Changing the

Systemic Culture of a

School-Based PLC

Silver Shores Elementary SchoolWhole-School PLC

WHY CHANGE A CULTURE?

• Ongoing endeavor vs. a program to be “implemented”

• People acting in new ways • Contributing to the collective effort• Making school a better place for student / adult

learning

• Providing the school a solid foundation• Common purpose• Shared vision• Collective commitments• Goals that help shape the culture of the school / district

YOU ARE THE SYSTEM

• Systemness – degree to which people identify and are committed to an entity larger than themselves• Being as good as one individual can be during

independent and collaborative work• Being aware that everyone needs to make a

contribution to improving the larger system

• Members of a PLC ARE the system individuals seek to create

• People identifying with one another as they pursue together deep mutual learning goals

CHALLENGES AND ISSUES VITAL TO CHANGING THE CULTURE

• Establishing coherence and clarity; building shared knowledge; engaging in meaningful two-way dialogue

• Identifying specific steps; creating a “loose and tight” culture; building collective capacity; establishing ongoing feedback

• Demonstrating reciprocal accountability; ensuring transparency of results; creating a collaborative culture; ensuring trust; capacity building; fostering self-efficacy

• Maintaining focus; limiting initiatives; managing resistance; sustaining the improvement process; and celebrating small wins

“EVERY GREAT TEACHER IS LEADING”• The PLC should become the “Driving Force” in change

• Develop a clear understanding of the underlying principles of the process and its implications for action

• Accept personal responsibility for contributing to the collective effort to implement the process

• Work with others to tackle the challenging issues • Recognize that the right time to do the right thing is

ALWAYS RIGHT NOW!

• Clarity is a process – the clearer you get, the more you seek skills to make progress; the more skilled you get, the clear you and others become regarding the principles of the process

CREATING COHERENCE AND

CLARITY• Leaders must build capacity, work collaboratively, lead instruction, and create and sustain systemness

• BARRIERS TO COHERENCE• Failing to establish widely dispersed leadership• failing to communicate purpose and priorities• Confusing declarations of intent with

purposeful action• Launching a “program” rather than a process

to improve• Pursuing too many initiatives rather than

sustaining a laser-focus in continuous improvement

COHERENCE MAKING• Focus on a small number of ambitious goals• Make instruction and student achievement the daily

agenda • Everything examined through “How will this impact

teaching and learning?”

• Organize continuous capacity building around this agenda• Focused professional learning; promotion of greater clarity

and shared coherence

• Cultivate a sense of systemness on the part of ALL• Goal is for ALL to experience that they are a part of a

bigger enterprise that is engaged in crucial work

INTERDEPENDENCE IS KEY

• Leaders foster the right amount of autonomy and collaboration• Increased focus, learning together, strong internal commitment to group

accountability

• Designate non-negotiable anchor points for reform and allow for no compromise in their execution (Mourshed et al., 2010)

• Establish system-wide standards for content and performance (Elmore, 2003)

• Show greater clarity of purpose and a greater willingness to exercise tighter controls over decisions about what will be taught and the indicators of learning that will be monitored (Murphy & Hallinger, 1988)

• Identify non-negotiable goals for learning and instruction that must be addressed in every school (Marzano & Waters, 2009)

• Provide a clear sense of direction by establishing high expectations, a focus on student learning and effective instruction, specific achievement standards, and common curriculum (Louis et al., 2010)

TIGHT vs. LOOSE• A degree of autonomy is essential for effective

teaching (LOOSE)• MUST be balanced with direction, coordination,

and accountability (TIGHT)• GOAL – Create a simultaneous Tight/Loose climate

• “Directed Empowerment” and “Defined Autonomy”• The system establishes a few tight priorities• Within these, people are empowered to be

creative about how they will pursue the priorities

NON-NEGOTIABLES - WHAT IS “TIGHT”

• Collaborative Teams – teachers WILL NOT work in isolation

TEAMWORK will include:• Establishing/implementing a guaranteed and viable

curriculum, unit by unit, to ensure all students have access to the same knowledge, skills, and concepts regardless of the teacher they’ve been assigned

• Monitor student learning through a balanced assessment process that will include ongoing formative assessments in the classroom and frequent team-developed common formative assessments used throughout the year

NON-NEGOTIABLES - WHAT IS “TIGHT”TEAMWORK will include (continued):

• Using the evidence of student learning they gather to better meet the needs of individual students

• Build upon strengths and weaknesses of individual teachers

• Identify general areas of student achievement concern• Develop strategies for improving team collective

capacity to improve student learning in areas of concern

• Identify and plan to provide additional time and support to struggling students

• District-wide Teacher collaboration and planning

WHAT IS “LOOSE”• How we create these non-negotiable

conditions• Teaming structures and PLC meeting times• Additional planning time (Grade Release Days)• Processes for creating common formative

assessments• RtI and developing a system of interventions

for SSE

• GOAL – to establish ownership over time• As ownership develops, the notion of

loose/tight disappears because the culture becomes organic

• The very process itself fosters cohesion

NEXT STEPS…A HIGH PERFORMING

SYSTEM• To improve our schools, we must improve the technical core of teaching and learning

• To improve teaching and learning, we must continually develop the collective capacity of people throughout the system to support high-quality instruction in every classroom, every day

• To improve instruction and support student learning, we must use evidence of student learning to inform professional practice

• Ensure that struggling students will receive additional time and support for learning in a way that is timely, diagnostic, precise, directive, and systematic

BEST PLC Defined

Instructional Cycles

•Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc…

•Evidence

Pre-Cycle• CARE

Questions

Instruction &

Assessment

Data Analysis, Remediat

ion & Enrichme

nt

Post-Cycle• BEST Practice

Sharing

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Pre-Cycle PLC’s… Just CARE

Curriculum What do we want all students to know? How are the Units of

Study influencing this work? How are Item Specifications influencing this work? What are some of the BEST instructional strategies to use in order to maximize student learning?

Assessment How will we determine student mastery? Create/Select the

assessment instrument. What percent-correct will define mastery? How soon after assessment administration will results be reported?

Remediation How will we respond to students who do not meet mastery? What

will be remediated? When will it be remediated? How will it be remediated? Who will do the remediation? How will remediation efforts be measured?

Enrichment How will we respond when students meet/exceed mastery? What

will be enriched? When will it be enriched? How will it be enriched? Who will do the enrichment? How will enrichment efforts be measured?

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The CycleInstruction & Assessment

• Teachers instruct their students during the pre-determined time period

• Teachers administer their common assessments consistent with the agreed upon time schedule

Data Analysis, Remediation &

Enrichment

• Class by class student data is gathered and analyzed

• Students meeting the pre-determined criteria for remediation receive the pre-determined remedial interventions

• Students meeting the pre-determined criteria for enrichment receive the pre-determined enrichment interventions

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Post-Cycle BEST Practice Sharing

• Bring the same groups of like-teachers back together and view student learning results from the common assessment

• Compare proficiency rates by teacher• Discuss instructional strategies that may have

contributed to the variance• Discuss instructional strategies that may have

contributed to outcomes that were Beyond Expected Student Targets (BEST)

• Praise teachers for their commitment to this process

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