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Session 3209 -- Influence Teaching Session 3209 -- Influence Teaching and Student Learning by Developing and Student Learning by Developing Professional Learning CommunitiesProfessional Learning Communities
Craig Benes, Chief of Elementary Schools, Ravenswood Ridge Network, Chicago Public Schools
Olimpia Bahena, Principal, Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy, Fulton Network, Chicago Public Schools
Margaret McGregor, Instructional Support Leader, Ravenswood Ridge Network, Chicago Public Schools
Who we are - Olimpia
• Principal of Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy
• Leads Talcott, an 85/85/85 school, which has had 10 successive years of academic growth
• National Board Certified Teacher• Bilingual Teacher• Presents at National Conferences-Dual
Language Design
Who we are - Margaret
• Instructional Support Leader, Ravenswood Ridge Network
• Presents at National and International Conferences on Vocabulary Development
• Adjunct Faculty at National-Louis University-Literacy
• Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with Administration and Supervision
Who we are - Craig
• Chief Elementary Schools, Ravenswood Ridge Network– 41 schools, 29,000 students
• Past Principal Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy• Led one of the most improved sub-districts last year• New Leaders for New Schools, Chicago-Leadership
Award• Member of Senior Leadership Team for Chicago
Public Schools
As a Team
Learning ObjectivesWe will:
• Examine the implementation and relationships of professional learning communities within the Chicago Public Schools
• Learn about processes that yield knowledge and insight into the sustainability, influence, and effect of professional learning communities on student learning
• Study how area, school wide, and grade-level teams use consultancy protocols, Instructional Rounds, and grade level structures to build commitment and cohesiveness
Define the Learning Challenge
• Large urban district
• Lack of coherence
• Change is constant
• Lack of hope
• Too tight…too loose continuum
• New initiatives
• How many of you have experienced some of this?
Purposeful Peer Interactions- PLCs
• PLCs are the solution• Fullan,The Six Secrets of Change, 2008, pg. 41
• A serious problem that large systems face, one that becomes more perplexing in an ever more complex, diverse world, is how to achieve a degree of cohesion and focus in an otherwise fragmented environment…
…Too tight-too loose dilemma
• Fullan refers to this as the too tight-too loose dilemma.
• Focus the organization with sharp goals and tight accountability, and you get passive or alienated workers. Go for decentralized creativity, and you get drift and inertia.
• The key to achieving a simultaneously tight-loose organization lies more in purposeful peer interaction than in top-down direction from the hierarchy
How To Build Coherence to Support Learning and Results Across:
• Classrooms• Schools• Region• Central Office - District
• With teachers, students, parents, administrators, and community
What is a Professional Learning Community?
• Teachers and school leaders to work and learn collaboratively
• Reflection on teaching practice• Collaboration through joint planning,
problem solving, learning and reflection• Learning is grounded in student work and
data-accountability
Some structures we use with Professional Learning Communities to Support Purposeful Peer Interaction
• Grade-Level Meetings• Consultancy Protocols• Instructional Rounds
Reflective Practice Professional Learning Structures
Individual Partners Teams School wide, District wide
Teacher Narrative
Classroom Coaching Grade-Level Instructional Rounds
Journaling Action Research Content Team Consultancy
Self-Observing Principal-Teacher Cognitive Coaching
Six Hats Mixed member study-focus groups
Teacher Portfolio
Reflective Interviews
Video Club Walk-Throughs
Reading with Reflection
Observational Learning
Think Tank Teacher teams present at PD
Reflective Practice to Improve Schools (2006) York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere and Montie
What research says about PLCs
• About 60% of teachers’ time in high-performing countries is spent in student contact, compared with about 80% in the United States
• The high-performing nations build in time for teachers to collaborate daily, to regularly observe one another teaching, and to support ongoing education through subsidized enrollment in university or degree courses.
Grade Level Meetings-Learnings
• Key learning is that PLCs need an internal structure to keep on point
• Use of protocols• Team members reflect on the learning process
periodically
Reflecting on the Quality of Grade Level Meetings
• Members are late vs. actively engaged• Leadership roles are shared• Content solely focuses on student behavior vs.
instruction• Trust is cultivated between teachers to share
student work• Administration is learning with teachers vs.
solely supervising teachers
Reflecting on the Learning Process with Grade Level Meetings
• What is the process for your grade-level and does it work?
• Do you have clear learning norms and protocols?
• Do members willingly share student work and discuss their teaching practice?
• How is professional trust and shared accountability built?
• How is grade-level work shared with the rest of the school?
Share out Reflections
Consultancy Model as a PLC
• Numerous models or protocols• Directed vs. loose• Helps clarify or expand thinking or identify a
solution• Intentional membership composition• Reflect on the learning process –follow the
protocol, equity of voice, group trust, on-task
Consultancy Model “Case Study”
• Think of a typical challenge you have as a teacher leader or administrator.
