Agenda Item
e. DCSD PLC @ Work and Coaching Academy w/Solution Tree, Inc. (Not to exceed $218,660) ~ Updated 9.6.2024
Summary: Presented by: Ms. Stacy E. Stepney, Chief Academic Officer, Division of Curriculum & Instruction
Request: It is requested that the Board of Education approve the DCSD PLC @ Work for principals, assistant principals, teachers, academic coaches, professional learning facilitators, leadership coaches, and district instructional support leaders from Solution Tree, Inc. Services Agreement in an amount not to exceed $218,660.
Why: Presently, there exists a compelling need for our district leaders to fortify their understanding and proficiency in implementing Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Defined as "an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve" (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2010, p. 11), PLCs stand as a cornerstone for educational excellence and student success.
The forthcoming DCSD PLC @ Work and Coaching Academy will serve as a strategic platform to address this need comprehensively. Through foundational learning sessions, participants will cultivate a common language, schema, and process essential for fostering effective PLCs. By facilitating collaboration and shared expertise among building and district leaders, the customized leadership development and Coaching Academy aims to establish a cohesive framework that ensures higher levels of learning for all scholars within the DeKalb County School District.
Details: The DCSD PLC @ Work and Coaching Academy w/Solution Tree, Inc. initiative is designed to equip principals, assistant principals, central office leaders, support staff, professional learning facilitators, and coordinators with a comprehensive understanding of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), focusing on their purpose, structure, and function. These learning opportunities will move our district toward a deeper implementation of the PLC process at all schools. The purpose of training the principals, assistant principals, professional learning facilitators, teachers and additional district instructional support staff is to ensure that we have a knowledgeable team supporting the schools’ efforts toward fidelity.
PLC Coaching Academy
(Will occur across 3 (2-day) sessions for a total of six days of in-depth learning)
The PLC at Work Coaching Academy provides the following:
• Training for School Leadership Teams: Clear guidance and strategies are provided for implementation and ongoing support.
• Learn/Practice/Reflect Cycle: The Academy is three, two-day sessions with “implementation time” built in between sessions.
• Supporting Resources: Each building is provided with a “PLC Library” of books, videos, discussion guides, and reproducibles.
Note: Each participant also receives a Coaching Academy Binder
PLCs@ Work Customized Leadership Development
This learning will happen during four of the District’s Principals’ Learning Opportunities and during the scheduled Assistant Principals’ Academy (4-6 sessions).
The content will follow the design below for the coaching academy and be customized to the goals for the Principals’ Learning Opportunity and Assistant Principals’ Academy.
Training: The Coaching Academy is led by a master coach who presents information, leads roundtable discussions and tabletop exercises, guides the groups in reflection activities at the end of each session, and serves as the Solution Tree liaison during the Academy training period. The training is designed to provide each participant with a working knowledge of PLC implementation and sustainability practices as well as foster basic facilitation skills within individual participants’ group-leading styles.
A PLC master coach will engage administrators and staff members in a highly interactive curriculum. Participants will leave each session with a new skill set, activities, and an action plan for sharing their knowledge. Individual participants and school teams will also receive a robust selection of PLC resources. The ultimate goal of the Coaching Academy is to develop the capacity for implementing and sustaining PLCs within every school in the district.
Quality of Learning: Solution Tree chooses master coaches from a cadre of qualified associates who have succeeded in deep PLC implementation. Their experiences enable them to impart the essential facilitative and leadership skills that teams need to build capacity for creating and sustaining a PLC, which ensures high levels of student learning. Each master coach has unique strengths, and every Coaching Academy is guaranteed to be of the highest caliber.
Resources: To equip participants for their schools’ PLC transformation, each person will receive a selection of PLC resources to use as they lead others through the PLC implementation process. During the Academy training period, participants will be instructed in the use of each resource, with specific attention given to using the resource as a tool to teach others. Each participating team will be allowed to keep the complete set of resources to use at specific school sites.
