Four Critical Questions that Drive the Work of an Effective PLC
Building a collaborative culture is key to improving student achievement.
Joellen Killion states in Becoming a Learning School, "The concept of school-based professional development recognizes that the school is the primary center of learning and that teachers can often learn best with and from one another (2009, p. 8).
As most educators realize, the quality of teaching is a powerful factor in affecting student achievement. What is perhaps not as widely known is the understanding that there is a hidden factor within the equitable access to quality education for students.
John Hattie (2015) found in his research that that there is greater variability of student learning within schools than variability of student learning across schools. In Hattie's paper, What works best in education: The politics of collaborative expertise, Hattie asserts that the most important cause in this variability is the differences in the effectiveness of teachers, and he says that a logical solution is to build the expertise of all teachers through collaboration (p. 1).
However, the simple fact that teachers collaborate will not necessarily improve a school.
The key questions is not, "Are they collaborating?" but rather, "What are they collaborating about?" Conversations around topics like disruptive students, tardiness to class, late work, homework, and field trips are important conversations for educators to have, but these topics are only remotely related directly to student learning. Educator conversations need to focus directly on curriculum, assessment, and instruction.
Teacher collaboration alone is not the answer in itself. The purpose of teacher collaboration--to help more students achieve at higher levels--can only be accomplished if the professionals engage in collaboration are focused on the right work.
What is the right work? It is work that focuses teacher's conversations around the following four critical questions:
Joellen Killion states in Becoming a Learning School, "The concept of school-based professional development recognizes that the school is the primary center of learning and that teachers can often learn best with and from one another (2009, p. 8).
As most educators realize, the quality of teaching is a powerful factor in affecting student achievement. What is perhaps not as widely known is the understanding that there is a hidden factor within the equitable access to quality education for students.
John Hattie (2015) found in his research that that there is greater variability of student learning within schools than variability of student learning across schools. In Hattie's paper, What works best in education: The politics of collaborative expertise, Hattie asserts that the most important cause in this variability is the differences in the effectiveness of teachers, and he says that a logical solution is to build the expertise of all teachers through collaboration (p. 1).
However, the simple fact that teachers collaborate will not necessarily improve a school.
The key questions is not, "Are they collaborating?" but rather, "What are they collaborating about?" Conversations around topics like disruptive students, tardiness to class, late work, homework, and field trips are important conversations for educators to have, but these topics are only remotely related directly to student learning. Educator conversations need to focus directly on curriculum, assessment, and instruction.
Teacher collaboration alone is not the answer in itself. The purpose of teacher collaboration--to help more students achieve at higher levels--can only be accomplished if the professionals engage in collaboration are focused on the right work.
What is the right work? It is work that focuses teacher's conversations around the following four critical questions:
1. What is it we want our students to know and be able to do?
2. How will we know if each student has learned it?
3. How will we respond when some students do not learn it?
4. How will we extend the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?
- Have we identified the essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions each student is to acquire as a result of each unit of instruction? Have we prioritized core standards, and are we following an essential, guaranteed, and viable curriculum?
2. How will we know if each student has learned it?
- Are we using team-created, formative assessment in our classrooms on an ongoing basis? Are we gathering evidence of student learning through one or more team-developed common formative assessments for each unit of instruction?
3. How will we respond when some students do not learn it?
- Can we identify students who need additional time and support by the student and by the standard for every unit of instruction? Do we use evidence of student learning from team-developed, common formative assessments to analyze and to improve our individual and collective practice? What systematic intervention are we using to support these students in their second attempt at this learning?
4. How will we extend the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?
- Can we identify students who have reached identified learning targets to extend their learning? What relevant activities to we have available for students to extend their learning around the standard and learning concept we are addressing?
References
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree Press.
Hattie, J. (2015, June). What works best in education: The politics of collaborative expertise. Retrieved from
https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/corporate/global/pearson-dot-com/files/hattie/150526_ExpertiseWEB_V1.pdf
Killion, J. (2009). Becoming a learning school. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward.
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree Press.
Hattie, J. (2015, June). What works best in education: The politics of collaborative expertise. Retrieved from
https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/corporate/global/pearson-dot-com/files/hattie/150526_ExpertiseWEB_V1.pdf
Killion, J. (2009). Becoming a learning school. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward.