What Are the Three Big Ideas?
A Focus on Learning
A Collaborative Culture and Collective Responsibility
A Results Orientation
Conclusion
Collaborative Teams
Grade-Level or Subject-Area Teams
Vertical Teams
Special-Topics Teams
Teams in PLCs Versus Teams in Traditional Schools
Consistent and Ongoing Meetings
Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals
Reliance on Collective Commitments and Group Norms
Commitment to Data Sharing
Reciprocal Accountability
Conclusion
How Do Teams Address the Four Critical Questions?
What Do Students Need to Know and Be Able to Do?
How Will We Know When They Have Learned It?
What Will We Do When They Haven’t Learned It?
What Will We Do When They Already Know It?
Do the Four Critical Questions Increase Rigor?
What Inquiry Strategies Have Led to Team Success at SCSD2?
Administrative Team Meetings
Stop Lists
Does Your School Have an Ownership Mentality?
Conclusion
The Meaning of a Collaborative Culture
What a School Culture Looks Like
What Can Go Wrong With a School Culture
Isolation and the Lack of Cultural Control
School Habits Worth Breaking
Habits That Support a Collaborative Culture
Reject Talk and Embrace Action
Take Action Steps
Culture and Team Conflict
Conflict as a Signal of Growth
Processes for Managing Conflict
Conclusion
Intervention, Extension, and Innovation in PLCs
Education and the Game of Jenga
Intervention and Extension
The System
The Spirit
Innovation
Loose and Tight Leadership
Conclusion
Additional PLC Resources
Common Assessment Data-Analysis Protocol
Calibration of Common Assessment Protocol
About the Authors
Craig Dougherty, MA, has served as superintendent of Sheridan County School District 2 in Sheridan, Wyoming, since 2000. Craig has been an educator since 1983, serving as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent before becoming a superintendent. During his tenure in Sheridan, test scores have risen dramatically; students, schools, and educators have won numerous awards; and teachers have received among the highest teacher salaries in the state, while administrative costs have ranked among the state’s lowest. These accomplishments stem from rigorous implementation of the professional learning community (PLC) process. In 1995, Craig brought Reading Recovery to Wyoming, and he has served as president of the Reading Recovery Council of North America. His experiences teaching in Eskimo villages and on Indian reservations inspired him to begin work on the First People’s Center for Education in 1999.
Craig’s mission in education is to ensure teachers work collaboratively