Sometimes partners find one another when they’re not looking. In South Carolina, education leaders at Georgetown County School District were seeking only information when they attended a workshop sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Education. The two-day learning experience, provided by SEDL, a nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas, guided participants through a structured approach that clearly defines the work of professional learning teams. Patti Hammel, the district’s executive director for student performance and federal programs, and Michael Caviris, a middle school principal, grew increasingly excited as they listened. The approach was exactly what their district had been seeking: a way to capitalize on efforts already under way to help teachers work more collaboratively.

In the previous year, district leaders had focused on developing the capacity of teams of teachers to display and analyze data. The initiative was showing progress. Teachers were learning to work in teams to unpack the data, but the effort had yet to pay off in classrooms. Hammel knew that with a little extra help, the data teams could transform into true professional learning teams. As she listened to the SEDL presenters describe their approach, Hammel realized what that something was — a partner, in particular a partner with expertise and experience in constructing collaborative professional learning designs.

Hammel and Caviris realized that SEDL’s approach to professional learning provided a way to enhance what the Georgetown County School District was already doing. “Our teachers were planning together, but we knew we needed to do something more,” Caviris said. “When SEDL shared the process for reflecting on student work and adjusting instruction based on that reflection, Hammel and I looked at each other and said, ‘This is it. This makes sense as our next step.’”

Establishing the Partnership

During an initial brainstorming visit between district staff and SEDL representatives, ideas and goals soon solidified into a scope of work. Using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), SEDL and the district agreed on a two-year contract. The partnership would focus on deepening the district’s commitment to collaborative professional learning and to building teachers’ capacity to use student work and data to guide instruction. While the scope of work initially targeted three middle schools, an elementary school in restructuring was added to the contract, and developing professional learning teams soon became a districtwide focus.

During the planning phase, SEDL staff worked with the Georgetown County School District to create a plan to meet the district’s specific needs. Based on the data, the partners agreed on literacy as a focus for the professional learning teams. SEDL then assembled a team able to provide this tailored support: a literacy specialist with a strength in adolescent literacy, a specialist with an extensive background in special education, a specialist in school improvement and leadership development, and an evaluation specialist. All team members had strong backgrounds in designing and implementing job-embedded professional development. Including an evaluator on the team provided an added benefit. Because the partnership relied on ARRA funds, an evaluator would be able to provide the data and reports needed to fulfill the transparency requirements for state and federal reporting as well as ongoing feedback to improve the process and the impact of the professional learning teams on instruction.

The Work

The partnership began work in earnest in July 2009 with SEDL’s introduction of the process Hammel and Caviris had been drawn to: the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle. The Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle is a standards-based approach that provides a focus and a structure to the conversations teachers have in professional learning teams (Cowan, 2009; Tobia, 2007; von Frank, 2009a).

Since district leaders wanted to have professional learning teams implemented at all schools, not only the ones being targeted, SEDL staff held a four-day leadership institute to engage principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, and central office administrators in an in-depth study of the learning cycle. In keeping with the district plan, the institute focused on how to use the approach to support literacy across the curriculum. By the end of the event, each of the school’s leadership teams had a plan for introducing the learning cycle to teachers.

To support the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle’s implementation, the SEDL team visited each target school for three days each month to provide guidance. The team also met with principals, instructional coaches, and district staff to ensure the development of a culture of collaboration focused on improving instruction and literacy throughout the system. SEDL provided a variety of on-site supports. The literacy specialist worked with teachers to build their content knowledge and skill with instructional strategies. The school improvement specialist focused on helping leaders and teachers implement the cycle, create the conditions for its success, and carry out the leadership actions that support it (see von Frank, 2009b, for additional information about SEDL’s approach to building the conditions for success). SEDL staff also helped principals, other administrators, and school coaches assess progress by attending professional learning team meetings, conducting classroom walk-throughs, and holding one-on-one meetings to build leaders’ capacity to support teachers. After each site visit, SEDL and district staff debriefed, reflecting on what aspects of the professional learning teams seemed to be working and what still needed improvement.

In addition to the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle, SEDL also provided the book Becoming a Learning School (Killion & Roy, 2009). Soon after SEDL staff introduced the book, the district purchased copies for all of its principals and instructional coaches. The ideas in the book and the accompanying CD have provided additional guidance for the debriefing sessions. SEDL staff also facilitated chapter discussions during conference calls with the principals at the target schools. These calls provided a way to continue the work and sustain progress between site visits.

The expertise of SEDL’s special education specialist also played a key role at this stage in the project. South Carolina public schools, like many others throughout the nation, are endeavoring to help more students with disabilities attain proficiency on state assessments, even as the bar continues to rise. This effort has highlighted the need to ensure that students with disabilities receive instruction in the grade-level content standards being assessed. Finding the time for general and special educators to collaborate can be challenging, however. The Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle addresses this challenge by creating a structure and school culture that promotes and enables collaboration. General and special educators can then combine their strengths to benefit both groups. In short, general educators provide knowledge of the curriculum standards; special educators offer an understanding of scaffolding and how to adapt learning experiences for students with varied needs.

Role of Evaluation

Throughout the project, the evaluation component of the partnership has provided key feedback. Initially, evaluation efforts focused on tracking the progress of teachers in the target schools. But the SEDL team soon began also using evaluation results to inform district leaders in how best to support schools and teachers. For example, evaluation results helped guide the design of the second year’s summer institute for the district leadership teams, which now include lead teachers from each school. Results from site visits, interviews, and surveys indicated that teachers were effectively collaborating in teams to plan lessons. However, teachers were still struggling with analyzing student work and adjusting instruction based on those analyses. In teachers’ minds, adjusting instruction often meant just going back and reteaching a concept for a day and then moving on. Evaluation results highlighted this problem, and SEDL staff then focused on that area at the summer institute.

What Made the Partnership Successful

The Georgetown County School District-SEDL partnership has flourished. One significant change has been that teachers who were initially skeptical of the process have now embraced it. For example, at one team’s first professional learning team meeting, members sat with arms folded and spread out around the room. That team now works as a tight-knit group that has deep and meaningful conversations about teaching and learning. Based on survey results and interviews, the light bulb seems to have clicked on for teachers, administrators, and coaches regarding what it really means to dig deeply into standards and analyze student work using the standards and rubrics. Teachers are now thinking more about what they want students to learn and how they are going to get there. And what about the impact on student learning? Currently, plans are in place to track student performance for the next two years, but initial results on district benchmark tests are very promising.

During each site visit, the appreciation grew for what each organization brings to the partnership.

Next Steps

With one year completed and visible signs of progress, SEDL and Georgetown County School District staff are beginning to look to the future. The work of the second year will center on building the capacity of district staff to take over after the partnership ends. The SEDL team will concentrate on four groups: principals, instructional coaches, lead teachers, and district instructional staff. During site visits, SEDL staff will engage these various groups in learning experiences focused on the following:

• Maintaining a culture of collaboration;
• Facilitating professional learning teams;
• Developing authentic assessments to assess student learning;
• Using student work and benchmark data to guide instruction;
• Ensuring time for job-embedded collaborative work;
• Promoting leadership that nurtures and sustains professional learning teams; and
• Measuring the impact of professional learning teams

During the coming year, the partnership between the district and SEDL will gradually shift. SEDL will move from being a full partner to an occasional supporter, to a co-celebrant as the district takes on increasing responsibility for sustaining the ongoing professional learning of all staff. In a recent conversation, principal Mike Caviris stated, “When we first established professional learning teams last year, we had a great start, but without the depth we have this year. With SEDL’s guidance, our teachers are having more aha experiences about their teaching and its impact on student learning.”