wiliam, Fullen, Stiggins, Marzano, Popham.

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So, If We Really Meant It

• Rather than
•  
• Relying almost solely on summative assessments
  that are administered by the state department,
•  
•  

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• Wouldnt we.
•  
• Have teams of teachers collaboratively develop
  common formative assessments that are designed to
  monitor the learning of individual students on a
  timely basiskid-by-kid, skill-by-skill?

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What Would We Want For Our Own Child?

• When we send our kids to school, dont we
  want their teachers to check and see how well
  they are learning along the way, rather than
  waiting until report cards are sent home to
  discover they didnt quite get it?

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How Will We Respond When Some Students Dont
Learn?

• This is a critical question for schools that
  really mean it when they declare a mission of
  ensuring high levels of learning for all
  students.

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• It is disingenuous for any school to claim
  its purpose is to help all students learn at high
  levels and then fail to create a system of
  intervention to give struggling learners
  additional time and support for learning.
• --Dufour,
  DuFour, Eaker Many
• 
  Learning by Doing

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On Common Ground

• The importance of schools developing a
  systematic plan to provide students with
  additional time and support when they struggle
  with their learning is supported by researchers
  and writers such as
• Barber Mourshed, Odden, Reeves, Council of
  Chief School Officers, Lezotte, Marzano

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What Would We Want For Our Own Child?

• When our own child struggles with their
  learning, dont we want them to receive
  additional time and support within the school
  day, regardless of the teacher to whom they are
  assigned? And, wouldnt we want the assistance
  to be systematic, timely, flexible, and
  directrather than invitational?

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Why Label Kids?

• We dont so much need to figure out the
  correct label for kids. Kids who arent
  learning or those who have learned a lot dont
  need a label. They need additional time,
  support or enrichment.

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So, If We Really Meant It.

• Rather than.
•  
• Leaving it up to individual teachers to decide
  if and how students will be given additional time
  and support if they experience difficulty in
  their learning,
•  

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• Wouldnt we.
•  
• Develop a school-wide systematic plan to provide
  students with additional time and support or
  enrichment within the school day, regardless of
  the teacher to whom they are assigned?
•  
•  

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Interventions Matter!

• The fact is, the quantity and quality of
  interventions students receive in school makes a
  huge difference in their learning levels, and
  thus in their lives! Believe this interventions
  do matter!
• Consider this example

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The First Big Idea Summing Up

• In summary, the first big idea of a
  professional learning communityand school
  districts and schools that really mean it when
  they declare a learning mission, is an intense,
  passionate and persistent focus on the learning
  of each student. Therefore, there is deep,
  meaningful, collaborative work centered on these
  questions

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• What do we expect all students to learn?
• How will we know if they have learned it?
• What happens when they dont learn?
• What happens when they do?

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The Second Bid Idea The Power of
Collaborative Teams

• In a district or school that functions as a
  professional learning community, there is the
  recognition that we simply cannot be successful
  in ensuring all our students are learning if
  teachers work in isolation, by themselves.
  Schooling has become too difficult and complex,
  and the challenges teachers face are too
  difficult to overcome alone.

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On Common Ground Collaborative Teaming

• A host of researchers and writers promote the
  power of collaborative teaming. In fact, the use
  of collaborative teams has become so prevalent
  during the past three decades that it is hardly
  discussed anymoreits just assumed! Heres a
  sample of researchers and writers
• Senge, Pinchot, Pfeffer Sutton, Ulich,
  Katzenbach Smith, Tichy, Blanchard, Patterson,
  and Wheatley.

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What Should Be the Focus of The Work of
Collaborative Teams?

• Collaborative cultures, which by definition
  have close relationships, are indeed powerful,
  unless they are focusing on the right things they
  may end up being powerfully wrong.
• 
  --Michael Fullen

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The Right Work

• Collaboratively developing and utilizing team
  norms.
• Clarifying and aligning essential learning.
• Developing common pacing guides.
• Determining what a standard, if met, would look
  like in student work.
• Developing common scoring rubrics.
• Collaboratively developing an utilizing common
  formative assessments.

