School Effectiveness Framework - Case Study Example

Professional Learning Community Development Plan Student’s Name Institution Professional Learning Community Development Plan Background Context Different institutions need constructivist views on knowledge so as to enhance learning and teaching approaches used by teachers. This views have a large impact on the mindsets of both educators and the students especially in regards to thinking and implementation of learning strategies. The main concern in learning institutions mainly lies on methods used organize physical and social experiences in the classroom and school environment so as to encourage and participate in the development and adaption to change in learners. It is thus clear that different plans help in deciding on how to guide any group of learners and when to enforce this guidance’s (Stoll, 2007; Borko, 2004). The Australian national university is a research based institution located in Canberra Australia. The university has different outlets around the country. They consist of seven research colleges and also a few academies and institutes. Demographic analysis of institutions includes having a set of different methods that allow the measurement and dynamics of the population in the institution. They help researchers in acquiring information required on a certain aspect of an organization by checking the people in it. The Australian national university is ranked as the best performing higher learning institution in Australia. The university has many students due to the presence of a few subsidiaries and is a government owned organization. The system promotes the culture of education through encouraging collaborative learning and providing a healthy environment for student’s interactions. Cooperative learning helps a lot in this as it gives both the students and the managements the opportunity of interdependence in learning and sharing of information so as to help each other in the development of their careers (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). Different evidence provided indicate that reforms in the education sector i.e. in the checking of progress mostly depends on the collective and individual capacity of teachers and how they contribute to the promotion of students learning. Therefore it’s clear that building capacity in learning institutions plays a critical role in systems development. Position includes the mixing of communication methods, skills, organizational control, and culture. It ends up giving individuals, groups and also the school community the power to involve themselves in activities that promote sustainable learning. In the recent years, education professionals. Over the past few decades, both the community and education specialists have been vocal in their demands for new agendas and practices in education. Simultaneously, these activists have recognized that educators must come to an intimate understanding of the process of change for implementation to be successful and for the promises of new practices to be realized. During this period, an abundance of improvement processes were introduced to school practitioners in the hope that change would become less uncertain (Stoll, 2007; Borko, 2004). For example, the participating school's research and its related school improvement process provided the foundation for many schools around the globe to think about and work on school change. Subsequently, many other models and programs designed to improve student performance were highly touted and marketed. Because the literature on successful school change proclaimed the importance of the principal, the role and the actions of the principal on behalf of school improvement were widely studied and reported. The Minister for Learning and Skills has set out a program of educational reform which is challenging and ambitious.. the focus on improving the school system in Wales is based on three interrelated priorities: improved literacy levels and improved skill levels. Decreasing the impact of shortage on instructive achievement. These urgencies are underpinned by the School Effectiveness Framework (SEF) which is our all-encompassing policy for cultivating a level of education and provision in Wales and the one to which all our other policies are aligned. The SEF is about the whole school-based education system – schools, local authorities and the Welsh Government working collaboratively to: achieve better learning outcomes and well-being for all children and young people regardless of their socio-economic background, reduce the variation in learning outcomes within and between classrooms, schools, and local authorities. To support these aims we have developed an integrated system that brings together the professional standards, professional development, and performance management. This new structure is the practice review and development (PRD) model and applies to the whole school workforce including teachers, headteachers and support staff. The core purpose of PRD is to contribute to the school improvement agenda for Wales by providing a clear structure to ensure that professional standards, performance management, and professional development work together as a single system, rather than as separate, individual elements (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). In a nutshell, PLCs entailed whole-staff involvement in the process of intensive reflection upon instructional practices and desired student benchmarks, as well as monitoring of outcomes to ensure success. PLCs enable teachers to continually learn from one another via