Guiding Coalition Summit 2023

Understanding the Essential Role of Guiding Coalitions
in our PLC at Work Culture

Learning Outcomes:
Today we will:
● Revisit the PLC at Work Process – The Why
● Examine the essential role that the guiding coalition plays in a school’s
professional learning community at work culture
● Learn more about supporting collaborative teams at different stages of
their progress/development
● Learn how Vision 2030 is framed around professional learning communities
at work and promise standard attainment
● Assess where your building is now as a PLC at Work and how your GC will
leverage your skills, talents and energy towards “PLC Right”

What is a Professional Learning
Community at Work?
NO NOTES, NO PHONES, NO
CHEATING
You have 10 minutes as a GC team
to create and share your definition of
what a Professional Learning
Community at Work is through one
of three ways:
Create a “user friendly” definition of
what a PLC is using 50 words or less
Draw a picture
Act it out in a skit

What is a Professional Learning
Community at Work?
“An ongoing process in which educators work
collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry
and action research to achieve better results for the
students they serve. PLCs operate under the
assumption that the key to improved learning for
students is continuous, job embedded learning for
educators” (p. 10).
It’s about harnessing the power of Collective Efficacy.

Goals
&
Strategies
MISSION
In partnership with families
and community, Walla Walla
Public Schools ensures a
culture of equity and
belonging, where every
student achieves ambitious
levels of learning through
relevant and rigorous
educational experiences.

Collective Efficacy
What will this look like?
A high-performing PLC at Work consists of staff assembled in grade/subject alike teams where
they work together to clarify exactly what each student must learn (i.e. promise standards),
monitor each student’s learning on a timely basis (i.e. CFA’s), and improve their instructional
practice based on student learning. When some students are unsuccessful in mastering promise
standards after the first attempt at learning, the team provides systematic interventions during
the day that ensure each student receives additional time and support when they struggle.
School Guiding Coalitions and their principal(s) monitor and support the progress of the building
teams, prioritizing building staff, additional support and implementing necessary structural
changes to ensure promise standards are learned building-wide (DuFour, et al., 2021.)

Twice as powerful than:
-Student effort (.77)
Three times more powerful than:
-Student prior achievement (.55)
-Student socioeconomic status (.52)
-Involved parents (.50)
Four times more powerful than:
-Student self perception: (.41)
-Student motivation: (.42)
-Disruptive Behaviors: (.34)
Seven times more powerful than:
-Reduced class size: (.21)
The Research Behind PLC at Work, When Done
Correctly, Is Overwhelming

If that’s the
case, then why
isn’t every team
and school
seeing that
level of
success?

What a Professional Learning Community at
Work IS NOT?
The PLC process is
not a program. It is
not a meeting time. It
is not a group of
teachers getting
together once a
week.
It cannot be
purchased, nor can it
be implemented by
anyone other than
the staff itself.

PLC Lite
PLC Lite is the most accurate way to describe the current
state of most professional learning communities around
the country. Educators rename their traditional faculty,
department or grade level meetings as ‘PLC meetings,’
devote collaborative time to topics that have little or no
impact on student achievement, fill the time sharing
personal practices, or allocate far too much time co-
planning lessons—all in the name of the PLC process.
—DuFour and Reeves, “The Futility of PLC Lite,” Phi Delta Kappan 97(6), 69–71

Stages of
Collaboration
Look at the stages of
collaboration chart to the right.
If Ken Williams were to have
randomly walked into your
collaboration time on
Wednesday last year, what
stage would he most likely
have found you working in?
Circle it.
What about teams across your
building in general? Place a
checkmark.
Share and discuss with your
results with your table.

