san antonio, tx • october 10–12 - amazon web services · stars at night ballroom 2–4 tuesday,...

Agenda San Antonio, TX • October 10–12

Monday, October 10

6:30–8:00 a.m.Registration Stars at Night PrefunctionContinental Breakfast Stars at Night Ballroom 1

8:00–9:45 a.m.Keynote—Rebecca DuFourFirst Things First: Building the Solid Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at Work

Stars at Night Ballroom 2–4

9:45–10:00 a.m. Break

10:00–11:30 a.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: 3–6Descriptions: 11–25

11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:00–2:30 p.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: 3–6Descriptions: 11–25

2:30–2:45 p.m. Break

2:45–3:45 p.m.Panel DiscussionA Q&A time with presenters. Receive practical answers to your most pressing questions.


Tuesday, October 11

7:00–8:00 a.m.Registration Stars at Night PrefunctionContinental Breakfast Stars at Night Ballroom 1

8:00–9:45 a.m.Keynote—Richard DuFourIn Praise of American Educators … and How They Can Become Even Better


9:45–10:00 a.m. Break


11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own)

1:00–2:30 p.m. Breakouts Titles & Locations: 3–6Descriptions: 11–25

2:30–2:45 p.m. Break

2:45–3:45 p.m.Team TimeA collaboration time for your team. Presenters are available for help in team discussions.


Wednesday, October 127:00–8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast Stars at Night Ballroom 1


9:30–9:45 a.m. Break

9:45–11:45 a.m.Keynote—Robert EakerKid by Kid, Skill by Skill: Becoming a Professional Learning Community


Agenda is subject to change.

1

Breakouts at a Glance

Presenter & TitleMonday, October 10 Tuesday, October 11 Wednesday,

October 12

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Tim BrownDid You Come to School Today Ready to Learn? Communicating High Expectations 225B–C 305

Student Data Notebooks: Developing Ownership, Motivation, and a Growth Mindset

225B–C 305

Raising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading Practices 305

Luis F. CruzWe’re Sold on PLCs, but Now What? Understanding the Who and How of the PLC Process

304C

Professional Learning Communities: A Vehicle for Eliminating the Achievement Gap

304C

English Learners and PLCs 225B–C

Collectively Responding When Students Do Not Learn 225B–C

Implementing a PLC From Theory to Practice: How All Schools—Even High Schools—Make It Happen

301C

Rebecca & Richard DuFourBuilding the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Part 1)


Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work (Part 2)


Rebecca DuFourRaising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary Schools


Lights, Camera, Action! Setting the Stage for PLC Success in Elementary Schools 301A–B

Richard DuFourCommon Formative Assessments: The Lynchpin of the PLC Process


Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to Resisters 225B–C

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October 12

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Robert EakerFriday Night in America: A Commonsense Approach to Improving Student Achievement 304A–B

A Focus on Learning: What Would It Look Like If We Really Meant It? 304A–B

Aligning the Work of a Professional Learning Community: Central Office, Schools, and Teams

301C

Developing a Stretch Culture 301C

William M. Ferriter

Our Students Can Assess Themselves 302C

Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every Teacher

302C 302C

How to Use Digital Tools to Support Teachers in a PLC 302C 302C

Marc Johnson

OK, So We’re a Team. Now What? 302A 302A

So Who’s Leading This Thing? I Guess We All Are! 302A 302A

A Collaborative Culture: The Foundation We Build Our Work Upon 302A

Brandon JonesAbandoning Archaic Practices: Motivating and Preparing Generation Z Students 302B

Leading With Passion and Purpose: The Principal’s Role in a Professional Learning Community

302B 302B

Facing the Giants: Overcoming RTI Odds in Secondary Schools 302B 302B

David LaRosePutting the Community in Your Professional Learning Community 224 224

The Fantastic Four of PLCs 224

Anchors and Sails: Why Some Teams Do and Will and Some Teams Don’t and Won’t 224 224

4



October 12

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Mike Mattos

More Powerful Than Poverty 303

Simplifying Response to Intervention: How to Systematically Respond When Students Don’t Learn

303

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Secondary Schools 303

Guiding Principles for Principals: Tips and Tools for Leading the PLC Process 303

Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions: Solving the Skill or Will Dilemma 303

Anthony MuhammadBuilding a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 1) 301C

