CTE PLC’s

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Connect Contribute Collaborate Create

   

CTE Content Area PLC Framework

     

PLC’s Defined The professional learning community (PLC) model gives schools a framework to build teacher capacity to work as members of high-performing, collaborative teams that focus on improving student learning. CTE PLC Goal: The ultimate goal is to raise student achievement by adapting teaching and classroom practices based on learning and interchanges during PLC meetings. CTE PLCs.. .

� have a focus on improving student learning and student experiences � involve collaborative teams � engage in collective inquiry into best practice and current reality � are action oriented � have a commitment to continuous improvement wherein members collectively:

o gather evidence of current levels of student understanding, o develop strategies and ideas to build on strengths and weaknesses in that learning, o implement those strategies and ideas, o analyze the impact of the changes to discover what was effective and what was not, and o apply new knowledge in the next cycle of continuous improvement

� focus on results aligned with goals for student learning

CTE PLC Structure Meeting type Frequency Time Wiggio (virtual meetings) Biweekly (2 meetings per month) 40 minutes Release time (face to face) Quarterly 2 hours Each PLC team must document the following for each session: 1) Meeting date & start-stop time; 2) attendance; 3) facilitator; 4) PLC Activity (e.g., Step 0; 5 Questions; CCSS; etc.) PLC team members will provide examples of how specific PLC efforts were implemented in the classroom and it's impact on student learning. CTE PLC Key Questions

1. What do we want students to learn? 2. How will we know if and when they have learned it?

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Effective teams generally have a set of norms that govern individual behavior, facilitate the work of the group and enable the group to accomplish its task. Abiding by norms is especially important for PLC teams:

• To increase productivity and effectiveness • To ensure that all members have the opportunity to contribute • To keep dialogue open and respectful, even when members disagree

Your team norms will focus on the six categories listed below:

• TIME • LISTENING • CONFIDENTIALITY • DECISION MAKING • PARTICIPATION • EXPECTATIONS 1) Ask each team member to reflect on and record group behavior(s) they consider ideal for each of the

categories above.

2) After everyone has written down their ideas, make a combined list of norms (combining similar norms and clarifying language as needed).

3) If the list is long (more than 10 norms), the team should work to make the list more manageable.

4) Ask if everyone can abide by the list of norms. If anyone dislikes or cannot comply with one of the norms, review the proposed norms. Determine whether the group can support the norms before the group adopts them.

WHEN YOUR NORMS HAVE BEEN ADOPTED

• Record & Post: Use the “PLC Team Norms” template to create a document that lists all team norms

and post it in the PLC Shared Data folder. • Be Accountable: Commit to following the norms created by the team, and acknowledge that each team

member shares in the responsibility of holding all members accountable to the norms. • Review & Assess: Review the norms at the start of each meeting and assess the team’s use of norms at

the end of each meeting.

Establishing  PLC  Team  Norms  

Creating  your  team  Norms  

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 Developing Norms WHEN ESTABLISHING NORMS, CONSIDER: PROPOSED NORM TIME

• When do we meet? • Will we set a beginning and ending time? • Will we start and end on time?

LISTENING

• How will we encourage listening? • How will we discourage interrupting?

CONFIDENTIALITY

• Will the meetings be open? • Will what we say in the meeting be held in

confidence? • What can be said after the meeting?

DECISION MAKING

• How will we make decisions? • Are we an advisory or a decision-making body? • Will we reach decisions by consensus? • How will we deal with conflicts?

PARTICIPATION

• How will we encourage everyone’s participation?

• Will we have an attendance policy?

EXPECTATIONS

• What do we expect from members? • Are there requirements for participation?

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CTE PLC’s Connect Contribute Collaborate Create

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What questions are we, as a team, considering during the current school year?

! What is our fundamental purpose as teachers? As a team? What is effective teaching?

! Does public education for all children mean that all students shall learn or merely that they will be required to attend school?

! What is it we want all students to know and be able to do as a result of this course, grade level, or unit of instruction?

