Minneapolis, Minnesota • July 7–9soltreemrls3.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/solution-tree.com/... · William M. Ferriter Plug Us In: Using Digital Tools to Facilitate the

Agenda Minneapolis, Minnesota • July 7–9

Thursday, July 76:30–8:00 a.m. Registration

Continental breakfastAuditorium FoyerExhibit Hall A

8:00–9:45 a.m. Keynote—Rebecca DuFourThe Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to Life

Auditorium

9:45–10:15 a.m. Break10:15–11:45 a.m. Breakouts Titles and locations: pages 3–5

Descriptions: pages 9–2111:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Lunch (provided) Exhibit Hall A12:45–2:15 p.m. Breakouts Titles and locations: pages 3–5

Descriptions: pages 9–212:15–2:30 p.m. Break2:30–3:30 p.m. Panel discussion

A Q&A time with the presenters. Receive practical answers to your most pressing questions.

Auditorium

Friday, July 87:00–8:00 a.m. Registration

Continental breakfastAuditorium FoyerExhibit Hall A

8:00–9:30 a.m. Keynote—Richard DuFourImplementing the PLC Process: Will You Soar or Settle?

Auditorium

9:30–10:00 a.m. Break10:00–11:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles and locations: pages 3–5

Descriptions: pages 9–2111:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Lunch (provided) Exhibit Hall A12:30–2:00 p.m. Breakouts Titles and locations: page 3–5

Descriptions: pages 9–212:00–2:15 p.m. Break2:15–3:30 p.m. Team time

A collaboration time for your team. The presenters are available for help in team discussions.

Exhibit Hall A

Saturday, July 97:00–8:00 a.m. Breakfast Exhibit Hall A8:00–9:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles and locations: pages 3–5

Descriptions: pages 9–219:30–10:00 a.m. Break10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Keynote—Robert Eaker

What It Means to BE a Professional Learning CommunityAuditorium

Agenda is subject to change without prior notice.

Agenda

© Solution Tree 2011solution-tree.com 1

Agenda

Breakouts at a Glance

Presenter and TitleThursday, July 7 Friday, July 8 Saturday,

July 9

10:15–11:45 a.m. 12:45–2:15 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 12:30–2:00 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Tim Brown

Raising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices Auditorium 2

Creating a Culture of Learning: It’s Not a One-Time Thing Auditorium 2 Auditorium 2

Problems or Opportunities: The Five Dysfunctions of Teams Auditorium 2

When, Where, and How Do We Begin? Auditorium

Brian Butler

Developing a Common Language M100 B–C

High-Quality Professional Development and Learning M100 B–C M100 B–C

Building High-Performing Collaborative Teams M100 B–C M100 B–C

Rebecca & Richard DuFour

Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work, Part 1

Auditorium

Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work, Part 2

Auditorium

Rebecca DuFour

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary Schools

L100 A–C & H–J

We Need More Time! Elementary Schedules That Support the PLC Process L100 C & H

One Is the Loneliest Number: Developing Leadership Capacity in Your School M100 D–E

Richard DuFour

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Secondary Schools Auditorium

Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to Resisters Auditorium

Assessing Progress on the PLC Journey L100 D–E




July 9

10:15–11:45 a.m. 12:45–2:15 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 12:30–2:00 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Robert Eaker

Friday Night in America: A Common Sense Approach to Improving Student Achievement

Auditorium 3

Developing a Stretch Culture M101 B–C

A Focus on Learning: What Would It Look Like If We Really Meant It? Auditorium 3

Robert Eaker & Janel Keating

Aligning the Work of a Professional Learning Community: Central Office, Schools, and Teams

Auditorium 3

Cassandra Erkens

Promising Practices of Common Assessments L100 F–G L100 F–G

Making Homework Count L100 F–G

Navigating Conflict and Feeling Good About It L100 F–G L100 F–G

William M. Ferriter

Plug Us In: Using Digital Tools to Facilitate the Work of PLCs Auditorium 1 Auditorium 1

Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every Teacher

Auditorium 1 Auditorium 1

We’re Meeting. Now What? A Look Inside a Learning Team Auditorium 1

Janel Keating

Are the Kids Learning and How Do We Know? Data-Based Decision Making in High-Performing Collaborative Teams

L100 D–E L100 D–E

Roadmap: The Journey to Becoming a PLC L100 D–E Auditorium 3

Mike Mattos

Learning CPR: Creating Powerful Responses When Students Don’t Learn

L100 A–C & H–J Auditorium 3

Filling the Cracks: How to Create a Systematic Intervention Program

L100 A–C & H–J

L100 A–B & I–J

© Solution Tree 2011solution-tree.com4

Agenda



July 9

10:15–11:45 a.m. 12:45–2:15 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 12:30–2:00 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Tyrone Olverson

PLCs: A GPS for Improved Student Achievement M100 D–E Auditorium 2

Breaking Barriers: Implementing PLCs at Work M100 D–E M100 D–E

PLCs: The Blueprint to Academic Relief and Recovery M100 D–E

Laurie Robinson

Assessing Students Responsively: Differentiating a Classroom M100 F–G M100 F–G

Project Team: Assessing School Culture M100 F–G M100 F–G

What’s Common in Common Assessments: Building Assessments With Accuracy M100 F–G

Julie Schmidt

RTI in a PLC: A Perfect Fit M100 H–I M100 H–I

Shift Happens: How the Work of Teachers Changes in a PLC M100 H–I M100 H–I

The Role of Special Education in a PLC M100 H–I

Mark Weichel

Creating PLC Tools With Teams M101 B–C

Turning on a Dime at the Secondary Level M101 B–C M101 B–C

Lowering High School Failure Rates— PLC Style M101 B–C

Agenda is subject to change without prior notice.


Minneapolis Convention Center

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MEZZANINE LEVELMinneapolis Convention Center

walk. skip. run. pedal. drive. � y. sail. just get there

99authorsworld-class education leaders and innovators share bold new ideas for student learning

10 strands plc, 21st century skills, leadership, assessment, special populations, school improvement, instruction, literacy, principals, rti

3dayscustomize your experience around the topics most relevant to you

1 event all in one place

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authorspeak2011.comnovember 1–3, indianapolis

(our authors are)

2011BindAD_authspkRUGoing_.indd 1 5/19/11 10:07 AM

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Minneapolis Convention Center

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Tim Brown Raising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices

As schools focus more on learning than teaching, they must also examine current grading practices, policies, and management systems to support these efforts. As we examine grading issues in our schools, staff members must establish collective commitments on a topic often viewed as too hot to handle.

Participants learn about useful tools and strategies to examine grading practices in their schools or districts. Tim Brown asserts that schools must address the controversial topic of grading to make grading practices more meaningful.

In this session, participants: • Examinecurrentgradingpracticesastheyrelatetoassessmentandlearningoutcomes.• Discussgradingguidelinesthataligntotheirschools’purposes.• Obtainstrategiesforbringingthesediscussionstolightintheirschools.

Creating a Culture of Learning: It’s Not a One-Time ThingLee G. Bolman and Terrence Deal write in their book Leading With Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit, “Organizations without a rich symbolic life become empty and sterile. The magic of special occasions is vital in building significance into collective life.”

Tim Brown offers practical strategies to create and communicate a mission, vision, and collective commitments to motivate staff. Using these strategies, educators can teach with high expectations and close learning gaps that exist for some students while helping leadership teams develop a school culture that communicates high expectations for students and themselves.

Participants are called on to:• Considertheimportanceofcommunicatingthemissionandvisionoftheirschoolstoall

stakeholders.• Learnspecificstrategiestoengagestaffandpromotedevelopmentthatcreatesinterest,

enthusiasm, and desire to take the next steps in continuous improvement.• Sharetheirplansofactionwithotherattendeesinthisbreakoutsession.