Building a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 2) 301C

All Means All: Creating a PLC Culture (Part 1) 304A–B

All Means All: Creating a PLC Culture (Part 2) 304A–B

Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap: Liberating Mindsets to Effect Change 304A–B

Maria Nielsen

Teaching Elementary Writing Standards 225D

Teaching Secondary Writing Standards 225D

Show Me What Ya Got: Student Engagement Strategies to Keep the Pulse on Student Learning

301A–B 225D

PLC 101: The 15-Day Challenge 301A–B

Sarah SchuhlWhen Content Isn’t Enough: Strategies to Help Students Really Learn K–5 Mathematics 225A 225A

Focusing Teams and Students With Learning Targets 225A 225A

Data, Data, Data: What Do We Need? What Do We Do With It? 225A

5



October 12

10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 10:00–11:30 a.m. 1:00–2:30 p.m. 8:00–9:30 a.m.

Kenneth C. WilliamsStarting a Movement: How a Guiding Coalition Leads From the Front 301A–B 304C

12 Angry Men: The Power of Productive Conflict 301A–B 304C

At Risk or Underserved? Focusing on What Really Matters in Student Learning 304C

Agenda is subject to change.

6

Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

Meeting Room Level

Ballroom Level

9

Tim Brown Did You Come to School Today Ready to Learn? Communicating High Expectations

Lee G. Bolman and Terrence Deal write in their book Leading With Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit, “Organizations without a rich symbolic life become empty and sterile. The magic of special occasions is vital in building significance into collective life.”

Tim Brown offers practical strategies for students and staff to communicate, motivate, and celebrate. Using positive strategies, educators can identify high expectations for learning—for students and one another.

Participants discuss and share thoughts and practices on these essential questions: • How do principals and teachers communicate high expectations to students? • How can teachers establish a classroom culture centered on learning rather than

compliance?• Why are celebrations important, and how do we make them part of our symbolic life?

Student Data Notebooks: Developing Ownership, Motivation, and a Growth MindsetEducators in a school with a focus on learning promote a strong sense of self-efficacy in their students. Several studies show this may be one of the greatest factors for student motivation and engagement. In this session, participants examine the essential characteristics for building student self-efficacy and a growth mindset through data notebooks. Tim Brown shares actual products teams have developed to engage and empower students in self-reporting and reflection.

Participants address the following questions: • What are the key components of a highly motivated and engaged classroom?• What products do teams create to improve student learning and ensure self-efficacy in the

PLC process?• How can teachers use these products effectively to help students own their learning?

Raising Questions and Finding Answers in Our Grading PracticesTalking about grading practices is a touchy subject full of emotions, opinions, and personal beliefs. However, when schools make the shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning, they must be willing to examine policies, practices, and guidelines to see if they support the principles of learning. Tim Brown shows how a staff can engage educators in a collaborative process committed to grading practices aligned with learning.

Participants discuss and share beliefs and practices on essential questions, such as: • What do the principles of learning, student motivation, and grading have in common?• What is the reasoning and rationale behind changes in grading practices? • What grading practices and guidelines have successful teams and schools implemented?

Session Descriptions

11

Luis F. Cruz We’re Sold on PLCs, but Now What? Understanding the Who and How of the PLC Process

Research from academia and accounts from educators worldwide confirm that professional learning communities, when implemented effectively, increase high levels of learning for all students. However, questions still remain. Who is responsible for initiating PLCs? Is this the job of the administration or district office? How does this process take shape?

Luis F. Cruz explains in practical terms the who and how associated with the PLC process. Administrators and teachers can work together to formulate a shared consensus about learning for all students and discover that the most essential question to ask in initiating a PLC is not who or how, but why.

Participants at this session learn:• Why it is important first to create a shared consensus in initiating a PLC• How administrators and teachers formulate a guiding coalition or leadership team to lead

staff in implementing the PLC process• How to ensure critical aspects of the PLC process are in place before establishing a

fundamental focus on collaboration

Professional Learning Communities: A Vehicle for Eliminating the Achievement GapThe gap in learning between traditional homogeneous and diverse heterogeneous student populations has extended beyond urban communities and is found in most schools nationwide. How can schools use the PLC process to make strides in closing the achievement gap? How can effective collaboration be used to ensure learning for all students, including those historically underserved? Luis F. Cruz details how schools can use the PLC process to provide a laser-like focus on high levels of learning for even the most challenging student cohorts.

