ridgecrest tla 2011
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RIDGECRESTLooking Ahead 2011-2012
The Oz Principle: What else can we do to get the results we want?
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Professional Learning Communities
Ridgecrest 2011-2012
Ridgecrest Elementary School2011-2012
Professional LearningCommunities
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Setting our Purpose
This year is about clarity and focus. It has long been known in education
that If we choose to take just a few well-known, straightforward actions,
in every subject area, we can make swift, dramatic improvements inschools (Schmoker, 2011). Likewise, we have also known that clarity is
the antidote to anxiety (Buckingham, 2005). This year I would like to
bring focus and clarity to our PLCs.
The professional learning community model at Ridgecrest is now
reaching a critical juncture, one well known to those who have witnessed
the fate of other well-intentioned school reform efforts. In this all-too-
familiar cycle, initial enthusiasm gives way to confusion about the
fundamental concepts driving the initiative, followed by inevitable
implementation problems, the conclusion that the reform has failed to
bring about the desired results, abandonment of the reform, and the
launch of a new search for the next promising initiative. I wish to avoid
confusion about the role of PLCs, and how they positively influence
student learning at Ridgecrest.
The professional learning community model flows from the assumption
that the core mission of formal education is not simply to ensure thatstudents are taught, but to ensure that they learn. We have to become a
SMART school.
In SMART schools, continuos improvement is not an event--it is a way of
thinking and being. Everyone in our school engages in the ongoing
process of learning. Likewise, we work hard to hold ourselves
responsible for achieving the results we want--we implement the Oz
Principle. We see it, own it, solve it, and do it.
The purpose of this handout is to ensure that we keep the momentum
and effectiveness of our PLCs at Ridgecrest.
Ridgecrest Elementary School
Ridgecrest PLCs! 2
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Our Purpose Through Data
The very essence of a professional learning community is a focus on and
a commitment to the learning of each student. SMART goals: Goals
that are Strategic and Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented,and Time-bound are SMART Goals.
In order to become a team--a group of people working interdependently
to achieve a common goal for which members are held mutually
accountable--you must establish specific and measurable performance
goals.
Data Driven Dialogue Predictions
Phase I Prediction dialogue takes place before you see the data. During
this time, you activate prior knowledge, surface assumptions, and make
predictions, thus creating readiness to examine and discuss the data.
You hear and honor all assumptions and ideas as building blocks for
new learning.
Private Think Time
Before beginning your phase I of Predictions dialogue, please reflect
privately and record several of your preliminary thoughts about the data.One or more of the following thought-starters may be helpful.
! I assume...
! I predict...
! I wonder...
! My questions/expectations are influenced by...
! Some possibilities for learning that this data may present...
Company
Ridgecrest PLCs! 3
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Data Driven Dialogue Observations
During Phase II Observations dialogue, you engage with the actual data
and note only the facts that you can observe in the data. Conjectures,
explanations, conclusions, and inferences are off-limits. You make
statements about quantities (e.g., Over half the students...), the presence
of certain specific information and/or numerical relationships between
ideas (e.g., Over 90% of the students achieved below standard in
Problem Solving; Compared to last years data, the percentage of
students performing at the advanced and on-standard level in Skills
increased by 8%...)
Private Think Time
Before beginning in Phase II Observation dialogue, please study the data
privately and record several of your observations.
Remember, just the facts. If you catch yourself using...then stop.
Because! Therefore! It seems! However
! I observe that...
! Some patterns/trends that I notice...
! I can count...
! Im surprised that I see...
Data Driven Dialogue Observations
Before beginning Phase III Inferences dialogue with your colleagues,
please reflect privately, using one or more of the following thought
starters to prompt your thinking:
! I believe the data suggest...because...
Company
Ridgecrest PLCs! 4
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! Additional data that would help me verify/confirm my explanation
is...
! I think the following are appropriate solutions/responses that
address the needs implied in the data...
! Additional data that would help guide implementation of the
solution/responses and determine if they are working...
