Part III: Don't Forget the PLC in your SDGP process.

By: Maria Colon, Nicole Drumgoole & Stephanie Healey

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s future (2007) indicates that more than fifty percent of those entering the profession will leave within the first three to five years. The feeling of isolation is one of the major contributing factors for why educators leave the profession during this time period. "The culture of today’s schools continues to reinforce the practice of solo teaching in self-contained classrooms. This mindset is compounded by a belief that new teachers are interchangeable units who can easily be replaced by the next cohort of beginners. As a result, good teachers have little opportunity and few incentives to share their expertise with their colleagues, and beginning teachers are left to fend for themselves without the collegial mentoring and coaching support they need to succeed." (p. 6).

        From day one novice teachers, fresh out of college, find themselves in classrooms alone and expected to take on the same responsibilities as veteran teachers.  They are faced with the challenges of intense curriculum implementation, classroom management, constant parent-teacher communication and the never-ending flow of paperwork. Veteran teachers who are expected to mentor their less experienced colleagues also carry the weight of this professional work load making it nearly impossible for them to provide adequate support to inexperienced colleagues. Administrators are expected to be instructional leaders, yet they are stuck in their offices bogged down with paperwork and the overwhelming responsibilities of constant teacher evaluations as a result of the new evaluation system that has been implemented in many states.

        Richard Ingersoll, an education professor at the University of Pennsylvania conducted a research study on teacher retention.  This study found that “teachers say they leave because of inadequate administrative support and isolated work conditions, among other things.” Ingersoll’s research illuminates that strong mentoring programs which lead to collaboration among teachers  can cut teacher attrition rates by as much as half.  Though identifying teacher isolation as a central cause for teachers leaving the profession is important, districts are left to find a solution to this problem.

At Harrington Park School, feelings of isolation are being combated through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).  The development of PLCs began in Harrington Park in 2006. A professional learning community, or PLC, is defined as a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students.  Often PLC groups meet during Common Planning Time (CPT).  CPT is a thirty-minute block of time designated for teacher-collaboration at the start of each day.  In addition to PLCs, the Self-Directed Growth Plan (SDGP) has also become a key element in promoting teacher classroom collaboration. The Self-Directed Growth Plan, or SDGP, is an alternative evaluation system which provides teachers with the opportunity to engage in self-directed, meaningful professional development, and examine and refine their teaching practices. Data points imbedded in the SDGP allow teachers to reflect deeply on their practices which positively impacts student growth.  

In Harrington Park, the solution to this problem is being addressed with a three prong approach.  The first is through the implementation of the PLC.  Research shows that educators in schools that have embraced PLCs are more likely to take collective responsibility for student learning, help students achieve at higher levels, and express higher levels of professional satisfaction (Louis & Wahlstrom, 2011). Teachers in Harrington Park have been part of committees and grades level or subject area teams that have met for years prior to the PLC having been introduced to our school.  However, it was the dynamic way in which PLC groups interacted and communicated with one another that was a new experience for us.  Coming together for a common purpose, creating team goals, sharing our expertise, collecting and analyzing data that would help us to become better educators opened up a world of new growth and development for the staff at Harrington Park.  We were no longer alone in our classrooms teaching, giving tests and making all the decisions on our own about whether we were doing the right things.  Suddenly, the education of our students was truly a team effort.  Throughout the PLC experience, educators are involved in the most powerful and beneficial professional development (Little, 2006) and are more likely to remain in the profession (Johnson & Kardos, 2007).In an effort to provide teachers with time to work in PLC’s, CPT was also implemented.  CPT allows teachers a thirty minute block each morning to collaborate and work in their PLC’s.  All staff members participate in CPT allowing educators across grade levels and subject areas to work together to best educate our students.  This time also allows our administrators to be a part of CPT meetings and provide support to teachers as needed.  Finally, the SDGP was implemented at our school in 2007.  This allowed for grade level, subject area or specialized groups of educators to come together with a formalized plan that would promote professional growth and increase student performance.  At the start of each school year, groups begin to form based on the areas in which individual teachers would like to focus.  A plan of action is written and groups meet with administrators to further develop the desired area of concentration.  SDGPs grow, change and are fine-tuned as educators collect data and implement their plan in the classroom.  Because the idea for the plan comes from the teachers, and is not dictated by administrators, individuals, as well as their groups, have a strong sense of ownership that leads to a highly developed and in depth product.  At the close of each school year, groups must present and defend their SDGP to a panel of school leaders.  Feedback is given and groups can then decide if their SDGP is complete or if it needs to be developed further throughout the following school year.

The ongoing support and close relationships formed by teams through PLC’s, CPT, and SDGP’s helps to keep new teachers as well as veteran teachers from becoming isolated, and immerses them in a community that works together to develop and grow. Educators share teaching practices, make results transparent, engage in critical conversations about improving instruction, and institutionalize continual improvement (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010). Opportunities [such as these] allow for teachers to improve student achievement and their professional practice at the same time that they promote shared leadership (Louis et al., 2010).   Those of us lucky enough to work here at Harrington Park School strongly encourage other districts struggling with teacher isolation to consider implementing the collaborative practices with which we as a district and teaching community have found great success.

Citations

National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. (2007). Policy brief: The high cost of teacher turnover. Washington, DC: Author.  

The Hechinger Report. (2014) Half of teachers leave the job after five years. Here’s what to do about it. Neason, Alexandria

DuFour, R. & Mattos, M. (2013) Educational Leadership: The Principalship

Louis, K., & Wahlstrom, K. (2011). Principals as cultural leaders. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(5), 52–56.

Louis, K., Leithwood, K., Wahlstrom, K., & Anderson, S. (2010). Learning from leadership: Investigating the links to improved student learning. New York: Wallace Foundation.

Bryk, A., Sebring, P., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Little, J. W. (2006). Professional community and professional development in the learning-centered school. Washington, DC: National Education Association. Retrieved fromwww.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/mf_pdreport.pdf

Johnson, S. M., & Kardos, S. (2007). Professional culture and the promise of colleagues. In S. M. Johnson, Finders and keepers: Helping new teachers survive and thrive in our schools (pp. 139–166). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.