Recent Changes

May 7, 2011 Posting
1. PLC concepts that help detour “detours”: Detour #1 – professional development & training should be embedded into the action plan (found within the PLC itself), and most importantly, it should focus more on shared experiences & self-reflection; the focus shifts from “learning by training” to “learning by doing”; this thought process allows the PLC to build capacity; Detour #2 – the ongoing improvement of PLCs should center around the creativity of the educators themselves; this clarifies ownership and sustains the general premises of a PLC; Detour #3 – PLC members should develop self-efficacy and “honor the collective commitments they will make to improve teaching and learning”; they do not rely on “others” to reach the established goals of the PLC; Detour #4 – as stated, PLCs acknowledge “the need to develop a comprehensive approach to creating systematic, substantive, and lasting cultural change” on their campuses; and Detour #5 – “the key to success in implementing PLC concepts is demonstrating the discipline to endure at the hard work of change rather than retreating to the comfort of traditional practices”.
2. The 2 factors that sustain PLC efforts: Create Short-Term Wins – as the comparison of the two vacationing families suggests, PLCs need to make “certain to build in stops along the way to honor their interests and celebrate their progress”; as stated, “victories nourish the change effort, emotionally reward the hard workers, keep the critics at bay, and build momentum”; and Celebrate Short-Term Wins – simply stated, “recognition brings the change cycle to its logical conclusion, but it also motivates people to attempt change again”.

May 7, 2011 Posting
#1) Describe some of the dangerous detours that leaders can run into when sustaining a professional learning community.

According to the authors, to sustain the professional learning community, there are several dangerous detours and potholes that can lead to a complete breakdown.

1. We need more training before we can begin ~ Pfeffer and Sutton stated that “the most effective organizations appreciate the power and necessity of learning by doing rather than learning by training.” In my opinion, educators must work and learn together as they continually examine instructional practices.

2. Someone else needs to do it ~ whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, we always said let someone else do it. Whenever there was a need, everyone just assumed someone else would make up the difference. According to the authors on p. 419, “a powerful strategy for overcoming dependency and resignation is to insist that educators focus with on their own sphere of influence and identify and honor the collective commitments they will make to improve teaching and learning.”

3. We quit when the going gets tough ~ anyone can quit when the going gets tough. In fact most do the first time something goes wrong. Human nature dictates that we should walk away from any unpleasant task. According to the authors on p. 420, in education, we often viewed these difficulties as evidence of failure and reason to abandon the effort. The authors also stated on pp. 421-422 that the key to success in implementation of professional learning community concepts is “demonstrating the discipline to endure at the hard work of change rather than retreating to the comfort of traditional practices.”

#2) Describe the two factors that sustained effort requires.

Sustained effort requires creating short-term wins ~ the important benefits are
• individuals are more likely to believe their work is significant, to feel a sense of achievement
• acknowledging, honoring, and thanking everyone who contributes to building a learning community increases the likelihood that the effort will be sustained.

Sustained effort also requires celebrating short-term wins ~ the important benefits are
• celebration reinforces shared values and indication what is important.
• celebration provides living examples of the values of the school in action, and encourages others to act in harmony with those values.
• celebration builds momentum.

May 7, 2011 Posting
1. Some of the dangerous detours that leaders can run into when sustaining a professional learning community are as follows: 1) Needing more training before beginning. The authors suggest that institutions are more successful when they just jump in and get started, trusting that they can be successful, and learning from one another. 2) Looking for ways to shortcut the processes. Educators must be a part of implementing all of the processes or they will not have ownership in it and the PLC will fail. 3) Putting it off on someone else. When educators place blame on others, it is easy for them to become complacent, which works against success. 4) Picking and choosing programs rather than working at comprehensive cultural change. Rather than picking bits and pieces of other schools' programs to emulate, it's critical to develop a comprehensive approach to systematic change in the culture. 5) Quitting when things get tough. Successful PLC's are created when educators endure during difficulties and challenges.

