Kim Cooper

EDU686 SUM II
7/1/17

PLC Plan

School Level

When planning a PLC at the school level, there will be messiness. Most school

administrators inherit the mission and vision that were created by the previous administration.

Individual schools in a district will typically create their own mission and vision/beliefs

statements, and those may or may not align with the districts mission and vision. The first step

in creating an effective PLC is to build a solid foundation. The foundation of a PLC rests on the

four pillars of mission, vision, values, and goals. (DuFour, et.al., p. 37). Each of the pillars

represents a question that leads teachers and administrators to answers that will help establish

a clear purpose. Logically then, school administrators and teachers, must ask these questions

and reach agreement, to move toward a clear and compelling purpose. Lezotte (2002) wrote,

In the effective school, there is a clearly articulated mission of the school through which the

staff shares an understanding of and a commitment to the schools goals, priorities, assessment

procedures, and accountabilityThe issue of mission is one that must receive substantial

discussion (p. 4-5).

Our school will work to create a mission statement that will focus and sustain our PLC.

ACTION: form a coalition to facilitate in the establishment of a clear mission where all

teachers and administrators are involved in the creation of that mission and

vision/beliefs, and that there is a consensus among ALL stakeholders.

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Ultimately, the teachers and administrators will be required to act. The process of changing

the culture of any organization begins by changing the way in which the people of that

organization behave (Bossidy & Charan, 2002). We must begin the work at the school level.

Grade/Curriculum Level

There are portions of the PLC that the school is currently implementing. There is teacher

learning and collaboration. Teachers have common planning time. Teachers also create

common formative assessments; focused on essential standards for each grade level. Within

the curriculum departments, there are curriculum leaders. These leaders are classroom

teachers; some leaders do not share common planning time. Some curriculum leaders are

stronger, more defined, than others. Also, data from the CFAs is not utilized in ways that would

be most beneficial to students learning.

Our school will sustain a collaborative culture to promote student learning.

ACTION: teachers will receive training and support with how to utilize CFA results so

that they, a) focus on the right work, and b) know how to respond to that work.

Consider Max de Prees notion of roving leadership those that are experts of a

concept, strategy, or assessment creation assume the leader role and encourage

situational leadership.

ACTION: when looking at results, teachers will celebrate the successes of students and

each other, as well as determine teacher and students needs. All should agree to what

those successes should look like.

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Curriculum leaders roles are defined, training implemented, and supported.

ACTION: all those involved in the curriculum PLC will establish norms (time, listening,

participation, etc.) (DuFour, et.al., p. 74).

ACTION: established/defined curriculum leaders will receive training and support to

guide them as PLC leaders.

Those who hope to improve student achievement by developing the capacity of staff to

function as a PLC must create and foster the conditions that move educators from mere work

groups to high-performing collaborative teams. (DuFour, et.al., p. 67).

The work of PLCs is never done. Teamwork is paramount. Disagreements and tension

are to be expected. The question schools must face is not, How can we eliminate all potential

for conflict as we go through this process? but rather, How will we react when we are

immersed in the conflict that accompanies significant change? In Crucial Conversations

(Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler, 2002), the authors contrast how teams respond when

faced with conflict. Ineffective teams will ignore the problem, letting it fester and build until

resentment and frustration lead to an explosion of accusations and recrimination. Good teams

will take the matter to the boss and ask that he or she deal with the problem and find a

satisfactory solution. Great teams deal with the issue themselves, engaging in open dialogue

and applying positive peer pressure to bring about the desired change. Through the productive

struggles and conflicts, there should arise a stronger, viable professional learning community.

Worth Noting

Creating a PLC presents an interesting paradox for principals who hope to lead the

process. On the one hand, they must disperse rather than hoard power because shared or

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distributive leadership brings the learning community together in a common commitment and

shared responsibility for sustaining improvement (National Commission on Teaching, 2003, p.

17). Unless teachers feel that they have a voice in the improvement process, they will view

change as something that is done to them rather than by them. Most teachers will be unwilling

to accept responsibility for the success or failure of the initiative unless they have had some

authority in making key decisions and some discretion in implementing those decisions.

A comprehensive study of the restructuring movement in education led to two

significant conclusions: first, a strong professional learning community was critical to gains in

student achievement, and second the principals who led those learning communities were

committed to empowering their teachers. Leaders in schools with strong professional

communities . . . delegated authority, developed collaborative decision-making processes, and

stepped back from being the central problem solver. Instead they turned to the professional

communities for critical decisions. (Louis, Kruse, & Marks, 1996, p. 193) Time to get to work!

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Bibliography

Bossidy, L., & Charan, R. (2002). Execution: The discipline of getting things done. New York:
Crown Business.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. W., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: a
handbook for professional learning communities at work (3rd ed.). Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree Press, a division of Solution Tree.

Lezotte, L.W. (2002). Revolutionary and evolutionary: The effective schools movement. Accessed
at www.effectiveschools.com/images/stories/RevEv.pdf on January 10, 2010.

Louis, K.S., Kruse, S.D., & Marks, H.M. (1996). Schoolwide professional community. In F.M.
Newmann & Associates (Eds.), Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for
intellectual quality (pp. 179-204). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Commission on Teaching and Americas Future. (2003, January). No dream denied: A
pledge to Americas children. Washington, DC: Author.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillian, R., & Switzler, A. (2002). Crucial conversations: Tools for
talking when stakes are high. New York: McGraw-Hill.