R E P R O D U C I B L E

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Building the Foundation for a Professional Learning Community

• Hasamissionofensuringhighlevelsoflearningforallstudentsbeenclearlyarticulatedtotheentirefaculty,staff,students,andparents?

• Hasavisionoftheschoolyouseektobecomebeencollaborativelydevelopedandcommunicated,andmostimportant,isitbeingusedforplanninganddecisionmaking?

• Haveyoucollaborativelydevelopedsharedcommitmentsthatalladultswilladheretoinordertobecomethekindofschooldescribedinyourvisionstatement?Arethecommitmentsfrequentlyreferredto?Aretheymonitored?Isbehaviorthatisincongruentwiththesharedcommitmentsconfronted?Arebehaviorsthatarethebestexamplesofthecommitmentspublicallyrecognizedandcelebrated?

• HaveyoucollaborativelydevelopedSMARTgoalsforschoolimprovement?Aretheymonitored?

• Havecollaborativeteamstranslatedtheschool’sSMARTgoalsintoteamgoals?

• DoyouprovidetheresourcesandtrainingnecessaryforteamstomeettheirSMARTgoals?

• Hastheschedulebeenalteredinordertoprovidecollaborativeteamtimewithintheschoolday?

• Doesthescheduleallowforstudentstoreceiveadditionaltimeandsupportforinterventionsandenrichmentwithintheschoolday,regardlessoftheteachertowhomtheyareassigned?

• Havepolicies,practices,andproceduresbeenanalyzedandalignedwithyourlearningmission?

• Aremajordecisionsfilteredthroughthequestion,Whatwillbetheprobableimpactonlearning?

Collaborative Teams• Haveyouorganizedyourschoolintocollaborativeteams?Whatplans

havebeenmadeforsingletons?

• Didyougivegreatcareandthoughtintochoosingteamleaders?

• Haveyouclearlydefinedtheroleofteamleaders—inwriting?

• Haveyouprovidedtrainingforteamleaders?

• Doyouhaveregularlyscheduledmeetingswithyourteamleadersinwhichyoumodelhowteamsshouldworkinyourschool?

Figure4.4:CriticalQuestionsforPrincipalConsideration

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R E P R O D U C I B L E

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• Haveyoureviewedtheimportanceofteamnormswithyourfacultyandstaff?Whatresourcesdidyouuse?

• Haveallteamswrittennorms,includingtheteamleaders’team?

• Arenormsreviewed,adapted,andmostimportant,used?

• Didteamssharetheirnormswitheachother?

• Whathappenswhennormsarenotbeingadheredto?

• Hastheworkofteamsbeenclearlyarticulated?Howistheworkofteamsmonitored?

• Howdoyouanalyzetheworkofeachteam?Howdoyoumonitorthecontributionsofeachteammember?Howdoteamsandteammembersreceivethehelptheyneedwhentheyexperiencedifficultyortheirworkdoesnotmeetahighstandardofquality?

A Clear and Passionate Focus on Learning• Havecollaborativeteamsclarifiedstatestandardsineachgradeor

courseandsubject?

• Havethepowerstandardsoressentialoutcomesbeencollaborativelyidentified?

• Havethestandardsbeenalignedvertically?

• Haveteamsdevelopedcommonpacingguides?

• Haveteamsengagedintheprocessofdeterminingwhateachpowerstandard,ifmet,wouldlooklikeinstudentwork?

• Haveteamsdevelopedcommonscoringrubrics?

• Canteammembersapplythescoringrubricsconsistently,withinter-raterreliability?

• Haveteamsagreedontheconditionsunderwhichstudentswilltakeassessments?

Monitoring Student Learning• Haveteamsbeenprovidedresources,training,andexamplesregarding

thepoweranduseofcommonformativeassessments?

• Haveallteamsbeguntheprocessofwritingcommonformativeassessments?

• Areteamslearninghowtousetheresultsofcommonformativeassessmentstomakedecisionsaboutadditionaltime,support,orenrichmentforstudents,andhowtolearnfromeachotheraboutwaystoimproveinstructionaleffectiveness?

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• Areteamssharingcommonformativeassessmentswithintheschoolandacrossthedistrict(orotherdistricts)?

• Aretheassessmentformatscongruentwithkeysummativeassessments?

• Areassessmentsconstantlybeingtweakedandimproved?

Time, Support, and Enrichment• Isthereaschoolwide,systematic,writtenplanforprovidingstudents

withadditionaltime,support,orenrichmentwithintheschoolday,regardlessoftheteachertowhomtheyareassigned?

• Istheplantimelyandflexible,allowingstudentstomoveinandoutofinterventions?

• Istheplandirectiveratherthaninvitational?

• Doestheschoolscheduleaccommodatetheplan?Ifnot,canitbeadjustedsothatitdoes?

• Doestheplancommittoprovidingstudentswhoaremostinneedwiththemosthelpbyyourmostexperiencedandcompetentstaff?

• Howiseffectivenessoftheplanmonitored?

A Focus on Results• Hastheschooldevelopedadataanalysisprotocoltohelpteams

structuretheirdialoguearoundevidenceofstudentlearning?

• Doindividualteachers,teacherteams,andtheprincipalmonitorthelearningofeachstudent—studentbystudent,skillbyskill?Howisthisdone?Whathappenswiththeinformation?

• Istheinformationusedtomakesureeachstudentwhoisstrugglingreceivesappropriateandfocusedinterventions?

• ArethelearningdatausedtosetSMARTgoalsforimprovement?Arethegoalssharedandmonitored?

• Areteamsprovidedwithtimely,accuratefeedbackregardingthequalityoftheworktheyaredoing?Doyouprovideteamswithassistancewhennecessary,anddoyoufrequentlyandpublicallyrecognizeandcelebratetheworkofindividualsandteamswhenappropriate?

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