! How can we be sure each student has access to the same knowledge and skills regardless of who is teaching the course?

! How will we monitor the learning of each student, on each essential skill, on a timely basis (formative vs. summative)?

! What are some strategies for effective questioning, raising Bloom's Taxonomy, and creating planned questions?

! How can we calibrate student work samples in all content areas?

! What is new at State level in Standards and Curriculum?

! What happens in our school district when a student experiences difficulty in learning?

! What evidence do we have that we are using the results of common assessments as part of a process that is helping our team get better results?

PLC Discussion Questions

 

CTE PLC’s Connect Contribute Collaborate Create

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1. Examine power standards. Begin with a small time element: a month, unit, chapter, or quarter.

i. “Unwrap” the power standard. Examine the specific learning targets for that specific time period (unit, quarter, month, etc.) and develop a team pacing guide.

ii. Formulate questions. iii. What concepts and skills must students master as a result of your teaching during this time

period (quarter, month, chapter, etc.)? iv. What concepts and skills must students already have?

2. Develop learning targets (and student-friendly learning targets). i. What does your year-long map (or pacing guide) look like?

ii. How will you strategically place/schedule content and concepts during the year so that students will have optimal time to understand concepts and apply skills?

3. Create a common post-assessment. This will be administered at the conclusion of the teaching time (unit, quarter, month) based on what students must master (Power Standards).

4. Administer the common post-assessment BEFORE teaching. At this time it acts as a pre-assessment. i. What foundation do students already have?

ii. What knowledge, understanding, and skills do students already have about the topic that they are about to study?

iii. Which students are starting absolutely at square one in terms of understanding the concepts and/or applying the skills?

iv. Send pre-assessment data to PLC Facilitator. 5. Examine student work and/or student data using a protocol. 6. Dialogue about readings from professional journals or books; plan to implement ideas from such

readings. 7. Share a plan for implementation of ideas from recent professional development experiences. 8. Demonstrate/critique lessons that have been or will be taught in members’ classrooms. 9. Carry out a “lesson study.” 10. Design an action research plan to study the impact of instructional changes on student learning;

debrief regularly about the results of the implemented plan. 11. Plan for and share from members’ professional portfolios. 12. Dialogue about the successes and challenges of newly implemented teaching strategies (include

sharing of classroom artifacts such as videos or student work samples). 13. Lean about and/or plan for implementation of effective classroom assessment strategies. 14. Examine and discuss assessment techniques used in the community members’ classrooms; plan to

increase consistency across the system. 15. View videos of a community member teaching a lesson and use tools (Teacher Reflection Tools

and Classroom Observation Tools for facilitate reflection. 16. Read and discuss published case studies describing a teaching episode that had an unexpected

outcome or that addresses relevant instructional issues. 17. Examine, develop, and critique rubrics for evaluating student work, score work together to refine

rubrics and/or to increase consistency when applied in classrooms.

Activities  for  a  PLC  meeting  

 

CTE PLC’s Connect Contribute Collaborate Create

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18. Invite students to attend a meeting or interview a range of students—listen to their points of view about meaningful learning and teaching.

19. Study and practice peer observation strategies. 20. Compare observations of students working on particular assignments. 21. Identify data-based student learning needs and plan for instructional action to address those

needs. 22. Monitor the effects of instructional changes on student learning by studying, comparing,

analyzing data from community members’ classrooms. 23. Share the information gleaned from shadowing a student across a school day. 24. Plan strategies for increasing the alignment of members’ current classroom practices to “best”

teaching practices ( e.g., create a plan based on data collected from anonymous teacher self-assessments of practices—see Teacher Reflection Tools).

25. Use student performance data to revise lessons planned collaboratively. 26. Bring ungraded student work to exchange and grade; compare scoring consistency. 27. Develop practice-based criteria for evaluating new curriculum materials. 28. Examine new curriculum materials; identify “replacement units” to implement, debrief about

implementation. 29. Plan and practice effective strategies for conducting student interviews. 30. Discuss and analyze the results of interviewing students about their thinking and understanding

related to a particular math concept.