Blog
Does Merit Pay for Individual Teachers Align With the PLC Concept? Part I
The idea of merit pay for individual teachers has been touted as a way to improve student achievement. One state, for example, proposed a merit-pay system that would designate up to 25 percent of teachers in a district for a 5 percent merit-pay bonus on the basis of student achievemen… Read more
DuFour Conversation Starts Today!
Here it is, Radical Nation: The first day in our four-day conversation on the nuts-and-bolts of restructuring schools as professional learning communities with Solution Tree authors and school change experts… Read more
What Is the Sequence of Goal Setting in a PLC?
We received a question about goals from someone who wanted to know if district goals had to be established before school goals could be created, and if school goals were necessary before team goals could be developed. He also asked how to establish a goal that would address… Read more
Voicethread Tips for DuFour Conversation
As regular readers know, we're in the middle of planning for an asynchronous Voicethread conversation with school change experts Rick and Becky DuFour (see here and here) who will be helping us to think through the nuts and bolts of restructuring schools as professional learning communities… Read more
Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work
It’s still hard for me to believe that we’ll be spending four days in September (the 8th through the 11th) exploring the nuts and bolts of professional learning communities with Rick . . . Read more
Upcoming Conversation on PLCs with the DuFours
About two years ago, I had one of the singular most exciting moments of my professional career. At a dinner meeting designed to introduce the members of our State's Board of Education to the core principles of… Read more
Bottom-Up Leadership Put to the Test
At Elizabeth Vaughan Elementary School, the effectiveness of our bottom-up leadership depends on high-quality, top-down leadership direction and support. This past year, a series of unexpected challenges really put our bottom-up leadership to the test, and our teachers' initiatives proved to be outstanding! Read more
What Are the Necessary Leadership Responsibilities in a PLC?
There is nothing like the beginning of the school year. Everywhere you look, new opportunities are popping up, new ideas are being developed, and school leaders are planning to best meet the needs . . . Read more
Team Leaders in a Professional Learning Community
Collaborative teams are the engines that drive professional learning communities. It is simply impossible to ensure high levels of learning for all students if teachers are working in isolation. The quality of work performed by teams depends on team leaders who… Read more
Three Rules Help Manage Assessment Data
We live in the Information Age, when never before has so much data on student learning been so readily available. It is the best of times... And yet, to harried principals struggling to make sense of the mountains of assessment data, the Information Age may feel like the worst of times... Read more
Should Homework Be Graded?
I received an interesting question from a teacher regarding recommendations for whether or not homework should be graded. He described a scenario in which a student demonstrates proficiency on every quiz, test, and exam but refuses to do homework each day. If, on a daily basis, the student… Read more
Getting the Most Out of Common Assessments
Like most schools that begin implementing PLC practices, the faculty at Pioneer Middle School learned about the importance of common formative assessments and decided to utilize this powerful tool to help us focus on learning. Unfortunately, as time progressed… Read more
Is This Candidate a Good Fit for a PLC?
We received a question from an educator interested in the kinds of questions she might use to determine if a candidate is a good fit for a professional learning community. We suggest that you ask . . . Read more
Tech Tools for Teams: Using Voicethread
I've got an interesting admission to make: I'm a HORRIBLE guy to have on a learning team! Kind of strange, isn't it? I mean, how could a trained Solution Tree associate and author who has written about the beauty of professional learning communities for years possibly be… Read more
Wide Range of Abilities
This is the time of year when we move into interview mode in schools. Having just exited one of these, something the candidate said caused an aha! moment for me. The question to the candidate had to do with… Read more