Washington Elementary School serves a student population of approximately 30% ELL and 90.1% receiving free and reduced lunch – the highest of any of the 20 other elementary schools in our district. Historically state test scores at Washington have been well below district and state averages. In 2010, our state assessment scores in math compared to the district and state scores were:

At the start of the 2010-2011 school year we reviewed the research behind Professional Learning Communities. We established a new mission statement: Washington Elementary School, a community for learning. We then created our vision, norms (collective commitments), and goals. We worked extremely hard at learning how to unwrap standards and write common formative assessments in the content area of Math. Our collaborative work led to adding 30 minutes a day of math intervention and enrichment to our daily schedule. The staff utilized the results of their CFA’s (common formative assessments) to determine which students needed intervention and which needed enrichment. Grade level teams were assigned a para educator, and they decided which adult was going to instruct which group of kids based on their needs.

While this process may seem clean and seamless, it is actually quite messy. Our dedication and collaboration helped to fine tune our practice throughout the year. While our practice is not perfected yet, our goal of increased student achievement was attained after one year of utilizing the PLC process as it is intended to be used. We met multiple math school improvement goals at each grade level. Our state assessment scores for 2011 increased at each grade level:

We all know that increased learning is about more than test scores alone. We also have anecdotal data that shows both the adults and the students learned as a result of working collaboratively utilizing the PLC at Work™ process. Teachers in grades K-5 stated, “It really helped me know exactly where my students were and what they need more of.” “The kids were able to be a part of the assessment process, they know their own progress;” “It gave my kids more ownership in their learning.”

We now have momentum and plan to continue with our “Winning streaks!” This year we will continue our journey in both math and reading.