Winter 2009 Volume 1, Issue 2

Quarterly News

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as blue as the sky. And the Wolf that keeps it shall prosper, but the Wolf that breaks it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back, For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

-Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book

Teaching and learning are often thought of as iso-lated acts. We quietly walk into our respective classrooms, close our doors, and do our work the best we can. However, in recent years, there has been much ―buzz‖ about the deprivatization of edu-cation through collaboration.

Why collaborate? Why shouldn‘t teachers limit their work to the privacy of their classrooms? Carla Tho-mas McClure from Essentials on Education Data and Research Analysis found that, ―New teachers seem more likely to stay in schools that have an ‗integrated professional culture‘ in which new teachers‘ needs are recognized and all teachers share responsibility for student success.‖ McClure also reports research from the U.S. Department of Education citing teacher collaboration as a frequent approach to improving instruction in 35 chronically low-performing schools — schools that achieved dra-matic turnarounds, posting substantial gains in stu-dent achievement within just three years (McClure, 2008).

There are many different beliefs about what consti-tutes collaboration. Friday morning staff breakfasts and secret valentine exchanges may be some results of a collaborative culture. However, there is little evidence that teacher congeniality and social inter-actions impact student achievement (Marzano, 2003). ―Leaders determined to impact student achievement must not settle for congeniality, coor-dination, delegating responsibilities, or any form of ‗collaboration lite.‘ They must promote a collabo-rative culture by defining collaboration in narrow terms: the systematic process in which we work to-gether to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve our individual and collective results.‖ (DuFour, 2003).

Institute for Educational Renewal

Creating the type of collaboration DuFour defines is not a simple task. Once the time for collabora-tion has been created, the real work begins. How do we focus this collaboration time so that teach-ers are discussing student learning, not administra-tive issues such as arranging special events?

Robert Garmston believes the first step in creating these structured discussions is to, ―Begin with the end in mind — spend time addressing the expected outcomes by stating the purpose of the group time through a clearly outlined agenda‖ (2007).

Garmston identifies the following characteristics of a well-constructed agenda (a sample agenda fol-lows on page 3):

Meeting Outcomes: Identify the outcomes of the meeting.

Topics: Think about the sequence of meeting topics. Plan an opening that sets the tone and enables participants to understand outcomes and processes.

Purpose: Label the purpose of each topic.

Guiding Questions: Construct engaging ques-tions that encourage group members to probe topics at a deeper level before group work.

Background/Process: Summarize information that participants need before they respond to the guiding questions. Describe any processes the group will use to accomplish each task.

Person/Time: Identify the person responsible for each task to alert the individual to the need to prepare. Include an estimate of time needed for each item on the agenda.

An agenda with these characteristics will engage groups in discussions that investigate the relation-ships between instructional practices and student work. Most important, teachers will have the op-portunity to combine their efforts and gain per-spectives about teaching and learning, thus build-ing the strength of the ―pack‖ through their col-laboration.

References DuFour, R. (2003). Leading edge: ‗Collaboration lite‘

puts student achievement on a starvation diet. Jour-nal of Staff Development, 24(3).

Garmston, R.J. (2007). Results-oriented agendas trans-form meetings into valuable collaborative events. National Staff Development Council, (28)2.

Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

McClure, C.T. (2008). The benefits of teacher collabora-tion. District Administration, 82-83.

Collaboration Leads to Student Achievement

Page 2 Institute for Educational Renewal Winter 2009

tant superintendent, began the year by creating the district literacy goal – a goal that serves as the focus for each school‘s literacy professional development. They have decided to focus their time this year pro-moting collaboration in their buildings. Discussions have been centered around questions such as: How do we make collaboration a part of the school day?

How long should collaboration meetings last? How of-ten should collaboration take place? What types of conversations should take place during collaboration?