Participants in this session learn:• The complexities associated with the achievement gap and how to make sense of learning

deficiencies found within the gap• How to formulate a data picture of their school to identify learning gaps between student

cohorts and generate a greater focus on learning• How to use effective leadership practices to create a partnership between the school’s

guiding coalition and teacher-led taskforces

English Learners and PLCsLuis F. Cruz shares how schools infuse characteristics of PLCs into strategies to help English learner populations flourish. This session details PLC components teacher leaders use to close the achievement gap for students learning English as a second language. Dr. Cruz shows how taskforce leadership can reculture and restructure, while introducing best practices and enhancing learning for all students.

Dr. Cruz discusses how:• Teacher-led taskforces increase academic performance for English learners.• PLC practices can highlight stark realities when English learners are not learning.• Adults change their expectations and behaviors when listening to the needs of English

learners, resulting in significant improvements in student achievement.


12

Luis F. Cruz Collectively Responding When Students Do Not Learn

When educators focus on the four critical questions of a PLC, the third question, What do we do when students don’t learn?, often stumps teachers. Luis F. Cruz showcases methods that schools throughout the country use to reculture and restructure, enabling them to respond when students do not learn.

Participants learn why it is vital that teams reculture and restructure their PLC efforts. They see how Tier 1 interventions are essential to the process. Dr. Cruz exposes participants to structures that allow schools to respond when students do not demonstrate learning.

Implementing a PLC From Theory to Practice: How All Schools—Even High Schools—Make It HappenHow do schools in low-income, Spanish-speaking, mostly immigrant Latino communities make learning for all students a priority? Luis F. Cruz, former principal of Baldwin Park High School in California, shares how Baldwin Park, along with schools where he served as consultant, made the transition to high-achieving schools focused on learning for all students.

Participants in this session learn:• How the journey began, starting with a meaningful mission statement, followed by

collective commitments• How to establish effective collaboration• Types of leadership that support an evolving PLC culture year after year• Structures that allow PLCs to work during the school day

Rebecca & Richard DuFour Building the Collaborative Culture of a Professional Learning Community at Work

(Parts 1 & 2)Powerful collaborative teams are the fundamental building blocks of a professional learning community and a critical component in building a collaborative culture.

Learn how educators transform their congenial groups into high-performing collaborative teams, and get a sense of the specific work those teams undertake. Discover ways to provide time and support for collaborative teams during the school day. Most importantly, identify structures and strategies to help teams stay focused on doing the work that results in student achievement.

This two-part continuing session is designed for educators at all levels and is highly recommended for all participants who are new to PLC concepts.


13

Rebecca DuFour

First Things First: Building the Solid Foundation of a Professional Learning Community at WorkAs distinguished author Steven Covey writes, “Effective leadership is putting first things first.” The first step in the never-ending journey of continuous improvement of a PLC at Work is establishing a solid foundation for all subsequent efforts.

This foundation rests on four pillars, each of which asks a particular question: 1. Why does our school or district exist, and what is our fundamental purpose?2. What must we become as a school or district to fulfill that purpose?3. How must each of us behave to create such a school or district?4. Which targets will we pursue first and which initial steps must we take to reach them?

Becky DuFour leads participants through an examination of each question and ways to move educators’ responses beyond rhetoric to a reality that shapes the culture of their schools and districts.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Elementary SchoolsSchools that function as PLCs must ultimately do two things: 1) Build a collaborative culture to promote continuous adult learning, and 2) Create structures and systems that provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Participants examine strategies to collectively: • Respond to each student’s learning needs in a timely, directive, and systematic way.• Create and sustain strong parent partnerships to enhance student learning.• Make celebrations part of the school culture.

After examining different models of systematic intervention and enrichment, participants receive criteria to assess their own schools’ responses and an action-planning template for next steps in raising the bar and closing the gap.

This session is recommended for elementary school educators.

Lights, Camera, Action! Setting the Stage for PLC Success in Elementary SchoolsElementary school educators beginning the PLC journey face the immediate challenge of how to provide time and structure essential to the PLC process. This interactive session is designed to help elementary educators address that challenge.

Becky DuFour provides effective templates and proven strategies for reallocating existing resources to support learning for all. Participants are invited to bring their creative ideas to this session.

This session is recommended for elementary-level educators who have an interest in or a responsibility for creating schoolwide and team schedules.