• A challenge that is connected to your school’s theory of improvement.
• Make sure it is one you feel “stuck” with.• One that is appropriate to share publicly.• Focused on instructional leadership rather then
operational issues or “counseling”.
Case Study/Consultancy
Share out- Consultancy
Instructional Rounds
• 1. Problem of Practice (POP): Reflecting on data, and student work, the school identifies a POP on which they ask participants to focus during classroom observations.
• 2. Observation of Practice: Teams collect data that is specific, descriptive, not evaluative, about the instructional core (teacher/content/student), and related to the problem of practice.
• 3. Observation Debrief: Observation teams discuss the data, describe what they saw, analyze the descriptive evidence, sort by patterns. Participants predict what students are learning What would the students know and be able to do?
• 4. Next Level of Work: Participants brainstorm the next level of work. Connect to the district and school Theory of Action, create an Action Plan
Instructional Rounds Outcomes
• Instructional Rounds in Education (2010) City, Elmore, Fiarman and Tietel
• Reflect on and improve instructional practice
• Develops knowledge of professional practice, and develops how professionals can learn from one another
• Build coherence across levels teacher, school, network, district
• Helps identify the next level of work
Instructional Rounds OverviewThe Four Elements of Rounds
Problem of Practice Observation of Practice Observation Debrief Next Level of WorkSchool identifies a problem of practice that:
*focuses on the instructional core
*Is directly observable
Is actionable (is within the school/district’s control and can be improved in real time)
*Connects to a broader strategy of improvement (school/system)
*Network adopts the problem of practice as the focus for the network’s learning
Observation teams collect data that is:
*Descriptive, not evaluative
*Specific
*About the instructional core
*Related to the problem of practice
Observation teams discuss the data:
*Describe what you saw
*Analyze the descriptive evidence (What patterns do you see? How might you group the data?)
*Predict what students are learning. If you were a student in this class/school and you did everything the teacher told you to do, what would you know and be able to do?
Brainstorm the next level of work:
* Share district-level theory of action
* Share district context, including resources, professional development, and current initiatives
*Brainstorm the next level of work for this week/next month/by the end of year
*Brainstorm suggestions for school level and for district level
*Tie suggestions to the district’s (and school’s) theory of action.
Additional Steps to Support This Element of Rounds
Provide school or district level context for the problem of practice
Describe optimal teaching and learning in relation to this problem of practice:
*What would students be doing/saying?
*What would teachers be doing/saying?
*Create a working draft that captures the ongoing development of the group’s learning
May include a specific format for observation note-taking or a set of guidelines:
*What are students doing/saying?
*What are teachers doing/saying?
*What is the task?
Use affinity protocol to group the data
Use external standards to group the data
Ask additional questions:
*What do teachers need to know to support optimal learning (described in the working draft)?
*What does the school/district need to know to support optimal learning?
*Build a working draft of what optimal leading and learning looks like at the school and district level (What are teachers, principals, and central office administrators saying/doing?)
Market Street School – Problem of Practice
Observables:– Level of Questioning– Level of Task– Student Interaction (with the teacher
and with each other)
What types of questions are we asking? How are students responding? What strategies are students using when interacting with the text?
Descriptive vs. Evaluative • Evidence Collection
• Descriptive note-taking: What you see, not what you think about
what you see.
The students sorted words and talked about the word recycle. They were interested in what they were doing. I think I would have done it a little differently though.
Descriptive vs. Evaluative • Evidence Collection
• Descriptive note-taking: What you see, not what you think about
what you see.
The students were sorting words and
talking about morphology. “Wait, we
have to sort the words according to the
prefix that means again…. Let’s start with
the one that means again. Re, re means
again, like rewrite, to write again….What
does recycle mean? To cycle again? I
think it means it is used again, like it
comes up as new, like the life cycle, or
water cycle, it is the cycle of old stuff
becoming new.”
Rounds/Activity
• Objective comments
• What would you be able to do if you were a student in the classroom?
• Sort out the observations, take out subjective comments
• Think about patterns, what do you notice?
• POP: What types of questions are we asking? How are students responding? What strategies are students using when interacting with the text?
Reflections on PLC structures to support teaching and learning
Learning ChallengePurposeful Peer Interactions – PLCs
• How do these structures support learning across different levels?
• Can these structures help build coherence and alleviate the stress of developmental change?
• What would you like to do to improve your PLCs?
• How can these structures support Instructional Leadership, teaching and student learning?
• What are your next leadership moves?
Final Thoughts….
and thank you for learning with us today
Wanted … highly passionate, highly qualified principals….
• To learn more about Chicago Public Schools, visit…
www.cps.edu
www.cpsleaders.com