The Euclid middle school principals also meet monthly as a learning community and have also identified col-laboration as an area of interest. They recognize the importance of collaboration and its positive impact on school climate and student achievement. Team mem-bers, along with the assistant superintendent, have created collaboration goals for their respective schools and are working on action plans which will achieve this goal. Their time together provides prin-cipals with the opportunity to reflect critically on the current status of collaboration within their buildings and to identify a vision of what they hope it will be-come.

At the other end of the learning spectrum, students in Luke Smrdel‘s fourth grade math class at Indian Hills

Collaboration Takes Many Forms In IER Schools

Research in Action

Although we can agree that collaboration involves individuals working together in a systematic way that will change practice and yield results, it is not for teachers alone. Across the Warrensville Heights and Euclid schools, there are many groups of individuals — principals, teachers, students and parents — collaborating for a variety of reasons and producing a wealth of exciting outcomes!

In both districts, principals are working together as professional learning communities (PLCs) to further their own knowledge, to share practices, and to plan for common changes that will support student achievement.

Warrensville Heights principals, with support from district curriculum directors, meet monthly as a learning community. Together, they have identi-fied the need to focus on literacy and to create more continuity across the schools; their goal this year is to develop a shared literacy plan.

The team started the year by reading The Literacy Principal by David Booth and Jennifer Rowsell, and by sharing their literacy experiences across the district. This increased their collective knowl-edge and provided the principals with a frame of reference for their continued work. Said Kelly Dudley, principal at Westwood Elementary, ―We don‘t have to wonder if we are making the right decisions, and we don‘t need to reinvent the wheel. We share, so we know what is going on in the other buildings and we learn from each other.‖

The principals developed a district literacy vision and are now collaborating with teacher leaders at their respective schools, to craft a literacy plan they hope to have in place by May. Their work as a professional learning community has promoted learning, sharing and the creation of a unified fu-ture for literacy work in Warrensville Heights.

In Euclid, the elementary principals have been working together as a professional learning com-munity for several years. The first agenda item at their monthly meetings is an opportunity for the host school to share building highlights, providing the principals with the opportunity to connect and to share ideas with each other. The principals, along with the district literacy specialist and assis-

“To create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.” R. DuFour, 2004

Luke Smrdel and his students benefit from their collaboration during “Math Circles”.

Winter 2009 Institute for Educational Renewal Page 3

elementary school in Euclid have found collaboration to be a new and exciting way to investigate math ideas and problems. During their own collaboration, Luke and Adri-enne Kehn, the fifth grade math teacher at Indian Hills, designed ―Math Circles‖, which they pat-terned after Literature Circles used in the language arts program.

Students engage in specific roles while dissecting pre-planned story problems: Discussion Director, Word Wizard, Connector, Visualizer and Summarizer. The groups then collaborate and discuss how to find solutions for posed math problems. Students engage in problem-solving in a variety of ways and actually show differentiated strategies within each group.

The problems are designed to meet the needs of each group. Luke be-comes simply the facilitator once he has modeled the procedures ex-pected from his students. The chil-dren use a rubric to assess their own progress after each ―Math Circle‖ session and then report out to the whole class. The students look for-ward to these weekly math collabo-rations. It deepens their understanding and empow-ers them while they show they can take responsibil-ity for their own learning.

Parents in the Euclid district also have had the op-portunity to enjoy collaboration with peers around their ―students‘‖ learning. There are five dedicated parents who facilitate Parent Book Discussion Groups in the elementary and middle schools in Euclid:

Clarissa Stewart at Indian Hills and the Middle Schools

Edythe Rice at Indian Hills

Pamela Schenk at Lincoln

Courtney Cheatham at Upson

Barbara Brown at Thomas Jefferson

These facilitators collaborate regularly with IER con-sultants to share ideas around recruiting parents for their groups, facilitating book discussions and offer-ing suggestions for future reading. Collaboration meetings have generated ideas for individual book groups as well as for IER Parent Network activities. The parent facilitators have made reading and dis-

cussing books both fun and enriching for parents in Euclid.