Problems or Opportunities: The Five Dysfunctions of Teams“The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is ‘look under foot.’ The great opportunity is where you are.” —John Burroughs

When adults commit themselves to seeking solutions rather than looking for problems, great opportunities open up for kids. Adults in a school understand their own strengths, limitations, and needs, and find greater degrees of success through collaborative teams within their schools. This session examines what it takes for teams to function at high levels and gives practical ideas and strategies for dealing with members and teams that struggle.

During this session, participants:• DevelopanunderstandingofthefivedysfunctionsofteamsasdescribedbyPatrickLencioni.• Examinestrategiesthataddresseachdysfunction.• Sampleactivitiesthatreinforcethecomponentsthathelpteamsfunctionathighlevels.

Session Descriptions

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Tim Brown When, Where, and How Do We Begin?

Becoming a professional learning community is not an accident. Whether your school is just starting, has stumbled, or is continuing on this journey, moving forward always requires a plan. The purpose of this breakout is to provide guidance and time to create action plans for sharing the knowledge and concepts presented at this institute. Attendees identify specific topics to share upon their return from the institute and develop a detailed presentation outline. Tools, examples, and presentation resources are provided to support participants’ goals of helping others learn about and implement the concepts presented at this institute.

In this session, participants:• Developactionplansfortakinginstituteinformationbacktotheirworksites.• Selecttopicsfromtheinstitutebinderanddevelopplansforpresentinganddevelopinga

level of shared understanding and knowledge at their worksites.• Learnspecificstrategiestofacilitatestaffdevelopmentandspurinterest,enthusiasm,and

desire to take the next steps in continuous improvement.• Sharetheirplansofactionwithotherattendeesatthisbreakout.

Brian Butler Developing a Common Language

Brian Butler helps participants build common language into their schools with the goal of functioning better as PLCs. Through a case study, he shows what happens when teachers assume they use the same PLC definitions and hold the same expectations. Attendees compare and contrast his case study with their experiences.

Throughout the session, educators learn how to embed the three Cs—common knowledge, common language, and common expectations—in the professional development of schools to enhance student and adult learning. Brian’s energy is catching as he motivates attendees to move, laugh, and get the most out of this fun, fast-paced session.

High-Quality Professional Development and LearningWho says professional development and learning aren’t fun? Brian Butler helps participants experience how joy, playfulness, and laughter relate to collaboration, teaching, and learning. Along with meaningful activities that participants can take back to their schools, they review a case study that exemplifies high-quality professional development and learning at its best.

As a result of this breakout, participants:• Learntoidentifycomponentsofhigh-qualityprofessionaldevelopmentandlearning.• Comparecomponentsofprofessionaldevelopmentcasestudieswiththeirexperiences.• Determinehowhigh-qualityprofessionaldevelopmentandlearningcanworkintheir

schools.


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Brian Butler Building High-Performing Collaborative Teams

Brian Butler helps participants learn by doing. In this session, educators form collaborative teams and work through fast-paced, interactive, and highly enjoyable small- and whole-group activities.

Participants should expect to:• Returntotheirbuildingswithknowledgeandskillstoformstrongcollaborativeteams.• Leavewithready-to-useactivitiestotakebacktotheirbuildings.• Observeavirtualhigh-performingcollaborativeteaminaction.

As members of PLCs, educators have expertise to share. Be prepared to dance, cheer, and perhaps even sing. Session participants gain knowledge, skills, and ready-to-use activities to enhance their influence as team members.

Rebecca & Richard DuFour Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work,

Parts 1 and 2Powerful collaborative teams are the fundamental building block of a professional learning community and a critical component in building a collaborative culture.

Learn how educators transform their congenial groups into high-performing collaborative teams, and get a sense of the specific work undertaken by those teams. Discover ways to provide time and support for collaborative teams during the school day. More importantly, identify structures and strategies to help teams stay focused on doing the work that has a positive impact on student achievement.

This two-part continuing session is designed for educators at all levels and is highly recommended for all participants who are new to PLC concepts.


