Honea Path Middle School (HPMS) is a small rural middle school in Anderson County, South Carolina with a student population of 315. In 2021, under the leadership of new Superintendent Jason Johns, Anderson School District 2 (ASD2) decided to implement Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to shift from a teacher-focused approach to a learner-focused culture and ensure learning for all ASD2 students.

The transition to a PLC culture was smooth in many ways because most ASD2 principals, including HPMS principal John Michael Hall, had attended the Culture Keepers: Principal Leadership in a PLC at Work Institute in Atlanta in 2019. The opportunity to participate in this conference provided a foundation for the work to begin. The conference provided principals with knowledge and excitement about developing and implementing professional learning communities in their schools and across the district. This conference was helped spark the understanding among district leadership that there was a lot more to the PLC approach than had been previously understood.

Following this conference, HPMS began implementing some initial PLC practices and evaluating which of our previously established methods aligned with this approach. District leadership planned to move forward with PD from Solution Tree, and during the 2019-2020 school year, all certified employees at HPMS received copies of Learning by Doing (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, & Mattos, 2016) and participated in a book study throughout the year. This helped to establish the groundwork for the transition to PLCs district-wide. Teachers at HPMS and BMS began identifying essential standards to be taught and assessed; however, the shutdown due to COVID suspended this work.

After successfully navigating COVID, HPMS continued moving forward with this initiative. Mr. Johns was appointed in 2021, and he came to ASD2 with prior training on PLCs and fully supported the standard practices of professional learning communities. 

In August 2021, to continue building on the foundation for the PLC at Work process the district leadership provided a two-day Solution Tree Workshop. This training was organized and held at HPMS alongside our counterparts from BMS. This workshop aimed to introduce the key concepts and principles of the PLC framework to all educators within the district. Up to this point, much of the PLC work had been done with teachers of core subjects. Following this workshop, HPMS began work to include all teachers in collective ownership of student growth and achievement. Additionally, throughout the 21-22 school year, teachers at HPMS and BMS picked back up and continued the work of developing unit plans that included common summative assessments. These unit plans and assessments drive decision-making during district PLC meetings. 

The leadership team at HPMS, along with support from the district office, recognized the importance of ongoing support and collaboration to successfully implement PLCs. To facilitate this, substitute teachers were provided to ensure teachers periodically have time during the school day for grade-level and departmental district-wide collaboration throughout the year. HPMS collaborated with BMS to ensure there is a viable curriculum being taught and assessed and to drive data-driven conversations within and between the schools.

HPMS also appointed team leads for each grade level, and these teachers took ownership of the PLC process by developing Collective Commitments and Team Norms. Creating shared agreements provided a collective responsibility and commitment to the PLC journey within the school. Team leads have monthly meetings with other team leads from across the district to review data, share updates from their team and school, and meet with district leadership. 

HPMS has dedicated time during the school day for team collaboration and analysis of student data. During these PLC meetings, teachers create tailored interventions for students who are facing difficulties in mastering certain standards. This approach benefits all students and ensures their success in the classroom. Additionally, HPMS had an already established intervention time known as "Power Hour." This period takes place every day, and the PLC process has enhanced this already effective element of our school day. Students are organized into sections in "Readiness Groups" based on their readiness to meet standards. Teachers have a better understanding of how to identify students for interventions and pull them during this time. The collective committment to this process has widely improved and enhanced teacher ownership, and students and families also better understand the value of this time.

To further enhance an understanding of effective PLC practices, in the spring of 2022, the district sent representatives from several schools across the district to visit a middle school and a high school in Catoosa County, Georgia. Those who went observed the PLC practices implemented in this Model PLC District and learned valuable insights from their experiences in implementing PLCs. 

