Formative Tools for Leaders in a Plc at Work?: Assessing, Analyzing, and Acting to Support Collaborative Teams

Learn, do, and lead with the guidance of Formative Tools for Leaders in a PLC at Work® by Kim Bailey and Chris Jakicic. With this practical resource, you'll first discover how to gather evidence from staff about PLC practices, processes, and products. Then you'll explore how to use that evidence to gauge the effectiveness of your professional learning community (PLC) and make informed and targeted decisions about your collective next steps for a school culture of continuous improvement.

This book will teach you how to implement professional learning communities more effectively:

• Discover how to gather formative evidence from a number of sources to implement collaborative structures and a schoolwide change process.
• Understand how to use the three stages of assessing, analyzing, and acting as a formative feedback loop to improve instructional practices.
• Gain clarity on what makes a successful professional learning community and where to focus your school's energy and effort moving forward.
• Access tools and templates designed to support and strengthen team practices in order to shape school culture and ensure learning for all students.
• Explore how teams effectively answer the four critical questions of a PLC.

Contents:
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Foreword
Introduction

Part 1
Chapter 1: A Culture of Learning for All
Chapter 2: The School's Collaborative Structures
Chapter 3: Quality Instructional Practice
Chapter 4: Schoolwide Systems of Support

Part 2
Chapter 5: A Focus on Getting Clear About What Students Should Know and Do
Chapter 6: A Focus on How Teams Gather Information About Student Learning
Chapter 7: A Focus on Supporting Students Who Need Additional Time and Support
Chapter 8: A Focus on Responding When Students Have Already Learned

Epilogue
References and Resources
Index

Kim Bailey is former director of professional development and instructional support for the Capistrano Unified School District in Southern California. Her leadership was instrumental in uniting and guiding educators throughout the district's 58 schools on their journey to becoming PLCs. She also taught courses in educational leadership as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University in Orange, California. Prior to her work in professional development, Kim served as an administrator of special education programs and a teacher of students with disabilities.

Kim's education background spans 41 years, and her work at Capistrano has won national praise. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) recognized Kim's leadership in coordinating and implementing the district's Professional Development Academies. The academies received the distinguished NSBA Magna Award and the California School Boards Association Golden Bell Award. Kim has served on the Committee on Accreditation for the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing.

As a writer and speaker, Kim works with U.S. educators to build effective leadership of PLCs. She is passionate about empowering teams with practical, collaborative strategies for aligning instruction, assessment, and interventions with the standards so all students receive high-quality instruction.

Kim earned a bachelor of science and a master of science in education and special education from Northern Illinois University.

To learn more about Kim's work, visit kbailey4learning.com or follow @Bailey4learning on Twitter.

Chris Jakicic, EdD, served as principal of Woodlawn Middle School in Illinois from its opening day in 1999 through the spring of 2007. Under her leadership, the staff shifted toward a collaborative culture focused on learning and implemented formative assessment practices to shape their instructional strategies. Student motivation and performance increased. Chris began her career teaching middle school science before serving as principal of Willow Grove Elementary School in Illinois for nine years. At Willow Grove, she helped teachers develop high-performing collaborative teams to increase student learning.

Through her work with teachers and administrators across the United States, Chris emphasizes that effective teaming is the heart of PLCs. She also shares practical knowledge about how to use data conversations to interpret classroom information for effective instruction. She has worked closely with schools and districts that want to use the power of common formative assessments to increase learning for all students. She provides specific, practical strategies for teams who want to make the best use of their limited common planning time to write effective assessments meeting the rigor of the Common Core State Standards. Teams can use the data from these assessments to effectively provide students with exactly what they need next.

Chris has written articles for the Journal of Staff Development and Illinois School Research and Development Journal detailing her experiences with common assessments and PLCs. She has worked as an adjunct instructor at National Louis University as well as Loyola University Chicago, where she earned a doctorate in education.

To learn more about Chris's work, visit chrisjakicic.com or follow @cjakicic on Twitter.

To book Kim Bailey or Chris Jakicic for professional development, contact pd@SolutionTree.com.