Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
BUILDING
a LEARNING
COMMUNITY
A tale of two schools
2012 Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. All rights reserved.
This report was published by Learning Forward and the Stanford Center for Opportunity
Policy in Education as part of their multi-year study, The Status of Professional
Development in the United States. The study is supported by a generous grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Suggested citation: Mindich, D., & Lieberman, A. (2012). Building a learning community:
A tale of two schools. Stanford, CA. Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in
Education.
E
ducation research has found that collegial work is connected to teachers
professional growth and positive student outcomes, but for various social and
psychological as well as organizational reasons, teachers often face challenges to
working together. As a result, efforts to bring teachers together have had uneven
success. There is a good deal of research about what effective professional learning
communities (PLCs) look like, but as McLaughlin and Talbert (2006) write: We know
much less about the processhow teacher learning communities get started, how they
develop, and how requirements for their development and markers of maturity change
(129).
This study combines survey data of 33 New Jersey public schools involved in a state-
sponsored PLC training program with case studies of two of those schools in order to
trace the factors associated with the implementation of PLCs.
Interviews and observations at the two case-study schools showed that a set of predicted
variablesvision, community, resources (including time to meet and teacher expertise),
and processesseemed to be connected to the development of collegial professional
practice, and that all of these factors were influenced by principal leadership and the
wider distributed leadership structures at the schools. These findings were corroborated
by the survey data from the two case-study schools and the larger pool of schools in the
program. Other factors, such as the state and local contexts of the two case-study schools,
and the leaders judicious use of their means of control while also supporting teacher
autonomy, proved to be important for these schools as well. Although the staffs at both
schools were already close socially and professionally, in both schools even reluctant
teachers noticed greater depth to their collegial work. Challenges remained in terms of
scheduling among teachers and the use of data to support high-quality teaching, but the
move from congeniality to collegiality could be documented.
Acknowledgements
T
his study would not have been possible without funding support from
Learning Forward through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and without
the wise guidance of Joellen Killion and Stephanie Hirsh. We are very thankful for
their support. We would also like to thank Andy Hargreaves for his thoughtful
suggestions for improving this report.
Finally, this study would be nothing without the educators of Doug Marvin Middle
School and Isaac Middle School.1 The principals, Paul Matson and Phil Suarez, were
helpful, inspirational, and hospitable, as were the teaching staffs in both schools. They all
were great conversationalists, and the work they were doing was inspiring.
1
The names of the schools and faculty and staff members used throughout the study are pseudonyms.
i
Foreword
Teacher Professional Learning in the United States:
State Policies and Strategies
Joellen Killion
Senior Advisor, Learning Forward
A
growing body of research and provide insight into the schools journey
professional consensus has given into learning communities, focusing on
us a deeper understanding about school leadership, relationships, struc-
what distinguishes effective profes- tures, content, schedules, challenges, team
sional learning from its ineffective cousin. autonomy, and how learning communi-
Effective professional learning enables ties began, developed, are structured,
educators to develop the knowledge, skills, and are supported. As they offer a deeper
practices, and dispositions needed to help look inside the inner workings of teams,
students learn and achieve at higher levels. they share lessons learned and supporting
Among the promising practices that many conditions that contributed to the teams
schools implement to promote effective successes.
professional learning are professional
learning communities groups of teachers By revealing the inner working of teams
and administrators who collaborate to within two schools and comparing the
improve their practice to meet learner way teams operated and the school con-
needs. ditions in which teams existed, Mindich
and Liebermans deep look is both invalu-
The variance in how schools and districts able and practical because it contributes
define and enact learning communities important findings about effective learning
varies dramatically from team to team, teams, offers guidance to school faculties
school to school, and district to district. and district and state leaders, and identifies
As the practice spreads, it is increasingly the difficulty of establishing and sustaining
important to understand what makes some effective learning teams.
teams successful as measured by increased
student achievement, changing instructional Building a Learning Community: A Tale of
practice, and development of a culture Two School is the fourth study in a series of
of continuous improvement. In order to studies on the state of professional learning
spread the practices that produce these conducted for Learning Forward by the
results, it is necessary to look inside suc- Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in
cessful learning teams and unpack their Education under the leadership of Linda
processes, strategies, structures, and sup- Darling-Hammond and by a skillful team
porting conditions. of researchers. The first study, Professional
Learning in the Learning Profession: A
Dan Mindich and Ann Lieberman offer Status Report on Teacher Development
a look inside two middle schools to in the U.S. and Abroad (2009), compares
ii
teacher professional learning in the United Taken collectively, this series provides a
States and countries whose students out- comprehensive, current view of the field
performed U.S. students on international of professional learning and offers clear
assessments revealing significant practices recommendations for improving both the
in professional learning more prominent quality and results of professional learning.
in those high-performing countries. Pro-
fessional Development in the United Learning Forward appreciates the scholar-
States: Trends and Challenges (2010), ship of Dan Mindich and Ann Lieberman,
examines patterns and barriers in profes- the support of Linda Darling-Hammond,
sional learning based on updated national the work of the team of researchers who
data. The third study, Teacher Professional contributed to and authored the earlier
Learning in the United States: Case Studies studies in the series, and the generos-
of State Policies and Strategies (2010), ity of the schools faculty members who
takes a close look at state policies and allowed the research team to look inside
support systems in four states that demon- their work. It is through the collaboration
strated increased student achievement and of researchers and practitioners that all
upward trends in indicators of effective educators gain important guidance about
professional learning. This fourth study how to strengthen professional learning to
provides a look at the support and practice increase educator effectiveness and student
of professional learning inside two schools. results.
I
n current practice and in scholarly This report is part of one of the most
writing, academics and school leaders comprehensive projects yet conducted on
encourage teachers to work together policies and practices that support high-
in professional learning communities quality professional development for
(PLCs) to share knowledge and to plan teachers. The following reports have been
common strategies to address school needs. released through this project:
While such practice seems like common
sense, research and anecdotal evidence Phase I, February, 2009: Professional
indicate that getting teachers to do this Learning in the Learning Profession:
work well is difficult. A Status Report on Teacher Devel-
opment in the U.S. and Abroad
This situation raises important issues for
both practitioners and policy makers. Phase II, August, 2010: Professional
Researchers including Little (1990, 2003) Development in the United States:
and McLaughlin and Talbert (2006) have Trends and Challenges
closely documented elements of success-
ful learning communities, but those studies Phase III, December 2010: Teacher
and others have done less to document Professional Learning in the United
the process of implementation. More spe- States: Case Studies of State Policies
cifically, there is a lot of discussion about and Strategies
the importance of factors like trust (Bryk
& Schneider, 2002) and good leadership Phase IV, April 2012: Building a
(Elmore, 2000) to make these situations Learning Community: A Tale of Two
work, but there is less research about Schools
exactly how to create community and how
principals work to support and monitor New Jerseys Professional
PLC efforts to allow for successful changes Development2
in practice.
This study combines survey data of 33 New
This study extends the findings of a set Jersey public schools involved in a state-
of state case studies done by Stanfords sponsored PLC training program with case
Center for Opportunity Policy in Education studies of two of those schools that trace
(SCOPE) in conjunction with Learning the factors associated with the implementa-
Forward (formerly the National Staff tion of PLCs.