= Keynote14

Richard DuFour

In Praise of American Educators … and How They Can Become Even BetterThis keynote is based on the following assertions:

• The current generation of American educators is achieving the best results in history.• The consequences for students who do not succeed in the American educational system

have never been more dire.• The teaching profession has within its sphere of influence the ability to create conditions

that can lead to dramatic improvement in student and adult learning.• Educators must accept responsibility for the fact that these conditions are not yet the

norm in American schools.

Richard DuFour provides explicit information regarding the conditions we must create and presents a candid assessment of how many schools are skirting their responsibility to do what must be done.

Common Formative Assessments: The Lynchpin of the PLC ProcessThe effective use of team-developed common formative assessments is the single most powerful tool available to a school for accelerating its progress on the PLC journey. Richard DuFour demonstrates how educators can use these assessments to better meet students’ needs and inform and improve their practice.

As a result of this session, participants become able to:• Define common assessment.• Define formative assessment.• Use common formative assessments as a powerful catalyst for school improvement.• Clarify the right and wrong way to use common assessment results.• Develop more powerful common formative assessments.

This session is recommended for teachers and administrators at all levels.

Getting Started: Building Consensus and Responding to ResistersThe most significant barriers to building a school culture focused on continuous improvement are the traditions of privatizing practice, of isolation, and of individual autonomy that have characterized teaching. How can a faculty build consensus for significant change? What are the most effective ways of addressing the concerns of those who resist even when the staff has decided to move forward?

As a result of this session, participants can:• Define consensus.• Apply the most effective strategies for building consensus.• Utilize seven research-based strategies for addressing resistance.

This session is recommended for teachers and administrators at all levels.


= Keynote15

Robert Eaker

Kid by Kid, Skill by Skill: Becoming a Professional Learning CommunityAchieving significant improvement in learning for all students is a difficult, complex, and incremental journey. While the PLC process provides educators with the most promising vehicle to undertake this journey, the focus must remain on each student’s learning—skill by skill. In this keynote, Robert Eaker shares ideas, examples, and research-based methods useful in implementing proven PLC practices with specificity, precision, and fidelity. At the heart of it, we educators must ensure that our best intentions and efforts don’t simply swirl around our classrooms and schools, but achieve a real and lasting impact within them.

Friday Night in America: A Commonsense Approach to Improving Student AchievementImproving learning for all students is a difficult, complex, and incremental endeavor. However, teachers already know more about how to ensure student learning than they may realize. Band directors, art teachers, and coaches regularly employ successful strategies in nonacademic school settings. In particular, tactics football coaches use to win on the gridiron on Friday nights are similar to efforts school teams use in the academic arena. Robert Eaker reviews practices that lead to improved student learning across the board. He shows how teacher teams can “suit up” with powerful strategies to triumph every school day.

A Focus on Learning: What Would It Look Like If We Really Meant It?There is a fundamental difference between schools that function as professional learning communities and their more traditional counterparts: a shift from a focus on teaching and covering content to a focus on learning for every student, skill by skill. While few would disagree with the importance of student learning, some schools struggle with exactly how to embed practices that promote student success in the classroom. This session focuses on specific strategies that schools, teams, and teachers use to enhance student success in schools that really mean it when they proclaim they want all students to learn.

Aligning the Work of a Professional Learning Community: Central Office, Schools, and Teams A districtwide professional learning community is more than a sum of individual parts. A high-performing school district that functions as a PLC reflects a thoughtful alignment and integration of work at the central office level, in individual schools, and in teacher teams. While highlighting the efforts of highly successful school districts, Robert Eaker describes how these districts organize and align at each level to implement professional learning community concepts and practices districtwide.

Developing a Stretch CultureIf the goal of achieving high levels of learning for all students is to be realized, then schools must develop a culture that stretches the aspirations and performance levels of students and adults alike. Robert Eaker focuses on cultural shifts that professional learning communities make while developing a stretch culture. He pays particular attention to assessment and providing students with additional time and support.


= Keynote16

William M. Ferriter Our Students Can Assess Themselves

In spring 2012, Canadian educational change expert Dean Shareski issued a simple challenge on his blog: “I’m wondering if you’re ready to let your students assess themselves. Not as some experiment where you end up grading them apart but where you really give the reins over to them.” Shareski’s challenge resonates with William M. Ferriter, who has always been dissatisfied with the grade-driven work in his classroom. In this session, Bill introduces participants to the tangible steps he has taken as a result of Shareski’s challenge to integrate opportunities for self-assessment into his classroom.