shared visioning and planning, as well as an in-depth critical examination of what does and doesn’t work to enhance student achievement. The emphasis of PLCs is ongoing “job-embedded learning,” rather than single professional development sessions facilitated by outsiders, who have little accountability regarding whether staff knowledge is successfully applied. Also, PLCs emphasize teacher leadership, along with their active involvement and deep commitment to school improvement efforts (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). PLCs, therefore, benefit teachers just as much as they do students. How do this process of intensive reflection and job-embedded learning unfold? Typically it includes six steps—study, select, plan, implement, analyze, and adjust. Before beginning the process, teachers review student achievement data to identify a particular standard or standards on which many students are not meeting the goal (Stoll, 2007; Borko, 2004). Teachers work in collaborative planning teams to examine critically and discuss standards-based learning expectations for students. These teams select evidence-based instructional strategies for meeting the standards. Teams develop a standard lesson plan incorporating the selected strategies and identify the type of student work each teacher will use to demonstrate learning. Teachers implement the planned lesson, record successes, and challenges, and gather evidence of student learning. Teams review student work and discuss student understanding of the standards. Teams reflect on the implications of the analysis of student work and discuss potential modifications to instructional strategies. The PLC approach is a long-term proposition, taking three to six years to fully incorporate into a school’s routine practices. Staff teams need to have time to meet during the workday throughout the year. They also need to focus their efforts on essential questions about learning and generate products such as lists of the primary student outcomes, methods of assessment and strategies for meeting goals (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). During the first year of implementation, staff teams usually need to complete several cycles of the six steps to master the process. For the next few years, most schools and districts also benefit from the support of an external facilitator. The process sounds straightforward enough. Without paying attention to best practices, schools may fail to reap the advantages of PLCs. Consider the following best practices—PLCs work best when schools have: 1.A culture that supports collaboration; 2.The ability to take an objective/macro view of education efforts; and 3.Shared beliefs and behaviors. Creating PLCs Hipp & Huffman (2012), analysed the exmples and non-example of the elements that may hinder or promote the learning in schools enumelated under the five PLCs dimensions. The research was conducted in schools for three years shortly after the creation of the culture that reflected the PLC as dictated by the Hord and Fullan models that were stipulated by Hipp and Huffman (2003). They analysed the data collectively which led to the development of PLCO (Professional Learning Communities Organizer). These researchers were abled to glean the five dimensions from the analysed data, showing a critical attributes, there was a great procession of implementation and general institutionalization. Therefore, there was a bold portroyal of more schools yearning to become PLCs. When creating PLCs, it is vital to consider the following along with good leadership (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). i. Team Learning ii. System thinking iii. Mental models iv. Shared vision v. Personal Mastery vi. Benefits Motivated Benefits and building blocks of PLCs Money and time saving is the prominent motivators for many schools to implement the PLCs. There are increasing digital oppotumities which is curbed by the reduced and stagnantly growing number of staffs indebted to professional development. This leads to the overexploitation of the little resources meant to devolve the professional development. Sometimes, implementing change in school comes with stress. Stress tends to make the leaders to experience push back. However, it is vital to consider the following when developing the Professional Learning Comunities. i. Comunication and Commitment The core practice should be concise and clear to every member as per the agreement among the members of the PLCs. The list of staff expectations should also be set to ensure the development of the community learning. The staff and organization should have the motive of having a common goal and not expecting one person to accomplish the goals of the school, rather, they should forge forward and acomplish it as a one body. For a development plan to be successful, the goals of the organization should be made publicly displayed, hence increasing the chances of their accomplishment. For a condicive PLCs, the memebers should implement all the concepts without picking or choosing. It is said that the change initiatives that are moderate and ocassinal, are not better compared to the implementation that never existed (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). Therefore, communication and commitment has to be part of PLCs development plan. ii. Equity The teachers are solery tasked to make the decisions of what to teach and when in isolation. The decisions made are criticl and affects the life of the students and the implemetation plan for the PLCs. The individual decision making is certain of the inequitable