PLCs

PLC VS TLC:

• Professional Learning Community VS Teaching-Learning Communities
• Focus on assessment of student learning/accountability

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) incorporates three big ideas: 
1) focus on learning rather than teaching, 
2) work collaboratively on matters related to learning; and 
3) hold itself accountable for the kind of results that fuel continual improvement.

As a PLC, these four questions will drive our work:
1. What do we expect students to learn? 
2. How will we know when they have learned it? 
3. How will we respond when they don’t? 
4. How will we respond when they already know it?

Julia Quinn's (professor of Curric and Instruction at Cal State Univeristy, LA, 1991-92) Questions:

1. What am I teaching and to whom? / What are we doing? / What are we meeting about?
2. Why am I teaching it? / Why are we doing it? / Why are we meeting about it?
3. How am I teaching it? / How are we doing it? / How are we running/conducting our meeting?
4. Why am I teaching it that way? / Why are we doing it this way? / Why are we running/conducting our meeting this way?
5. How do I know the kids are getting it? What evidence will I collect? / How will we know how well we're doing it? / How will we know the meeting was a success?
6. How do the kids know they are getting it? / How will other people know how well we're doing it? /How will others  know the meeting was a success?

Professional Learning Community -vs- Teaching-Learning Communities

• TLCs
  • Increase teacher expertise
  • Increase student empowerment
  • new learning
  • accountability
  • demonstrate student gains
  • focus on assessment