Development Council or NSDC), looking
specifically at schools in state-run programs
In 1998 New Jersey had neither a profes-
designed to support PLC development.
sional development requirement for teach-
New Jersey was one of those states.
2
This section is largely taken from one of the case studies written for the study that led to this report:
Jaquith, A., Mindich, D., Wei, R., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Teacher professional learning in the
United States: State policies and strategies.
1
ers, nor a cohesive plan for schools and dis- schools in working collaboratively, and
tricts to focus their efforts. At that time, the brought in a number of high-profile speak-
state commissioner of education, in concert ers to energize the school leaders.
with the New Jersey Education Association
(NJEA), created the Professional Teaching Believing that schools needed coaching to
Standards Board (PTSB). Composed of a do this work, and that successful models
majority of teachers, along with a diverse would help encourage further experimenta-
group of other educators and community tion, the New Jersey Department of Edu-
members, this group met with national cation (NJDOE) teamed up with a group
experts (including Michael Fullan, Dennis called the Educational Information and
Sparks, Stephanie Hirsh, and Joellen Kil- Resource Center to invite schools to apply
lion), reviewed research, and shared their for a series of trainings on how to run PLCs
own expertise in order to create governance for the first time. A total of 75 schools ap-
structures, standards, and planning and ap- plied, and 33 were chosen to be in the PLC
proval tools to guide professional develop- Lab School Project. Participants received
ment work at all levels in the state. both off-site training and on-site coaching
for team leaders in how to set up and man-
By 2010, New Jersey code required that age PLC work.
School Professional Development Com-
mittees (SPDCs) follow state professional Run by a former school principal and as-
development standards based on both sistant superintendent and supported by
NSDC guidelines and state content stan- workshops with leading local professional
dards to create school professional develop- development trainers, the four trainings were
ment plans. These plans were collected by spread throughout the 2009-10 school year.
district-level committees and evaluated by a Teams of school leaders were prepared in dif-
county board, keeping the work local and ferent areas, e.g., explaining PLCs, laying out
the responsibility on the schools to identify the culture of PLCs, and how to use data.
needs and develop action plans.
As part of the agreement to be in the Lab
To do this work, schools were encouraged School Project, all 33 schools agreed to
(though not mandated) to develop profes- two3 administrations of the Standards As-
sional learning communities (PLCs). Knowing sessment Inventory (SAI) survey, which
that this was a significant undertaking, the measures the fidelity with which schools
PTSB and other organizations worked to pre- activities follow NSDC standards for high-
pare schools by creating a common language quality professional development. For this
around PLCs, supplying training materials, study, we examined the data from that
and offering coaching support. A range of survey in order to create a context within
providers, from university-based networks to which to choose two case-study candidates.
private professional organizations, supported We then performed an in-depth, qualitative
professional learning needs as well. study on those two schools and did further
analyses of the survey data. All of the sites
In turn, the state, with the help of NSDC, that participated in the survey, and the two
produced numerous resources to assist featured in the case studies, were drawn
3
A third administration was added in November 2010.
4
In conjunction with Learning Forward, Lieberman and Miller (2011) have recently created a list of
standards for PLC work.
5
This paragraph is drawn from Jaquith, Mindich, Wei, and Darling-Hammond (2010).
In this quest for efficiency, teacher discus- When an attempt is made to bring teachers
sions, rather than providing opportuni- together, it often happens at a surface level.
ties for meaningful sharing which would McLaughlin and Talbert (2001, 2006) have
advance their work, are often fleeting and done important work in the field of profes-
self-assuring, and act to maintain the status sional communities. They were the first
quo (Little, 1990; Lortie, 1975). Thus researchers to set criteria for PLC quality,
sharing amongst teachers is often confined ranking schools as weak, strong traditional,
within safe boundaries. In Littles (1990) and learning communities. Weak commu-
seminal article, The Persistence of Privacy, nities are typified as isolated and hierar-
the author explains how largely isolated chical, with rote learning dominating the
teachers make tactical decisions concerning curriculum. Strong traditional communities
whom they work with: Contacts among may meet regularly, but their focus is on
teachers are opportunistic. Teachers gain knowledge transmission with limited depth
information and assurance in the quick in teacher interactions. Finally, learning
exchange of stories (p. 513). communities work interdependently,
pushing themselves and all students to
Structures of Schools think constructively about their work. The
researchers also examined the developmen-
Some isolation is due to teachers insecuri- tal phases of schools attempting to build
ties, and some is due to a school structure PLCs using the terms novice, intermediate,
that gives teachers few chances to work and advanced stages. Looking back on 15
together and many opportunities to opt years of qualitative case studies and quan-
out. Teachers interact with students in titative surveys in more than 20 schools
narrow, age-based bands, and in middle in Michigan and California, McLaughlin
and high schools are often partitioned and Talbert (2006) report rarely finding
into subject-area departments. Wagner advanced collegial work.
(2008) talks about well-meaning schools
that want to make change, but without Creating a real collegial community takes
actually setting aside the time for their more than just giving teachers more face
teachers to work together, they get little time with each other. Lieberman and Miller
done. We know that creating time does (2008) define ideal, professional, working
not come without cost, but districts like communities as:
School English Math Pupils Percent Leader- Learn. Data- Collabo- Re-
per Free ship Comm. Driven ration sources
Grade Lunch
Isaac 89% 79% 265 20% 3.1 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.7
(.0) (.0) (.0) (.1) (.1)
Marvin 80% 63% 200 41% 3.4 2.5 2.9 3.1 2.7
(.1) (-.1) (.1) (.1) (-.1)
Sources: Common Core of Data, 2010; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010a; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010b.
Numbers in parentheses show the difference from Fall 2009 to Spring 2010.
*The Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI) survey measures the fidelity with which schools activities follow NSDC standards
for high-quality professional development. Indicators used for this study are: Leadership, Learning Community, Data Driven,
Collaboration and Resources.
6
For a more detailed discussion of the methods used for this report, see Appendix 1.
7
The full table of schools and their demographic information can be found in Appendix 2.
7
major increases in SAI scores, but among implementation process, without having to
schools with a minimum number of students follow the entire arc of that process.
per grade and at least average numbers of
low-income students Marvin had the highest In both schools we interviewed seventh-
scores in multiple areas, including Learning and eighth-grade core content teachers and
Communities, Collaboration, and Leader- a sample of special education teachers. A
ship; and they had some of the highest scores total of 44 out of the 46 teachers and ad-
when compared with other schools of all ministrators who were invited participated
sizes and income distributions.8 Isaac had in the interviews.
fewer but significant numbers of low-income
students and still had relatively high scores Beyond interviews, we observed PLC
on most factors, given their demograph- meetings. At each school, we visited the
ics; but were weaker in areas like use of various core content teams between two
data. Neither school had particularly strong and five times for a total of 23 observa-
growth in that initial year, but both seemed tions. During these meetings, we focused on
to have solid bases for examining middle- discussions of the implementation history
income schools doing collaborative work. and factors such as leadership and resource
use issues; we also looked for evidence of
Data Collection measures such as interrelated goals, de-
The bulk of the study analyzed varied privatized practice, common assessments
factors behind the quantitative data to and planning, and team use of data to
explore and illustrate the choices and inform instruction.
dynamics of PLC implementation and
their effects on schools. The primary We tried to get a sense of the types of issues
focus of data collection involved a series the teams discussed and the basic interchange
of interviews with the principals, other patterns within them, and we watched for in-
administrators, and teachers of the site dicators of successful PLC practice, including
schools. Since both schools had a recent on-task vs. random conversations, participa-
history of developing a PLC system, we tion patterns at meetings, support or dismissal
asked questions looking retrospectively of ideas, and how or if congeniality shifted to
at the different stages of the PLC colleagueship.