Participants in this session:• Discuss the important role self-assessment plays in learning.• Explore simple self-assessment behaviors that can be integrated into any classroom. • Learn common challenges of integrating student self-assessment into the classroom.

Small Schools and Singletons: Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every TeacherThe PLC concept resonates with most educators, but making collaborative learning work in small schools or for singleton teachers can be challenging. Participants explore four models for building meaningful professional learning teams for singletons and teachers in small schools: 1) creating vertical teams to study skills that cross content areas, 2) using interdisciplinary teams to address the engagement levels of at-risk students, 3) designing class loads that allow teachers to teach the same subjects, and 4) using electronic tools to pair teachers with peers working in the same subject area.

Participants in this session:• Discuss common structural barriers that prevent singletons from working on collaborative

teams.• Examine four models for creating meaningful professional learning teams for teachers.• Begin an action plan to incorporate singletons into the PLC process.

How to Use Digital Tools to Support Teachers in a PLCThe costs of collaboration can be quite high for professional learning teams. Sharing information, cooperating to develop lessons, and taking collective action to ensure success for every student can require more time, energy, and effort than working alone. As a result, teachers might question the benefits of PLCs. In this session, participants explore a range of free digital tools that 21st century learning teams use to make common collaborative and instructional practices efficient and rewarding.

Participants at this session:• Explore how digital tools help collaborative teams to organize content and share

information with professionals beyond the team.• Learn how digital tools can help provide timely, directive feedback to teachers and

students as part of formative assessment.• Examine how digital tools can help facilitate differentiation.


17

Marc Johnson OK, So We’re a Team. Now What?

Focused collaboration is the key to high-performing teams. Becky DuFour states, “It’s not ‘did we spend time together,’ but rather, ‘did the time we spent together impact our work?’” The key is to ensure that teams stay focused on learning in a collaborative culture driven by results rather than intentions. This session explores how to develop clarity regarding the focus of collaborative work.

Participants in this session:• Develop clarity in workflow by answering the four critical questions through team actions.• Explore tools that assist in keeping teams focused.• Engage in the work of a team and connect adult actions to student outcomes.

So Who’s Leading This Thing? I Guess We All Are!Every high-performing team has someone who influences and inspires the team as a whole—their leader—but in systems where high-performing teams exist, leadership roles are also dispersed throughout the organization at all levels. No one person leads alone; rather, teams exist at multiple levels of the organization. Understanding the role of leaders and having clarity around what is expected in that role is essential. As Mike Schmoker writes, “Clarity precedes competence.” In this session, Marc Johnson helps clarify the role of leadership in teams and discusses how to develop leadership capacity.

Participants in this session:• Discuss leadership characteristics and challenges.• Explore the role of leadership at the district, site, and team level.• Explore tools and strategies to strengthen teams and develop leadership capacity.

A Collaborative Culture: The Foundation We Build Our Work UponBuilding a culture of collaboration is the second big idea of PLCs at Work, and yet, all too often, educators treat shaping culture as little more than a feel good moment at the start of a new school year. Guiding the development of an organization’s culture requires deliberate, purposeful, ongoing action by leaders at all levels of the organization. In this session, Marc Johnson provides an overview of elements that impact organizational culture, and the essential role of leadership at all levels in shaping and guiding the development of a culture of collaboration.

Participants in this session:• Develop an understanding of the elements that influence culture.• Focus on the development of common intent through shared mission, vision, values, and goals.• Experience a hands-on collaborative activity to help process the learning and “rock” their world.


18

Brandon Jones Abandoning Archaic Practices: Motivating and Preparing Generation Z Students

Educators are challenged to prepare students for jobs that don’t exist, using technologies not yet invented, to solve problems no one recognizes. So what happens when teachers use tried-and-true teaching methods, yet fail to motivate and engage students? Why do these established practices no longer work?

The answer lies in knowing how today’s students function. For 21st century learners, systems of thinking, from the neural to the practical levels, are instant and problem-based—in sharp contrast to the gradual accumulation of fixed knowledge for previous generations. In this session, participants compare traditional and 21st century learning practices that make significant impacts on student motivation and learning.