As is the case with both principal and parent groups, collaboration that occurs across the schools can be an effective way to connect the district. The IER/Warrensville Heights Literacy Leadership Network is made up of the teachers from each building respon-sible for literacy support. This group meets monthly as a Critical Friends group to deepen their under-standing of comprehensive literacy, develop leader-ship skills, and increase their capacity to support ongoing literacy-based school improvement. During collaboration, the focus is on learning together to create a shared understanding of literacy across the district. Future plans for this group include collabo-ration with the principals as the district develops a literacy plan.

At the individual buildings, common grade level meeting time provides a convenient opportunity for many teachers to collaborate around student learn-

(Continued on page 4)

What is the IER Leadership Network?

Page 4 Institute for Educational Renewal Winter 2009 John Carroll University 20700 North Park Blvd. University Heights, OH 44118

Phone: (216) 397-3073 Fax: (216) 397-1805

The Institute for Educational Renewal established a Leadership Network in the fall of 2004 to focus on the chal-lenges of teaching and learning within five elementary and K-8 schools in the Cleveland Municipal School District. Today the IER Leadership Network has expanded to include educators, school-based professionals and parents from current and former IER districts including Euclid and Warrensville Heights — our current partners.

Through its Leadership Network, IER brings together col-leagues in an ongoing program of workshops, seminars, con-ferences and other professional development activities. The Network continues to develop and sustain ―leading learn-ers‖ (Barth) as well as to foster collaboration within and across school districts in the Greater Cleveland area.

Previous Leadership Network activities have included: A seminar on the young adolescent learner A three-day summer institute for school leadership teams

on strengthening leadership skills A literacy event for parents, children, and teachers focusing on the Underground Railroad and one local

author‘s walk across Ohio Book discussions with children‘s authors Angela Johnson and Shelley Pearsall

Summer conferences on best practice teaching and learning and collaborative leadership

This spring, Network programs include a book discussion for middle level teachers on building effective teams, a writing workshop for parents and teachers led by author Sarah Willis, a presentation on student bullying, and the third annual Summer Leadership Conference — this year using 21st Century teaching and learning as its theme. Please see the enclosed flyer for more details on 2009 Network events. For more information about the IER Lead-ership Network and its current activities, please contact IER secretary Monica Bruck at 216-397-3073 or mbruck@jcu.edu or Network coordinator Laurel Markovich at 330-864-3950 or MarkovichL@aol.com.

IER News and Updates

ing. In conjunction with the Pearson/Marzano model, IER continues to work with the seventh grade team at War-rensville Heights Middle School during its collaboration time. Meetings are held first period on Mondays, Wednes-days and Fridays with a primary focus on student achievement. Though the method for completing the planning steps is a prescribed format, the team works effectively to complete its tasks, as well as, handling other ―school busi-ness‖.

Members of the team are focused on the business at hand and everyone has a voice in the meetings. Ideas and opinions are asked for and are freely shared. Discussions are open and continue until con-sensus has been reached. The team has made steady progress in determining its goal – focusing on acquisition of language and is now ready to imple-ment its plan.

The focus of the first grade team meetings at Me-morial Park in Euclid is also student achievement. The team meets weekly to monitor student pro-gress, but dedicates selected meetings to collabo-

rate around and update its assessment wall. Student data is collected through CBMs, DRA and running re-cords. DRA assessment is done at the beginning, middle and end of the year and, using those results, teachers move students along the wall according to text level. The wall provides a visual representation of student progress for team members, who then collaborate around how best to meet the needs of children reading below grade level.

Collaboration such as this perfectly illustrates DuFour‘s idea of a Professional Learning Community — it is col-laborative, accountable and focused on learning!

The IER Leadership Network Vision . . . To provide a forum for teachers, principals, parents and others within the school commu-nity to discuss effective practices for shared leadership, to develop action plans for ad-dressing current challenges their schools are facing, and to continually renew themselves personally and professionally.

The first grade team at Memorial Park uses its collaboration time to discuss student progress and plan intervention.

Collaboration (Continued from page 3)