SMART Teams
The key to continuous school improvement is linking learning and
improvement. Continuous improvement is a state of mind, the belief that
no matter what we do well, there is a way to do it better next time. The
only way to continuously improve is to continuously come up with new
and better ideas that can be shown to produce better results. In
Ridgecrest terms, it is perusing the Oz Principle question of, What can I
do to make things better.
A SMART Goal Defined
Believing that learning and improvement should be explicitly linked is one
thing; finding tools and methods that let you act on that belief is entirely
different. SMART goals are very effective tools for making this
translation. These goals are,! Strategic and Specific
! Measureable
! Attainable
! Results-based
! Time-bound
A SMART Goal Defined
Within the next two years, the number of students in the proficient or
advanced levels in math will increase by 50%.
! Specific and Strategic. It deals with students in the second grade
and with reading and math skills.
! Measurable. The grade level knows how many students have
scored at the desired levels in the past, and therefore can easily
compute whether that figure increases by 50%.
Company
Ridgecrest PLCs! 4
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! Attainable. It is neither so conservative as to be uninspiring nor so
high that people will think it is impossible to achieve.
! Results-based. It describes the outcome (higher reading and
math scores), not a process or activity that might contribute to
that goal, such as implementing a reading program.
! Time-bound. It gives a time frame to achieve the goal: within the
next two years.
Why Goals for PLCs.
The fact that teachers collaborate will do nothing to improve a school.
The pertinent question is not, Are we collaborating? but rather, What
are we collaborating about? The purpose of collaborationto help
more students achieve at higher levelscan only be accomplished if the
professionals engaged in collaboration are focused on the right things.
What distinguishes a group from a team? Much of what passes for
collaboration is more aptly described as Coblaboration (Perkins,
2003). A collection of teachers does not truly become a team until they
must rely on one another and need one another to accomplish a goal
that none could achieve individually.
Collaboration is a systematic process, in which people work together,
interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to
improve individual and collective results.
Holding Each Other Accountable The Oz Principal Way
Company
Ridgecrest PLCs! 4
1
Define the
Results
3
Deliver praise or
coaching
2
Determine time
to report on
progress
What Rings the Bell? What progress has
been made?
Well Done! or
What else can we
do?
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SMART Goals Worksheet
School:______________________!! Team Name: ___________________________Team Facilitator: _________________________
Team Members: _____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
School Goals:
Team Goals:
Strategies and
Action Steps
Responsibility Timeline Evidence of
Effectiveness
Company
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Hedgehog Concept in RC PLCsThe essence of the Hedgehog Concept, identified in Jim Collins Good
to Great (2001) is to help an organization obtain piercing clarity about
how to produce the best-long term results, and then exercising the
relentless discipline to say, No, thank you to opportunities that fail
the hedgehog test.
Our task this year is to hone our craft, to become the best at
educating our students, and to maximize our resources. Our
framework for building our future is PLCs. Our tools for creating our
exterior and interior designs are the following:
! RTI ! Teaching Like a
Champion
! The University of
Washingtons CEL 5Ds
! Understanding by
Design
! CASL and Action
Research
! Peer Based Labs
Our goal this year in our PLCs is to work on our work with the
discipline necessary to achieve our goals. To use our tools as we
pursue our own Oz Principle, and by asking ourselves, What can we
do to get the results we want? I look forward to a great year of PLCs.
Company
Ridgecrest PLCs! 8
Where our true
mission,
programs, andfocus should be
as a PLC
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CASLResearchMore than 150 elementary and
secondary teachers in 15 high needs
schools from three different districts
indicated that CASL is a powerful
professional development system that
positively affects teachers thinking
and practice, along with student
learning. Teachers met every two to
three weeks and focused on studentwork.
BENEFITS TO STUDENTS
The most important benefit of
collaboratively analyzing student
learning is that at-risk students learn
more. 90 percent of students
followed in a two year span showed
improved learning in the work
samples.
BENEFITS TO TEACHERSA two year study indicated that 95%
of teachers found the CASL the best
form of professional development
they have received. It also increased
teachers satisfaction with collegial
relationships.
