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The Practice of Authentic PLCs
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The Practice of Authentic PLCs
A Guide to Effective Teacher Teams



March 2011 | 208 pages | Corwin
This book for school leaders details how to implement authentic PLCs in schools and districts. Its aim is not to sell the work of PLCs, but rather to assist school leaders and teachers in developing the knowledge and tools necessary to do the work of building and sustaining real PLCs. Grounded in Venables' foundational training and work with the Coalition for Essential Schools, this book unites collaboration, facilitation, data inquiry, using protocols for student and teacher work, designing common formative assessments (CFAs) and planning data-based instructional intervention into one cohesive handbook.

In a step-by-step manner, this book lays out how to establish and do the work of PLCs right the first time. And for schools already dabbling with teacher collaboration and who have instituted a version of PLCs-lite, this work can help existing groups go deeper in the doing the work of authentic, effective PLCs.

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction
The Call for PLCs

 
Out With Programs, In With People

 
 
I. The Context for Authentic PLCs
 
1. The Business of PLCs
PLCs in Context

 
Meeting Logistics

 
The Roles of the Players

 
Summary: PLCs

 
 
2. What to Do First: Building a Foundation for Collaboration
Building the Teams

 
Establishing Group Norms

 
Constructing Community Knowledge

 
Summary: Collaboration

 
 
II. The Essential Tasks of Authentic PLCs
 
3. Looking at Student and Teacher Work
Protocols for Student and Teacher Work

 
Feedback

 
Bringing and Examining Work

 
Peer Observations

 
Summary: Looking at Work

 
 
4. Designing Quality Common Formative Assessments
Deciding Assessment Content

 
Designing Standards-Based Assessments

 
Alternative Forms of Common Assessments

 
Scoring and Grading CFAs

 
Reviewing CFA Data and Planning for Intervention

 
Summary: CFAs

 
 
5. Reviewing and Responding to Data
Data Literacy

 
Reviewing Existing Data

 
Pursuing Additional Data

 
Translating Data Into Action

 
Summary: Data

 
 
III. Coaching Authentic PLCs
 
6. Coach's Guide to Facilitating Protocols and Activities
Protocols for Team Building, Norm Setting, and Constructing Community Knowledge

 
Protocols for Teacher and Student Work and Issues and Dilemmas

 
Two Facilitator Protocols

 
Frequently Asked Questions

 
Summary: Coaching Protocols

 
 
7. Troubleshooting Common Obstacles
Common Obstacles and Challenges

 
A Note to Principals

 
Summary: Coaching Teachers

 
 
Coach's Appendix
 
Protocols and Activities
 
References and Further Readings
 
Index

"This text illustrates the essence of what it really means to be a teacher; to care deeply and to think and act collectively about student and teacher learning."

Barrie Bennet, Professor
OISE/University of Toronto, Ontario

"This book offers its readers practical tools and hard-won insights gleaned from Venables’ extensive experience in the day-to-day work of PLCs. This guide is a valuable resource for seriously creating PLCs that continuously improve teaching and learning for the benefit of all students."

Dennis Sparks, Emeritus Executive Director
National Staff Development Council, Ann Arbor, MI

"The book provides a clear roadmap for a member or facilitator of a PLC."

Diane Barone, Professor
University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

"This is one of the most helpful books I have read on developing an effective Professional Learning Community in a school. It will make a distinct contribution to the field."

Rosemarie Young, Principal
Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, KY

"This book offers a practical approach to school cultural change through the implementation of the underlying principles of Professional Learning Communities. Readers are walked through the key developmental stages and processes to change the relationships within the school, and consequently the way the school operates to improve students’ learning."

Neil MacNeill, Principal
Ellenbrook Primary School, Western Australia

“Daniel Venables has made a terrific contribution to the growing effort of teachers to educate ourselves in professional learning communities through protocols that focus our attention on the right stuff. Happily his writing is as accessible as his material is useful and his insights fresh.”

Joseph P. McDonald, Professor of Teaching and Learning and author of The Power of Protocols
New York University

"This fine pick considers team building, protocols for success, and teacher-designed formative assessments to teach how to respond to data and develop exercises and activities for PLC leaders."

James A. Cox, Editor in Chief
The Midwest Book Review, August 2011

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ISBN: 9781412986632
£30.99

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