8
See Appendix 3 for a breakdown of the questions within the SAI factors and Appendix 4 for more quanti-
tative analysis of those survey results.
9
The CAPA report says it all. It says Isaac Middle School:
that Marvin is an extraordinary Were Good. Lets Be Great
school in terms of the family atmo-
sphere, and that the staff members Isaac Principal Phil Suarez
do not look at a problem as an indi-
vidual or small group problem, but Isaac Middle School was similar to Doug
its always a staff problem. Marvin in many ways. Both schools had
overcome academic challenges and they
Matson praised the staff for taking the sug- both had deeply connected staffs and strong
gestions from the CAPA report in a spirit leaders.
of improvement rather than defensive-
ness. In the two years following the CAPA Like Doug Marvin, Isaac (along with one
review, the school had addressed all but one other middle school) was less affluent than
of the 87 issues brought up in the report9 the two other district schools on the other
and test scores were on the rise. side of the tracks. Historically, that status
had been both a problem and a motivator
For Matson, continuous improvement was for teachers at Isaac: As one veteran teacher
a guiding philosophy: explained, Isaac was kind of considered
almost a dumping ground. So, we had a
I think the challenge, at any school, chip on our shoulder at that point. Still,
is to not fall into the trap of doing the school had a reputation for a tightly
the same thing year after year even knit faculty with an attitude of taking on
if it seems like things are working challenges rather than avoiding them. For
pretty well. There always has to be instance, when teaming was introduced
a challenge. Nobody on this staff in the 1990s, Isaac was the first school in
will ever say to me, Thats the way the district to get involved. As a result of
weve always done it, because I such efforts and a number of other possible
told them on Day One, dont do factors, test scores were moving up; but
that to me. Thats like swearing at the progress arc had flattened, and by the
me. There always has to be change; mid-2000s, the school was failing to meet
it doesnt have to be radical change, Average Yearly Progress (AYP).
but there has to be change, and
it shouldnt be something theyre Isaac Principal Phil Suarez was a confident,
afraid of. straight-talking man. A former special-
education teacher at Isaac and basketball
When the call came out from the NJDOE coach at multiple schools, he had worked
that 30 schools would be chosen to partici- in different schools throughout the district,
pate in a program to train school leaders to Suarez knew the Isaac landscape intimately
run PLCs, Matson and team jumped at the and was intensely proud of the schools
chance, and it was through this program achievements. When he came in as principal
that staff leaders were trained to help in 2007, the school had failed to meet AYP
implement the current PLC system at the for three years in a row. By the next year,
school. the school had turned things around, and
soon was rivaling the scores of its more
9
That last issue, forming a school-wide professional development committee, has since been addressed as
well.
As far as changing culture is Thats our goal. That means everyone has
concerned, what we did is to look at to learn every day as much as they can.
direct instruction and look at how With that, I promised them, You will see
we are approaching the individual if you do that, the kids will pass the state
needs of each learner. I want to see exams. They will become honor society
the kids interact and engage. Two kids. They will do all these other things.
years forward we had made some real
strides. Most teachers at school could recall the mission
statement in some form. As one teacher leader
Suarez had three mantras. One was work said:
smarter, not harder. He understood that
with the many demands teachers face, Every child matters, and every single one
everybody was stretched, so he encouraged of them needs to feel important. And
his staff to think of ways to work more ef- every single one of them needs to be
ficiently, not necessarily for longer hours. recognized as an individual and know
that they can succeed. For us, its all
After a few years of success, Suarez and about the kids. The bottom line is if its
his leadership team, made up of Assistant good for the kids, go with it. I think it
Principal Jackie Preston and school Profes- definitely comes from our leaders. Our
sional Development Committee Leaders principal and vice principal are very big
Kate Baldwin and Linda Carrillo, wanted to on that.
push the staff not to be complacent. Suarez
explained: At Isaac, there did seem to be a difference be-
tween this philosophy and one mainly focused
It was a matter of saying, Were good. on keeping afloat with test scores.
Lets be great. And people sometimes
dont join that bandwagon. They PLCs seemed like an effective way to make all
really enjoy being goodfrom being three of these of Suarez mantras happen.
Mapping Growth 13
Matson said, We always need to be getting be involved. As one teacher explained, on
better. Similarly, Suarez pushed his school the positive side, Well, we were fortunate
by saying, Were good. Now, lets work on in that we already had common planning
being great. time so we had a culture of sharing that
was already there, and this was taking it a
Part of this push for continuous improvement step further. But both leaders still needed
seemed to come from the personalities of the to convince portions of their faculty that
leaders, and part from the pressures of No an increased level of collaboration was
Child Left Behind (NCLB), which required all necessary.
schools to march toward the goal of 100% of
their students reaching proficiency by 2014. The ability of the leaders in both schools to
While both schools had previously made decide to move forward when it would have
significant moves to improve scores, both been easier to maintain the status quo seems
had plateaued, and the leaders as well as the critical. This decision was followed by a
school professional development committee number of other subtle moves that illustrate
members were looking for a way to continue the intricacies of the change process.
to move the schools forward.
Both leaders understood that they couldnt
More idealistically, both principals and just throw the idea out to their staff. In each
their leadership teams saw PLCs as a means case resources played a role; for example,
to bring all teachers together to meet the sharing and discussing articles (at Marvin
needs of all students. In both cases the prin- this occurred before the decision was made
cipals had already seen hints of what PLCs to move forward, while at Isaac the bulk of
could do. In the case of Isaac, considerable this work was done in the teams after the
energy had arisen from previous experi- decision was made). There were also discus-
ences CLCs. However, the initial attempt sions about PLCs, and inservices to kick off
by the district to make them required, once the work and set some basic expectations.
a week after school, met strong resistance. At the initial inservices, some of the common
When the district retreated, making the reasons for establishing PLCs were:
meetings voluntary, the program lost the
critical mass of teacher involvement but We already do this work, and
continued to see some positive results from this will just push things further.
those who stuck with it. At Marvin, seeing In both cases leaders reassured
the success of teams like the unofficial math faculty that this was not something
groups, and hearing about the success other new. Instead PLCs would only
schools in the area were having with the make what they already had
PLC model, encouraged Matson and other stronger. This statement was
school leaders to think about PLCs as a intended to calm those fearing a
next step to school improvement. new requirement or some highly
specialized version of a system
Leaders Willing to Take a Risk they felt already largely worked.
The state is going to start
For these leaders, this vision of what requiring this work, so lets get
further collaboration could bring raised the out in front of the wave. This
question of whether to require teachers to technique was an interesting one.
