Collaborative Learning

Communities or
Establishing a
Professional Learning
Community

Hosted by:
Irma Torres Sam May
Gladys Robinson-Calloway Jasmine Simmons
 Definition of PLCs
PLC stands for Professional Learning Community.

PLC is defined as “an ongoing process in

which educators work collaboratively in
recurring cycles of collective inquiry and
action research to achieve better results for
the students they serve” (Martin Yan,
September 25, 2020).
PLC can also be defined as “a place for
communal growth and knowledge sharing.
Educators can work together to understand data
they’ve gathered and help one another to make
better decisions around student needs. “ (Martin
Yan, September 25, 2020)

Go over what PLCs are and have teachers talk about what PLCs mean to them. What
have they seen or experienced with PLCs.
How would you like to grow as a teacher and what would you like to see your
students accomplish?
Have teacher discuss about 5 minutes then bring together and discuss as a whole
group.
Why are PLCs important?
★ PLCs are important for the growth of
the school.
★ It allows teacher and other staff
members to come together to make
informed decision based on the
growth of the students.
★ It allows teacher and staff to come
together to provide various
opportunities to improve teaching
and learning.

“PLCs allow teachers an easy way to share best practices and brainstorm
innovative ways to improve learning and drive student achievement. Good
communication is key so that educators can share opinions and feel that what
they are doing in the classroom matters.” ( Jennifer Serviss, May 13, 2021).
PLCs also serves as away to build a sense of community and stronger
relationships amongst team members. Allow them to focus on the growth of
the students and provide assistants to each other. PLCs gives everyone a
chance to reflect on best practices that are being used in the classroom that
may or may not be working with the students. PLCs allows every to have the
opportunity to express their strengths and weaknesses in order to receive the
proper support
Mission
Statement
The PLC mission statement is to provide
a environment where teachers can come
together to grow as a community and
team. Provide opportunities of open
communication to make the best
decision for our students.

When thinking about mission we are wanting to have our students and out teachers
grow together.
Overall Goal
We want to foster a community
of educators that engage
collaboratively in cycles of
group inquiry and action
research to improve outcomes
for the students we serve by
using Professional Learning
Communities.

Take a moment to read the goal of our new incentive at our school. (2 minute wait
time)

Our goal for our school is the following:

We want to foster a community of educators that engage
collaboratively in cycles of group inquiry and action research to
improve outcomes for the students we serve by using Professional
Learning Communities.

Collaborations is needed to increase students achievement. According to a study done

by Harvey et al. (2021), a positive effect on student achievement can be established
only when teachers specifically collaborate to discuss or advise each other about
student performance. We will be using PLC’s to help educators collaborate with others
for the purpose of more effective discussion around student learning and practices.
 Measurable Outcomes

Goal Evident by:

A focus on learning
A collaborative culture and
collective responsibility
A results of orientation
PLC’s should have a live agenda
where educators document focus
topics.
Each team member has a role and
responsibilities during PLCs.
Review of student formative
assessments during PLCs.

According to Dufour et al. (2016), there are three big ideas that drive the work of a
PLC. These three idea will help us create measure outcomes to help implement
PLC’s in our schools. The three idea are:
1. A focus on learning
a. This will be evident by documentation of focus topics during PLC’s that
align to student success.
2. A collaborative culture and collective responsibility
a. This will be evident by assigning roles and responsibilities during
PLCs.
3. A results of orientation
a. This will be evident by discussing and reviewing students formative
assessments during PLCs.
How do PLC’s work?

What do you think of when you think of professional learning communities?

Who is involved in professional learning communities?
Have audience discuss for about 2-3 minutes.
Then come together to hit main points in a group discussion.
PLC Structure PLC meetings include the
following activities:
★ Reviewing student
data
★ setting learning goals
★ reflecting on
teaching practice
★ exploring resources
to learn about new
practices
★ planning how to
apply new learning
Working together for our
students!

The main thing to remember is that we are working as a team to collaborate to help
our students succeed and reach goals. Each person will be have a job during the
meetings. We will have norms and jobs set before each meeting.
Heath states “Like students, teachers often need support when developing new habits
of practice. While there are few cut-and-dried rules for PLCs, it is beneficial to provide
guidance to help teachers best utilize their time together. Typically, PLC meetings
include the following activities: 1) Reviewing student data, 2) setting learning goals, 3)
reflecting on teaching practice, 4) exploring resources to learn about new practices,
and 5) planning how to apply new learning”(2017)
Heath also states “The reflection and inquiry embedded within the PLC model
encourages teachers to identify not only student learning needs, but also gaps in their
own pedagogical and content knowledge. However, in the absence of an instructional
coach or expert in the selected focus area, PLC members are then faced with the
challenging task of determining what to learn and how to learn it. To mitigate this
challenge, once a group has determined its PLC goal, point members toward relevant
resources or knowledgeable staff members who can help them focus their learning.”
(2017)
 Focus on 4 corollary
Focus questions:
Collaboration 1. What do you want the
students to learn?
2. How will you know
when they’ve learned it?
3. What will you do if
they don’t learn it?
4. What will you do for
those that have already
learned it?
Working together for our
students!