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Rebecca DuFour

The Power of Professional Learning Communities at Work: Bringing the Big Ideas to LifeThe professional learning community concept is supported by research and endorsed by educational organizations at all levels as our best hope for sustained, substantive improvement. But what are the Big Ideas that drive the professional learning community concept, and what do they look like in the real world of education?

Rebecca DuFour offers practical strategies for bringing the Big Ideas to life. Participants engage in the actual work of collaborative teams in a PLC and travel on virtual field trips to schools and districts that use these ideas to profoundly impact student and adult learning.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary SchoolsSchools that function as PLCs must ultimately do two things: 1) build a collaborative culture to promote continuous adult learning, and 2) create structures and systems that provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Participants in this session examine strategies to collectively: • Respondtothelearningneedsofeachstudentinatimely,directive,andsystematicway.• Createandsustainstrongparentpartnershipstoenhancestudentlearning.• Makecelebrationsapartoftheschoolculture.

After examining different models of systematic intervention and enrichment, participants receive criteria to assess their own schools’ responses and an action-planning template for next steps in raising the bar and closing the gap.

This session is recommended for elementary school educators.

We Need More Time! Elementary Schedules That Support the PLC ProcessSchools on the PLC journey always face one particular challenge: how to provide time and structures that support both student and adult learning.

This interactive workshop is designed to help elementary educators meet that challenge. It provides participants with tools, questions, and templates to 1) identify the existing resources in their schools, and 2) develop strategies for reallocating those resources to better support high levels of learning.

Bring a copy of your existing schedule and an open, creative mind as Rebecca DuFour challenges you to consider schedules and structures that provide large blocks of time for new direct instruction, team collaboration, and systems of intervention and enrichment—all within the existing resources of your school.

This session is recommended for elementary educators who have an interest in and/or responsibility for creating schoolwide and team schedules.



Rebecca DuFour One Is the Loneliest Number: Developing Leadership Capacity in Your School

Both educational researchers and organizational theorists have concluded that widespread leadership is essential to the success of a learning organization. To initiate and sustain the PLC process in your school or district, lots of leaders are necessary.

In this highly interactive session, participants examine a case study, identify specific strategies to develop and support leaders, and create the structures for widely dispersed leadership that is characteristic of PLCs.

Richard DuFour

Implementing the PLC Process: Will You Soar or Settle?In monitoring the impact of the PLC process, recent studies found that partial implementation of the process produced no gains in student achievement. However, when those same schools fully engaged in the process, dramatic gains occurred.

The PLC journey is filled with dangerous detours and seductive shortcuts every step of the way. Inevitably, detours and shortcuts are attempts to circumvent actually doing what PLCs are meant to do. The result is settling for pseudo PLCs.

In this session, Richard DuFour alerts educators to inevitable implementation challenges, and he provides a process for overcoming them.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Secondary SchoolsThe mission statement of most schools asserts all students can and should learn. The nagging question that confronts those schools, however, is “what happens when they don’t learn?”

This session uses the powerful video Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School to help you see school from a new perspective—the perspective of a student. Participants then contrast the traditional school response when students experience initial difficulty in their learning with the systematic response of a professional learning community.

This session calls on participants to:• Assessthecurrentmannerinwhichtheirschoolsrespondwhenstudentsdonotlearn.• Examinedifferentmodelsthatcreateatimely,directive,andsystematicresponseto

students who are not learning.

This session is recommended for middle and high school educators.


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Richard DuFour Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to Resisters

The most significant barrier to building a school culture focused on continuous improvement is the tradition of privatization of practice, isolation, and individual autonomy that has characterized teaching. How can a faculty build consensus for significant change? What are the most effective ways of addressing the concerns of those who resist even when the staff has decided to move forward?

As a result of this session, participants can:• Defineconsensus.• Applythemosteffectivestrategiesforbuildingconsensus.• Utilizesevenresearch-basedstrategiesforaddressingresistance.

Assessing Progress on the PLC JourneyThis session is designed for educators who have implemented the PLC concept in their schools or districts and are looking for strategies to assess their progress. It is not intended for those who are new to the PLC journey.

