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United We Learn

Team effort builds a path to equity and alignment

By Learning Forward
February 2014
Sitting down to plan professional learning for the 2011-12 school year brought about fundamental and necessary changes for educators at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis. Professional learning communities were in their infancy, conversations around data were about autopsies of annual standardized tests, and there was no description of what high-quality instruction should look like. To jump-start the planning, the staff examined Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011). As staff members articulated their visions for the school, it became evident that they would need to focus on three of Learning Forward’s standards: Leadership, Resources, and Implementation. With those standards to guide them, they would create an instructional framework (see table on p. 47) built around one

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Authors

Jill Kind

Jill Kind (jill_kind@rdale.org) is instructional coach at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn.

Building-level SMART goal 

 2013-14
Results goal Indicators Measures Targets Actions
By the end of the 2013-14 school year, we will decrease the percentage of students failing courses by 5%, from 34% to 29%. Grades Common formative assessment data Professional learning communities will complete a minimum of two common formative assessments with data dialogues and action plans per quarter. Develop data dialogues and action plans with instructional coach.

Develop daily closing activities on learning targets.

Monitor the use of WICOR strategies through the use of the learning walk.

Monitor the performance of the students of color.

Examine our data on students of color and compare it to the implementation of WICOR strategies.
Weeks 5, 7, 9, and semester At weeks 5, 7, and 9, the percentage of students failing courses is 5% lower than the previous year.
Engagement Learning walks By the end of the first quarter, we will collect baseline data on the percentage of students engaged.
Student engagement survey By the end of the first quarter, we will develop a common Cooper definition of student engagement.
Discipline Classroom referrals Monitor classroom referrals every month to look for patterns.

If we implement the instructional framework with fidelity, then we can provide feedback, change instructional practices, and develop timely interventions.

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Learning Walks

Learning walks are one method that Robbinsdale Cooper High School uses to monitor the implementation of its instructional framework. Administrators, district office staff, and the instructional coach conduct learning walks weekly using a rubric written by the building’s learning and leadership team that articulates what each element looks like in practice.

Learning walks are short time periods — 15 minutes in a classroom to gather data. Learning walks that take place during the first 15 minutes of class focus on the learning target and link to daily instruction; ones that take place during the second 15 minutes of class look for the use of instructional strategies; and learning walks that occur in the last 15 minutes of class look at instruction and how it relates to teachers checking for understanding on the daily lesson or the closing.

Learning walks provide feedback to teachers on their implementation of the instructional framework. This data is then shared with the learning and leadership team to plan further professional learning. By gathering this data from the learning walks, the school has been able to target its professional learning on specific areas for growth. The next step is to differentiate the learning for teachers based on this data.

References

Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Oxford, OH: Author.

Muhammad, A. & Hollie, S. (2012). The will to lead, the skill to teach: Transforming schools at every level. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

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Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.

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