SBM, PLCs, and School Improvement

Video Transcription

In this tutorial, we'll evaluate the use of site-based management and PLCs in the context of strategic planning and school improvement. After discussing the importance of alignment to district goals, we'll take a closer look at creating alignment. Finally, we'll examine some various PLC formats. Let's get started.

Let's begin by discussing the importance of alignment to district goals. Both PLCs and site-based management teams need the support of district leadership in order to be successful. Even with this support, both of these types of teams need to also be aligned to both the strategic vision and the goals of the district. One definition of district-wide alignment is the intentional linkage of the work of schools and the school district to the work of collaborative teams in order to achieve a district-wide professional learning community.

So how can we create this alignment? In other words, how can PLCs and site-based management teams support the strategic planning of the district, the implementation of district initiatives, and school improvement efforts in the district? First, these teams need to consider their perspectives of all of the varying stakeholders in the district. This would include the school board and the superintendent, along with principals and teachers, and students and their parents.

DuFour tells us that in order to meet the needs of these stakeholders, we need to focus on several elements. First, we need to establish processes that will ensure that all students are able to learn; second, we need to foster a culture that is both positive and collaborative; and finally, we need to focus on results. Altogether, then, this tells us that we need to have a focus on the learning and growth of both teachers and students, and we also need to be implementing systems that will monitor this learning and growth.

Furthermore, there are some specific components that will help to promote this alignment. First, there needs to be transparent communication and a transparent use of data that is connected to the goals and the monitoring of progress towards those goals. And it's also important that there is alignment of several different elements, including practices, policies, and procedures; teacher evaluation and appraisal systems; resources and professional training; and monitoring and reporting.

There are many different formats for PLCs that will support this alignment. Whatever the format of your PLC, the purpose is always going to be to improve teaching, learning, and school culture while supporting the continuous improvement processes that ultimately lead to school improvement. One popular PLC format is a school improvement team. A school improvement team establishes the vision and mission and goals for the school. This school improvement team is considered to be the leadership team in site-based management.

As this team creates the vision and mission, these are usually aligned to the larger overarching district vision and mission. But the team is allowed to personalize the vision and mission at the team level or the school level in order to meet the unique needs of that individual school. This team works to create a school improvement plan that establishes the goals and action steps and monitoring systems that they will implement as they work towards achieving the vision and mission and goals for the school.

Another format for PLCs is grade-level teams. Grade-level teams collaborate to review grade-specific curriculum and assessments. A grade-level team will set grade-level goals focused on improving teaching and learning. You'll also see PLCs organized into content area teams. These teams review content-specific curriculum and assessments, and they set goals that are content-specific and focused on improving teaching and learning. You may find content teams that span many different grade levels. So you may see elementary teachers working together or middle school teachers or high school teachers, but you also may see K-12 content area teams.

One more format that you might find for PLCs is a response to intervention team. These teams focus on meeting the needs of students who are struggling to reach proficiency. They review tier 1 and core curriculum in order to ensure that the curriculum is strong and that it is meeting the needs of all learners. They create systems of supports and interventions for students that might increase in intensity or frequency or duration according to the unique needs of each student. This team will also develop and coordinate intervention plans for students as needed, and they will monitor data in order to ensure that students are making progress on their learning paths.

So these were just a few of many different types of PLC teams that you will find in schools. There are certainly many other team types. Positive behavior teams, for example, or data teams or health and wellness teams. No matter what the format is for the PLC team, it's important to realize that these teams are working as a part of the whole school system in order to move the school forward and to support the school-wide improvement efforts. So it's important that there is communication among the various PLC in a school, and again, it's important that there's that element of alignment of goals as well. And so all of these PLC efforts should be coordinated under the larger umbrella of the school improvement team.

In fact, PLCs should be consistently communicating with that school improvement team. They should be reporting their progress and informing the school improvement team of any needs that they might have. So any of the smaller PLC teams in a school, those content teams, grade-level teams, response to intervention teams, they will all be reporting to that school improvement team. It's important that they provide that larger team with the data that is necessary, data like their progress on initiatives and school-wide goals, so that the school improvement team can use that data to inform their decisions around continuous improvement efforts.

Likewise, the school improvement team is going to be reporting to the district-level team regarding the goals of the school and the progress they're making towards meeting those goals. It's clear, then, how these school improvement teams and the school improvement plans that they create are crucial elements in district-wide strategic planning, and we can see how communication among all of these varying levels of teams is an important element that helps keep the district moving forward.

And so now it's your tread to stop and reflect. What PLC formats has your school district implemented? Have you observed alignment among the varying teams that are present in your school and in the district overall? For more information on how to apply what you learned in this video, please view the Additional Resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The Additional Resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.