Participants in this highly interactive workshop examine data, team artifacts, and survey results from a sample school. They also identify questions to probe more deeply into the school’s practices. Participants suggest areas of commendation as well as recommendations to help the school move forward. Finally, participants debrief on the process and discuss ways to apply it to their own schools.

Robert Eaker

What It Means to BE a Professional Learning Community Given the fact that there is unprecedented agreement among researchers and practitioners that PLCs offer our best hope for improving schools, it might be said that the PLC concept is an idea whose time has come. However, a word of caution is in order—even in the face of such widespread enthusiasm. Advocates of PLCs face the daunting challenge of sustaining the hard work of change and ensuring that changes ultimately impact school culture in significant ways.

Robert Eaker offers a number of practical suggestions for moving a school along a continuum from knowing about PLCs to doing the work of implementation to ultimately being a PLC.

Friday Night in America: A Common Sense Approach to Improving Student AchievementImproving student learning is a difficult, complex, and incremental endeavor. However, more is known about ways to ensure student learning than is realized at first glance. Many of these methods are used in non-academic school settings. Practices that coaches use on Friday nights to ensure success on the football field are similar to efforts that school teams undertake to guarantee success in the academic arena.

Robert Eaker reviews school practices that lead to improved student learning. He shows how teacher teams can suit up with powerful strategies to win every day of the week.



Robert Eaker Developing a Stretch Culture

If the goal of achieving high levels of learning for all students is to be realized, then schools must develop a culture that stretches the aspirations and performance levels of students and adults alike. Robert Eaker focuses on cultural shifts that professional learning communities make during the development of a “stretch culture.” He pays particular attention to the topic of assessment and providing students with additional time and support.

A Focus on Learning: What Would It Look Like If We Really Meant It?A fundamental difference between schools that function as professional learning communities and their more traditional counterparts is a shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. While recognizing the importance of teaching, PLCs make learning their primary focus. This distinction has profound implications.

Explore ways that PLCs emphasize learning as their primary mission. Specifically, Robert Eaker offers proven strategies to address the critical questions associated with moving from a culture of teaching to a culture of learning.

Participants at this session:• Developastrongunderstandingofateamversusagroup.• Determinethecharacteristicsassociatedwithcollaboration,coordination,and

cooperation.• LearneffectivestrategiestostrengthencollaborativeteamsinaPLC.

Robert Eaker & Janel Keating Aligning the Work of a Professional Learning Community: Central Office, Schools, and Teams

A districtwide professional learning community is more than a sum of individual parts. A high-performing school district that functions as a PLC reflects a thoughtful alignment and integration of work at the central office level, in individual schools, and in teacher teams. While highlighting the efforts of highly successful school districts, Robert Eaker and Janel Keating describe how these districts organize and align at each organizational level to implement professional learning community concepts and practices districtwide.

Cassandra Erkens Promising Practices of Common Assessments

The idea of employing common assessments can be scary. Done well, however, amazing things begin to happen for students and teachers alike. When teachers engage in the process, they can collectively offer laser-like instruction, inform assessment literacy, and create differentiated and instructionally sensitive responses to support all learners. This session offers an overview of the process, protocols, and tools to help with the design, delivery, and data that result from common assessments.

As a result of this session, participants can:• Identifystrategiesandtoolstosupportaccurateassessmentdesign.• Examinepracticesandimplicationstoeffectivelyuseassessmentresults.


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Cassandra Erkens Making Homework Count

We use homework for three primary purposes: practice, preparation, and extension of classroom learning. According to some research, homework is one of the most powerful instructional strategies we can employ to impact student achievement; yet other research indicates that there is little to no correlation between our use of homework and current achievement results. How might we leverage homework to increase student productivity and achievement results? This session explores the necessary considerations for designing and using homework as a formative assessment tool that positively impacts student learning.

Participants in this session can expect to:• Alignintentofhomeworkwithpromisingpracticesinhomeworkdesignanduse.• Identifyformativeassessmenttoolsandprocessestosupporttheuseofhomeworkasan

opportunity for safe practice. • Exploreinstructionallysensitiveresponsestodata.