Mapping Growth 15
past the idea that were just doing Distributed Leadership
a team meeting now. This is more
important than that. Neither principal tried to do all this work
alone. Both had strong assistant principals
Strong Relationships Helped the (Marvin originally had two) interested in
Process and focused on doing collaborative work.
Both schools had systems of distributed
Clearing the way for these types of dis- leadership that supported the work and
cussions was relatively easy in these two allowed for multiple people to be trained
schools, where strong relationships had to support the other teachers. Both schools
been built over many years. In neither had the state-required School Professional
school were conscious efforts made at Development Committees (SPDCs), both
actual team building, and, for the most had PLC committee members who attended
part, teachers acknowledged that such state trainings, and both had a system of
work was not necessary. grade-level teams with team leaders. Isaacs
distributed leadership system seemed to
Around 10% of those interviewed in be further along in its development, with
both schools, however, did mention that dynamic leaders who had taken over more
spending more time on team- and trust- of the responsibility for designing and
building would have been helpful. That implementing inservices for the school.
observation probably resulted from the Matson described Marvins distributed
fact that despite the closeness that existed leadership committees as still developing,
in both schools, there had been numerous but in both cases the leaders put their confi-
shifts in team composition in the previous dence and support in the groups.
few years.
Both principals were able to lean on
Those shifts were largely due to retire- networks of teachers, showing that the two
ment, but in some cases the moves were schools had the capacity to create function-
purposefully made to energize the groups ing leadership teams and that the princi-
and to increase discussion. As one teacher pals felt comfortable enough to hand over
at Isaac said, Our teams were all mixed responsibility. As Matson explained:
up by administration. I think thats one of
the reasons why they did this whole PLC Some administrators will fear a
protocol was to kind of shake things up. school improvement team like its
The majority of teams have someone new. taking over their power. For me,
Suarez corroborated this point, saying that Im an equal partner in it, as is the
retirements and other moves allowed him assistant principal. I see myself as
to shift people in ways that, in his view, had kind of letting them know where
the potential to cross-fertilize the expertise the landmines are. I really serve as
of other groups. More organically, the a resource, going out and getting
initial work of the Marvin eighth-grade resources if they need them.
math group was developed in response to
a need to train new teachers; in the most This attitude of willingly sharing power and
recent group, bringing new teachers up to respecting teacher expertise was the case in
speed gave a purpose to the meetings. both schools.
Mapping Growth 17
ceptance of group goals, absent trust, these Those kinds of concessions went a long
leaders do not inspire workers to go beyond way toward engaging people in the process,
the minimum requirements of their jobs but there were other big-ticket items that
(p. 585). This connection seemed to be the were traded to support the PLC effort, the
case in both schools and is a good example biggest of which were training and time.
of the overlapping relationship between
two central factors observed in this study: Resources:
trust and leadership.
Using Supportive State Policy
Learning Together Once leadership made the decision to move
forward, the implementation processes at
Even though both principals made the PLC Marvin and Isaac were strongly influenced
work a requirement, there was a sense that initially by the professional direction and
they were trying to make things work for resources of the state of New Jersey. Both
the faculty members. Both principals encour- schools SPDCs saw the states invitation
aged staff members to talk with them about to apply for the PLC Lab School training
concerns and to share successes. As Matson program as an opportunity to push their
said, I have a ton of paperwork in here, but schools further. As Isaacs Kate Baldwin
my door is always open to the staff. Both said, The PLCs were a natural direction
principals admitted that they did not know from the plans we had developed.
all the answers and looked to the work of
their leadership teams and the faculty to For both schools, the training was a very
inform future directions. The principals useful resource, giving direction and
were learning at the same time as the rest of materials to help lead the change. Baldwin
the staff. Suarez said, People want to see called the trainings invaluable. The work
that youre out there with them. And when of translating the trainings to action in the
people see that and they feel itespecially in schools would prove trickier, however.
a building like this with terrific peoplethey
will follow you. Teachers appreciated that
Solving the Time Problem
honesty and understanding of the process.
As one Marvin teacher commented:
The resource of time is at a premium in
schools. Like many other middle schools,
Last year was all baby steps, and almost all of the academic core teachers at
about once a month an administra- both Isaac and Marvin had a single prepa-
tor met with our group. They were ration (e.g., five sections of seventh-grade
learning it at the same time, and I language arts), and students of a particular
loved how they werent ashamed to grade had their non-academic core periods
say it. They were like, Im about a together, leaving the academic core teachers
chapter ahead of you on this, and with a common planning period. Such was
thats it. So that was nice because the case at Marvin and Isaac as the idea of
they were very real about it. It PLCs was being discussed; however, those
was clear that this was a work in planning periods were largely filled with
progress; there was no real right or various team and/or grade-level meetings
wrong. for planning events, discussions with
Mapping Growth 19
teachers in those disciplines to meet; even if In some cases, teachers met in groups of
they had time, some teachers had split as- convenience. For example, in the first
signments and were required to take part in year of the PLC program, a group of
multiple PLCs. At both schools, scheduling special education teachers found them-
challenges were common to other disciplines selves having the same free period as some
like the arts and physical education as well. world language teachers, and together they
formed a PLC focused on the common
Scheduling Challenges needs of classroom management. In other
cases teachers with similar situations had
At Marvin, as a result of these scheduling common planning time by chance. In
issues, PLCs were only required for math 2010-11, almost all teachers of eighth-
and language arts, a situation that both grade special education resource classes
teachers and administrators found problem- had a common planning period once a
atic. While some of the science and social week, so they met then; however, there was
studies teachers at Marvin missed the op- no guarantee that the scheduling situation
portunity to work in PLCs, the hassle of would exist again the following year.
trying to patch together time with different
configurations of people teaching each class Even with flexibility and supports, teachers
seemed to outweigh the potential benefit. without common planning periods or those
The administrators regretted the imbalance, on multiple teams had a different experi-
but having lost one administrative position ence than those who were on a single team
in the previous year, they did not have the with common free time. That inequity was
staffing to create a workable solution at that probably the biggest challenge that school
time. The physical education department leaders faced, and no department faced this
had been meeting before school, and the issue more strikingly than special education.
special education department maintained
multiple groups, but there were some un- The Special Case of Special Education
comfortable feelings around the uncertainty
of who was involved in the PLC process and At both schools, the special education de-
who was not. partments were arguably the most involved
players in the PLC process. At Marvin,
Despite the scheduling challenges at Isaac, special education teachers met with the
Suarez asked all teachers to try to find a content teachers on the math and language
way to be on a PLC team even if they didnt arts teams, in their own department
have a common planning period. Although meetings before school, and in resource
he didnt want to play this card, he made it teacher teams and inclusion teams. One
clear that he could require teachers to come teacher interviewed at Marvin taught with a
to faculty meetings one afternoon every mainstream math teacher and a mainstream
other week. However, he tried to encourage English teacher as well as teaching her
teachers to find their own times to meet (he own resource classes in both subjects. This
arrived at school at 5:15 every morning, situation gave her a total of five potential
modeling the possibilities for early arrival), PLC meetings, if she were able to make
and, as mentioned, tried to find classroom them all. The situation at Isaac was similar.
substitutes so that teachers could sit in on Although fewer special education teachers
meetings. attended the mainstream PLCs, they, like
Marvin Isaac
Common Planning For academic core teachers, but For academic core teachers, but
Periods only some teachers in social studies non-core teachers needed to find
and science had single preparations. common time before or after school,
Some special education teachers had or during common break periods.
the same planning time as their core
content teams.