overall experience from one classroom to the next within the same setting of schoool physical setting. To curb this, the professional learning communities ensures collective decision making ensuring that all the children acquire equitable intervention, equitable curriculum, and overall assessment. The team work of the teachers is used to align the curruculum throughout the school, common assessment resolution, and collective data analysis ensuring that all the student get equitable tima and suficient support (Stoll, 2007; Borko, 2004). iii. Honesty The PLCs are guided with professionalism and honesty in its dealings. The always want the transparent evaluation to present their current dynamic reality. The development plan should have the ability to apply the PLCs concepts irregardless, by confronting any behaviour that is not in line with the core purpose presented by the community learning. Therefore, honesty is the backbone of trust and it remains a critical element of the professional learning communities development plan. iv. Accountability and support Accountability is he wheel to development ans closure of the achievement gap that exists in the PLCs development plan. The teachers are expected to develop the accountability spirit towards each other and the students. The results obtained by each teacher has to be accepted and have the conviction of changing them in future. The team shouls formulate acute goals to ensure common assessment, instituional objectives, and nutual accountability. The PLCs realizes the vitality of a common goal and support among the staffs. PLCs ensure no teacher’s isolation but encourages a culture of continued improvement of the teaching practice. Despite the expertise among the teachers, PLCs believe that punishing the students and teachers in order to improve never works at all (Hord, 1997; Eaker & DuFour, 2005; Hord, 2009; Timperley et al., 2008). v. Solution Oriented The PLCs plan should be aggressive to problem identification, and relentlessly fighting to ensure a viable solution is presented within the timeline. They embrace behavior change by being action oriented by ensuring that the outside factors are done away with to ensure a harmonized community learning environment. vi. Respect and Support The PLCs ensures that everybody ensures collective commitments by installing norms that favor descension, and discards exclusion among the staff and all students. The shared accountability protrayed by the professional community learning is established under the rule that acclaims respectful relationships among the members. Learning have never been achieved by the particular students in a new class, therefore, achieveing something that has never been needs support and togetherness, hence ensuring the elimination of the teachers isolation at alll stages of decision making process during the development. What it takes to implement PLCs Plan The five dimensions of PLCs 1. Shared Leadership For changes to be done in the universities and other schools, the principals and supporting staffs must come to a common table so that the change is accepted and effectively implemented without hitches within the shortest time possible. The professional learning community initiation in a school organization requires the sanction of the leaders and the entire staff to ensure the transformation into developing as a community. Therefore, loooking at the principal as the mastermind of the professional learning community in the organization gives a learnigng community look of the entire staff making it easy to implement the five dimentions. The sources of the authority are hedged along the shared ideas and surpportive leadership. Therefore, the professional learning Community is solely initiated by the chief executive who encourages and supports the help issue to all the needy students. A culture that views the leaders as democratic teachers rather than the agents of change, or major visionary directors of the mentioned cooporation (Stoll, 2007; Borko, 2004). 2. Collective Creativity The learning communities are developed all levels if they are collaborated with working as a team and reflective dialogue. The staff discusses the challenges facing the student while proposing the solutions that are implemented collectively. From the conversation, each staff tends to appreciate the community learning where a new condition is set for the students through the collective creativity originating fro the team work. 3. Sharing a vision and organizational values An organization that has conflicting values and vision among it’s staff makes it hard for the schools to create a beneficial community learning. Sharing a vision is known to be pshychlogical as it helps some one to share the same good idea of wanting the best community leraning for themselves as well as the whole organizatinon that they are affiliated.The professional are motivated by the common vision to get highly involved in the PLCs development process where the shared vision acts as the guide post for the decision making process in teaching and learning institutions. The core idea behind the shared vision and values is hedged along the undeviating focus in improving the student learning environment while tracking their achievements, hence leading to the bidding behavioral norms that promotes the professional Learning Communities. Such a community, every individual is tasked to be resiponsible of their actions, where the personal ambition is forfeited for the common good of the community. The community leraning itactness is hinged along the individual trust, which develops to caring and finally improved open communication (McLauhlin & Talbert, 2006). 