In February 2022, the district sent all Team Leads to attend The Summit on PLC at Work in Phoenix. Following the conference, the district organized the first Anderson School District Two PLC Summit in March 2022. HPMS Team Leads that attended the Summit presented their key takeaways and insights to colleagues from around the district. This internal summit served as a platform for educators to exchange ideas, celebrate successes, and learn best practices. HPMS teachers gleaned from the event clarity of the district's vision of PLCs and more enthusiasm for the process with a focus on the four key questions.

In November 2022, ASD2 sent all principals to the Solution Tree "Amplify Your Impact" conference in Charleston, SC. This provided a platform for principals to explore leadership strategies, gain insights from other successful PLC districts, and bring back valuable knowledge to guide their schools' Collaborative PLC teams in their work to ensure all students are achieving. Additionally, to strengthen subject-specific expertise and collaboration, representatives from HPMS and other schools attended the "Math PLC at Work" conference in Houston in December 2022.

Through these concerted efforts and a shared commitment to the PLC at Work process, Honea Path Middle School built and continues to maintain a strong foundation of shared understanding and commitment among educators. The ongoing collaboration, professional development opportunities, and exposure to successful PLC models have empowered teachers and administrators to work together towards a common goal of improving student learning and achievement for all HPMS students.

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

HPMS teachers worked with BMS teachers to identify essential standards and to ensure there is shared knowledge of the SCCCR (SC College and Career Ready Standards). HPMS has also developed and utilized common formative assessments, provided a system of intervention, and utilized data to adjust instruction to meet the individual needs of all our students. Data from summative assessments and the instruction provided are regularly analyzed to determine mastery of the agreed-upon curriculum and essential standards. 

HPMS has developed a results-driven focus within the school culture. Teachers meet weekly to discuss grade-level data (grades, discipline, and attendance) and develop appropriate interventions to ensure students are mastering the essential standards. HPMS teachers meet monthly with BMS teachers to discuss summative assessment data and instructional practices. 

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

The HPMS leadership team has established a clear purpose, priorities, and boundaries that allow teachers to be creative and autonomous within clearly established boundaries. Grade-level teams monitor student progress through clearly defined benchmarks. Relevant and timely data is reviewed weekly to inform practice and allow for adjustments in instruction. 

HPMS provides time during the school day each day for teachers to provide targeted interventions to students who are needing help mastering the decided-upon essential standards. During this time, teachers pull small groups and reteach concepts. All teachers in the building are responsible for helping provide interventions. Those teachers not actively intervening, are covering students who are not being pulled for targeted interventions. 

 

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

HPMS leadership ensures that collaborative teams meet weekly to work interdependently to clarify what students need to learn, gather evidence of student learning, analyze the evidence, identify the most effective instructional practices/strategies, develop the capability of all team members, and work to achieve their SMART goals.

HPSM is unique in that all teachers are singletons. Because of this, time is provided monthly for teachers to collaborate with BMS teachers. During these collaborative meetings, teachers share assessment data and instructional practices. Teachers are able to revise unit plans and assessments to better reflect student learning. Teams regularly add resources to assist in providing interventions that ensure student mastery. Teams use the four Process Questions for PLCs to help analyze data.

HPMS builds the capacity of teachers to be effective in helping all students grow and achieve essential standards by providing them with training, support, and resources that lead to success. HPMS believes in the process of empowerment and that means establishing a culture in which people were hungry for evidence and were willing to face brutal facts when things did not go as hoped. (DuFour & Marzano, 2011)

Achievement Data Files

• iready-data-hpms.xlsx
• hpms-test-data-for-model-plc.xlsx

Additional Achievement Data

6-8 Achievement Data SC-Ready State Data

The SC Ready assessment is administered annually to students in grades 3 through 8 in South Carolina, measuring their proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. Student performance is categorized into four levels: Does Not Meet Expectations, Approaches Expectations, Meets Expectations, and Exceeds Expectations. The goal for schools and districts is to have all students scoring in the Meets or Exceeds Expectations category. The District Student Achievement Table for SC Ready provides the percentage of Anderson District Two students who Meet or Exceed Expectations from 2017 to 2022, excluding the year 2020 due to the pandemic. HPMS' performance is compared to the statewide percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations.

