PLC in the Elementary School

I have little experience in working in an elementary school, so much in this chapter of Dufour's book did not apply to me as a high school teacher.  There were some truths, however, that apply to all educational levels.  The fact that there was difficulty getting students to stay after school for remediation is a common thread, with excuses of transportation problems and other activities.  The school that was used as a role model, Boone's Mill Elementary in Virginia, had to identify essential outcomes.  A brief description was given of the SOL tests administered in the state of Virginia and the word "rigorous" was used to describe them.  At this point in my reading, I had to pause to reflect since I live and teach in Virginia and I know from my own experience that these tests are not at all rigorous.  In fact, the cut scores demonstrate the lack of rigor on these tests, proving that they are indeed meant for "minimum competency" so that all students can pass and federal dollars will still flow freely to the state.  That said, it is commendable that BMES took measures to make sure that all of their students were being reached at whatever level they started.  The most interesting part of this chapter in the book dealt with tutoring and assistance offered by volunteers, including parents, grandparents, college students and others.  This idea is one that should and could be implemented in any school that has struggling students.  Of course, I believe more volunteers would be lining up to work at an elementary school than a high school, but we should be willing to take whatever help we are offered whenever it is offered.  I also liked the idea of having workshops to train parents about what would be taught during each marking period, thus sharing the responsibility for the students' learning with the parents or guardians.  I think that ownership of the learning belongs with the students and the responsibility to help the child learn should be a joint venture between the teachers and the parents.  It is when all of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the teachers that the system begins to fail because the student does not feel any need to learn; after all, it is seen as the fault of the educator when learning does not occur.  In fact, the fault lies with the students, the parents and the school..they work together towards success or go separately into the abyss of failure. 

Success in the Middle School

The school which is touted as successful has many positive things going for it, including a schedule that is flexible and teachers who work in teams to ensure the success of the students.  According to the anecdotal record in Dufour's  book, the school in Texas identifies the needs of the students by testing with a common assessment weekly and then have cumulative bench mark tests each marking period.  They also offer proactive remediation before the state assessment.  The only real issue that I have with this method of instruction is how effective these methods are for the more gifted students.  Although enrichment is mentioned briefly, it does not seem to be a focus.  In my years of experience, I have noticed that the students who struggle are given much more attention than those who are quick to understand and who could move on, but they are generally "held back" while the slower students catch up.  I have seen the curriculum become less and less demanding so that the norm is the lowest common denominator, or knowledge, instead of setting sights as high as possible and having students strive to reach a higher expectation.  I have never considered a minimum competency test to be one that truly shows what students can do; instead, it generally shows the ability of the teachers to teach to the test, regardless if this is done on the middle school level or any other level of education in the U.S. today.

Adalai Stevenson High School

This is a Blue Ribbon school that earned the right to be on top because of the vision and hard work of the teachers.  Together, they set high standards but they learned to vary the time needed for individual students to meet that goal.  One of the things that they do that I would like to see implemented where I teach is a summer study skills course for incoming freshmen at the high school. The gap between high school and middle school requirements and expectations is wide and we would be well served to try to bridge that gap with a class focusing on skills students will need to succeed in high school classes, skills that include taking notes and organizing their time and materials.  I teach quite a few 9th graders and I spend a lot of time all year long trying to encourage the organization skill and to get them to take notes.  This should be an expectation of all teachers, of course, but in reality, it isn't, so a small  number of us struggle with study skills in our academic classes.  
The ideas put in place at ASHS are radical, like a mandatory tutoring program and a guided study teacher who acts as a liaison between the students and the teachers and the parents and the school staff.  It amazed me that this remarkable school was able to set up meetings with a social worker, a mentor and parents once a month to help parents be more effective in helping their children to succeed.  An idea worth exploring!  After all, every teacher needs the support of parents in order for the students to want to succeed.  

Responding When Kids Don't Learn

Dufour, et. al, present the case in Whatever It Takes that schools react differently when students don't learn.  I think that teachers respond differently as well.  After having read the descriptions of the reactions, I decided that I belong to the "Pontius Pilate" school.  This is the one that says that the teacher teaches and it is the students' jobs to learn and they are responsible for their own decisions.  I am not sure why this name is given to this school but I think that it may have something to do with the fact that this Roman despot was the one who washed his hands of the responsibility of Jesus' death.  I don't want this to be me, so I am interested in reading about a better way.  The "Henry Higgins" school is more like how my school is currently trying to achieve better results, i.e. new strategies are employed and teachers are working harder to get every student to succeed.   
Whatever your philosophy of the best approach is, Dufour makes a valid case that in PLC, the teacher knows what he/she wants the students to learn before beginning the unit.  Again, this goes back to having a target to hit.  I have used small-group tutoring and one-on-one help for my students and have found that it is successful, but I also think that the students have to buy into wanting to succeed.  And I agree with the author that students who have difficulty learning should receive additional support, regardless of who their teacher is.  This is not happening at my particular school. A handful of teachers offer extra help while others head out the door at the end of the contract day.  I don't think that we can be a PLC school until all teachers share the same vision that part of our job is to help the students to succeed, "whatever it takes".  

All Kids Will Learn

In order for all students to learn, each teacher should know what every student should be able to do at the end of each unit.  Of course, this only makes common sense because if you don't have a target, then you don't know at what to aim.  Formative assessments are essential for this to happen.  I agree with the author of Whatever It Takes, Richard DuFour, that schools need to have a plan in place when students do not learn.