Duties Bathroom and hallway duties were Some hallway, lunch, and bus duties
removed, but teachers still monitored were removed. Faculty meetings were
in-school suspensions and had spot greatly reduced.
substitute duty.
Expected PLC Three days per cycle for language Twice a week for academic core
Commitment arts and math. Switched to two days a teachers. Once a week, whenever
cycle after the first year. possible, for a minimum of 15 hours
for non-core teachers, with the hope
was that teachers would meet beyond
that minimum.
Areas of Focus Planning, student data analysis, Planning, student data analysis,
sharing of curriculum ideas, technol- sharing of curriculum ideas, technol-
ogy training, and state testing prepara- ogy training, state testing prepara-
tion. tion, and elective professional growth
sessions.
Membership of Required for math and language Required for all academic core
PLCs arts; teachers, special education, and teachers; others were expected to find
physical education met as well. a group to work with.
their peers at Marvin, had to make special At Marvin, and where it happened at Isaac,
arrangements to meet, a fact which Suarez the input of special education teachers
noticed: Im proud of them for that because was invaluable. Special education teachers
youve got some great teachers getting shared important expertise about the
together on off time before school. learning patterns of their students and the
21
teaching of all students. The nature of the and eighth-grade teams. In addition, at
challenges of their job made PLC work a Isaac, different teams composed mostly of
natural fit. Despite the fact that they had members of non-core departments formed
multiple preparations (and lengthy indi- PLCs that met at various times within and
vidualized education plans or IEP reports outside of the school day. The variety of
to write), many special educators in both formats supported the theory that there is
schools sat on multiple PLC teams. no single way to do PLCs.
However, there were also challenges with In both cases, school leaders let teachers
special education involvement in PLCs. At largely decide what their PLCs would look
Marvin, where resource teachers met with like. Baldwin explained the reasoning
mainstream teachers, the perspective that the behind this decision by the leadership team
special educators brought to the group was at Isaac:
much appreciated, but the occasional need
to use meeting time to get resource teachers The second people feel that
caught up to the mainstream classroom something is a requirement, is being
teachers was a source of some frustration. regulated, is just forced on them,
In cases where the mainstream teachers had they kind of lose sight of its value.
worked together for a while and the curricu- So we have tried to market PLCs in
lum was largely set, some teachers felt that a positive way and where we dont
these catch-up discussions could be done in expect to hear from you tomorrow.
separate one-on-one conferences. This is where we are. Take the baby
steps so that we can move forward.
At both Marvin and Isaac, special
education was the largest department in the Both schools tried to leave room for teams to
school. Teachers in those departments dealt create situations that worked for them. This
with some of the most difficult students, strategy seemed to work as far as supporting
and because of their mixed assignments, a sense of autonomy for most teachers, and
they served on multiple teams. Remarkably, it left the door open to multiple interpreta-
in both these cases, the teachers consistently tions of what PLCs should look like even
went beyond normal school responsibilities, within the same schools.
largely without complaint.
Subject Matter vs. Interdisciplinary
Processes: Teams
The Structure of Teams At these schools, there were two main
types of teams: discipline-based and in-
Between the two schools, there were a terdisciplinary. At Marvin, all teams were
number of different PLC formats and discipline-based, and there was an obvious
processes for how PLC work was carried efficiency in the choice: Teachers spoke
out (see Table 2, page 21). At Marvin the the same academic language, they knew
PLCs were organized by department. At the same material, and they were largely
Isaac the central PLCs were organized by working toward the same goals. Teachers in
grade-level core content teams, which were both the math and English PLCs at Marvin
configured differently between the seventh- were appreciative of the shared insights
Mapping Growth 23
tions. Although there was no denying the ary. Similarly, the off-team teachers were
power of the dynamics of the math teams also expected to do work to support the
discussing specific questions on specific learning goals of the other departments.
tests, similar work was done in the English
department around open-ended questions Many teachers at Isaac expressed an ap-
(a specific type of question on the New preciation for being able to meet with
Jersey state exam, which also has broader different colleagues at their grade level and
critical-thinking value). It could be that within their department. On some levels
there is something to be gained from giving the sharing was highly practical, especially
teachers space to agree on certain issues for activities like examining data. Having
and to explore options in other situations. all teachers look at student data, as the
In both schools there were some teachers interdisciplinary teams at Isaac did, put the
who wanted more coordination and others responsibility on all teachers to think about
who wanted to maintain certain amounts of what should be done to address needs,
freedom. instead of leaving the responsibility only
on the teachers of the tested subjects. On a
Interdisciplinary Teams at Isaac more subtle level, a number of teachers said
they enjoyed just learning from people they
At Marvin, department-based teams allowed didnt ordinarily see, and a few teachers
core-content groups of teachers to create mentioned having less inter-group competi-
their own identities at the possible cost of tion as a result.
gaining deeper understanding of what other
departments were doing. By contrast, at When the interdisciplinary groups were
Isaac the decision was made to create inter- working well, the benefits seemed clear.
disciplinary teams of core-content teachers This was definitely the case for the seventh-
at each grade level. Teams were composed grade core-content team. For most of the
of teachers who shared the same grade-level 2009-10 school year, during their PLC
groups of students, with one teacher from time, the teams examined research articles
each content area; they also met in larger brought in by various members. While
interdisciplinary grade-level teams. these articles sparked some interesting
discussions, there was a sense that, as one
Suarez explained: teacher said, PLC meetings sometimes
repeated ideas we already knew. While the
All for one, one for all. Thats one experience brought teachers from different
of our mottos. Whether Im a math disciplines into contact with each other,
teacher or a social studies teacher, sometimes the set-up limited the options
Im still involved with whats available to teachers. As one group leader
happening in English. They are all said, The last thing we want to do is waste
of our problems. So therefore, if Im peoples time. You dont want to leave the
a health teacher or art teacher or PLC saying, Well, what did I really get out
special ed teacher, Im also involved of that?
in that.
In response to the issue of inefficiency of
As a result of this philosophy, the seventh- PLC time, Victoria Nielsen, a seventh-
and eighth-grade teams were interdisciplin- grade team leader, came up with the idea
Mapping Growth 25
What goes on in PLCs can be cohesive group that had carefully looked at
taken directly and applied in your student data together and decided to work
classroom. Whereas with the on open-ended questions across the curricu-
teaming, sometimes it seemed like lum. Math, however, has different needs for
we just would talk about kids or open-ended questions than other disciplines.
you would talk about an idea, and
then when you got back to your Dealing with a similar situation but with
classroom, it sort of ended like it larger numbers, the eighth-grade core-con-
was a dead end. tent group eventually divided into discipline-
area groups to discuss the issue of open-
The PLCs generated a palpable energy in ended questions. Math was largely on its
the seventh-grade meetings, with veteran own, and the other discipline areas, which
and young teachers sharing ideas and shared the reading comprehension style of
learning from each other, and seemingly open-ended questions, worked independent-
putting some of this learning into classroom ly to suit their own needs. The whole group
practice. Similarly, the eighth-grade core then reconvened to discuss ways to share
team and the eighth-grade resource team information on the topic. Because they had
both utilized the expertise of the whole multiple teachers in each discipline, however,
group as well. the math teachers were not left alone to do
their share of the work.
