Last week this column described how education today has made some major changes from 20 years ago. It described how two words epitomized these changes. The words were reflection and flexibility.  Many educators today realize that unless you carefully look at accurate information and determine causes of problems, you will not develop an effective solution. Likewise, they have learned that if you are not flexible and willing to change or abandon practices that do not work, improvement will not happen.

One off-shoot of this thinking is a new system for educators which helps them work together to bring about improvements and changes in student learning. This system of improvement is called Professional Learning Communities or PLCs. A simple definition of a PLC is educators working together in a very deliberate fashion to bring about individual student improvement.

PLC teams start by clearly defining what they expect their students to learn in all their classrooms. For example, fourth grade teachers meet together to identify the 12 most important concepts or information they will teach in all their classrooms that year in reading, math, and language arts. These are called essential learnings.

Once this common curriculum focus is established, teachers decide how they will know if students have mastered each essential learning. This could be done by a textbook assessment, a performance, a speech, a project, a teacher-made test, or any number of means.

From there, the teachers meet together to go over their common assessment information and identify strengths and weaknesses in the results. This identification leads teachers to determine strategies they will use to help students who did not do well on some of the areas assessed. They also will determine enrichments to extend the learning for students who demonstrated understanding.

During this analysis stage, teachers learn from one another. A teacher whose students did very well on a part of the assessment on which other classes performed poorly will share ideas that worked for her students. Thus teachers learn from one another. This leads to improvement for all.

An important component of the PLC model is the effective use of student data to identify problems. A second key element is the utilization of synergy to come up with better ideas as a team than could be developed individually. A third key to a successful PLC is willingness to make ongoing adjustments and evaluations to make sure that all students master the essential learnings of the grade or subject area.

Several of the CPS schools, including Emerson, CHS, Lost Creek, and North Park, began using components of this improvement model last year. The other schools also have been operating in ways consistent with this approach though they have not been labeled “PLC strategies.” All sites plan to expand their implementation of the PLC system next year. The elementary buildings plan to work together on this project. The goal is to have all teachers trained in this model in the near future. Many teachers and all principals have already received this training.

The values of reflection and flexibility are essential in the PLC model. These values that are so important to education are essential to effective Professional Learning Communities. The district believes that these values and the models that are used based on them will help schools continue to meet the increasing needs of their students now and into the foreseeable future.

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