Blog

Entries by Richard DuFour

Why Teach?

thumb

In the play, Becket, a young man asks the title character for advice regarding the career he should pursue. When Becket suggests teaching, the young man dismisses the idea with the question, . . . Read more

Realistic SMART Goals

thumb

We recently received a question about SMART goals. The author wanted to know where he could find information about the required specificity and realistic nature of SMART goals. He asked, “Is . . . Read more

Should Teams Be Required to Submit Meeting Agendas?

thumb

We received a question from a principal who wanted to know if there was research to support requiring her teams to prepare and submit agendas for their team meetings. Here is our response:  . . . Read more

Helping a Board of Education Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

thumb

There is a time-honored management axiom that stipulates, "What gets monitored gets done." It’s another way of saying that we express our priorities by what we pay attention to . . . Read more

The Common Core and Common Pacing

thumb

We received an email from a high school teacher questioning her district’s effort to establish common pacing across the three high schools in the district. She seemed to object to this effort . . . Read more

Should We Provide Ability-Based Tracking in Our School?

thumb

We received a question on the All Things PLC website from a high school English department that was in the process of revising its curriculum. The school offered three levels at each grade level . . . Read more

In Hot Pursuit of the Wrong Question

thumb

I received a question from a school that was contemplating a change in its grading scale from 60 percent to 70 percent in order for students to earn a passing grade. The school asked for my opinion . . . Read more

Q&A: Rick DuFour’s Response to a Question on Formative Assessment

thumb

Last week, educate4life posted the following comment on Grading Formative and Summative Assessments by Rick DuFour: I am new to this forum but stumbled upon this thread. I am a high school mathematics teacher... Read more

How Can Elective Teachers Participate in the PLC Process?

thumb

I received the following letter from the chairman of a fine arts department. The question she raises is one facing all elective teachers: “I have a question that I was hoping you could help me with... Read more

Progress or Procrastination?

thumb

I received a question regarding the timetable a school had established to implement the PLC process. According to the proposed timetable, this high school would devote one school year to helping . . . Read more

Should the Textbook Determine the Essential Skills We Teach?

thumb

We received a question from a district with three high schools that was struggling to agree on the approach to take in answering the first critical question of a PLC: “What do we want our . . . Read more

Teaching Students to Be Responsible With PLCs

thumb

In a blog post last year called Do PLCs Enable Students to Act Irresponsibly? (February 16, 2010), I presented the premise that schools should do more than hope students act responsibly but rather should put procedures in place to require students to do so. I acknowledged that almost all educators would prefer that students act responsibly because responsible behavior is important to their success in school and in life. I also suggested that regrettably, some of the students who enter our schools do not act responsibly. Read more

New Article: Teacher Collaboration Can’t Be Voluntary

thumb

In a new article, "Work Together: But Only if You Want To," published in the February issue of Phi Delta Kappan, Rick DuFour argues that collaboration among educators cannot be a . . . Read more

Grading Formative and Summative Assessments

thumb

We received a question about grading, specifically how to balance grading between formative and summative assessments. The author was concerned because the grading practices of the teachers in the . . . Read more

How PLCs Use Assessments

thumb

We received a series of questions from a school grappling with developing common assessments. I summarized the questions and attempted to provide a brief response for each… Read more