Challenges of Interdisciplinary Groups
The Value of Teacher Autonomy
There were also challenges with the inter-
disciplinary model at Isaac. At times finding
ways for all of the players to be involved These complications seem to point to
was difficult. The eighth-grade team had the value of systems such as the seventh-
always operated as one big group, and they grade elective solution, which tapped into
initially had a hard time finding a topic teachers sense of autonomy and their desire
that appealed to everyone, so that teachers for efficiency. Rather than finding a topic
would not feel that the topic didnt fit their that worked for everyone, the group looked
needs and become disengaged. A number at topics that people chose according to
of teachers said that they would prefer their needs as defined by the data or their
to spend more time with their discipline own interests as professionals. The multiple
groups, and eventually the eighth-grade choices in each session gave teachers a
core-content team did just that. chance to have a say in what they did each
day.
Of all the core subject areas, math
presented particular challenges, which is The autonomy and degree of involvement
somewhat ironic because, compared to of teachers in many of the groups at both
the other subject teachers at both schools, schools reflected the flexibility and patience
the math teachers seemed to be doing the of the principals, administrators, and
most interdependent work. In interdisci- leadership teams. Leaders at both schools
plinary settings, however, the connections discussed their desire to give teachers the
could feel forced. For example, the eighth- ability to figure out and own the PLC
grade resource teacher PLC was a tightly process, and in many ways, that worked. At
Mapping Growth 27
principal and the leadership team had seen connections with each other. In the words
the effects of collaboration in the previous, of one Marvin teacher, Even though this
voluntary PLC program. The results were is a school that was very cooperative, every
excitement and innovation for some, teacher was, to some extent, on their own
but uneven distribution of effort overall. island, and weve really kind of merged
Comments in interviews implied that the into a chain of islands as opposed to in-
hoped-for critical mass to impact the school dividual islands. This quote acknowl-
and the district had not been achieved. edges the growing connection between the
Principals made the difficult decision to teachers but also their independence. The
require participation in PLCs. They made change was about more than the feeling of
some concessions and offered some pro- closeness, however; it was about the way
tections; nonetheless, PLC work in both the work was accomplished.
schools was required.
Changing the Nature of the
Some of the credit for this shift to Discussion
mandated professional development with
local autonomy in New Jersey should be Having this set-aside time, entailing flexible
given to the state department of educa- but unavoidable demands, forced teachers
tions Office of Professional Standards, to go into greater depth in their discussions
which drew on current research and local with their colleagues. The focus derived
expertise to create a system that required from the norms gave a sense of profes-
schools and teachers to look inward to sionalism to meetings. As one Isaac teacher
identify their specific professional develop- explained:
ment priorities. This turned out to be an
ingenious idea, because it left schools with [Teachers were pushed] past the idea
the freedom to explore their own needs in that were just doing a team meeting
developing systems like PLCs, but did not now. This is more important than
allow schools or teachers the option of not that. And were in this community
participating. with the idea of helping each other
be more successful and be more suc-
The principals in both of the schools tried cessful for the kids as well.
to follow the states line of thinking. As
one teacher explained, The biggest change Many teachers mentioned the idea that the
is that everyone had to do it. It forced a PLCs made them more aware of focusing
different kind of conversation. What had on what students were and were not
been a friendly environment of sharing learning, as opposed to just planning what
became a more structured atmosphere of the teachers would teach or what events
discussion about practices among profes- would happen for students.
sionals. And those like the math teachers
at Marvin and the CLC teachers at Isaac, That awareness also enabled ideas and
who had done some of this work previ- plans to be tested in a way that hadnt
ously, were suddenly joined by much larger occurred prior to the PLC implementa-
numbers of other teachers, who had not tion. There was a sense of accountability
previously participated. That shift led to and reflection that came from publicly
a change in the way the teachers saw their sharing ideas. As a Marvin math teacher
Mapping Growth 29
students. The process helped the different used the data to guide efforts for classroom
resource teachers come together as a team practice.
instead of working as friendly but isolated
coworkers. The tests became a collective tool At its best, the data became a collective
for change, which in turn led the team to be tool to focus the work of the teachers and
more goal-oriented in the way they looked guide their instructional goal setting. At
at the scores and their students. its worst, the data could be a distraction
from larger issues of quality teaching and
Using Data to Establish Goals learning, especially if the data were used
to drive classroom practice to focus on test
The core-content teams at Isaac also preparation. Both schools knew that in the
changed the way they looked at data. As educational conditions of the time, there
with the special educators, they had always was pressure to keep up with unrealistic
received their students scores, but the scores AYP requirements. In a letter to American
were often reviewed and then shelved. For teachers, Secretary Arne Duncan (2011)
the most part the responsibility for the acknowledged this pressure:
scores, which focused on math and language
arts, would be left to the teachers of those You have told me you believe that
disciplines. Through their PLC work, Isaacs the No Child Left Behind Act has
core-content teams began using the data to prompted some schoolsespecially
establish goals across disciplines. In some low-performing onesto teach to
cases these goals were focused directly on the test, rather than focus on the ed-
the issues/skills of the New Jersey state ucational needs of students. Because
exams (e.g., open-ended questions) and in of the pressure to boost test scores,
other cases the test score data acted as a NCLB has narrowed the curriculum,
bridge to broader educational issues like and important subjects like history,
formative assessment. science, the arts, foreign languages,
and physical education have been
Using Data to Inform Instruction de-emphasized.
The teachers at Marvin similarly looked Teachers have been put in the difficult
at student data to inform instruction. That situation of serving conflicting agendas. At
could be seen particularly in math, where both case-study schools, though, it seemed
teachers on both grade levels collectively that state test-score data was seen as a guid-
debated the significance of in-house test ing tool as opposed to the ultimate measure
results and made decisions on remediation of outcome. At Marvin, math teachers used
of subjects based on the results of unit their own benchmark data to analyze their
exams. While sharing individual teacher students performance on local assessments
data requires courage, for many teachers and adapt their plans accordingly. At Isaac,
it actually helped them see the issue less the seventh-grade core content team used
personally. As one Marvin math teacher state-test data to inform elective workshops
said, Where before, it was All right, they created for themselves. In situations
whatd I do wrong? Now its collective. like these, the various forms of data became
Well, where did we go wrong? What did tools to enable teachers to confront the
we miss? In English, as well, the teachers realities of their students progress, spurring
Mapping Growth 31
aware of their schools missions, and both ways, liberating. With so many existing
schools utilized distributed leadership and responsibilities, it would be easy for
floated the idea of PLCs before getting fully teachers to spend all their time planning,
involved. Still, it seemed that having teams grading, or talking about student
up and running did more to win people concerns. All of those areas are vital to
over than the initial training and discus- teachers work, but when they take up
sions. all of their time, teachers can get stuck
in repetitive ruts. Proactive efforts like
One key to allowing the work to win making changes to curriculum can take a
people over was providing the time to backseat to demands for daily survival. As
do the work. While there was reluctance, one Isaac teacher said, PLCs force us to
many teachers said that having the experiment, and many teachers mentioned
work required was important and, in appreciating having that time set aside.