4. Supporting Conditions The professional Learning Community is characterized with creative work, learning from each other, problem solving, and decision making. These factors attribute to the factors that dictates where, and when the staff should come together as a unit to promote an accomodative PLCs. For the community learning to run smoothly in harmony, the human qualities, physical conditions, people capacities, and structural buildings should be supportive and productive and generally optimal (Hord, 1997; Eaker & DuFour, 2005; Hord, 2009; Timperley et al., 2008). People’s Capacities An individual has to be in a place to accept the feedback, either positive or negative, and be accomodative to future improvements for the success of the community learning. However, this should be supported by an accomondative adminstration and a supportive leaders who do not scold the junior staff in an event of a negative feedback. The trust among the staff members should be paramount and respect should be the key factor among all schools even at district level, hence leading to a relativelt cognitive sociolization process. The positive attitude from the teachers for the students, change, and schooling heightens the engagement and interest in learning. The community learning norms of critical and continued inquiries boosts continued improvement, sensation of purpose, collegial friendships, collective decision making, and huge sharing of a common vision and values. These norms are subjected to ensuring a harmonious community learning, which improve the teacher-student relationship, and hence very supportive attitude in the professonal community lerarning environment. Physical Conditions There are several factors that are registred as main mativators of a conducive successful professional learning community. The size of the school, the teacher and student proximity, well laid out communication hierachy, teacher empowerment, dependent teaching resiponsibilities, and school autonomy supports a viable community learnig. The shedules and structures should be valued and positioned to be able to fight isolation. The policies in place should be favourable to the school autonomy, validate effective communication, foster staff development, and initiate collaboration within the Professional Learning Communities. 5. Common personal practice This is a norm of a peer helping a peer. The teachers evaluate a collegue by reviewing their behaviour within the Professonal Learning Communities. The process can be actuated through fellow teachers visiting the class lessons of their fellows to observe, and discuss their observations while scrpting the notes for their peer’s enlightment. Motivated by the nutual respect, desire for communial learning improvement, and trustworth among the participants. This culture, however, can backfire if it is not encouraged by mutual understanding and trust. The successful use of the personal practice encourages staff support, community learning bonding, and discussion of the successes and failures of each staff, encouraging the gradual improvement of the PLCs. The personal practice makes the staff to feel resiponsible for the success of the entire staff provind the community learning culture. PLCs are devised to support both the student and teachers. The reforming goal is to ensure feasible learning environment for the learners, as well as producing a conducive environment that encourages staff’s hard work, promotion of eventual growth, risk taking, and acknowledgement of the challenging tasks. Implementing Effective Professional Learning Communities The rapid results wanted from the learning communities are obviously inundated by well-structured support and programs that are implemented by the schools and other learning institutions. It is substantial to develop a structure, approaches, and support officiated to ensure the guaranteed establishment of advanced students, while ensuring that the learning school culture is initiated as a professional community learning. Several researchers have ascertained the effectiveness of the use of professional Learning Communities in focused learning, fostered improvement, and teaching-learning effectiveness. Therefore, implementing a superior PLCs in the district and schools is vital for a good community learning. The following core steps can be best applied to ensure sustained Professional Learning Communities development process (Hord, 1997; Eaker & DuFour, 2005; Hord, 2009; Timperley et al., 2008). a. Fostering an Environment Based on Trust Trust correlates with general school performance and achievements. PLCs are driven by creating trust among the staff members. Trust helps to derive an effective personal practice that dwells on both trust and respect. The administrations that have all through encouraged trust among the staff members has shown diminishing teacher’s isolation culture and a greatly growing collaborative spirit among the learning institutions. Trust is well defined by the other person as the willingness to remain vulnerable as dictated by the reliability, openness, competency, honest, and benevolence. Therefore, to implement successful PLCs in the school, the demonstration has to create a conducive environment where everyone develops the traits aforementioned to entertain cases where each staff member is willing to remain vulnerable for each other all along (Skordahl, 2012; DuFour, 2004; Stoll et al., 2006; Vescio et al., 2008). b. Presenting a clear structure and goals for all the PLCs Meetings