Platteville High School (2022)

  1. PLC Story
  2. PLC Practices
  3. Achievement Data
  4. Awards
  5. Resources

***PROMISING PRACTICES SCHOOL***

From 2012-2018, the district had utilized its professional development time answering the 4 questions with inconsistent results. 

In the summer of 2018, the administrative team attended a PLC Institute in Madison, WI.  The administrative team used the 2018-19 school year to build capacity by reading the book, Learning by Doing, 3rd Edition.  As 2018-19 continued, it was apparent that the schedule had to change in order to provide time for staff to collaborate.  Several community meetings took place to answer questions and ultimately a calendar was adopted to provide 90 minutes of collaboration on Wednesday afternoons on a weekly basis. 

Solution Tree Associate, Joe Cuddemi, provided professional development around the foundation of the PLC in April of 2019 and again in August of 2019.  Guiding coalition teams were established and met twice monthly to oversee and support the implementation.  Please reference the resources tab to review the Guiding Coalition Job Description/Reflection/Application document.  
Starting in the fall of 2019, teams were meeting during collaboration time with team developed norms and an agenda to  drive the conversation.  The work around completing the Mission, Vision, Collective Committments, and Goal statements was finished during the 2019-20 school year.   There is a copy of the Four Pillars in the resources tab.  

The district participated in the Leading for Learning series that was sponsored by DPI during the 2019-20 school year.  This series included Solution Tree Associates:  Chris Jakicic, Angela Freese, Anthony Muhammad, and Mike Mattos.  Although “Safer at Home” canceled the last session with Mike Mattos, the staff participated in all 3 sessions of Mike Mattos’ Mind the Gaps series. 

During the 2020-21 school year the teams met virtually or in person following health protocols (ex-social distancing, masks, etc…) in place at that time.  

Paul Farmer joined the High School staff during August inservice in 2021 to assist the building in gaining knowledge around the RTI At Work Pyramid.  In the spring of 2021, the guiding coalition participated in a coaching session from Tony Reibel  that focused on Qs 3 and 4, Equity in Grading, and Tier II and Tier III systems approach.  

The admin team completed the Taking Action Book Study in the summer of 2021 and the guiding coalition finished the Taking Action Book Student over the 2021-22 school year.  The PRIDE time period was restructured to focus on supports for student learning. 

Over the summer of 2022, the HS Administrative team and members of the Guiding Coalition attended the PLC Institute in Lincolnshire, IL.

 

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Prior to 2018, the District focused its professional development efforts around the 4 questions.  When teachers met periodically throughout the year, they completed a Pacing Guide that would house the information by unit while answering the 4 questions.  

The staff completed the Learning by Doing Book Study during 2019-20.    There was also work around unwrapping standards this year. 

The focus of 2020-21 was providing virtual/hybrid instruction, learning a learning management system and all of the needed digital tools.  

In 2021-22, the staff completed equity and coaching cycles, where every teacher went through the process which provided additional understanding on how to support protected classes.

The high school art teacher has developed a collection of art teachers (K-12) in SW Wisconsin in order to share best teaching practices and lesson plans.  This gives singletons from other districts a group of art teachers they can learn from and collaborate with.

In 2019-2020: Our district worked to create a guaranteed and viable curriculum by deconstructing our standards in order to identify power standards and develop ELOs for all of our courses and for the district in math and English. The collaborative teams  developed CFAs that were administered to students. 

It was clear when we returned in the fall of 2020-2021 that there were substantial gaps in learning due to a variety of reasons. To ensure equitable access to all of our students, those learning from home, school, or choosing a hybrid model, we decided as a district to pilot and purchase a K-12 reading/ELA program that met the highest standards in text quality, building knowledge, and usability. We selected American Reading Company (ARC) and My Perspectives.  We selected these programs not only because they scored highly in these areas but because of their commitment to portraying diverse individuals and groups in a variety of settings and backgrounds as well as their inclusion of a balanced representation of cultures and special populations. Each program offered consumable materials as well as digital content so we were able to meet the needs of all our students and monitor their progress. 

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

The intervention period which is called, “PRIDE” time at Platteville High School was restructured to create a 44 min period to support student learning.  The staff uses the following understandings to support student learning.  

  • Tier I - general support to complete their work

  • Tier II - teachers would support specific students with specific learning needs 

This adjustment for PRIDE time also allowed an opportunity for some staff members to provide enrichment activities. Since the beginning of PRIDE time we have been able to use the program FlexiSched to allow for both student advocacy and autonomy. We believe this program has made the difference in implementing the extensions and supports necessary to support our ever changing diverse student population. 

Through FlexiSched teachers can hand select students for their Tier II support days as well as offer enrichment opportunities throughout the week. On the student side of things, if they are not “Flexiforce '' to a specific room they have the autonomy to self-select the learning environment that they feel most comfortable and safe. They can also advocate for themselves and their needs on any given day. This also allows for student voice in the types of enricements and electives being offered through Pride Time Activities.  

After the Paul Farmer presentation in 2021-22, the staff also included the Will vs Skill criteria to form student groups. The new terms for Will groups in 2022-23 will be “Connection Groups.” During the 21-22 school year we also saw the increased need for SEL and we included 7 mindsets into our home pride times as we believe that students need to be given social emotional learning along with their academic learning.   

In 2022-23 - Students and teachers utilize FlexiSched during Pride Time four days a week to address Tier 1 and Tier 2 learning needs as evidenced by formative assessment data.  A significant change was the inclusion of all spec ed students and teachers in the FlexiSched process.  This is evidence of the high school staff supporting student learning by need, not by label.  This also links to our mission statement.

 

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

The administrative and teacher teams built capacity by engaging in book studies.  Learning by Doing, 3rd Edition, was read by the admin team during the 2018-19 school year and the professional staff completed this book study throughout the 2019-20 school year. Throughout the 2019-20 school year, the district participated in a state-wide initiative driven by DPI entitled, Leading for Learning.  This was scheduled to be a four part series with presentations by Chris Jakicic, Angie Freese, Anthony Muhammad, and Mike Mattos, however “Safer at Home” canceled the  Mike Mattos presentation.  As the district navigated the murky waters of the pandemic, they participated in the Mind the Gaps series provided by Solution Tree/Mike Mattos in 2020-21.  

During 2020-21, efforts were focused around providing virtual learning and other challenges of the pandemic.  Taking Action was the book study for admin and staff during the 2021-22 school year. Staff also participated in coaching cycles surrounding equitable practices in hybrid teaching and learning.

The high school also participated in Solution Tree Online Coaching from Tony Reibel that focused on  Grading and Equity, Assessments and using Data from Assessments, Tier 2/Tier 3 Systems Approach. 
Over the summer of 2022, the HS Administrative team and members of the Guiding Coalition attend PLC Institute in Lincolnshire, IL.

During the August Inservice of 2022, the 4 Quadrants of the Heart and Soul mini course from Global PD teams were shared with staff.  

The members of the guiding coalition and admin team were also provided access to Global PD and in 2022-23, the admin team has access to Global PD Teams.

 

Achievement Data Files

Named a "Promises Practices" School by Solution Tree in 2022.  

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