Learning By Doing: A Handbook For Professional Learning Communities At Worktm (An Actionable Guide To Implementing The Plc Process And Effective Teaching Methods)

Learning By Doing: A Handbook For Professional Learning Communities At Worktm (An Actionable Guide To Implementing The Plc Process And Effective Teaching Methods)

Discover how to close the knowing-doing gap and transform your school or district into a high-performing professional learning community (PLC). The powerful third edition of this comprehensive action guide from experts Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, and Mike Mattos updates and expands on new and significant PLC topics. Explore fresh strategies, tools, and tips for hiring and retaining new staff, creating team-developed common formative assessment, implementing systematic interventions, and more.Learn how to establish professional learning communities in schools: Build a shared knowledge of critical vocabulary and the concepts underlying the PLC process.Equip yourself with the knowledge and tools necessary to model effective reciprocal accountability and collective teacher efficacy.Make honest assessments of your school and teaching methods by examining conventional practices from a fresh, critical perspective.Take immediate and specific steps to close the knowing-doing gap.Move beyond creating an action plan for school improvement, and start doing.Changes for the third edition: Two new chapters: One on team-developed common formative assessment strategies and the second on hiring, orienting, and retaining staff members for your PLCA stronger focus on districtwide PLC implementation and avoiding common mistakes related to the PLC processNew insight into clarifying the essential standards necessary in a guaranteed and viable curriculum by establishing a collective understanding of best practices in teachingSuggestions for incorporating a focus on learning and deeper knowledge, as opposed to simple recall of information, into curriculum development and teacher-made assessmentsA deeper and more thorough examination of RTI (MTSS) interventions by coauthor Mike Mattos, a leading expert on interventionExplicit PLC tools and templates that high-performing districts have usedAn updated research base, including more than one hundred new references and professional learning community examplesA shift in focus from why educators should implement the PLC process to steps to take immediately in the implementation processContents: Introduction to the Third Edition Chapter 1: A Guide to Action for Professional Learning Communities at Work? Chapter 2: Defining a Clear and Compelling Purpose Chapter 3: Building the Collaborative Culture of a PLC at Work? Chapter 4: Creating a Results Orientation in a PLC at Work? Chapter 5: Creating a Focus on Learning Chapter 6: Creating Team-Developed Common Formative Assessments Chapter 7: Responding When Some Students Don't Learn Chapter 8: Hiring, Orienting, and Retaining New Staff Chapter 9: Resolving Conflict and Celebrating in a PLC at Work? Chapter 10: Implementing the PLC Process Districtwide References and Resources Index See also, the companion book, Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Professional Learning Communities at Work?, that provides readers with quick answers to help them move beyond specific problems in PLC implementation.ReviewOur districtwide success in improving student academic achievement has been a remarkable journey.Learning by Doing has been our road atlas and the PLC concept our GPS as our staff members have built their collective capacity to meet the needs of all students. --Sandra Thorstenson, superintendent, Whittier Union High School District, Whittier, CALearning by Doing is not only the title of an incredibly powerful book, it is also the description of our district's journey over the last five years. Without a doubt, the establishment of PLCs as a district and the deepening of our collaborative culture have had the single greatest impact on student achievement of any of the initiatives we have implemented. It has changed who we are, how we work and, most importantly, our outcomes.Learning by Doing has been our guidebook on the journey and helped us to understand and move f