There have been several meetings by teachers who tend to term themselves as members of PLCs. The meetings is a first substantial step towards achieving the goals of the PLCs and ensuring that the members are impacted towards a collaborative Professional Learning Communities, and hence a profitable gains by the students. Therefore, the meetings should be professionally developed with an aim of bringing PLC into fruition. For instance, after the teacher analyzes the work of their student can forward the samples to the meetings as an evident school learning. Through this avenue, the teachers are presented with a chance to re-evaluate their instructional policies subject to adjustments and improving a better plan tasked to supporting the students achieve their learning objectives. The meetings should be student centered, and instructional oriented for the successful implementation of the PLCs. c. Teacher’s efficacy and professionalism support To implement the PLCs in the schools, the teacher’s abilities has to be appreciated for them to be confident is service delivery. A motivated teacher is capable of influencing their students into an outstanding performance record in class. The administration should be in a position where the teachers are capable of supporting all the staff’s practice, hence developing self-efficacy, which comes in handy with one believing in their own ability to manipulate the student achievement and progress in school through personalized influence. This confidence is incorporated into strengthening fellow peers to ensure the formulation of instructions that will always meet the student’s needs at all levels. This incident presents a chance where the teachers can amend the instruction to serve the learners better, hence making the implementation of the PLCs wholly effective (Stoll, 2007; Borko, 2004). d. Prioritizing the most pressing institutional challenges When implementing PLCs it is good to prioritize the goals of the institution. The state assessments, data, and formative bench marking should be performed duly to the meeting. From the analyzed date it is certain that the meeting will have a common goal mainly focused on the vital structural challenges that can be given immediate attention hence prompting PLCs. The previous work of the students is a good example of data that can be analyzed and presented to review the progress of the learners in class and correlate it with the teacher’s instructions, which promotes the well-being of all the members. Therefore, the meetings should be used to stage manage the students’ progress citing their weakness and strengths (Skordahl, 2012; DuFour, 2004; Stoll et al., 2006; Vescio et al., 2008). e. Monitoring the PLCs delivery and offering criticism Creative criticism is vital towards the change management and PLCs development plan implementation. The fellow teachers can apply norms that are stipulated to guide their work plan along with other fellow workmates. The structure may include; attending to the meeting on time well prepared with the business of the date, implementing the learnings attained from the PLCs meetings in practicality to the students, avoiding any distractions and remaining focused to the set goals and objectives, and finally by sharing the challenges and successes experienced in the line of duty (Hord, 1997; Eaker & DuFour, 2005; Hord, 2009; Timperley et al., 2008). The leaders can be supportive by allowing learning walks that are aimed at letting the teachers to connect the PLCs meeting with the instructional changes. The implementation of the PLCs concepts into the learning process will boost the school service delivery among other beneficial traits of instructional management. Initial Plan Steps Phase of change Keep/stop/start Timeline Person Responsible How to measure success Shared and supportive leadership Transforming the PLCs in class Start Every term Teacher and students Analysis of the student’s perfomance Shared values and vision At the start till the end Start/keep always PLCs leaders, teachers, and students Personal practice Collective learning and application Every class session Start Class time teachers Evaluating student’s perfomance Shared personal practice Every carrer day keep Selected specific time arranged by teachers Teachers and peers Analyzing the notes and peer’s criticism Supportive conditions All time Start/keep Class and evalution periods Teachers and students Performance evaluation References Skordahl, T., & M'Enesti, M. (2012). Implementing professional learning communities. Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional learning communities: A review of the literature. Journal of educational change, 7(4), 221-258. Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and teacher education, 24(1), 80-91. DuFour, R. (2004). What is a" professional learning community"?. Educational leadership, 61(8), 6-11. Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2005). Professional learning communities at work tm: best practices for enhancing students achievement. Solution Tree Press. Hord, S. M. (2009). Professional learning communities. Journal of Staff Development, 30(1), 40-43. Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., & Fung, I. (2008). Teacher professional learning and development. Stoll, L., & Louis, K. S. (2007). Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain. Educational researcher, 33(8), 3-15. McLaughlin, M. W., & Talbert, J. E. (2006). Building school-based teacher learning communities: Professional strategies to improve student achievement (Vol. 45). Teachers College Press. Read More