Charting the Course for Leaders: Lessons from Priority Schools in a PLC at Work

This all-encompassing anthology delivers clear steps that leaders can take throughout the PLC at Work® process to turn their priority schools around. Every key topic is considered and discussed--from prioritizing time for collaboration to implementing effective coaching to aligning school and district goals. Over the course of 13 chapters, readers will grow in their role as leaders and gain a clear vision of how to evolve their priority school into a thriving place of learning.

• Discover how to effectively reframe accountability so everyone buys into the collective aspect of student learning.
• Focus on creating and aligning SMART goals--schoolwide, at the collaborative team-level, and at the individual teacher-level.
• Get ideas for extending work for proficient students, which can help boost a school's grade.
• Provide targeted feedback and effectively moderate and liaise within your professional learning communities.
• Implement a strong, collaborative coaching system to support teacher development.

Contents:
Introduction (Sharon V. Kramer)
Chapter 1: Leading School-Improvement Work With Intention (Karen Power)
Chapter 2: Building District Culture (Karen Power)
Chapter 3: Employing High-Level Strategies From the District Office (Gerry Petersen-Incorvaia)
Chapter 4: Building Collaborative and Passionately Agreed-to SMART Goals (Jack Baldermann)
Chapter 5: Aligning the Arrows for Continuous-Improvement Planning With SMART Goals (Kimberly Rodriguez Cano)
Chapter 6: Focusing on Collective Responsibility (Joe Cuddemi)
Chapter 7: Leveraging Shared Leadership in the Priority School (Robin Noble)
Chapter 8: Ensuring the District Guiding Coalition and School Learning Team Have Impact (Gerry Petersen-Incorvaia)
Chapter 9: Monitoring Productivity Instead of Activity (Rebecca Nicolas)
Chapter 10: Providing Feedback on the Right Work (Sarah Schuhl)
Chapter 11: Giving All Teachers the Coach They Deserve (Michelle Marrillia)
Chapter 12: Challenging Proficient Students (Michael Roberts)
Chapter 13: Taking the First Five Steps in High School Improvement (Tamie Sanders)

Sharon V. Kramer, PhD, knows firsthand the demands and rewards of working in a professional learning community (PLC). As a leader in the field, she emphasizes the importance of creating and using quality assessments as a continual part of the learning process. Sharon served as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction of Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 in Illinois. In this position, she ensured all students were prepared to enter Adlai E. Stevenson High School, a model PLC started and formerly led by PLC architect Richard DuFour.

A seasoned educator, Sharon has taught in elementary and middle school classrooms, and she has served as principal, director of elementary education, and university professor. In addition to her PLC experience, Sharon has completed assessment training by Rick Stiggins, Steve Chappuis, Larry Ainsworth, and the Center for Performance Assessment (now the Leadership and Learning Center). She has presented a variety of assessment workshops at institutes and summits and for state departments of education. Sharon has also worked with school districts across the United States to determine their power standards and develop assessments.

She has been a Comprehensive School Reform consultant to schools that have received grant funding to implement the PLC process as their whole-school reform model, and her customized PLC coaching academies have empowered school and district leadership teams across the United States. Sharon has presented at state and national conferences sponsored by Learning Forward, the National Association for Gifted Children, the American Federation of Teachers, and California State University. She has been instrumental in facilitating professional development initiatives focused on standards-based learning and teaching, improved understanding and utilization of assessment data, interventions and differentiation that meet the needs of all learners, and strengthened efforts to ensure K-12 literacy.

Sharon is the author of How to Leverage PLCs for School Improvement and coauthor of School Improvement for All: A How-To Guide for Doing the Right Work; Best Practices at Tier 2: Supplemental Interventions for Additional Student Support, Elementary; and Best Practices at Tier 2: Supplemental Interventions for Additional Student Support, Secondary. She also contributed to the books It's About Time: Planning Interventions and Extensions in Elementary School, The Teacher as Assessment Leader, and The Collaborative Teacher: Working Together as a Professional Learning Community.

Sharon earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University Chicago.

To learn more about Sharon's work, follow @DrKramer1 on Twitter.