Setting students goals is important planing your instruction, When meeting during
data meetings you should focus on these four corollary questions.
These four corollary questions will be used at every data meeting to fill out with goals
and to determine how we will plan our instruction.
We will focus on these four a quarter and inservice at the end of the quarter we will
collaborate to determine what we like, how it is going, is this beneficial and what the
teachers are still needing.
“PLCs should focus their efforts on addressing questions related to student learning
and create products that reflect this focus, such as lists of desired student outcomes,
types of assessment tools, analyses of student achievement, and instructional
strategies. PLC members should also consider how they will know if students have
adequately met the goals they have set and create criteria for assessing
outcomes.”(Heath, 2017)
Implementation Timeline
(Year long implementation)

Come up with goals for

Two day inservice Set up weekly Data students to achieve that
training meetings within the align to priority standards.
Before school starts. first month of school. During first 2 months of
school.

Start collaborating Beneficial training on Ongoing data meetings

and reviewing data what teachers still and implantation,
by end of first quarter need. Second feedback each quarter
(feedback) quarter. and continuous PD.

Two Day training for staff. Half day of training and half day of implementing.
During this time we will set clear objectives that are focused on student learning that
are aligned with grade level. (This will happen at our next two day inservice) We will
create norms and jobs for our meetings during this time, also we will make out
agenda outline that everyone in the building will follow.

Set up weekly meetings to review over data (This will start immediately we will make a
common plan time for each grade level) Teachers, resources teachers, title teachers,
instructional coaches and administration will all be involved in on meeting.

During the first 2 months of meeting as a team we will collaborate to come up with 6
goals for each subject area. These will align with priority standards.

Once these for finished we will start reviewing data and planning our instruction. All
notes will be record by the note taker for each meeting. We will have these notes on
google drive for everyone to be able to access.

Each quarter we will have a feedback survey and a PD on what teachers are still
needing clarification on. This will be ongoing and continue through the following years.

We know it is not going to be perfect when first implementing this is a learning

process and we are here to learn and grow with each other.

Are there any questions to to what we will be doing or how this will be implemented?
How do you feel about the implantation process.
Evaluation of PLC Outcomes

● Teacher feedback
○ Exit tickets
○ Survey monkey
● Administrative feedback
○ Did teachers effectively
apply new knowledge or
skills?
○ Observations
● Student Learning Outcomes
○ Student Data
● Focus Groups

Evaluation is the systematic investigation of merit or worth. (Guskey, 2013) PLCs

must be evaluated to determine if the intended goal was achieved. Guskey, states 5
Levels to evaluate a PLC: Level 1: Participant’s Reactions, Participants Learning,
Organizational Support and Change, Participant’s use of new knowledge and skills,
and Student Learning Outcomes. (Guskey, 2013)
We have simplified the 5 Levels to teacher feedback, administrative feedback, student
learning outcomes, and focus groups. After the PLC, teachers will complete either an
exit ticket or complete a survey monkey with at least one open-ended question. The
question will include but not limited to: Did you feel the professional learning was
useful? How will utilize the intended knowledge? As an administrator, it is vital that
teachers apply the new knowledge in the classroom. Completing Learning Walks
provide the opportunity as an administrator to give teachers feedback on what they
observed in the classroom as it relates to the professional learning. Analyzing student
data (formative/summative) allows teachers and administrators to see the impact from
the professional learning.. The Focus Group will consist of 4-8 teachers that will
analyze the data from teacher feedback, administrative feedback, and student
outcomes school-wide to see them overall impact to ensure that the professional
learning has enhanced both the educator and student growth.
Are there any questions about the outcomes or the timeline of PLC’s? Anything we
are excited about or ready to implemente.
Contact information

● Irma Torres-irtorreswps60.org
● Jasmine Simmons-Simmons.jasmine21@gmail.com
● Sam May- Smay@spsr6.org
● Gladys Robinson-
Calloway-Robinsongladys808@gmail.com

If you have any questions after the presentation please feel free to contact any of the
leaders on this page, we will happily answer your questions.
References:
DuFour, R. [Richard], DuFour, R.[Rebecca], Eaker, R., Many, T., Mattos,M. (2016)
Learning by Doing A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work.
Solution Tree Press.

Harvey, J., Dodd,D., Deegan,C., Freeman,O., MacMahon,C & Williams,H. (2021).

Cultivating a Community of Practice model to support and encourage
innovative T&L practices to engage practitioners and enhance student
success. Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 9(2).
https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.21427/8TG2-QF02

Heath, L. R. (2017, November 13). 4 ways to build effective plcs. RSS. Retrieved
October 16, 2022, https://www.activelylearn.com/post/build-effective-plcs

Guskey, Thomas R. (2000) . Does it Make a difference? Evaluating Professional Development. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/does-it-make-a-difference-evaluating-professional-development

Serviss, Jennifer (2021, May 13). 4 Benefits of an Active Professional Learning Community. Retrieved October
16, 2022.
https://www.iste.org/explore/professional-development/4-benefits-active-professional-learning-community

Yan, Martin (2020, September 25). What is a PLC? A Definition and Resource Roundup. Retrieved October 16,
2022. https://www.illuminateed.com/blog/2020/09/what-is-a-plc/