PLC Precision: Time for Action

The PLC Paradox

PLCs, or Professional Learning Communities, are designated release times for teachers to collaborate with peers, unpack curriculum standards, and analyze student data. You would think that providing the time to collaborate would be beneficial to teachers, but when we ask our teachers about their experience, the feedback is clear: “There isn’t enough time.”

It seems unthinkable that the creation of time for a task would perpetuate the issue of not having enough time to do that task. But it makes sense. The PLC process brings the idea of standards alignment, assessment, and analysis to the forefront of our teaching conversation. Covering such significant topics in brief meetings can be a daunting and overwhelming task. So, it is essential that when we are getting our teachers together to discuss curriculum and data, we provide them with tools that can streamline tasks so that teachers can utilize the time to make instructional decisions for students in their classrooms.

Buying More Time with Standards Precision and Assessment Alignment

When planning for PLC, technology tools are key to making sure that teachers have instant access to alignment and assessment information. Teachers cannot spend extra time looking for which standards are taught, where they are taught, where they are assessed and then be expected to analyze and react to data.

Districts need to ensure that these sessions are productive for teams, and having standards information immediately available and accessible to teachers is essential to making the one-hour PLC meeting productive. That is where technology can help. Specifically, our district’s use of the Atlas Standards Status Management tools has streamlined this process for our PLC meetings.

Our district has utilized the Standards Management tools in Atlas to add the following status descriptors to our standards:

Essential

Mastery Expected

Assessed

When standards are labeled, teachers will see that information when looking at a unit in Atlas. These standards descriptors allow teams to make swift curricular decisions for their students. Teams can focus on key standards for discussion and data collection without wasting time searching. The time can be used to discuss student achievement and academic plans.

Along with standards identification, our district has also found a benefit in adding our district common assessments to our Atlas units. The addition of the common assessments has been beneficial for teachers looking to reassess students who may not have met data goals. The Standards Overview report enables teams to identify other assessment opportunities for PLC standards, with direct access to assessments via hyperlinks.

Explore More Reports in Atlas

With these tools, a one-hour PLC can focus most of the time on the creation of action plans for students, because the overwhelming task of analyzing the standards and finding assessment information is completed and accessible.

Creating an Actionable Environment

A productive PLC community is action oriented. “…deep learning requires experience, which requires taking action. They understand that the most powerful learning always occurs in a context of taking action.” (Professional Learning Communities) We need to give our teachers TIME to take action. Not time to organize and find, but time to take real action. When we utilize standards alignment tools, that is exactly what we do. We provide time for action — action that will ultimately impact our students and help them achieve their goals.

References

Professional Learning Community (PLC). All Things PLC, https://allthingsplc.info/about/.