2. Sustained effort requires two factors. The first factor requires creating short-term wins. It is important to reward people for their hard work and efforts along the journey and to celebrate small and large successes along the way. By creating small goals here and there, this will be possible. Next, sustained effort requires celebrating short term wins. Victories among staff should be celebrated by all. It is important for educators to see the victories; this makes it more real to them. Recognition is incredibly important to people, especially when trying to affect change.

April 30, 2011 Posting
1. The six standards established by the National PTA of an effective school-family partnerships are: (1) implement regular, two-way, and meaningful communication between home and school; this collaboration will assist in clarifying the academic expectations of students, be utilized to monitor & communicate academic progress, and aide parents in communicating their concerns of the educational system (2) offer advice and training regarding parenting skills; this will provide educators the opportunity to assist parents in playing an effective role in their student’s education and help reinforce best practices; this can be accomplished via PTA meeting, neighborhood coffees, orientation programs, parent luncheons, etc.; (3) make sure parents become partners in the education of their children; first, the school should have an inviting climate; schools should communicate with parents in a timely and regular basis; parents should have the opportunity to familiarize themselves (via the help of school personnel) with their student’s curriculum and academic needs; finally, communication should be provided in the primary language of the household; (4) provide multiple opportunities for parents to volunteer in schools; these same parents get to witness and contribute to the school climate and culture via a well-established and monitored volunteer program(s); (5) include parents in school governance and decision-making; as stated, with involvement comes increased ownership in and support for the organization and its decisions; and (6) collaborate with the larger community and utilize community resources; these resources include social agencies, universities, businesses, park districts, foundations, etc.; furthermore, these relationships also “foster a sense of service in its students”.
2. Some of the tips for effective school-family partnerships are: (1) comprehensive programs should include all of the established National PTA standards, (2) much like school improvement, building and sustaining school partnerships should be ongoing; (3) action plans, member roles/responsibilities, and overall partnership processes/protocol must be established and adhered to; and (4) energy, focus, and strategies should be in establishing and nurturing partnerships at all grade levels and campuses.

May 7, 2011 Posting
1. Describe some of the dangerous detours that leaders can run into when sustaining a professional learning community.
Dangerous Detour #1 - We need more training before we can begin! We as educators know that our students learn best by doing--so do we. The most effective learning comes from doing and discussing our successes and shortcomings with those we are working with in the implementation of change.
Dangerous Detour #2 - Let's find a way to shortcut key processes. Time-Time-Time. The processes do take time, however, the involvement of the educators themselves is critical if the educators are going to learn the process of the PLC.
Dangerous Detour #3 - Someone else needs to do it. i.e. learned helplessness. Teachers have to take responsibility and get involved in order to feel like they are stakeholders in the process. If they are not involved, they will not care as much about the success of the program. Ownership breeds the passion for success.
Dangerous Detour #4 - We pick and choose programs rather than work at comprehensive cultural change. The change process has to be an all or nothing type attitude. Every school is also different so what works at one school may not work at another. What ever the system, it must be complete and it must be tailored for each individual school system.
Dangerous Detour #5 - We quit when the going gets tough. Schools have to remember the substantial change can take years. True change is almost never sequential or linear. School have to be prepared for small failures along the way that will help to develop success in the future. We all learn from our mistakes---and there is always many when change is involved.
2. Describe the two factors that sustained effort requires.
Sustained Effort reguires creating short-term wins and celebrating those short-term wins when they are achieved. If we understand that substantial change could take years, then it makes sense that their will have to be short term goals along the ways so that people are encouraged and motivated to keep working for the long-term goals. In the ideal situation, there will be short term successes and celebration all the time because we will never stop learning and changing if we want continuous growth.

April 30, 2011 Posting
What are some of the characteristics of effective school-family partnerships?
--regular, open, two-way, and meaningful communication between the home and the school
--frequent parent training and advice to promote parental skills that will enhance student achievement.
--Evidence of parents who are involved in and understand what is going on in their childrens education
--Parents volunteering on a regular basis
--Parents that are comfortable in participating in the decision making processes at the school
--Collaboration and utilization of community and community resources
2. Describe some of the tips for effective school-family partnerships.
--Ensuring that all six types of involvement recommended by the National PTA are used.
--The development of partnerships is a process not an event. It cannot be accomplished by having open house once each semester.
--Partnerships should be assessed for effectiveness
--Partnerships need to involve all families in order to reach all grade levels. It is not just an elementary issue.