The PLC at Work Coaching Academy Curriculum and Agenda
Session One, Day One: The Four Pillars
Goals for the Day
➢ Introductions
➢ Define the Professional Learning Communities at Work process
➢ Understand the Shared Foundation of PLCs
➢ Review the Academy Materials
Guiding Questions
➢ Why are we here?
➢ What is a Professional Learning Community?
➢ Why do we exist?
➢ What must our school become to accomplish this purpose?
➢ How must we behave to achieve our purpose?
➢ What are our timelines and targets?
➢ What resources are available to me?
Session One, Day Two: Three Big Ideas
Goals for the Day
➢ Introduce a Focus on Learning
➢ Understand Collaborative Culture
➢ Define Results Orientation
➢ Create SMART Goals
➢ Facilitate the Work
Guiding Questions
➢ What has come clear since last we met?
➢ How do we create a focus on learning?
➢ What is collaboration, and what makes it different from teams?
➢ How should we organize teams?
➢ What does it mean to be results-oriented?
➢ How do we create SMART goals?
➢ What is my role in this process?
Session Two, Day Three: Assessment
Goals for the Day
➢ Define the PLC at Work Vocabulary
➢ Make Time for Team Collaboration
➢ Create Essential Learnings
➢ Understand Common Formative Assessments
Guiding Questions
➢ What has become clear since we last met?
➢ How do we create common vocabulary?
➢ How do we find time for teams?
➢ How do we define what we want students to learn?
➢What is the importance of common formative assessments?
Session Two: Day Four: Intervention
Goals for the Day
➢ Use Formative Assessment to Inform and Improve Practice
➢ Analyze Data to Identify Students Who Have and Have Not Learned
➢ Make Time and Support for Intervention and Extension
➢ Allocate Existing Resources Differently
Guiding Questions
➢ What has come clear since last we met?
➢ What is the importance of Assessment?
➢ How do we know if students are learning?
➢ What does it look like to be results-oriented?
➢ How do we monitor and celebrate our progress?
➢ What have we learned, and what will we do about it?
Session Three: Day Five: Leadership
Goals for the Day
➢ Map Progress
➢ Revisit Critical Issues for Teams
➢ Understand Shared Leadership
➢ Define Loose-Tight Leadership
➢ Rethink Hiring, Orienting, and Retaining New Staff
➢ Identify Practices
➢ Learn to Build Consensus
Guiding Questions
➢ What has become clear since we last met?
➢ What is the work of collaborative teams?
➢ What does our leadership structure look like?
➢ How do we hold everyone accountable?
➢ How do we make decisions in our school?
Session Three: Day Six: Celebration
Goals for the Day
➢ Learn Strategies to Have Crucial Conversations and Respond to Resistance
➢ Understand Importance of Doing the Work Now
➢ Identify Celebrations
➢ Sustaining the Effort
Guiding Questions
➢ What has come clear since last we met?
➢ How do we have crucial conversations?
➢ How do we respond to resistance?
➢ How do we monitor and celebrate our progress?
➢ Why is it important to do this work?
PLCs@ Work Customized Teacher Development
Over 400+ teachers will participate in professional development on supporting the Guiding Coalition work of the PLC across our district schools. Teachers will receive customized training during the districts November 5 and March 7 Professional Development Days.
Financial impact: The total budget for these services is allocated from the cost code 100.1000.53000.00011.7250.9990.8010.020.0000
Purchased Prof/Tech Services in the amount of $218, 660.
Contact: Ms. Stacy E. Stepney, Chief Academic Officer, Division of Curriculum & Instruction, 678.676.0731
Effective: September 10, 2024 - April 30, 2025
Status: Approved by Office of Legal Affairs
PLC
AT WORK ®
Success Story
Camden Fairview High School
CAMDEN, ARKANSAS
Through the adoption of the PLC at Work® process, Camden Fairview High
School achieved its highest-ever graduation rate, with 91% of students
successfully completing their senior year.
Camden Fairview High School
CAMDEN, ARKANSAS
DEMOGRAPHICS CHALLENGE
› 689 Students Long before Cara Bowie became the principal of Camden Fairview
› 12% Special education High School, she was a teacher and a student at the school. She’s been
› 2% English language learners passionate about improving the halls of CFHS ever since. When Bowie
› 100% Eligible for free or reduced lunch took over, she immediately knew what actionable steps were needed.
