Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
Professional learning communities
June 2008
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In This Issue
ARTICLES
Two high school districts recite the ABCs of professional learning communities
Imagine teams of high school educators teachers, counselors, principals, central office leaders, curriculum specialists working together to overcome the student achievement barriers of poverty, ethnicity, apathy, and inconsistencies in rigor and access to the curriculum in order to pursue the “ought-ness” of a better day. Imagine the adults in these schools working collaboratively to decide how to impact student achievement. Imagine student performance results on an upward trend of improvement unprecedented for the district.
NSDC'S standards ease the shift from isolation to collaboration
As the science chair at a high-performing high school, Jesse is responsible for supervising and supporting 22 science teachers. He is a solid teacher, and his peers consider him a good leader. He is comfortable with the meetings he runs, where the group focuses on announcements, procedures, and materials. Recently, Jesse’s principal told him that the school will be making a shift they’ll use meeting time for team learning. Jesse is not prepared for a shift to team time focused on the improvement of student learning. Considering his new challenges, Jesse wonders if he can be an effective leader.
Declaration of interdependence
Q&A with Judith Warren Little. Declaration of interdependence: Educators need deep conversations about teaching and learning to spark real changes in practice. What schools need to do to support learning communities goes against the grain of what schools have traditionally done.
Let's commit together to build leadership
Over the past 20 years, my profession and my passion have been about one thing: leadership. Leadership is the key to impacting the lives of students and adults in all of our schools, regardless of geography, economic condition, size, or status as public or private, primary, elementary, secondary, or even post-secondary. As a result, I devote my efforts to growing, sustaining, and supporting leaders throughout the education arena.
A shift in school culture
These are the best of times and the worst of times in education, to paraphrase Charles Dickens. Never before has there been such widespread agreement among researchers and practitioners regarding the most promising approach to significantly improve schools. Researchers, writers, and educational organizations have all endorsed the concept of schools functioning us as professional learning communities. At the same time, the concept will have little impact on schools unless professional learning community practices become embedded into day-to-day school culture.
Put the 'I' back in team
Teamwork is one of those words with the power to make me cringe no matter how much I sincerely believe in the concept behind it. I suspect I’m not the […]
A new principal learns what it takes to survive the storm
A new principal learns what it takes to survive the storm.
Members skilled in questioning technique can keep the group work on track
Professional communication lies at the heart of getting work done in schools. Educators communicate informally within and across disciplines, grade levels, departments, and schools. They talk in pairs and trios, […]
One step at a time
Imagine having the opportunity to work at a new middle school, built around professional learning community principles. From day one, teachers are organized into professional learning teams working to define essential curriculum, develop common assessments, and analyze student data. Similarly, administrators work as a team to support the development of professional learning teams and emphasize a distributed model of leadership. Several years ago, we had the opportunity to work as a teacher and an administrator in this new school in the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System.
Evolution of the professional learning community
Let’s start with the basics. People everywhere generally agree that the purpose of schools is student learning. Further, people are generally in agreement that the most significant factor determining whether students learn well is teaching quality. Teaching quality is improved through continuous professional learning. Today, the most promising context for continuous professional learning is the professional learning community. The three words explain the concept: Professionals coming together in a group — a community — to learn.
Crunching numbers, changing practices
As I stood at the door of the 4th-grade classroom, I couldn’t help but notice how busy the room was. Pairs of students sat at desks and on the floor with lapboards, taking turns reading and reacting to one another’s stories. Other students were engrossed in writing at their desks. A few stood at the table on the far wall returning folders to the sets of files there. The teacher looked up and nodded at me before returning her attention to the student sitting beside her, the piece of writing between them the obvious focus of their deep conversation. As principal of Viewmont Elementary School in Hickory, N.C., I noticed in this brief snapshot that every student was engaged and that this group of learners represented our school’s vast range of achievement levels.
Districts speak with one voice
How do some school districts not only attain excellence but sustain it over time in the face of remarkable challenges? Two districts — Blue Valley School District in Overland Park, Kansas, and Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois have managed to do just that by functioning as professional learning communities.
Use book studies to generate frank talk about beliefs and practices
Ensuring high achievement for all students requires more than technical solutions. To create schools where every student learns at high levels, school must find ways to transform the deficit beliefs […]
Keep the leadership pipeline flowing
A school improvement process that relies on professionals learning in concert with each other also holds the key to developing the leadership capacity and sustainability that schools and systems so desperately need. Professional learning communities thrive when districts experience consistent leadership across the district, so succession planning and learning community development must go hand-in-hand. Michael Fullan suggests in Leadership & Sustainability (2005) that established professional learning communities are more likely to be disrupted or discontinued when a new leader steps into the principalship. Focusing on internal leadership sustainability can counter this discontinuity of direction (Fullan, 2005, p. 31). Building professional learning communities is the first step in ensuring continuity.
Building professional learning communities through 3-2-1
Start collaborative discussions by sharing your experiences.
Leading without leaving the classroom
Tap into teachers' skills and knowledge to solve school problems. Now is the time for teachers to step up as leaders in their schools - without leaving the classroom.
If you don't try, you can't succeed at school improvement
In each issue of JSD, Joan Richardson writes about the relationship between professional learning and student learning. All of her articles and columns can be found at www.nsdc.org.
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