To provide a liaison between the PLC teams and the Admin SIPPLC
team Revise and align K-12 curriculum to established standards and
local essential learnings Receive training and support on PLC
concepts 2
Strong district-wide effort to implement Professional Learning
Communities as a vehicle for improving schools and increasing
communication between teachers at each grade level and content
area. 4
Slide 6
Develop and utilize a comprehensive K-12 curriculum and
assessment system that provides consistent data to monitor progress
at the student, building, and district level Establishing common
language Continued development of essential learnings 5
Slide 7
Examine curricular content and articulation between grade
levels and schools to ensure that instructional practices are
systematically implemented Articulate curriculum and clarify
connections among the essential learnings K-12 They cannot be
developed in isolation at the building level only or content area
6
Slide 8
Provide a schematic of the Beatrice PLC for teachers. Provide a
systemic communication system to keep teachers informed of new and
developing initiatives emerging from the PLC process. Establish
district terminology to be used in PLC conversations about
curriculum, assessment, data, and school improvement Provide
oversight and support to building PLCs to ensure collaboration and
continuous improvement Common focus that can drive curriculum,
assessment and school improvement 7
Slide 9
Written Curriculum Aligned to Standards, Assessments, and
Instructional Materials Instructional Practices that Challenge and
Support All Students Assessments that Improve Student Learning
Leadership for Learning Planning for Learning Professional
Development that Addresses Student Learning District Supports
Student Learning 8
Slide 10
The critical skills, knowledge, and dispositions each student
must acquire as a result of each course, grade level, and unit of
instruction. 9
Slide 11
1. Collaborative study of essential learning promotes clarity.
2. Collaborative study of essential learning promotes consistent
priorities. 3. Collaborative study of essential learning is crucial
to the common pacing required for formative assessments. 4.
Collaborative study of essential learning can help establish a
curriculum that is viable. 5. Collaborative study of essential
learning creates ownership of the curriculum among those who are
called upon to teach it. 10
Slide 12
Given the limited time you have with studentsyou cant do it
allyou must choose the essential. What knowledge and skills must I
impart to my students this year so that they will enter next years
class with confidence and a readiness for success? This helps
establish prior skills/knowledge 11
Slide 13
In addition to providing time for instruction and effective
collaboration, leaders must also conserve the time of classroom
teachers by helping them focus on those academic content standards
that are most important. Doug Reeves,2006 p.105 12
Slide 14
All standards must be taught Which ones are crucial for student
success? Which other ones can be given less emphasis taught and
assessed as they relate to the concepts and skills within other
essential learnings? One way to think about essential learnings- -a
prioritized subset of state standards. PLC - Essential Learnings -
18th Gen. 0813
Slide 15
Separating essential from the peripheral Endurance are students
expected to retain the skills/knowledge long after the text/task is
completed? Leverage is this skill/knowledge applicable to many
academic disciplines? Readiness/Prerequisite is this skill /
knowledge preparing the student for success in the next
grade/course? 14
Slide 16
Determining what is most essential 15 Enduring understanding
Important to know and do Worth being familiar with
Slide 17
What are the prerequisite knowledge and skills students need to
have in order to demonstrate successful learning? (Prior skills
needed) What are the knowledge and reasoning skills students need
to have in order to demonstrate successful learning of the
essential learning? (Content & Skills/Example of Rigor) Are
students able to articulate the desired learner objective?
(Assessment & Example of Rigor) 16
Slide 18
17
Slide 19
Local, state, and national standards Recommended standards from
professional organizations Current district curriculum guides wish
lists of essential learnings from teachers at the next grade Data
from district, state, and national assessments Textbooks Standards
and recommendations on 21 st century learning 18
Slide 20
Common pacing is a prerequisite for common formative
assessments, which are some of the most powerful tools for
improvement available to a school. DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many.
2006 19
Slide 21
Determine essential learnings for your students, by the end of
unit/course/grade. Current local standards; state/national
standards; and other resources Habits and attitude Explore broad
units of study. Prerequisite knowledge and skills needed to achieve
goals Develop a working curriculum map. Specific skills/content
Assessments that measure progress/mastery Monthly goals/quarterly
goals 20
Slide 22
Review current essential learnings in your PLC team Review
local/state/national standards for your areas that apply to your
grade level/courseLet Summer know by September 9 th if you need
help obtaining these Edit/Revise essential learnings for each
course Choose at least one course for which your PLC will begin to
build the curriculum guide during 09-10 (see example) By September
30 th, send Summer copy of each of the reviewed/revised essential
learnings for every coursesend via email in a Word document listing
only the essential learnings. Summer will pull these together in a
matrix and return for use in your October PLC. During your October
PLC, please review the K-12 alignment matrix and create questions
that can be reviewed in small groups of K-12 staff at the October
22 nd PLC/Curriculum Committee meeting. 21 Curriculum
Alignment
Slide 23
Review current common assessments in relationship to student
performance and essential learnings/proficiency and edit/revise as
needed Make sure teachers have the up-to-date assessments
(Elementarysend copies to Student Programs) (MS/HSfor district
assessments, send copies to Student Programs) Determine assessments
that need to be developed to measure essential learning proficiency
22 Common Assessments
Slide 24
During PLC work, determine what assessment data team currently
has, what data can be obtained from Student Programs or other
sources, and what data do we not currently collect but should (and
suggestions on how we best do this). During October PLC, work with
data collected to create/modify SMART goals set by team 23 Data
Analysis & SMART Goals