Navigating Conflict and Feeling Good About ItMany educators avoid addressing conflict because it feels so awful; the fear of long-term negative residual effects can be paralyzing. One’s willingness and ability to address conflict directly and safely make all the difference in the individual’s overall impact and rapport with staff. While the challenge of navigating conflict is nerve-wracking at the outset, there are specific ways educators can address conflict to elicit respect, improve rapport, and enable progress. This session helps attendees identify complexities of navigating conflicts, while exploring strategies, skills, and guidelines to address conflict safely and directly.

This session calls on participants to:• Identifythevalueofconflictandthecomplexitiesofnavigatingit.• Explorethestrategies,skills,andguidelinesindividualsmustusetoaddressconflictsafely

and directly.

William M. Ferriter Plug Us In: Using Digital Tools to Facilitate the Work of PLCs

For professional learning teams, the costs of collaboration can be quite high. Sharing information, creating new lessons together, and communicating with colleagues—both within and beyond their schools and districts—can take a lot of additional time that teachers just don’t have. As a result, many teachers begin to question the benefits of PLCs. In this session, William Ferriter introduces participants to a range of free digital tools that 21st century learning teams are using to make their collective learning more efficient and rewarding.

As a result of this session, participants can learn how to:• Usedigitaltoolstodiscussinstruction,organizehelpfulweblinks,developjointlesson

plans, and create warehouses of important documents.• BenefitfrominstantmessagingservicessuchasTwittertoplugintoanetworkofdigital

learners beyond the school.• Identifydigitaltoolsthataremostappropriateforsupportingtheworkoftheirlearning

teams.



William M. Ferriter Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams

for Every Teacher The PLC concept resonates with most educators, but making collaborative learning work in small schools or for singleton teachers can be challenging. In this session, participants will explore three different models for creating meaningful professional learning teams for singletons and teachers in small schools: 1) the creation of vertical teams studying skills that cross content areas, 2) designing class loads that allow teachers to teach the same subjects, and 3) using electronic tools to pair teachers with peers working in the same subject area. The session will also focus on how building or district leaders can facilitate and support PLCs.

This session calls on participants to:• Discussthecommonstructuralbarriersthatpreventsingletonsfromworkingon

collaborative teams.• Examinethreepotentialmodelsforcreatingmeaningfulprofessionallearningteamsfor

teachers.• DevelopthebeginningsofanactionplanforincorporatingsingletonsintothePLC

process. • ReviewkeyprinciplesforhelpingadministratorsestablishPLCs.• KeyprinciplesforhelpingadministratorsestablishPLCs

We’re Meeting. Now What? A Look Inside a Learning TeamFor many teachers, professional learning team meetings can be nothing short of overwhelming. Not used to making collective decisions, teams struggle to organize their work collaboratively and may begin to question the benefits of their schools’ decisions to restructure as professional learning communities. In this session, attendees explore the kinds of actions learning teams take to make their meetings successful.

Participants in this session can expect to:• Discusstherolethatclearnormsandexpectationsforbehaviorplayinthesuccessfulwork

of a learning team.• Exploretoolsdesignedtomonitortheworkoflearningteamsovertime.• Learnaboutthekindsoftasksthatlearningteamscantackletogether.

Janel Keating Are the Kids Learning and How Do We Know? Data-Based Decision Making in High-Performing Collaborative Teams

In a PLC there are a couple of important reasons to look at your data: 1) to answer Are kids learning? and 2) to improve our professional practice. This interactive session highlights how high-performing teams quickly examine their data to make decisions that impact the kids in the classroom. The data represent the names and faces of our kids.



Janel Keating Roadmap: The Journey to Becoming a PLC

Beginning the journey to becoming a PLC isn’t enough. There is no right way for schools to complete the journey, but there are definite stops that all must make.

Administrators and teacher teams need a map—a reference—to check where they are, to identify next stops, and to get a sense of progress. This session, which is aligned with the Solution Tree resource The Journey to Becoming a Professional Learning Community: A Roadmap, helps participants pinpoint their place along the path.