CASL is the Collaborative Analysis
of Student Learning. It is a process
of working together with colleagues
from different grade levels, or from
different content areas, to focus on
student learning through student
work. Teachers meet in groups,
develop their own being a
scientist (action research)
hypothesis, and chose several
students to follow throughout the
year. The meetings are designed to
test new approaches to teaching,
and to measure student learning
from the analysis of student work.
What is CASL
BENEFITS TO STUDENTS
Include improved student learning,
and increased student clarity about
intended outcomes.
BENEFITS TO TEACHERS
includes commitment and confidence
in ability to promote student learning.
CASLRIDGECREST LEARNING IS THE EXPECTATION
HOME OF THE RAMS
Analytical and reflective inquiry skills
(e.g., examining multiple factors andperspectives when analyzing a
situation. Professional knowledge of
content understanding, student
development and learning, pedagogy,
assessment design and interpretation,
and contextual factors. Alignment
among classroom standards,
instruction, and assessments.
Collaborative expertise, and
awareness and self assessment.
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The process foranswering thequestion What Ican I do to makethings better?
The process of conducting the CASL
is very familiar to all of us. It is a
mixture of PLCs and CFGs. Here is a
quick break down of the process:
1. Brainstorm and select an area
you would like to focus on this
year to improve student learning.
It can come from the CEL 5Ds and
Teach Like A Champion.
2. Create a purpose for you to focuson during this time.
3. Thinking about students who
challenge you, or perhaps outliers,
come up with a hypothesis.
4. Determine the materials you will
use. This includes teaching
materials and student learning
materials. For example, are
students keeping portfolios of
writing? What major assessmentsor performance task will students
be required to do that illustrate
their learning?
5. What is your unit plan and goal? In
other words, what are the
procedures for student learning?
6. What work samples from students
will you bring to the CASL
meetings? What is the data you
will be using?
7. What is the data telling you and
your group? What can you change
in your instructional practice?
What can you change in the work
you assign? What will change in
your procedures.
8. Conclusion. What have you
learned?
CASL IT IS A CFG AND A PLC
RIDGECREST WAY
!Be Respectful
!Be Responsible
!Be Kind
!Be Safe
Participating the CASL will allow
Ridgecrest staff the opportunity to
practice doing things the Ridgecrest
Way.
The CASL process is a lot like a CFG. We will be meeting with different people
from different grade levels. This will allow us to have a variety of experiences
and expertise when looking at our student work. Likewise, this will help build
our school community. The goal will also be to meet with people who we dont
work with on a daily basis.
CASL is also like a PLC. During our work, we will be searching for answers to
the questions, What do we expect our students to know? How will we know
when they have learned it? What do we do when they do not learn it? and
What do we do when they already know it?
In addition, this can be fun. How often do teachers get to drive their own
professional development, and satisfy their own professional inquiries?
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The CASL Protocol
Overview:
This protocol focuses on an examination of all student work produced during a narrow time period by a
sample of students in a particular school or district.
Other Uses:
The Vertical Slice Protocol can be used for a variety of purposes, depending entirely on what the group
engaged in the slice wants to know. It can be used to help educators understand students perceptions of
the school, some aspect of a problem or issue, how rigorous classroom work is, how interdisciplinary
curriculum functions, and so forth.
Number of Participants:
1-100+
Time required:1 to 4 hours. May best be accomplished by having multiple meetings.
Steps:
Part 1planning meeting:
The planning meeting involves either the entire group that will be participating in analysis or a
representative group. The steps for the planning meeting are as follows:
Step 1: Determining the purpose of the Slice (up to 15 minutes)
Step 2: Determining a Guiding Question Related to the Purpose of the Slice (up to 15 minutes)
Step 3: Determining How Student Work is to Be Obtained (up to 15 minutes). Each group will need to think
of its own needs and design its own type of student work to collect. Here are some examples:
! One students work throughout one day
! A sample of work from randomly chosen students in one grade on one day
! A sample of work from randomly chosen students across grades on one day
! As sample of work from one randomly selected student in the same grade in each of several schools
! Samples reflecting work from students at certain socioeconomic levels or levels of English fluency
! Samples of work from students enrolled in special education courses, AP courses, art classes, and
so forth
! Samples of work from students who are intensive, above benchmark, or present a academic
particular challenge.