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• Collaboratively analyzing student work and
  student learning data.
• Collaboratively developing specific intervention
  and enrichment strategies for individual
  students.
• Monitoring the results of intervention/enrichment
  strategies.
• Reflecting on the effectiveness of instructional
  strategies while sharing and learning together.
• Collaboratively reflecting on the effectiveness
  of the team.

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What Would We Want For Our Own Child?

• Wouldnt we want our own child to go to a
  school where an entire team--indeed, an entire
  school--would take responsibility for their
  learning?

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The Second Big Idea Summing Up

• In a professional learning community,
  collaboration represents a systematic process in
  which teachers work together interdependently in
  order to impact their classroom practice in ways
  that will lead to better results for their
  students, for their team, and for their school.
• 
  --DuFour, DuFour, Eaker Many
• 
  Learning by Doing

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The Third Big IdeaA Focus on Results

• If schools embrace learning as their
  fundamental, core purpose, then they are not
  satisfied my merely making sure lessons were
  taught well. Instead, they have an intense
  passion and sharp focus on the question, Are the
  students learning, and how do you know? Then
  they drill deeper asking, Is each student
  learning, and how do you know?

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On Common Ground Developing A
Results--Orientated Culture

• Numerous researchers and writers have
  emphasized the importance of developing a
  results-oriented culture. Among them are
• Little, The Annenberg Institute for School
  Reform, Elmore City, Hattie, Gallimore,
  Chenoweth, Odden Archibald, Barber Mourshed,
  Fullen, Schaffer Thompson, Collins, Drucker,
  Schmoker, Reeves, Schlechty, Marzano, Lezotte.

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What Happens in a Results-Oriented Culture?

• In a professional learning community,
  collaborative teams of teachers (and everyone
  else) are utilizing data to inform them of
  student learning levels.
• The district, school and teams set SMART goals as
  a result of their analysis of learning data.
• And, they publicly and frequently celebrate
  improvement of both individuals and groups.

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They Develop a Stop Doing List

• And, equally important, teams in a
  professional learning community engage in deep,
  rich discussions focusing on practices that may
  actually may be hindering student success.

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Examples

• Averaging grades and avoiding the range issue
• The thoughtless use of zeros
• Too much weight given to the grade for students
  first attempts
• Not requiring students to do make-up work
• The inappropriate use of worksheets
• The inappropriate use of homework
• Giving too much weight to assignments that
  require parent participation
• Others.
•  

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What Would We Want For Our Own Child?

• Wouldnt we like our own child to attend a
  school where a team of teachers monitors the
  learning data of each child along the way and
  provides additional time and support when they
  struggle, enriches their learning when they are
  proficient, and celebrates their improvement
  publically and frequently along the way?

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Touching The Emotions!

• Ultimately, to be successful, we must touch
  the emotions of both students and adults.
• Lets face it, as Pat Summit, the University
  of Tennessee womens basketball coach, is fond of
  saying, Students will not care what we
  know--until they truly know we care!

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Relationship MatterA Lot!

• Lets face it, relationships matter an awful
  lot.
• Watch this and consider how strong a
  relationship can become after only one year!

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Passion and Persistence

• Successful school re-culturing requires both
  structural changes and cultural changes. But, it
  also requires a huge dose of passion and
  persistence. Leaders must approach the task of
  ensuring student learning with the zeal of a
  missionary and the tenacity of a terrier!
• Successful school leaders live by the motto
• Relentless Pressure, Gracefully Applied!

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You Can Determine the Weather Each Day!

• Be a thermostat.not a thermometer!!
• Remember, you have the power to set the
  temperature, not simply react to it! You can
  make it a sunny day for your students or a cloudy
  day, a calm day or a stormy day! Think about it!

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• Ive come to the frightening conclusion that
  I am the decisive element in the classroom. Its
  my daily mood that makes the weather. As a
  teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a
  childs life miserable or joyous. I can be a
  tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
  I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all
  situations, it is my response that decides
  whether a crisis will be escalated or
  de-escalated and a child humanized or
  de-humanized.
• --
  Hiam Ginott

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We Just Dont Know!

• Remember, the students you see in front of
  you are not what they will become! We just dont
  know. The best we can do is care for and
  encourage them and make sure they are safe, feel
  special, and learn. The students we have the
  most doubts about today may ultimately truly
  surprise us!

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