I have mentioned several times now that according to John Hattie's meta-analysis, one of the biggest impacts on student learning happens through the collaborative process when professional educators get together to discuss best instructional practices based on student data and results. In a recent edition of "SAI Mentoring Matters" they discuss an article by Rick DuFour and Doug Reeves on this exact topic.
In this month’s Kappan article, DuFour and Reeves provide strategies and recommendations to ensure your PLC work is substantive and leading to school improvement.
The authors open the article describing the mindset and beliefs teachers functioning as a PLC must hold:
- They must believe in working in collaboration and collectively owning the responsibility for all students’ learning.
- They must believe in articulating the content, skills, and dispositions students need for each unit.
- They must believe in and frequently utilize common formative assessments developed by their PLC team and aligned to the curriculum.
- They must use the data they collect from the assessments to group students according to their levels of learning and instructional needs and respond accordingly and immediately.
- They must believe in and create a system of interventions that guarantee additional time and support (the core AND more—not the core OR more).
The authors go on to revisit the four questions that drive the work of a PLC; they recommend a protocol be used to keep educators’ attention focused on these questions:
- What should students know and be able to do?
- How will we know if they have learned it?
- What will we do if they have not learned it?
- How will we provide extended learning opportunities for students who have mastered the content?
For each of these questions, the authors provide detailed examples and non-examples of what true PLC work is.
Access the full article here.
***We will be sharing our PLC/PLT progress at our January 22 PD Day.