Participants in this session identify:• Vital differences between Generation Z and past generations• Traditional practices that demotivate students• Learning practices for the 21st century that motivate and prepare students for their future

Leading With Passion and Purpose: The Principal’s Role in a Professional Learning CommunityLeaders are not measured by how many followers they have but by how many leaders they create. It is widely accepted that the principal has a significant and positive impact on student achievement. While this impact is generally indirect, the extent to which a principal can effectively cast a compelling vision, build capacity and shared leadership, and create a culture of collaboration manifests itself in student success or failure.

Participants in this session:• Examine a principal’s key responsibilities leading a thriving and growing PLC. • Analyze research on a principal’s impact on student achievement.• Construct a framework for shared leadership and capacity building.• Examine how a principal’s passion and vision impact students, staff, and culture in a PLC.

Facing the Giants: Overcoming RTI Odds in Secondary SchoolsThe primary mission of a professional learning community is to ensure high levels of learning for all students. With this in mind, do the systems of support in schools truly serve that mission?

Despite teachers’ best lessons and efforts in class, it is certain that some students will be unsuccessful without additional time and support. Because of this, creating a system in which all students are guaranteed directed, specific, and timely intervention is essential to each student’s success. In this session, participants identify common barriers secondary schools face when attempting to provide additional help to students and explore possible solutions to those issues.

Learning outcomes include:• Understanding the current reality of, and challenges to, systematic interventions in

secondary schools• Defining the two types of learners that require intervention: failing students and

intentional non-learners• Using a tiered approach to determine how to meet the needs of learners


19

David LaRose Putting the Community in Your Professional Learning Community

The third critical question of PLCs asks what we do when kids don’t learn. David LaRose delves deeper into that question by adding an extension. Question 3, part II: Why don’t they? Often, barriers to learning are due to out-of-school factors such as the failure to meet basic needs. If educators exist to ensure high levels of learning for all, how do they ensure all barriers to learning are addressed? How do educators create a system that enlists community partners to address the needs of the whole child? In this session, Dave demonstrates why school and community collaboration is vital, especially for students who need more of us and more from us.

In this session, participants discuss:• How the PLC process can effectively and systemically address the needs of the whole child• How a school and district can harness and enlist community partners in meaningful ways

that address specific student needs• Tangible examples of how interagency PLCs and intervention teams are formed• How the “whole child, whole community” model has impacted the learning of the most

vulnerable students

The Fantastic Four of PLCsOne purpose, two beliefs, three principles, and four questions! In this session, David LaRose emphasizes the importance of clarity and conviction for a strong PLC foundation: its purpose, values, and beliefs. The strength of the foundation (the why) determines the effectiveness and the impact the work of the teams (the what). Beyond the words of a mission or vision statement, what do schools or districts truly value? What do they measure? What do they celebrate? What do they confront? Dave demonstrates the importance of creating an effective and collaborative culture by balancing attention and emotion with both purpose and practice.

In this session, participants:• Discuss the essential elements—the Fantastic Four—of a highly effective, collaborative

team, school, and district.• Conduct a values “reality check” of their current team, school, or district and ask whether

words and actions are aligned.• Learn how to develop a plan of action that is both compelling and compliant.

Anchors and Sails: Why Some Teams Do and Will and Some Teams Don’t and Won’tWhat is the difference between teams that are highly effective and those that aren’t? What does being effective look like, sound like, and feel like? Schools are filled with teams and individuals who have participated in the same training, use the same resources, turn in the same products, and attend the same meetings. Yet, while some generate significant and sustained levels of learning for their students, others struggle to make their collaboration time meaningful. In this session, David LaRose highlights the factors that make a difference—for students and adults.

In this session, participants:• Reflect on and discuss the characteristics of a highly effective team.• Learn the power and importance of norms, the promises educators make to themselves

and their colleagues.• Process the impact of resisters and isolationists and consider steps to ensure individuals

do not undermine the effectiveness and enthusiasm of the team or school.


20

Mike Mattos More Powerful Than Poverty

The achievement gap between poor and non-poor students is twice as large today as gaps related to ethnicity or language. As educators, overcoming the corrosive effects of poverty is critical if we hope to achieve our mission of all students learning at high levels. Mike Mattos focuses on five essential PLC practices proven to have a far greater impact on student achievement than the power of poverty.

