Doing Differently-Part 1 & 2 PLC Rollout 2012-2013

Dr. Timothy MitchellRapid City Area Schools Administrative Advance 8-6-12

Agenda

7:30-8:00 Continental Breakfast8:00-8:15 Welcome and Intro of New Staff8:30-9:15 “Doing Differently-Part 1” 9:15-10:00 Support Services 10:00-10:15 Break10:15-10:35 Human Resources10:35-10:55 Indian Education10:55-11:10 Federal Grants/Assessment11:10-11:25 Staff Development11:25-12:00 Business Office12:00-1:00 Lunch--(On Own)

Agenda

1:00-1:15 SB President--Sheryl Kirkeby1:15-2:15 Special Education2:15-2:30 Break2:30-3:00 Technology3:00-4:00 Student Achievement

4:00-4:30 “Doing Differently-Part 2”

Doing Differently

Welcome and Introduction of

New Staff

Administrative Advance

In Latin, the word retreat means "to draw back." Many view retreating in a negative way - that it is somehow cowardly or unproductive. Gaining

perspective before action is the best way to advance.

Administrative Advance

What do we do during our ADVANCE:

•Invest in yourself and your relationships•Quiet the mind to help see things clearer•Time to reflect on difficult decisions•Plan and strategize your vision•Celebrate past success

Doing Differently

Learning Targets:

To build a district-wide shared understanding of PLC principles, practices, and concepts with an emphasis on the four critical questions and how they interconnect and support each other.

To develop a high-performing collaborative team at the district and building level in order to achieve the collective purpose of high levels of learning for all students

Doing Differently

Learning Targets:

To clarify what all district employees must know and be able to do to achieve a high performing learning culture that supports a highly functioning PLC.

 To develop and deploy frequent team-developed evaluation processes to provide specific and immediate feedback to the district that will support the development of a highly functioning PLC. 

Doing Differently

Criteria for Success:The RCAS Administrative Team will develop as a Learning Team with a shared focus, shared priorities and shared understandings that support a highly functioning PLC.

 The RCAS Administrative Team will shift all behavior to align systems, structures, process and policies to create a high performing learning culture that will support a highly functioning PLC.

“Evolutionary biologists and psychologists have found neural and, possibly, genetic evidence of a human predisposition to cooperate. These findings suggests that instead of using controls or carrot and sticks to motivate people, companies should use systems that rely on engagement and a sense of common purpose”

Discuss your thoughts regarding the quote above.

Doing Differently

RCAS Mission

Building a community of life

long learners, one student at a

time.

RCAS Vision

All Rapid City Area School students will

achieve to their full potential.

Guaranteed, Viable, Relevant Curriculum Life and Career skills Technology Literacy (21st century skills) Staff Effectiveness and Organizational

Capacity-Building Comprehensive System of Assessment Diverse Opportunities for students to

learn and be academically successful

RCAS Priorities

RCAS Goals

Goal #1: RCAS will develop a guaranteed and viable curriculum in all grade levels and in all courses so that all students have access to the same essential learning.

Goal #2: RCAS will develop a comprehensive system of assessment that is aligned with content standards, curriculum materials and instructional practices.

Goal #3: RCAS will develop diverse opportunities for students to learn and be academically successful.

Doing Differently

The type of district and schools that I envision as we move forward embraces the

current research as to what is the best way for leaders and

teachers to act.

The Bird Card Unit

Doing Differently

Doing Differently

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is:-An on-going process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve-PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators

Doing Differently

What is the RIGHT Work?*All Educators work collaboratively and take collective responsibility for student learning

*Collaborative teams implement a guaranteed and viable curriculum, unit by unit

Doing Differently

What is the RIGHT work?*Collaborative teams monitor student learning through ongoing common formative assessments

*Educators use the results of the assessments to: improve individual practice, build the team’s capacity to achieve its goals and intervene on behalf of students

Doing Differently

What do Leaders do?-Organize Staff Into Meaningful Teams

-Provide Teams with Time to Collaborate

-Provide Supportive Structures That Help Groups Become Teams

-Clarify the Work the Team Must Accomplish

Doing Differently

What do Leaders do:-Monitor the Work of Teams and

Provide Direction and Support as Needed

-Avoid Shortcuts in the Collaborative Team Process

-Celebrate Short-term Wins, and Confront Those Who Do Not Contribute to Their Teams

Doing Differently

The Heart of the PLC Model:

Collaboration

-Conversations with each other-Learning from each other-Making decisions based upon collective knowledge

Doing Differently

The primary goal of any learning community– improving student learning– is limited only by a district’s ability to establish new structures, improve communication, enhance teacher learning and develop collective intelligence.

Doing Differently

New Structures and Procedures

Formalized, collaborative ways to identify essential learning goals, assessing the extent to which students have mastered those learning goals, and responding to differentiated student needs—these are all essential for efficient collaboration

Doing Differently

Improved Communication

Teachers engaged in frequent conversations—using communication to build shared understanding about teaching and learning

Doing Differently

Enhanced Teacher Learning

Defined by a spirit of reflection, an action orientation, and a focus on collective inquiry— Instructional capacity improves as teachers share ideas

Doing Differently

Collective Ownership and Intelligence

Ownership of all students and respond as a collective entity– identify and then amplify instructional practices that work – and to eliminate those that are ineffective

John Hattie-Visible Learning

Visible Learning synthesized the results of more than 15 years of

research involving millions of students and it represents the

biggest collection of evidenced-based research into what actually

works in schools to improve learning.