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Step 4: Identify Other Aspects of the Word to Be Collected (up to 15 minutes). These aspects include the
following:
! What the sample will consist of (e.g., work on paper, videos, artwork, photos, journals, audiotapes,
student logs/reflections)
! Whether the context of the work will be examined in addition to the work itself (e.g., the
assignment, the instruction leading up to the assignment, whether or not students worked together
or individually)
! Whether the work will be anonymous or identified
Step 5: Deciding on the Duration of the Slice (up to 15 minutes). Although slices usually consists of a days
worth of work, consider collecting during a particular hour or certain period of the day; alternatively,
consider examining work that has been collected over a longer period of time (a week, for example) and
then randomly selected for the analysis. Be careful not to collect too much work.
Step 6: Attending to the Logistics of the Collection Process (up to 15 minutes)
! Answer these critical questions: Who will collect the work? If random selections are to be made, who
will make them? How will parents be informed of the process? Do they need to give permission for
the school to analyze their students work, even if the student remains anonymous?
! Organize the collection. If selecting at random from the collection, do so at this point.
! Make copies of the work so that everyone has the same final collection.
! Establish a time and place for the analysis and distribute this information to those involved.
! Gather refreshments and tools for analysis (paper, and pencil, laptops, etc).
! Decide on facilitator.
Step 7: Determining How the Analysis will be Conducted (up to 15 minutes). Will participants scan all of the
material and then focus on representative pieces? Will the dialogue be Socratic? Will groups be large or
small?
Step 8: Determining Questions to Ask During the Protocol (up to 15 minutes). Here are some examples from
the National School Reform Faculty:
! What evidence is there that students develop and apply essential knowledge and silks in challenging
and meaningful ways?
! What evidence is there thatgaps exist within the curriculum?
! What evidence is thereof redundancy or unnecessary overlap within the curriculum school wide?
! What evidence is there that the student work builds on individual learning styles and skill levels of
students and fosters student self-expression?
! What evidence is there that lessons encourage students to develop and apply problem-solving
abilities?
! What essential skills and proficiencies in language arts, social studies, and mathematics are being
applied or developed through the student work?
! What evidence is there that individual learning styles and skill levels are being incorporated into
the lessons?
! What evidence is thereof thematic connections being made across the curriculum?
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! What essential skills and proficiencies in language arts and mathematics are being applied or
developed throughout the student work?
Part 2Analysis (suggested time 45 minutes to 1 hour)
Step 1: Preparation (up to 15 minutes). The facilitator establishes norms, facilitates introductions, and
explains the process, and the presenter revisits his or her hypothesis, focus, and the context of the work.
! If the group is large, the facilitator breaks the whole group into smaller groups for the purpose of
analysis.
! The facilitator briefly describes the parameters and methodology of the protocol.
! The facilitator presents the guiding questions for discussion.
Step 2: Examining the Work (up to 50 minutes) Participants examine the work and take notes in silence.
Small groups may examine different blocks or evidence in order to cover all the work presented.
Step 3: Discussion (Up to 90 minutes)
! If the group is large, the facilitator leads one group in the discussion, using previously introduced
norms, while the other groups silently take notes.
! Participants in each group share their thoughts about guiding questions and about any other
questions that might have arisen during their examination; they also attempt to identify themes
or trends.
! The process is repeated until each group has had a chance to lead the discussion. With each
round, the discussion should become deeper as participants build on what they have heard.
Step 4: Framing Answers (up to 55 minutes). The whole group works together to frame some answers to
the guiding questions and to questions designed during the planning process.
Step 5: Debriefing (up to 15 minutes). The facilitator leads the whole group in debriefing. What have
participants learned through this process, and why? What could be improved? The group identifies
potential next steps for deepening the student work related to the guiding questions.
Critical Elements:
Guiding questions that are clear and focused. The questions under Step 8 of the first part of the process
are clear and focused. A clear being a scientist purpose from the teacher. Building Leadership Team
member facilitating each CASL group.
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