Rolffs, Deanna & Murphy, Mary Kay. Concrete Steps to Transform Teacher Collaboration for Increased Student Learning. Presented at the AdvanceED Conference of the Michigan Department of Education in April 2014.

1. Concrete Steps to Transform
Teacher Collaboration for
Increased Student Learning
April 21, 2014
Deanna Rolffs, Mary Kay Murphy

2. Introductions
Who is in the room?
Why this session?

3. Please share who you are and how this video connects with why you
chose this session?

5. Why We Exist
The achievement gap persists. Results from a wide
variety of state and national tests administered over
the last half-century have been fairly consistent in at
least one respect. They indicated that certain groups
of children repeatedly score below children in other
groups (EdSource).

6. How Partners Works
Partners in School Innovation engages with teachers
and leaders in under-performing school districts to
drive results by strengthening teaching and learning
through our sustainable, adaptable approach to
continuous improvement.

7. Session Objectives
• Understand the WHY, HOW and WHAT
behind teacher collaboration
• Be prepared for common challenges that
arise when working to establish collaborative
teams
• Understand the role that school leaders and
teachers each play in creating successful
collaborative teams

8. Vision for
Teacher
Collaboration

9. Why collaborate?
“Research on effective professional
development also highlights the importance of
collaborative and collegial learning
environments that help develop communities
of practice able to promote school change
beyond individual classrooms”
-Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009

10. Teacher Professional Learning
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Theory Demonstration Practice and
Feedback
Peer Coaching or
Collegial Support
Knowledge
Skill
Transfer to
Classroom
Joyce and Showers, 2002

11. How can teachers collaborate?
Plan
Act
Assess
Reflect &
Adjust
Set
Goals
Results-
Oriented
Cycles of
Inquiry

12. Results-Oriented Cycles of Inquiry
Plan
Act
Assess
Reflect &
Adjust
Set
Goals
Working together as a
team to define clear
outcomes for
student mastery.
Collaboratively
designing
assessments and
planning units and
lessons.
Teaching with
similar pacing;
sharing lessons
learned along the
way.
Collecting evidence of
student learning using
common assessments.
Comparing
student progress
toward goals and
thinking together
about how to
adjust instruction
to better meet
student needs.

13. My Experience of Collaboration is Like…
• Basketball
• Golf
• Cross Country
• Quilting
• Car Pooling

14. What gets in
the way of
quality
collaboration?

15. Common challenges
• Insufficient access to timely data on which to base instructional
decisions;
• Poor infrastructure (especially lack of scheduled time for teachers
to meet, or inefficient use of the limited time available);
• Lack of teacher buy-in for the process (perception that the
decision to implement a PLC was imposed upon teachers by
administrators);
• Lack of teacher ownership of the process (perception that
administrators dictate what teachers do during their collaborative
time); and
• A building culture in which teachers tend to compete rather than
collaborate.
Education World, 2013

16. Some solutions
• Ensure adequate time and resources
• Work with teacher leaders to clarify
expectations
• Provide professional development for
facilitators
• Engage in ROCI to improve the quality of
your collaboration

17. Time and resources
• Sufficient time
– Build time into the school schedule
– Repurpose staff meeting time
– Set aside money for subs and release teachers
– Create district-wide PLCs
• Collaborative planning tools
– Pacing guides, curriculum materials
– Online planning tools

18. Clarify Expectations
Leaders and teachers should work together to:
• Clarify the purpose and vision for collaboration
• Develop meeting agendas
• Identify ways to monitor the quality of
collaboration
– Meeting notes
– Data from common assessments
– Grade level representatives reflections
– Principal observations

19. Clarify Expectations…

20. Clarify
Expectations…

21. Facilitators Need…
• To be involved in creating the agenda
• Training on team development and
facilitation skills
• Space to reflect with other facilitators on
how well meetings went and to problem-
solve challenges

23. ROCI Your Collaboration
Plan
Act
Assess
Reflect &
Adjust
Set
Goals
Define your vision and
goals for collaboration.
Plan meetings well in
advance.
Support teams
with well-
prepared
facilitators.
Monitor the quality of
collaboration.
Comparing
student progress
toward goals and
thinking together
about how to
adjust instruction
to better meet
student needs.

24. Reflect and Adjust
• Review artifacts (meeting notes, data, lesson
plans) and talk with facilitators about how
the meetings went
• Ask yourself:
– Were the meeting outcomes achieved?
– Do I see impact in the classroom?
– How can the next meeting be even better?

25. Case examples… Ensuring Adequate Time and Resources:
“We are adjusting our PLC plan for next year to
allow for collaboration one hour a week per
grade, using substitutes for release time.”
Engaging in ROCI:
“We have created systems and processes that
support the ILT, PLCs and PD in order to
implement the School Improvement Plan. For
example, ILT members always come prepared
with materials/work now because they know the
time will be used wisely and very focused.”
Preparing ILT Members as Facilitators:
“Our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) members
decide direction, focus and specific paths to get
there. They then lead PLCs, support and guide
teachers, and share needs and strengths with the
ILT.”

26. Looking Ahead
• What is your goal between now and the end
of the year?
• What needs to take place to set your
building up for success in the fall?

27. Looking Ahead

28. Reflect on the
strengths and
needs of your
teams…

29. School Transformation Rubric
Time for
Collaboration
Regular time for teacher collaboration is protected within the school schedule.
Collaboration
Agreements
School-wide agreements exist that clarify expectations for how teams use collaborative
time.
Team Charter
Teachers work together to define the purpose and work they will do in collaboration and
establish working agreements.
Student Achievement
Goals
Teachers collectively define SMART and equitable goals for student achievement.
Backward Planning
Teachers collectively develop units that specify the standards and skills they will teach in
each unit in order to reach student achievement goals.
ROCI
Teacher collaboration is guided by Results-Oriented Cycles of Inquiry (i.e., setting and
monitoring progress toward goals, planning instruction, reviewing data, reflecting on
classroom practice, and adjusting instructional plans).
Examination of Race,
Culture, Class &
Power
Teachers seek to understand the role of race, culture, class and power in their work (e.g.
reflecting on race based patterns of achievement, taking student's cultural background
into account while planning instruction, reflecting on their beliefs and expectations for
students).
Collective
Responsibility
Teachers take collective responsibility for reaching student achievement goals by sharing
best practices, pooling resources, supporting each other's professional growth and
holding each other accountable to agreements.
Peer Coaching
Teachers support one another to continuously refine their practice (e.g. sharing best
practices, engaging in lesson study, observing one another in the classroom).

30. Individual Reflection
1. Use the rubric to reflect on how well the
teams you work are collaborating
2. What challenges are they experiencing?
3. What actions might you take to help them
work though those challenges and deepen
their collaboration?

31. What are you taking away?
An idea that
resonated for you
An idea that
resonated for you
A next step you plan
to take
A next step you plan
to take

32. Thank you for sharing your feedback with us!

33. Contact
PartnersInSchools.org
Renewing the Promise of Public Education
Deanna Rolffs
drolffs@partnersinschools.org
Mary Kay Murphy
mmurphy@partnersinschools.org