The teachers at CFHS were isolated, working and operating
RACIAL/ETHNIC PERCENTAGES independently without the structure of a team or methods to lead their
› 62% African American students to success. Teachers even gave different student assessments,
so learning was evaluated with different measures for each classroom.
› 31% Caucasian
› 4% Multiracial Team faculty meetings were not collaborative and many teachers were
› 3% Hispanic resistant to change. Bowie knew changing the mindset of her teachers
would be the first step in making improvements at CFHS.
› <1% Asian
› <1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander IMPLEMENTATION
Camden Fairview High School is located in
Camden, Arkansas, in Ouachita County. The
When Bowie arrived at CFHS, the school was in its second year of
city resides in the south-central part of Arkansas. funding from the Arkansas Department of Education Professional
Home to the Cardinals, CFHS is a part of Camden Development Project Grant.
Fairview School District, serving grades 9–12.
Bowie quickly jumped into gear to ensure all teams began
collaborating, essential standards were unpacked, and the staff at CFHS
became well-versed in the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at
Work® process. The grant helped the team focus on answering the four
critical questions of a PLC.
New and veteran teachers opened up to the change the PLC process
provided. Faculty meetings became more productive, allowing teacher
teams to form and create discussions about analyzing student data and
setting learning goals. Principal Bowie took a hands-on approach to her
work with the teachers, attending workshops with them and learning
alongside them.
The team at CFHS then shifted their focus toward assessment,
analyzing their evaluations, incorporating intervention, and providing
enrichment.
Teachers would prioritize a 30-minute intervention block called Cardinal
Academy, which allowed them to analyze their data and then intervene
where needed. They kept their focus on the right work through the
Response to Intervention (RTI) at Work™ process.
“We know that we have to inspect what we expect. And so we’re
going to be in those intervention classes, trying to make sure that
instructions are being delivered and learning is happening for all,”
Bowie said.
2 @SolutionTree #atplc
When I was a teacher, it felt like we lived on islands of our own. Everyone taught their classroom
based on what they enjoyed the most. Now as a principal, I see my teams collaborating and
learning best teaching practices from one another, all based on the same essential standards.
That’s the beauty of the PLC process.”
—Cara C. Bowie, principal, Camden Fairview High School, Arkansas
RESULTS
By the end of Camden Fairview High School’s second year Major improvements:
under the Arkansas grant, tremendous progress had been
• Through Cardinal Academy, CFHS’s intervention block,
made. Teacher collaboration was in full effect and Principal
English scores improved drastically.
Bowie was able to move learning forward.
• The school saw high graduation rates, reaching 91%
When the third year came around, the students and of students with diplomas.
teachers were making strides. The CFHS community was
• Readiness in reading scores increased from 12% to
now built on a PLC at Work process. The teachers and
17% after implementation began.
administrators at CFHS knew that strong relationships with
students were essential for learning. They made sure to get
to know each student individually and provide them with
the support they needed.
MET READINESS BENCHMARK READING
12% 16% 17%
YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3
GRADUATION SCORE
86% 89% 91%
YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3
I am very proud of the teachers here because they took something that they knew very little
about and not only started to trust the process but became part of the process, instead of trying
to pick it apart and continuing to stay isolated or resist change.”
—Cara C. Bowie, principal, Camden Fairview High School, Arkansas
SolutionTree.com 800.733.6786 3
Start Your
Success Story
You have a vision for change and improvement in your school or district. You want to see
results in the classroom for the lifelong betterment of your students. Like many educators, you may
be doing more with less, and you are always looking for ways to improve.
At Solution Tree, we share your vision to transform education to ensure learning for all, and we can
help you make this vision a reality.
OUR PROMISE: No other professional learning company provides our unique blend of research-
based, results-driven services that improve learning outcomes for students.
Start your school’s PLC at Work® journey at SolutionTree.com/PD or call 800.733.6786 ext. 440