What Must be “Tight” to Avoid PLC “Lite”
• Teachers are organized into grade/subject alike collaborative teams
whose “north star” is to ensure all students master promise standards.
• Every teacher is engaged in a process to clarify exactly what each
student is to learn in each grade level, each course, and each unit of
instruction.
• Every teacher is engaged in a process to assess student learning on a
timely and frequent basis using teacher developed common formative
assessments and intervene when students don’t learn the first time.
• Based on evidence of student learning, teachers learn together as they
consistently reflect upon and improve their practice.
• Every school has a specific plan to ensure that students who do not
master promise standards are provided with additional time and
support for learning during the school day in a timely and directive way
that does not cause the student to miss any new direct instruction.
• Every school has a specific plan to enrich and extend the learning of
students who are not challenged by the core curriculum.
Grade/Subject
Alike
PLT’s
Principal/GC’s

“A guiding coalition is an alliance of
key members of an organization who
are specifically charged with leading a
change process through predictable
turmoil.
Members of the coalition should
include opinion leaders—people who
are so respected within their school
that others are likely to follow their
lead.”
Mattos, DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many (2016).
Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
about PLCs at Work.
Adapted from Bill Ferriter’s Work

Four Critical Questions for Guiding
Coalitions:
1. What do we want our teams to
know and be able to do?
2. How will we know if our teams are
mastering their essentials?
3. What steps will we take to support
teams that are struggling?
4. What steps will we take to extend
learning for high functioning
teams?

On a 1-10 Scale (10=high, 1=low), where would
you rate your school overall for each component
• Teachers are organized into grade/subject alike collaborative teams
whose “north star” is to ensure all students master promise standards.
• Every teacher is engaged in a process to clarify exactly what each
student is to learn in each grade level, each course, and each unit of
instruction.
• Every teacher is engaged in a process to assess student learning on a
timely and frequent basis using teacher developed common formative
assessments and intervene when students don’t learn the first time.
• Based on evidence of student learning, teachers learn together as they
consistently reflect upon and improve their practice.
• Every school has a specific plan to ensure that students who do not
master promise standards are provided with additional time and
support for learning during the school day in a timely and directive way
that does not cause the student to miss any new direct instruction.
• Every school has a specific plan to enrich and extend the learning of
students who are not challenged by the core curriculum.
1-10
1-10
1-10
1-10
1-10
1-10

Building-Wide Response
Guiding Coalition & Admin
Interventions/Reteach
PLT Team Response
Skyward/5Lab
Student/Staff/Parent Access

2023-24 Key Strategies
Teachers arranged in grade/subject-alike PLT’s (Professional Learning Teams)
Teams meet every Wednesday to address the four questions
Teams use PLT Planners to identify norms, track progress and prepare for the following week’s
meeting
Guiding coalitions and principal(s) support the work and progress of the teams
Guiding coalitions and principal(s) review promise standard achievement and/or data to align
building resources/support to intervene when students haven’t mastered standards
Training and support provided teacher leaders (e.g. Quarterly GC opportunities, PLC at Work
Summit, RTI Summit)

Let’s First Take a Look at
the Teams and Meeting
Schedules

PLT Team Formation
Elementary
Grade-Alike teams (e.g. K, 1, 2)
PE & Music
 Meet once a month with other
elementary PE/Music teachers focusing
on professional development, alignment
of curriculum, etc.)
SPED/Title/LAP/LS/K-
3/Library/ML
 Unless meeting with directors for PD or
program needs, staff work with support
staff, each other or individually
Middle School/HS
Subject-Alike teams (e.g. 6th
grade ELA, Algebra 1, PE)
Music
 Meet once a month with 6-12 teachers
focusing on professional development,
alignment of curriculum, etc.)
SPED/Library/ML/CTE/Art
 Unless meeting with directors for PD or
program needs, staff work with support
staff, each other or individually

