Professional Leaning Communities Sustain Effective Practices and Help Teachers Shift to Common Core State Standards

• In Event: Change From Within: The Power of Collaborative Professional Learning

Abstract

Located in California’s Central Valley, Sanger Unified School District serves approximately 12,000 students in 20 schools. At the time of this study 75% qualified for free and reduced-price meals, 70% were Latino, and 18% were English learners. During the accountability era of No Child Left Behind, Sanger earned a reputation as a “turnaround district” based on students’ improvement on state tests between 2004 and 2012. This success hinged on developing an organizational culture of continuous improvement and an instructional regime of direct instruction for students’ basic skills mastery. Now Sanger is beating the odds on state assessments that measure students’ deeper learning outcomes under Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Objective: To examine how district leaders used PLCs to segue from focusing on teacher-directed instruction of basic skills to supporting success for all student groups on demanding assessments of deeper learning.

Perspective: This study is grounded in research on Sanger’s past efforts at continuous improvement and use of PLCs (David & Talbert, 2013).

Methods/Data Sources: This research used case study methods (Yin, 2013) including interviews with district administrators; interviews in a high school, middle school and two elementary schools with school administrators, instructional support staff, and teachers plus observations of after-school programs and a Family Literacy Center; and document review.

Results/Significance: The following results related to PLCs emerged.

Sanger built on a strong collaborative learning culture developed over the previous decade. When California adopted CCSS, Sanger USD created a districtwide culture and systems to support ongoing professional learning and continuous improvement. Teachers were accustomed to working in grade-level/course group PLCs with support from teams of school and district leaders. Collaboration and grounding decisions in evidence had become norms. Vacancies in school and district leadership positions were filled almost exclusively by existing staff—an internal pipeline of well-prepared leaders.

Leaders streamlined access to data and support for using evidence to guide improvement efforts. With the advent of CCSS, the district invested in building a comprehensive data system to support enhanced measures of students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional development and the ability of district and school leaders and teacher PLCs to utilize data at different levels of aggregation. Beyond using the comprehensive data system, district leaders used evidence from pilots and teacher feedback to guide decisions about program adoptions and to hone their supports for professional learning.

Sanger started small and matched supports to expected instructional shifts. The district ensured that educators were not overwhelmed by demands for change by allowing each school to sequence its own priorities for making particular instructional shifts to promote students’ deeper learning. The district tailored its support to each school on the basis of the school’s priorities and capacities. At the same time, teacher PLCs were in charge of designing instructional units and formative assessments aligned with CCSS, a long-term process. The district supported this with professional development in grade-level and course content standards, access to CCSS-aligned instructional resources, and on-site guidance and coaching.

Authors

• Joan E. Talbert, Stanford University

• Jane David, Bay Area Research Group