Grade 6 ELA: HPMS struggled to meet statewide averages before 2020 but consistently performed above the state average for Meets and Exceeds in subsequent years, showing improvement each year. In 2022, the percentage of HPMS' 6th graders who meet or exceed expectations significantly surpassed previous years, exceeding the state average and achieving the highest percentage in the five-year data set.

Grade 6 Math: HPMS actually had a highly successful year in 6th grade math prior to 2020, and since that time, we have consistently performed above the state average for Meets and Exceeds in subsequent years. In 2022, the percentage of HPMS' 6th graders who meet or exceed expectations was significantly higher than the state average and was once again some of the strongest in our area.

Grade 7 ELA: HPMS struggled to consistently meet statewide averages prior to 2020 but consistently performed above the state average for Meets and Exceeds in subsequent years, showing improvement each year. In 2022, the percentage of HPMS' 7th graders who meet or exceed expectations was significantly higher than in previous years, surpassing the state average and achieving the highest percentage in the five-year data set.

Grade 7 Math: Similar to ELA, HPMS did not meet statewide averages prior to 2020 but consistently performed above the state average for Meets and Exceeds in subsequent years, with continuous improvement. In 2022, the percentage of HPMS' 7th graders who meet or exceed expectations was significantly higher than in previous years, surpassing the state average and reaching the highest level in the five-year data set.

Grade 8 ELA: HPMS did not meet statewide averages prior to 2020 but consistently performed above the state average for Meets and Exceeds in subsequent years, showing improvement each year. In 2022, the percentage of HPMS' 8th graders who meet or exceed expectations was significantly higher than in previous years, surpassing the state average and achieving the highest percentage in the five-year data set.

Grade 8 Math: HPMS did not meet statewide averages prior to 2020 but showed improvement by exceeding the state average for Meets and Exceeds in 2021. In 2022, the percentage went back down as this was an area of concern for us.

Overall, there has been a noticeable improvement in our middle grades following implementation of the PLC Process in 2019.

iReady Data

Students in Grades 3-8 take the iReady Diagnostic test three times each year in ELA and Math. iReady is a state-approved formative assessment that serves as both a universal screening tool and provides data correlated with our state's end-of-year standardized test, SC-Ready. In reference to the data set, our district has consistently shown growth from 2019 through the current 2022-23 school year in both ELA and Math. This assessment is the only consistent data available throughout this time period, as it was administered in the 2019-2020 school year prior to the Covid shutdown.

When we analyze the iReady data throughout the year, the most consistent indicator that aligns with SC Ready for us is the "Standards View" which demonstrates the level of standards mastery that students have experienced at a specific point in the school year. Each year, our school has improved to all time highs in this area in both math and ELA.

• Honea Path Middle School was rated "Excellent" on its state report card for the 2021-2022 school year. This is the highest rating in the SC Report Card system. This was the first Excellent state report card in 9 years.
• Honea Path Middle School was a Palmetto Gold Award winner as it was rated as "Good" in the Academic Achievement category and "Excellent" in Student Progress. This represents an even higher distinction than "Excellent" on the state report card.
• Honea Path Middle School rose another 20 spots to 65th out of 310 middle schools on the website Schooldigger.com which rates state and nationwide data for schools and districts. This put HPMS well within the top 25% of schools in the state of SC, placing us at the 79th percentile for student performance.

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Files

• copy-of-3_23-agenda.pdf
• ms-band-plc-agenda-9_29.pdf
• asd2-middle-school-plc-minutes-submission-form-responses.xlsx
• 22-23-bell-schedules--google-docs.pdf
• 22--23-6th-ela-asd2-unit-one-planning.pdf
• _2022-23-hpms-weekly-data.xlsx