Simplifying Response to Intervention: How to Systematically Respond When Students Don’t LearnHow can schools respond when students don’t learn? Compelling evidence shows that response to intervention can successfully engage a school staff in a collective process to provide every child with the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels. Yet, at many schools, this potential lies dormant, buried under layers of state regulations, district protocols, misguided priorities, and traditional school practices that are misaligned to the essential elements of RTI. This session provides guiding practices and practical ideas to create a multitiered system of support.

Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever It Takes in Secondary SchoolsWhat does an effective secondary school intervention process look like? This session provides participants with practical, proven intervention ideas, including ways to create a schoolwide process to identify students for extra help and how to create time in the master schedule for interventions and extensions.

Guiding Principles for Principals: Tips and Tools for Leading the PLC ProcessThe principal has an essential role in creating a professional learning community. Without effective support and leadership, achieving this outcome is virtually impossible. Specifically targeted to site administrators, this session provides proven practices and examples of how to create staff consensus, monitor team progress, and address violations to a school’s collective commitments.

Uniting Academic and Behavior Interventions: Solving the Skill or Will DilemmaSome students struggle in school because they lack academic skills and knowledge. Others struggle because they do not demonstrate the behaviors necessary to succeed in school. And often, our most at-risk youth lack both. In this breakout, Mike Mattos shows how the PLC at Work process can be used to target and teach the essential social and academic behaviors students need to thrive in school.

Anthony Muhammad Building a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 1)

Anthony Muhammad brings to life the three big ideas of a PLC at the middle school level, with a heavy emphasis on developing a focus on learning and a collaborative culture.

Participants leave this session with a strong understanding of what it takes to transform a middle school into a high-performing PLC. After returning to their schools, educators can immediately apply the many practical strategies Dr. Muhammad shares.

Learning outcomes include:• Establishing a clear and universal focus on student learning• Fostering learning systems for students and educators• Developing and guiding high-powered, collaborative teams


21

Anthony Muhammad Building a High-Performing Middle School PLC (Part 2)

In part two of this session, Anthony Muhammad stresses developing powerful assessment systems and effective academic interventions. Participants gain a rich understanding of what it takes to transform a middle school into a high-performing PLC, and they leave with many practical strategies that can be applied after returning to their schools.

This session calls on attendees to:• Practice developing essential standards and student outcomes.• Delve into the process of creating useful and valid common assessments.• Learn how to methodically create an effective academic intervention system that meets

students’ individual needs.

All Means All: Creating a PLC Culture (Part 1)Anthony Muhammad addresses the behaviors of a transformational leader, staff resistance to change, and the leader’s role in building consensus. Participants explore the connection between school culture and PLC implementation while developing an authentic connection to the PLC work. They leave with a number of practical strategies to begin transforming their school’s culture. Outcomes include understanding:

• The influence of school culture• How to challenge counterproductive norms and beliefs• The balance between support and accountability

All Means All: Creating a PLC Culture (Part 2)Anthony Muhammad continues to explore the behaviors of a transformational leader, staff resistance to change, and the leader’s role in building consensus among staff. He focuses on three key areas of the PLC process: managing frustration, creating a culture of collaboration, and fair and reasonable accountability.

Outcomes include understanding:• How to analyze and manage staff frustration• How to construct and protect productive collaborative relationships• Key leadership behaviors that inspire teachers to embrace change

Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap: Liberating Mindsets to Effect ChangeAnthony Muhammad explores the connection between personal and institutional mindsets and academic achievement gaps. The issue of inequality in student learning outcomes has been studied and debated for many years. Dr. Muhammad seeks to establish that the primary culprit in the fight to overcome the achievement gap is rooted in our thinking.

Participants come to understand:• The true meaning and value of school culture• The power of mindsets and their influence on educator effectiveness• How to shift from damaging mindsets (superiority and inferiority) to high levels of

efficacy (liberation mindset)


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Maria Nielsen Teaching Elementary Writing Standards

Participants receive tools and templates to systematically help K–5 students with the writing process. Maria Nielsen illustrates how color coding helps elementary-level students organize their thoughts. Teams learn the value of rubrics and a process for inter-rater reliability.

In this interactive session, participants learn the types of elementary-level writing required by the Common Core and next-generation standards and collect elementary school-level templates to instruct the writing process.