April 23, 2011 Posting
1. Discuss some advice about administering tight leadership.
#1 - Being tight doesn't mean that, as a leader, we do not have the responsibility of trying to build consensus when making changes. Leaders have a responsibility to encourage change rather than to ignore or squash those ideas of people who may not agree. Many times, there may be more than one way to solve a problem or get to a desired result so the leader has got to be able to communicate and work with others in order to come to compromise on details while still holding to the main ideas. However, we all know that not everyone will agree so it is up to the leader to know when to make the decision to move forward even though there may be one or two people who are not on board.
2. Describe how loose and tight leadership work together to bring about success.
Leadership has to be loose about meaningless or less important details and yet tight when it comes to implementation of main focus points that involve student success and research based decisions. Using the PLC team and the disign of the process, getting input from team members and making sure that students needs are being met can be done in a variety of ways in order to achieve the same goals. The route to get to the goals are loose--the goals have to remain tight.

April 30, 2011 Posting
1. The characteristics of effective school-family partnerships are as follows: a) Implement regular, two-way, and meaningful communication between home and school. This keeps parents abreast of what is happening at school. b) Offer advice and training regarding parenting skills. Parent workshops can be held in which skills can be taught to parents such as emphasizing learning as a positive experience and focusing on effort rather than ability. c) Make sure parents become partners in the education of their children. School climate should be inviting to parents, which will increase their participation. d) Provide multiple opportunities for parents to volunteer in the school. This partnership will help parents to have a better understanding of what goes on in schools. e) Include parents in school governance and decision-making. When parents are involved in the decision-making process, there is more ownership in and support for the school. f) Collaborate with the larger community and utilize community resources. It is critical for the school to be seen as a vital part of the community.

2. Some tips for effective school-family partnerships are: 1) a comprehensive program includes all six types of involvement per the National PTA; 2) Developing partnerships is a process; not an event; 3) Partnerships should be assessed on the basis of results; 4) Establishment of action teams to create and sustain the partnership; 5) Partnerships include every family and every grade level across the campus.

April 30, 2011 Posting
Jason Pearce Ch 14 Role of the Parent...


#1. What are some of the characteristics of effective school-family partnerships?

(A) There should be two way meaningful communication between home and school.


Parents need to be aware of childrens progress, influence their childrens learning and be more involved in that learning. Schools can help this process by being clear of the expectations placed on students and provide timely information on their progress.

(B) Offer advice and training regarding parenting skills.

Parents are not always clearr on what educators expect from them. One particular school district puit a list of "commitments" together for parents to endorse and model for their children. Schools in turn should offer support to parents when their children are transitioning from one grade level to the nextt.

(C) Make sure parents become partners in the education of their children.

The school wil be successful in this venture if they have an inviting climate and an obvious desire to help children. "Parent involvement increases when schools welcome parents into the teaching and learning process, communicate the importance of the parents role in student success, and provide explicit strategies for parents to become involved in their childrens learning." REACH OUT TO PARENTS ON A REGULAR BASIS!!

(D) Provide multiple opportunities for parents to volunteer.

Parents will be more likely to respond when they are given multiple opportunities to volunteer their time and expertise.

(E) Include parents in school governance and decision making.

This allows the community members to initiate their own ideas and express any concerns they may have with school district policy and decisions.

(F) Collaborate with the larger community and utilize community resources.

This can be a very powerful characteristic of school-family partnership. When a school is very familiar to the community because it offers services to a wide range of civilians, the community becomes more supportive of that school.


#2. Describe some tips for effective school-family partnership.


(A) PTA involvement is very important.

(B) Developing partnerships is a process, not an event.

(C) Partnerships exist to benefit student learning.

(D) Action teams should be established to sustain efffective schools.

(E) Partnerships are for all families and are important for students at all grade levels.