PLT Examples (MS and ES)
PLT Name/Group Team Member 1 Team Member 2 Team Member 3
6th ELA Ryan Campeau Amanda Bess Danica Rosendahl
8th ELA Matt Manley Susan Nak Jaimee Pollan
6th Science Shannon Jones Seth Ahrens
7th Science Angie Butler
8th Science Rachel Geiter Abigail Luckstead
6th Math Dakotah Fryatt Shannon DeBeaumont
7th Math Lani Kiefel Kimberly Barry
8th Math John Avery Nate Dross
6th Social Studies Felipe Virrueta Dave Blocklinger
8th Social Studies Theresa Salemme Brad Ludwig
6th PE/Health Rachel Baerlocher Brian Richard
7th PE/Health Donna Morris Jim Eggart
Counseling Jeff Bartlow Sue Stege
Singletons
Spanish 2 Yuri Can
7/8 Dual Luciano Antonio
Band/Choir Ethan Stutz
Orchestra Julie Woods
Art Kuyler Lang
CTE John Avery
REACH Alexis Neal
Honors ELA 6th Stephanie Kytola
Honors ELA 7th Kate Van Cleve
PLT Name/Group Team Member 1 Team Member 2 Team Member 3
Kinder Helen Cantero Katie Pekar Heidi Wilson
First Richele Locati Jesica Russell Gina Ruvalcaba
Second Laura Berg Rob Griffith
Third Lori Gillen Denyse HutchinsonSarah Villanueva
Fourth Lacey Mendoza Chris Shirley Ben Woiblet
Fifth Justin James Kate Keyes Ben Vandonge

Wednesday Collaboration
and
Other District-Wide Ongoing Collaboration
2023-24
DRAFT as of 7/26/2023
Wednesdays
1st of the Month (Sept 6, Oct 4, Nov 1, Dec 6, Jan 3, Feb 7, March 6, April 10, May 1, June 5)
•K-12 Counselors (Elem 2:00-3:15, Secondary 2:30-3:45)
2nd of the Month (Sept 13, Oct 11, Nov 8, Dec 13, Jan 10, Feb 14, Mach 13, April 17, May 8)
•Secondary sped (3:00-4:15)
•Secondary ML coordinators (3:00-4:15)
4th of the Month (Sept 27, Oct 25, Nov 29*, Jan 24, Feb 28, March 27, April 24, May 22)
•Title/LAP/LS/K-3 (2:00-3:15)
•Elementary sped (2:00-3:15)
•Elementary ML coordinators (2:00-3:15)
•Elementary PE (2:00-3:15)
•Elementary Music (2:00-3:15)
•Librarians (2:00-2:45 elem, 2:30-3:15 secondary)

PLT Planners to Support
Teams, GC’s and Building
Leadership

Why Planners?
This work is not easy.
Simply assigning teachers to teams and hoping that they achieve
and consistently live in stages 6-7 of the right work simply doesn’t
work for many teams. We’re human. It’s OK to admit it that we may
need just a little bit of structure to help us achieve our best.
Co-laboring over the “right work” is how we ensure all teams get
from PLC Lite to PLC Right.
When guiding coalitions and their principals monitor, pay attention
and celebrate to the quality of the work and learning coming from
the teams the message is clear – the work is important.

Promise Standards
Achievement and
Progress

Building-Wide Response
Guiding Coalition & Admin
Skyward/5Lab
Student/Staff/Parent Access

Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
What will success look like?
Our ultimate goal is that all students demonstrate proficiency on grade/subject promise
standards. Full implementation will ensure all students, staff and families are aware of the
significance of promise standards and serve as partners in the work to ensure mastery. This
success will be facilitated by timely ongoing communication between teachers and students, and
teachers and families, student by student and standard by standard.
3X a year review of promise standard attainment by school/grade/demographic for ELA and
Math with the school Board (beginning winter 2023)
Monthly progress monitoring by school GC’s and Principal(s)

We Needed to Devise a Way That Was…
Quick and easy for teachers to communicate student promise
standard success in ELA and Math
Tied to Skyward so we didn’t have to manage another system or
different database
Pre-populated so that
1. Teachers didn’t have to do the work
2. Alignment across the grades/schools
Access for parents and students to track progress
Ability for GC’s and Principals to analyze results and develop timely
interventions

