Make It Happen: Coaching with the Four Critical Questions of Plcs at Work(r) (Professional Learning Community Strategies for Instructional Coaches)

Ensure every educator is engaged in the right work with a collective focus on improved student learning. Aligned to the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work® model, this resource includes instructional coaching tools, processes, protocols, templates, tips, and strategies designed to support the multidimensional work of instructional coaches and PLC training. Each chapter includes action steps and reflective coaching activities, as well as suggestions for navigating some of the most common issues instructional coaches face.

Use this book to understand the unique requirements of instructional coaches in building a school that answers the four critical questions of a PLC at Work:

• Learn how to provide PLC training and professional development for collaborative teacher teams.
• Study three major variables that will affect instructional coaching (capacity, culture, and context) and four major actions that will act as guiding principles.
• Explore issues that can arise in PLC schools, as well as teacher coaching strategies to help resolve these issues.
• Deepen your understanding of instructional coaching in a PLC with helpful online reproducibles and teacher coaching tools.
• Acquire capacity-building strategies aligned to the four PLC questions.

Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: How to Get Started as an Instructional Coach
Chapter 2: What Do We Want Students to Know and Be Able to Do?
Chapter 3: How Will We Know if They Have Learned It?
Chapter 4: How Will We Respond When Some Students Do Not Learn?
Chapter 5: How Will We Extend the Learning of Students Who Are Already Proficient?
Epilogue: Maintaining the Momentum and Sustaining the Process
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 fifty-eight schools on their journey to becoming professional learning communities (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 thirty-nine 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 consultant, Kim works with US 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.

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 doctor of education.