Mike Mattos Learning CPR: Creating Powerful Responses When Students Don’t Learn

The most significant difference between a traditional school and a professional learning community is how a site responds when students don’t learn. As Rick DuFour says, “Don’t tell me you believe that all kids can learn; tell me what you are doing about the kids who aren’t learning.”

In this session, participants learn the essential characteristics of effective interventions and how to create a systematic process which ensures that every child receives the time and support to succeed.

Filling the Cracks: How to Create a Systematic Intervention ProgramEducators have a moral responsibility to ensure that every student receives the additional time and support needed to succeed. Most schools have interventions programs to provide this help, but without a systematic identification process, some students are bound to slip through the cracks.

This session provides guiding practices and practical ideas to create a systematic intervention program which guarantees that every child receives the support needed to succeed.

Tyrone Olverson PLCs: A GPS for Improved Student Achievement

Have you ever had a destination in mind but gotten lost along the way? Professional learning community practices are available to all educators and help them maintain their direction and reach their destination. PLCs have the capacity to function in all conditions and cost nothing to use. In short, a professional learning community acts as a global positioning system for substantially improved student achievement.

In this session, administrators and teachers address the questions: What do students need to know? and How will we know when students are achieving the desired outcomes?

Learning outcomes of this session include:• Collaboratingeffectivelyandprioritizingwhat’sessential,what’simportant,andwhat’s

good to know, while taking into account national and statewide standards• Walkingthroughtheprocessofusingandanalyzingstudentdatatodetermineareasof

strengths and weaknesses• Developingstrategiestosupportteachingandlearning



Tyrone Olverson Breaking Barriers: Implementing PLCs at Work

What do PLC schools look like when they organize around a commitment to improve student achievement? What are the barriers to implementing a PLC? Instructional strategies generate thoughtful discussion on removing barriers to student achievement.

In this session, participants:• DiscovertoolstobreakbarriersthatkeepaPLCfrombecominghighperforming.• UseareviewactivitytobringhomethethreebigideasofaPLC.• Designcleargoalstokeepthefocusonraisingstudentachievementintheirschoolsor

districts.

PLCs: The Blueprint to Academic Relief and RecoveryWhat are the essential steps for schools and educators to take to create a detailed intervention plan? How do you create an intervention plan that ensures a supportive system and measures student growth? Learn a process for focusing on the four corollary PLC questions and understand how to address the question: How do we respond when students do not learn the first time?

Tyrone Olverson facilitates a discussion to help participants:• Understandhowtoincreasestudentachievementusingasimplesetofproceduresthat

ensures appropriate instruction for all students, with acceleration, maintenance, and remediation built into the process.

• Developaninterventionplanthatmeasuresandmonitorsstudentgrowthandsupportsstudents throughout the process.

Laurie Robinson Assessing Students Responsively: Differentiating a Classroom

Differentiation is a daunting task without first creating a clear roadmap for quality instruction.Establishing a tight curriculum is a necessary first step, followed by instructional strategies to mine how each student learns.

Participants in this session:• Identifywaystoassesslearningthroughcontent,process,andproduct,accordingto

readiness,interest,andlearnerprofiles.• LearnRobertSternberg’smodelofthreemajorintelligences(creative,analytical,and

practical) interwoven with Howard Gardner’s list of eight basic intelligence types.• Learnmultipleexamplesofdifferentiatingthroughtic-tac-toe,choiceboards,compacting,

and learning contracts.



Laurie Robinson Project Team: Assessing School Culture

This interactive session focuses on how to maximize collaborative conversations. To that end, Laurie Robinson gives participants user-friendly tools to build capacity among adults while maintaining a laser focus on learning. Laurie helps participants answer the question posed by Margaret Wheatley, a leading researcher in organizational behavior: Are we building capacity or simply staging an event?