Guiding Coalitions
Supporting
Teams

COLLABORATION LITE:
“Mere collegiality won’t cut it. Even discussions about curricular issues
or popular strategies can feel good but go nowhere.
The right image to embrace is of a group of teachers who meet
regularly to share, refine, and assess the impact of lessons and
strategies continuously to help increasing numbers of students learn at
higher levels.”
—Schmoker, M. (2004). “Start Here for Improving Teaching,”
The School Administrator 61(10), 48–49
44

COLLABORATION RIGHT:
In a PLC at Work, we ensure high levels of learning for all students by
giving teachers the knowledge and skill to systematically study the
efficacy of their instruction with one another.
Teachers who believe in their own ability to improve their practice with
one another - to identify strategies with promise, to document the
impact of those strategies, and to amplify those that work the best -
will always have a positive impact on student learning in a building.

Stages Questions That
Define This
Stage
Description of This Stage How to Move Forward
Stage 1
Filling the
Time
What exactly
are we supposed
to do?
Teams in this stage believe in the PLC concepts
but lack clear guidelines or experiences regarding
what they need to focus on during collaboration
time. Teams in this stage typically struggle to fill
time or move to the other extreme and try to
accomplish too many things too quickly. This
stage is characterized by frustration,
bewilderment, and a desire to go back to what was
comfortable.
Teams in this stage need clear
guidelines and work expectations.
It also helps to identify clear and
specific tasks for the group,
utilize agendas, create norms, and
collective commitments. Creating
a PLC structure for the teams will
be a crucial foundation for the
teams.
Stage 2
Sharing
Personal
Practice
What is
everyone doing
in their
classroom?
Teachers in this stage may be genuinely interested
in what other teachers are doing, hoping to pick
up new ideas. Talking about teaching feels like
collaboration to the novice teacher but does not
include the in-depth look at learning.
Conversations about practice are comfortable at
this stage but there is a danger in never really
taking a step toward talking about student
learning.
Teacher and school leaders can
promote meaningful work by
requiring team members to arrive
at collaborative decisions around
curriculum, assessment, or
instruction. Need to move from
individual milestones to collective
milestones and goals. A
discussion about shared
accountability is warranted at this
stage.
Stage 3
Planning
Planning
Planning
What should we
be teaching and
how do we
lighten the load
for each other?
Teachers utilize the team approach to plan
together. Rather than each teacher individually
planning every lesson, different members take
responsibility for sets of lessons and share their
planning work with others. Unfortunately, teams
often grow comfortable with shared planning and
fail to focus on results. Teacher attention remains
centered on teaching rather than learning.
Use student achievement data in
the planning process. The
questions to ask are, “Are
students learning what you want
them to learn? How do you know
they are learning?
Stage 4
Developing
Common
Assessments
How do you
know students
learned?
What does
mastery look
like?
Shared assessments force teachers to define
exactly what students should learn and what
evidence is necessary for documenting success.
Novice teams may work to avoid common
assessments, thereby steering clear of difficult
conversations, but common assessments are
essential if teams are to shift their focus from
teaching to learning
Teacher and school leaders should
consider moderating difficult
conversations and modeling
strategies for joint decision-
making. Time spent on the
differences between assessments
of learning and for learning is
critical.
Skill development and P.D on
assessment practices is critical at
this stage.
Stage 5
Analyzing
Student
Learning
Are students
learning what
they are
supposed to be
learning?
Professional learning teams begin to shift their
focus from teaching to learning. Teachers
spend time looking and dissecting student
work, analyzing the strengths and areas of
improvement for each student. Teams can be
very motivated in this stage and can be driven
by results. However, teachers are also put in a
delicate position of publicly facing results of
their classroom which may pose an intensely
personal response. Collective intelligence
provides a never-ending source of solutions
for addressing shared challenges.
Provide structures and tools for
effective data analysis.
Emotional support and patience
is required during this stage.
Create safe environments.
Separate the person from the
practice is an essential first step
in teams examining results
together. School leaders should
walk the walk, modeling a data
oriented approach while
publically reflecting on their
own work.
Stage 6
Adapting
instruction to
student needs
How can we
adjust
instruction to
help those
students
struggling and
those
exceeding
expectations?
Teachers, teacher leaders, and school leaders
collectively commit to helping all students
improve and learn. Behaviors in the teams
represent this commitment. Teams are
typically performing at high levels taking
collective responsibility for student success
rather than responding as individuals.
Pose reflective, provocative
questions to the team to
explore various approaches to
intervention and enrichment.
Provide professional
development in intervention
development.
Stage 7
Reflecting on
Instruction
Which
practices are
most effective
with our
students?
This question brings the process of
professional learning team development full
circle, connecting learning back to teaching.
Teams are engaged in deep reflection,
tackling innovative projects such as action
research and lesson study. In this stage, you
will find teachers observing other classrooms,
video taping instruction, intentionally inviting
others into the group and “growing” the
success of the team into a school culture.
Teacher and school leaders
should facilitate a team’s
ability to explore the teaching-
learning connection. Teachers
observing each other,
providing release time for
special projects, facilitating
cross-team conversations, and
expanding the culture school
and district wide.
Adapted from the National Staff Development Council’s, Journal of Staff Development
“One Step at a Time” by Parry Graham and Bill Ferriter. Summer 2008, Vol. 29, NO 3, P. 38.