Teaching Secondary Writing StandardsParticipants receive tools and templates to systematically help students in grades 6–12 with the writing process. Maria Nielsen illustrates how color coding helps secondary-level students organize their thoughts. Teams learn the value of rubrics and a process for inter-rater reliability.

In this interactive session, participants learn the types of secondary-level writing required by the Common Core and next-generation standards and collect secondary school-level templates to instruct the writing process.

Show Me What Ya Got: Student Engagement Strategies to Keep the Pulse on Student LearningMaria Nielsen helps teachers move past “sit and get” in the classroom to a place where all students actively participate in learning. Participants learn engagement strategies to assess student understanding throughout a lesson or unit of study.

During this interactive session, attendees can expect to:• Explore the “nifty nine” best teaching strategies.• Learn how to assess student learning by implementing engagement strategies. • Identify the differences among assessment questions, open questions, and engagement

questions.

PLC 101: The 15-Day ChallengeThe 15-day challenge gives collaborative teams a simple format to plan and implement a complete learning–assessing cycle based on standards and targets. Teams explore how to embed common assessments throughout a unit of study to identify students in need of intervention or extension.

Maria Nielsen helps participants:• Get a clear picture of the PLC process and desired student outcomes. • Learn how to design units of study based on standards and learning targets.• Embed formative assessments throughout a unit of study.• See the value in bringing student work to the table to examine inter-rater reliability and

scoring consistency.


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Sarah Schuhl When Content Isn’t Enough: Strategies to Help Students Really Learn K–5 Mathematics

Sarah Schuhl explores ways to engage students in learning using strategies focused on the Standards for Mathematical Practice. How can student knowledge be deepened through inferences, multiple representations, or strategies to solve tasks? Which literacy strategies might also be effective when teaching mathematics? Participants determine key elements of lesson design to meet the needs of students learning mathematics based on the Common Core standards.

Participants can expect to:• Explore mathematics strategies to engage K–5 learners.• Learn critical components to quality lesson design when teaching K–5 mathematics.• Investigate using high-level tasks during mathematics instruction.

Focusing Teams and Students With Learning TargetsHow can students articulate what they are learning? What should teachers assess to determine whether students are learning? Learning targets help students and teachers reach clarity about the learning outcomes expected in each course or subject area. In this session, participants learn how to write clear learning targets from standards. Sarah Schuhl discusses strategies for using learning targets to help students self-assess their progress and for PLC teams to create and analyze common assessments.

Data, Data, Data: What Do We Need? What Do We Do With It?The third big idea of PLC teamwork is a focus on results. As a collaborative team, how do you use data to make informed decisions related to assessment and instruction, determine whether or not students have learned, and include students in their learning? In this session participants explore various ways to collect and organize data and begin to look at how to respond to the results. They also learn a protocol for analyzing assessment data in a PLC team.

Kenneth C. Williams Starting a Movement: How a Guiding Coalition Leads From the Front

Reculturing a school into a professional learning community is a movement, and a movement begins with a small, select group of staff members willing to lead from the front.

Kenneth C. Williams makes the case for why schools must rethink the role of the traditional school leadership team. He provides guidance on transitioning from a leadership team to a powerful guiding coalition. Participants explore the differences in forms of leadership, which involve much more than a name change, as well as the required competencies of its members.

Participants receive a toolkit of resources to evaluate leadership and create a guiding coalition at their schools.


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Kenneth C. Williams 12 Angry Men: The Power of Productive Conflict

Kenneth C. Williams uses the classic film 12 Angry Men as a lens to discuss the five qualities that characterize effective teams:

1. Open inquiry2. Accepting responsibility for decision making3. Participation of team members4. Productive conflict to discover ideas and reveal new information5. The essential role of diversity in decision making

The film explores consensus-building techniques among a group of men whose diverse personalities create intense conflict. Kenneth shows how teams face and overcome similar challenges to collaborate and succeed. The primary learning outcome is for participants to gain ideas to substantially improve team effectiveness.

At Risk or Underserved? Focusing on What Really Matters in Student LearningThe questions teachers ask about educating youth impact the results. Participants in this session learn to shift traditional thinking and change paradigms by collaboratively using expertise and resources to maximize student achievement. Kenneth C. Williams helps educators capitalize on PLC principles to ensure success for all students.


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san antonio, tx • october 10–12 - amazon web services · stars at night ballroom 2–4 tuesday,...

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