In this session, participants:• Establish“skillfuldiscussion”throughPeterSenge’shigh-advocacy–high-inquirymodel.• Exploreactivestrategiestoengageadults.• Identifycommunicationtoolstocollaboratewhenlimitedtimeisanobstacle.• Celebrateschoolsuccessesandbuildateamatmosphere.

What’s Common in Common Assessments: Building Assessments With AccuracyIn the culture of testing nearly everything that moves, teachers have an opportunity to bring inherent meaning and value to essential learning through the construction of common assessments. To monitor and promote student growth, common assessments must align with the four critical questions of a PLC.

In this session, participants: • Learnthebasicscomponentsofbuildingacommonassessment—determiningWhat?

Why? How? and What’s next?• Discusswaysforsite-basedschoolstotakeasystemsapproachtouniversally

implementing common assessments.• Understandhowcommonassessmentresultscanleadtointerventionsanddifferentiation.• Examineauthenticsamplesofeffectiveassessmentsthatresultinimprovedstudent

learning.

Julie Schmidt RTI in a PLC: A Perfect Fit

This session explores the rationale behind RTI legislation and clarifies why the marriage between RTI and PLCs is a perfect union.

Julie Schmidt helps participants:• UnderstandtherationalebehindRTIlegislation.• GainclarityonRTIandPLCvocabularies.• ExamineinterventionsthroughthelensofaPLC.• UnderstandwhyPLCworkisessentialtosuccessfullyimplementingRTI.



Julie Schmidt Shift Happens: How the Work of Teachers Changes in a PLC

Julie Schmidt focuses on how the work of teachers changes in a professional learning community. She explores these shifts and translates what they mean in the day-to-day work of teachers and teams.

In this session, participants:• Exploreshiftsinassumptions.• Examinehowshiftsimpacthowteamsanswerthefourcriticalquestions.• Discusshowshiftsimpactstudentlearning.

The Role of Special Education in a PLCSpecial educators can effectively participate in a collaborative culture, but success depends on clarifying goals for what teachers want all kids to know and be able to do.

In this session, participants:• Discussifallreallymeans all.• Examinewaysforspecialeducatorstoparticipateinacollaborativeculture.• Learnwhyclarifyinggoalsissopowerfulforspecialeducators.

Mark Weichel Creating PLC Tools With Teams

PLC teams need to have a number of tools at their disposal to improve instruction. Participants in this session role play to develop essential learnings and learning plans, take a fast-forward look at common assessments, and engage in conversations that focus on student results from assessment data.

Participants also take away useful materials to enable them to develop their own tools for use at their schools or districts.

Turning on a Dime at the Secondary LevelThere are no disposable kids. In this session, participants learn how high schools can be responsive and go into action when students are not learning at expected levels. By providing templates of a successful PLC school, Dr. Weichel inspires participants to investigate strategies for turning on a dime when students are underperforming. He suffuses an interactive discussion with video, role playing, and collegial sharing.

Participants can expect to explore the following topics:• Howschoolsandteachershandlestudentswhoarefailingordon’tcompletetheirwork• Featuresofastronginterventionsystem• Detailsofaspecificsuccessfulhighschoolinterventionsystem• Theprocessnecessarytodevelopaninterventionsystematthesecondarylevel



Mark Weichel Lowering High School Failure Rates—PLC Style

As educational leaders, we are directed to make changes to how schools respond to underperforming student who receive the dreaded F. Instead of playing the blame game—in which teachers blame students, students blame teachers, and parents blame teachers and/or students—we need to find a win–win solution for all stakeholders.

This new challenge poses the question: How should an administrator respond when classroom data indicate a large number of students are failing? The real way to lower failure rates is to get more students to earn passing grades by following the tenets of a PLC.

Participants in this session address:• Whyschoolscan’tallowstudentstoself-selectthemselvesforfailure• Howschoolscanfocusonlearning,results,andcollaborationtoimprovefailurerates


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Minneapolis, Minnesota • July 7–9soltreemrls3.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/solution-tree.com/... · William M. Ferriter Plug Us In: Using Digital Tools to Facilitate the