10
SMART goals, often used in teaching practice, are a practice for project planning and monitoring and
stand for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
Differences in PLC Format and Areas But in both schools there were pockets of
of Focus reluctance to the idea of being forced to
do something some felt they did already.
The autonomy given to teachers to chart Different groups flirted with what Coburn
the courses of their PLCs also resulted in a (2001) describes in her study of reading
wide range of different PLC formats. This program implementation as leaders resorted
was true between disciplines at Marvin and to blaming people for problems rather
between interdisciplinary teams at Isaac. than trying to solve them. Instead, what
At Marvin, the math groups were tightly was needed was more of the model psy-
aligned, using their time to plan common chologists Kegan and Lahey (2000) call
curricula and assessments and analyze the switching from the language of complaint
data around that work. The English teams to the language of commitment (p. 8), and
were more loosely connected, focusing on for the most part groups in both schools
common assessments but with more room seemed to have eventually done that.
to interpret the design of that work. At
Isaac, the seventh-grade team designed an In retrospect, teachers in both schools (even
elective system where, during each meeting the initially reluctant teachers) consistently
period, teachers could choose from two acknowledged that their interactions in the
teacher-led sessions on topics generated PLCs were generally deeper than they had
by the team. The eighth-grade resource been previously. The common assessments
teachers, by contrast, focused on analyzing and ensuing data analysis done in math de-
This study has the potential to shed light on Norms and goal-setting proce-
an important aspect of current educational dures seem to keep groups focused
practice and efforts toward school reform. despite some teachers distaste for
More and more schools are investing time the restrictions they create.
and energy in developing collaborative op-
Interdependent work seems to
portunities for their staffs (MetLife, 2009).
deepen practice, and use of data
Building PLCs, however, is not easy. As Stoll,
gives focus to teachers work, yet
Bolam, McMahon, Wallace, and Thomas
data can also narrow the scope of
(2006) observe: A number of subtle as
teaching.
well as more overt processes require work,
and there are influences, both within and Principals appear to play a vital
external to schools that can either facilitate role in making this work happen
or severely inhibit the process (p. 247). on a school-wide basis even when
they are learners themselves.
While this research at Isaac and Marvin
Despite the limitations of this study, there The SAI numbers show that other schools
seem to be many things we can potentially were also putting increased effort into
learn about the development of PLCs. Even looking at student achievement data, but
though the teachers at both schools had a it is unclear how those data were being
sense of community before the PLC work, used. Even if most schools were using data
the move to talking about teaching was as constructively as Marvin and Isaac,
a big leap. Making their teaching public there is a clear policy implication here for
took time, effort, and tremendous support. the need for quality testing. If teachers are
Leadership from all levels needed to adopt going to teach to the tests, and if many
an openness to both positive results and PLCs are going to be focused on meeting
continued reluctance. Developing something that need, then policy-makers need to
new (a PLC) appeared to help build trust honor teachers efforts by providing tests
Both school leaders cleared time for many Professional learning communities have
teachers to meet with their PLCs, but the potential to change the culture of
in neither school did all teachers have teaching and leadership in schools. These
common meeting time during the school two cases begin to show the complicated,
day. The creation of PLCs in these two yet promising process of change. Countries
schools highlighted the problems of time all over the world are struggling to change
and structure in middle schools. Although schools to meet 21st century demands.
accommodations were made, difficul- Perhaps PLCs will provide the kind of
ties of team participation were never fully school culture that can promote and
resolved. support the changes that will be necessary.
And perhaps these two cases can begin
Managing this work required delicate to give a sense of what it will take to
balance and thoughtful vision on the part of get there.
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skills our children needand what we can do about it. New York: Basic Books.
References 43
Appendices
Appendix 1: Methodology
Appendix 1 45
Table 3: Demographic and SAI comparisons of the case study school sites
English Math Pupils per Percent Leader- Learn- Data- Collabo- Re-
Grade Free ship Com Driven ration sources
Lunch
Isaac 89% 79% 265 20% 3.1 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.7
(0) (.0) (0) (.1) (.1)
Marvin 80% 63% 200 43% 3.4 2.5 2.9 3.1 2.7
(.1) (-.1) (.1) (.1) (-.1)
Source: Common Core of Data, 2010; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010a; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010b.
The SAI factor resources section includes of the Lab Schools from fall 2009 and spring
statements like, Fellow teachers, trainers, 2010 and their changes over that first year.
facilitators, and/or consultants are available We wanted to see schools that had at least
to help us implement new instructional somewhat strong numbers in the major
practices at our school, which serves as categories. We also wanted to avoid schools
an indicator of capacity; and, Substitutes that were trending downward, and ideally it
are available to cover our classes when we would have been interesting to have schools
observe each others classes or engage in that showed some increase from that initial
other professional development opportu- administration.
nities, which covers the actual resources
needed to free up time. Given these requirements, two schools,
Doug Marvin and Isaac, remained viable
Last, in the SAI factor of Leadership the (see Table 3, above). Doug Marvin did not
statements, I would use the word, em- show any major increases, but for schools
powering, to describe my principal, and, with a minimum number of students per
Our principal fosters a school culture that grade and at least average numbers of low-
is focused on instructional improvement, income students, they had the highest scores
point to leadership qualities that would in multiple areas, including Learning Com-
encourage teachers to be involved in reform munities, Collaboration and Leadership,
work like PLC implementation. and they actually had some of the highest
scores when compared with other schools of
Using those factors, we examined the first all sizes and income distributions. Isaac had
and second administrations of the SAI scores somewhat similar numbers of low-income
Appendix 1 47
Table 4: PERCENTAGE of respondents to the SAI administrations
Source: Common Core of Data, 2010; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010b.
analyze varied factors of the story behind The primary focus of data collection
the numbers of the quantitative data and involved a series of one-on-one interviews.
to explore and illustrate the choices and The main sources of subjects were the
dynamics of PLC implementation and their principals, other administrators, and the
effect on schools. The primary units of teachers of the site schools. Since both
analysis for this case study were the indi- schools had a recent history of developing
vidual teachers in the two schoolseach of a PLC system, we asked questions looking
whom had perceptions of how the imple- retrospectively at the different stages of
mentation process had workedas well as the PLC implementation process without
the professional learning communities which having to follow the entire arc of that
we observed and the degree to which they, process.
as groups, showed the specific qualities of
PLCs: specifically, how individual teachers
learned, accommodated and eventually par- Both schools were chosen in part because
ticipated in the development of PLCs. they had a number of students per grade
that would support multiple teachers per
Interviews
12
Some schools spanned multiple grade-level categories, so the sum of the schools in each type exceeds the
total number of schools. Teachers were counted by the grade they reported teaching. Middle school was
counted as grades six through eight. Some teachers did not report their grade level, and some reported more
than one level. When looking at individual teachers, we counted sixth- to eighth-grade teachers as middle
school teachers and kindergarten to fifth grade as elementary teachers, even in schools that covered both
elementary and middle school years. When looking at schools as the unit of analysis, we treated any school
with grades seven and eight as a middle school.
