Professional Learning Communities
by Kyctrell Swinton-Atkins
1. Professional Development
1.1. Job-Embedded
1.2. Ongoing
1.3. Led by an instructional coach or members of the leadership team
1.4. Purposeful and valuable to teachers
2. Resources
2.1. PLCs should be an expectation and properly funded to aide in getting resources
3. Not viewed as "another thing"
4. Guiding Coalition (DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press)
4.1. Co-create visions and goals
4.2. Helps to lead the charge and new initiatives
4.3. Supportive of the leadership's goals
4.4. Has shared knowledge
4.5. Helps to shift the culture in the building as a result of their influence with others
4.6. Helps with decision-making
5. Action Oriented
5.1. Know the plan and execute the steps to achieving the goals set
6. Collaborative
6.1. Teachers should work in teams
6.2. Teams created can be content focused or grade level
6.3. The collaborative and collective culture must be present but doesn't happen overnight
6.4. Teams can be interdisciplinary but still have a common focus
6.5. Collaboration should be an expectation, not an option
7. Focused on Student Learning
7.1. ALL students have the opportunity to learn
7.2. What is the evidence?
7.3. All decisions should tie back to the data and evidence
7.3.1. Historical data
7.3.2. Testing data
7.3.3. Attendance data
7.3.4. Behavioral data
7.3.5. Teacher survey data
7.4. Goals all go back to improving student learning and student achievement
8. Effective Communication
8.1. Ensures that there is a common knowlege
8.2. Ensures that there is a common language
8.3. Ensures that everyone is working towards the same goal and have the same understanding
9. Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals Focused
9.1. The foundation for all PLCs
9.2. Everything ties back to student achievement
9.3. The vision and mission is our common language
9.4. There should be a team commitment to the mission and vision
9.5. Outlines how we should behave and what we should do
9.6. Values= Collective Commitment (DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press)
10. Collaborative Models
10.1. Professional Learning Communities
10.2. Response to Intervention Teams
10.2.1. A team approach to providing interventions to students for academics and behavior
10.2.2. RtI is tiered and individualized for the student
10.2.3. Decisions are made as a team but teachers implement strategies for improvement in the classes.
10.3. Critical Friend Groups
10.3.1. Peer coaching to improve student learning in the classroom