John Hattie-Visible Learning

*Promoting high levels of learning are about linking specific teaching strategies with specific student results

*There is a huge variation in the impact of different teaching strategies—but few schools focus on the highest impact strategies

Doing Differently

John Hattie (2009), in his book Visible Learning, examines numerous instructional practices and concludes that teachers working together in collaborative teams to clarify what students must learn, gather evidence of learning, and analyze that evidence so that they can identify the most powerful teaching strategy is indeed the practice that yields the most results in improving student learning. Getting this powerful continuous model in place requires both structural adjustments and cultural shifts.

John Hattie-Visible Learning

What is the barrier to high quality learning in every classroom:

*The variation of implementation causes different impact on learning

Doing Differently

“There is an assumption in more traditional districts and schools that only bottom-up initiatives will be successful or should be undertaken. But the complex journey of district reculturing is not likely to simply bubble up from the bottom. In every district with which we work, we emphasize the need to provide high-quality, top-down leadership, direction, and support, especially in the beginning of the PLC journey.” Robert Eaker & Janel Keating, 2012

Discuss your thoughts regarding the quote above.

Doing Differently

The PLC work includes two key prongs. The first prong involves building shared knowledge and understanding . Launching District-Wide Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): An Implementation Guide forms the basis for building this shared knowledge district-wide and provides the initial clarification principals and teachers.

Doing Differently

Priorities/Non-Negotiables:1. Build district-wide shared understanding of

PLC concepts

2. Develop high-performing collaborative teams focused on high levels of learning for all students

3. Clarify essential learning outcomes/power standards

4. Develop and deploy common formative assessments 

Doing Differently

These priorities allow educators in the district to break the journey ahead of us into initial component parts. There are no shortcuts or easy routes to take in becoming a PLC. While there will be occasional storms and roadblocks, the purpose of the journey—higher levels of learning for all students and adults alike—is worthwhile.

Doing Differently

Launching District-Wide PLCs:An Implementation Guide for All

StaffKey Features:

4 Priorities/Non-NegotiablesAligned with BOE Goals –

Approved 6/7/12

Doing Differently

Launching District-Wide PLCs:An Implementation Guide for All Staff

Key Features:Each priority has: Learning Target Content provided for everyone to learn – Building

shared background Framework includes why, how, who, when, what

Accountability and Indicator of Progress (building level and classroom level)

Monitoring Process

Doing Differently

Launching District-Wide PLCs:An Implementation Guide for All

StaffKey Features:Glossary References and Additional Resources

Doing Differently

This document is intended to provide direction and support, to encourage educators to take action, and to point staff in the right direction, while at the same time promoting and encouraging flexibility and autonomy.

Doing Differently

“Successful transformation to a PLC cannot happen without effective leadership from the building principal. Highly passionate and skilled principals are an essential ingredient to successfully transforming schools into high-performing PLCs...No school can truly become a PLC unless the principal is fully committed to the process” (Myers, 2012, pp. 103, 177).

Discuss your thoughts regarding the quote above.

Doing Differently

The second prong of the PLC process involves the building-level leadership that is required to bring the PLC process to life.

Doing Differently

Leadership for Launching District-Wide PLCs:An Implementation Guide for Administrators

This document provides direction and support regarding the building-level leadership practices and conditions that must be created in each school to achieve the priorities. Priorities #1 and #2 particularly underscore principals’ responsibilities.

Doing Differently

Leadership for Launching District-Wide PLCs:

An Implementation Guide for Administrators

Key Features: Specify learning targets (for principals) Clarify “the tight” Offer “how to” strategy ideas based on

the PLC literature Provide opportunities to collaborate,

share, and learn from each other

Doing Differently

Leadership for Launching District-Wide PLCs:

An Implementation Guide for Administrators

Key Features: Provide timelines for

implementation Accountability and Indicator of

Progress (building level and classroom level)

Monitoring Process

Doing Differently

The district’s “big picture” approach to building principals’ capacities to successfully lead PLCs will be to (1) clarify what principals are expected to do, (2) organize principals into teams so that they can learn and grow together, and (3) provide them with resources, training, support, and examples needed to be successful.

Doing Differently

www.solution-tree.comwww.allthingsplc.com

Tools and ResourcesBlog

Download the PresentationsView Webinars

PLC Locator

Doing Differently

Learning Target:

To build a district-wide shared understanding of PLC principles, practices, and concepts with an emphasis on the four critical questions and how they interconnect and support each other.

To develop a high-performing collaborative team at the district and building level in order to achieve the collective purpose of high levels of learning for all students

Doing Differently

Learning Target:

To clarify what all district employees must know and be able to do to achieve a high performing learning culture that supports a highly functioning PLC.

 To develop and deploy frequent team-developed evaluation processes to provide specific and immediate feedback to the district that will support the development of a highly functioning PLC. 

Doing Differently

Criteria for Success:The RCAS Administrative Team will develop as a Learning Team with a shared focus, shared priorities and shared understandings that support a highly functioning PLC.

 The RCAS Administrative Team will shift all behavior to align systems, structures, process and policies to create a high performing learning culture that will support a highly functioning PLC.

Doing Differently

A PLC acknowledges the incongruity between a proposed commitment to learning for all and the absence of a coordinated strategy for identifying, monitoring, and responding when students do not learn or when students require advanced learning. PLCs offer educators an opportunity to embrace a new story of the purpose of schooling and the way in which they must work to fulfill that purpose.

Doing Differently

“Discover a few vital behaviors, change those, and problems – no matter what the size -- topple like

a house of cards.”-(Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, and

Switzler- Influencer-The Power to Change Anything)