Sustaining our PLCs in a budgetary crisis

a presentation to the Elmhurst District 205 School Board

21 October 2010

Andrew Bendelow

Dire Prospects

• 5 million to save• revenues fall• needs rise• AYP targets to hit

District response:  EEPRTElmhurst Educational Program Review Technique• harnesses the power of teams• creates "buy-in" from workers• allows for "transparent" cuts

EEPRT = PLC

Programs will be cut; central mission must not:

PLCs work over time• “shared knowledge and understanding about essential

learning” is produced (DuFour, 2006)

PLCs work over time• Marzano’s (2003) “guaranteed and viable curriculum”

is created

PLCs work over timeReeves’ (2002) “power standards” transform learning, result in positive effects on student learning and teaching practice (Vescio, Ross, and Adams, 2008).

Now is not the time to pull away from PLCs• We must keep the "main thing" the "main thing"• Delay, stasis will be = more costly than savings• What good is a trimmed program if quality = not improved?

Don't let PLCs languish; energize them with technologyGoogle Apps for Education allows us a solution that• is free• expands work outside the time/space restrictions

 

GAFE can sustain PLC initiatives• docs allow common workspace; 24/7 access

GAFE can sustain PLC initiatives• Sites allow PLC teams collaboration and archival space to build

common knowledge/curriculum

Don't turn off the light on PLCsuse technology to keep the focus on core mission through budget crisis

"We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is... the thief of time...though we may prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history."-MLK (1967)

Questions?