47
Answer This:
Working as a GC group, reflect on this:
What kind of work is your guiding coalition currently doing with one
another? How are you developing your knowledge and expertise about
the PLC at Work process? What are your plans to support collaborative
teams across your campuses so that they consistently get to stages 6
& 7?

Question #3: What does
Our GC Do When Some
Students Don’t
Learn?

Interventions and Extensions in a PLC at
Work
“For any school truly committed to a mission of ensuring all students
learn at high levels, responding when students don't learn requires a
schoolwide, systematic process. Only by leveraging the collaborative
efforts of the entire staff-including administrators, classroom teach-
ers, certificated specialists, and classified staff-can a school best meet
the academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and environmental needs
of their students.
This is the primary reason why in the PLC at Work process, the entire
school is considered the PLC-because the entire staff accepts
collective responsibility for every student's success and readily
contributes their specific expertise, experience, and efforts to achieve
this outcome” (p. 194).

Interventions and Extensions in a PLC at
Work
“Teacher teams cannot unilaterally change the master
schedule to create intervention time during the school day
or independently determine the use of schoolwide support
staff, such as special education teachers, instructional
aides, counselors, school psychologists, speech therapists,
subject specialists, and classified support staff. Instead, the
school's guiding coalition-should take primary
responsibility to coordinate, monitor, and revise the
school's plans to intervene and extend student learning”(p.
195).

Interventions in a True PLC at Work
“Interventions must be a directive, meaning students
must be required to attend if they have a need” (p. 224)
“It is time for educators to acknowledge the obvious:
allowing students to act irresponsibly does nothing to
teach them responsibility, and it is disingenuous to
pretend it does. A school truly committed to teaching
responsibility will convey a consistent message that
learning is required rather than optional, and it will create
policies and procedures that direct rather than invite
students to do what is necessary to learn” (p. 225)

53
Answer This:
Working as a GC group:
What staff, tools or supports can we as the GC leverage for Tier 2
interventions during the student day? What could it look like?

Supporting You and Your
GC Teams

How Can We Help?
Requests from the Strategic Plan Committee
Quarterly GC Summits
Attend PLC at Work and RTI Conferences
Access and Training in 5Lab
What else?

A-Ha, Amen, and Now What:
Find a thinking partner. Then, share an “A-ha,” an “Amen,” or a
“Now What” about structuring the work of your Guiding Coaltion.
A-ha
An idea that you hadn’t considered before, but that
makes a ton of sense to you.
Amen
An idea that validates something that you are already
doing in your work.
Now What
An idea that you are going to take back and begin using
immediately.
56

Guiding Coalition Summit 2023

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