EDLD 5333 Week 4 Discussion Post

Howdy folks,

Here is my discussion post for Week 4 of my current Lamar University Educational Leadership class, Leadership for Accountability. I usually don't get a lot of comments for whatever reason, so hopefully I'll get some feedback here. 

Cheers, and have a warm day!

• Discuss the role of learning communities as a professional development tool to move teachers from knowledge to action in using formative assessments to improve student performance. What implications might this information have for the professional development portion of the campus action plan that you develop in the Week 4 Application assignment? 

Twenty-two years. That is exactly half of my life that I have been a formal student, taking classes towards a grade. From kindergarten, a name taken from the Germans I must remind everyone…, to jr. hi., high school, undergraduate work, graduate classes to earn my alternative teacher certification, and now the educational leadership program at Lamar (I didn’t even talk about CPR, First Aid, Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, 100s of hours of in-service learning while an employee at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, 100s of hours of training in ministry areas. I keep telling myself that the days of Daniel as a student are coming to an end, but I just don’t see it coming anytime soon.

Learning communities are a great tool for teacher preparation, skill training, and morale and community building. I currently am assigned to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) every day during 1^st period. I am certified in Music PK-12, and I am in a PLC with another fine arts teacher, a science teacher, a computer teacher, a special education teacher, and a history teacher. Three of the teachers, including myself, are athletic coaches in addition to our teaching duties, with one other teacher serving as the UIL coordinator at our campus. The PLC is simply wonderful, we are able to work together to tackle any task, encourage and admonish one another, and work together to find ways to help our students succeed.

Formative assessment implementation in the classroom requires a few bits of knowledge on the behalf of the teacher, including: 1) domain knowledge, 2) pedagogical content knowledge, 3) knowledge of students’ previous learning, and 4) knowledge of assessment. (Heritage, M. (2007). Formative Assessment: What Do Teachers Need to Know to Do? PHI DELTA KAPPAN, October 2007, pp. 140-145.) These essentials can all be addressed in a PLC. As a principal I am able to go to each PLC on my campus on a Monday and explain domains in testing, what concepts will be tested, and how data is interpreted by the state. On the following day I would meet with the PLCs and walk them through an analysis of students records in cumulative files (each teacher will be assigned two or three RtI students, and the PLC teachers will utilize this knowledge to better understand their student’s educational journeys), after which the teachers will fill out a tracking card for their student(s).

In the following days and weeks the teachers will finalize their student’s information cards, make notes on each student’s situation, and meet with each student formally and informally to assess where they are currently, what concerns they may have, and what help they need in their SBA journey. Teachers would use the PLC as a forum to gain in knowledge, theory, modeling, and skill practice (Joyce, B., and Showers, B. (2002). Student Achievement through Staff Development. National College for School Leadership, 2003, pp. 1-5.). During this time the PLC members will discuss methods used and best practices implemented with their personal RtI students and how they can help each other by implementing some plus/delta and PDSA concepts to their mentoring.

The goal of all of this work is student success. Some fundamentals that should come from this work are: 1)Providing feedback that moves learners forward, 2) Activating students as owners of their own learning, and 3)Encourage students to be instructional resources for one another. (William, D. (2007). Changing Classroom Practice. Educational Leadership, December 2007/January 2008, pp. 36-42.). By turning the ownership of their education over to the students teachers will be functioning at their best capabilities. At such a point the campus will have administrators, teachers, and students all working as learners and teachers in a cooperative setting that will undoubtedly produce a healthy and fruitful learning environment built on knowledge, trust, teamwork, data analysis, hard work, and success!