School/ Total Eighth Number Special Math English Science Social Arts, PE,
Grade Student Grade of Ed Studies Tech,
Levels Body Students Teachers and
Others
Sources: Common Core of Data, 2010; School records from Marvin and Isaac, 2010.
discipline (see Table 5, page 49). Marvin schools, who played an important role
had eight full-time core-content teachers in the work in the mainstream discipline
per grade, and Isaac had even more. Rather classes as well as in their own resource
than try to sample all three grades, we classrooms.
decided to interview all 16 of the seventh-
and eighth-grade core-content teachers (see At both schools, we were fortunate to get
Table 6, page 50). Because of budget cuts, a high percentage of teachers to agree to
Marvin offered science and social studies participate. At Marvin all of the core-con-
as one-semester blocks, and as a result tent teachers agreed to talk with us, and at
had only one full-time science and social Isaac 14 of the 16 initially invited accepted,
studies teacher per grade, which limited and two more agreed to talk in place of
their participation in PLC work. Neverthe- the teachers from whom we had not gotten
less, we interviewed these teachers for their replies. Similarly, all of the administrators
perspective on the process, which proved and professional development leaders and
important for the findings of the study. special educators whom we approached
participated.
Isaac was a larger school and had double
blocks of English in sixth and seventh Observations
grades, so they had more English teachers,
and they offered a full year of social studies Beyond interviews, we observed PLC
and science, so their seventh and eighth meetings and went to one school-wide
grade core-content teams were larger meeting at Isaac (see Table 7, page 51).
per grade (15 and 12 respectively). We During these meetings, we were looking for
randomly chose a collection that gave us discussions of the implementation history,
two teachers from each discipline per grade. and factors such as leadership and resource
We also wanted to get the perspective of use, but we were also looking for evidence
the special education departments in both of outcome measures such as interrelated
Appendix 1 49
Table 6: Breakdown of the interview sample used for the case studies
Doug Marvin All seventh- and eighth- 17 teachers Principal (3 Three special
grade core content invited, all times) and educators, one
teachers accepted assistant principal PLC committee
leader
goals, deprivatized practice, common as- of where those departments were at that
sessments and planning, and team use of time in the PLC implementation process.
data to inform instruction. In the interviews, and even in the
meetings to an extent, we had reached
We tried to get a sense of the types of issues what Seidman (1998) calls a satura-
the PLC members discussed and the basic tion point, where having interviewed
interchange patterns between them. We a seemingly representative group of
looked for situations like whether they individuals and seen a broad sample of
talked about on-task work or had random meetings, we felt like we were getting the
conversations, whether all people talked same information over and over again.
at meetings, whether people dismissed or
supported ideas, etc.
Appendix 1 51
Appendix 2:
Schools in PLC Lab School Network
(by income level)
Sources: Common Core of Data, 2010; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010a.
Context Resources
2. Fellow teachers, trainers, facilitators,
Learning Communitiesshared and/or consultants are available to help us
practice implement new instructional practices at our
9. The teachers in my school meet as a school.
whole staff to discuss ways to improve
teaching and learning. 11. Teachers at our school have opportu-
nities to learn how to use technology to
29. We observe each others classroom in- enhance instruction.
struction as one way to improve our teaching.
19. Substitutes are available to cover our
32. Beginning teachers have opportunities classes when we observe each others classes
to work with more experienced teachers at or engage in other professional development
our school. opportunities.
34. We receive feedback from our col- 35. In our school we find creative ways to
leagues about classroom practices. expand human and material resources.
56. Teachers examine student work with 49. School goals determine how resources
each other. are allocated.
Leadership Process
1. Our principal believes teacher learning is
essential for achieving our school goals. Collaboration
6. Our faculty learns about effective ways to
10. Our principals decisions on school- work together.
wide issues and practices are influenced by
faculty input. 23. My school structures time for teachers to
work together to enhance student learning.
18. Our principal is committed to providing
teachers with opportunities to improve 28. Our schools teaching and learning
instruction (e.g., observations, feedback, goals depend on staffs ability to work well
collaborating with colleagues). together.
45. Our principal fosters a school culture that 43. Our school leaders encourage sharing
is focused on instructional improvement. responsibility to achieve school goals.
48. I would use the word, empowering, to 58. Our principal models effective collabo-
describe my principal. ration.
53
Data-Driven 39. Teachers use student data to plan pro-
fessional development programs.
12. Teachers at our school learn how to use
data to assess student learning needs. 46. Teachers use student data when discuss-
ing instruction and curriculum.
26. Teachers at our school determine the ef-
fectiveness of our professional development 50. Teachers analyze classroom data with
by using data on student achievement. each other to improve student learning.
3.3
3.1
2.9
2.7
2.5
2.3
2.1
1.9
Leadership Learning Collaboration Data Resources
Communities
55
FIGURE 2: SAI FACTOR SCORES, FALL 2009, SPRING 2010, FALL 2010
3.4
3.2
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
Learning
Leadership Communities Collaboration Data Resources
2
9
0
00
01
01
00
01
01
00
01
01
00
01
01
00
01
01
ll 2
g2
ll 2
ll 2
g2
ll 2
ll 2
g2
ll 2
ll 2
g2
ll 2
ll 2
g2
ll 2
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
Fa
rin
rin
rin
rin
rin
Sp
Sp
Sp
Sp
Sp
Marvin Isaac Group Average
would be the areas likely to respond most did a lot of collaboration. In some cases,
quickly to the PLC intervention. Similarly, such as social studies, they had done more
Learning Communities, which measures collaborative work in the past than the more
more advanced collaboration like lesson recent schedule allowed them to do.
study and classroom observation, had lower
overall scores but climbed steadily. In that sense, the flat Collaboration scores
could show a limitation in the SAIs ability
Standards Assessment Inventory in to see an in-depth change in some of these
the Case-Study Schools areas. It is true that teachers at Marvin had
been collaborating prior to the PLC imple-
Figure 2, above, gives a view of the trends mentation, but for most of the teachers
over time, with the SAI factor scores of the who were doing the current PLC work, the
two case study schools compared to the sense was that the PLCs had taken that col-
averages of all of the schools. laboration to a deeper level. The increased
data scores may be due to practices intro-
Marvin started with high scores but stayed duced in the state-run workshops, which
flat in some areas like Collaboration and the respondents were more able to see as a
even went down in Learning Communities. real change.
The ending scores remain well above the
averages in all of those areas, however, and Isaac also had done collaborative work
they fit the fact that teachers at Marvin went prior to getting involved in the state PLC
into the PLC work already feeling like they Lab School Project, and their baseline
Appendix 4 57
Table 8: T-tests between case-study teachers and other
middle school teachers
32. Beginning teachers have opportunities to work with more experienced teachers at our school. 3.0*** 2.60 3.05***
56. Teachers examine student work with each other. 2.67*** 2.36 2.59**
12. Teachers at our school learn how to use data to assess student learning needs. 2.9*** 2.57 2.97***
46. Teachers use student data when discussing instruction and curriculum. 2.97* 2.8 3.11***
45. Our principal fosters a school culture that is focused on instructional improvement. 3.45** 3.22 3.54***
48. I would use the word, empowering, to describe my principal. 3.12*** 2.75 3.05**