DeKalb PLC at Work Purchase Agreement

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