Change Intervention Research Paper

Roberts, S. & Pruitt, E. (2003). Schools as Professional Learning Communities: Collaborative Activities and Strategies for Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Students can be identified as having a learning disability by using a process based on their response to research-based interventions along with an IQ-achievement discrepancy. These scientific, research-based interventions, which are tiered approaches to school based service delivery, are generally known or called response-to-intervention (RtI) models. RtI models are early intervention approaches that involve children’s responses to evidence-based interventions which are implemented on three different levels of intensity. To achieve prevention goals, RTI schools are structured, arranged, staffed, and lead differently than traditional schools. Along with using a tiered approach, schools that use RtI models also use progress monitoring. They use a vital flow chart of students, within and across tiers of services, to maintain a positive response to intervention. School-wide RtI is characterized by multiple tiers of risk and support. Students within RtI schools are considered to be placed across three, sometimes four, tiers of risk ranging from no risk to very high level of risk. There is no right or wrong amount of tiers schools can use, but the majority of schools use a three tier system. The expectation of Tier 1 is that about 80% of students will be making expected progress in

Dr. Fremstad has been instrumental in the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at West Fargo High School. She understands the power of teacher collaboration and has led the charge to train and monitor the program with fidelity. Jennifer has inspired educators to share student evidence of learning and extend intervention or enrichment learning opportunities based on the data. In addition, she advocates on the importance of frequent classroom visitations with her leadership team and establishes annual visitation goals to support teachers and

1). Consequently, teachers need training and support through professional learning communities (PLC) as they “…have proven to be a cornerstone of effective teaching and, in underperforming schools, a catalyst for improvement” (Farbman, Goldberg, & Miller, 2014, p. 10). As a result, my plan proposes following Claudet’s model of a change agent (2011) by inspiring stakeholders to become collaborative partners in remedying academic gaps. It begins with the faculty analyzing student data scores to prioritize topics, designing a timeframe to meet goals, and identifying the stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Once this is determined, several teachers would attend summer or fall training sessions to develop strategies to address the learning needs of low-achieving students because “…collective leadership has positive effects on student achievement” (Barth, 2001, p. 12). The trained teachers would provide monthly PLC activities to cultivate developmental and cultural instructional strategies, analyze student progress, share successes, and problem-solve concerns. Measurement of the effectiveness of the training occurs through staff participation, observations, and classroom formative and summative assessments, as recorded through the software programs provided to the teachers at the beginning of the

Effective leadership also comes with great collaboration in an organization internal and external. Leadership must constantly involve staff in collaboration. Early in a new program's life a centralized focus must provide the leader a number of benefits: management of external stakeholders, management of informational needs, funding of the program, and management support. Providing teachers and administrative teams to collaborate on on-going and future issues will help empower and motivate to take ownership in the organization. In an educational environment school leaders must collaborate with staff through PLC's which are team meetings, faculty and staff meetings, school improvement committees, teacher appraisals periods (PDAS), and even casual conversation.

Embedded professional learning through weekly PLCs (Professional Learning Communities – by grade level), as well as coaching

When PLC is in place teachers will set higher expectations on their student’s achievements. They will also encourage their students that they can reach such high demands while suppling them with the resources to reach their goal. Students will be confident that they can count on their teachers and lean on their peers when trying to achieve ambitions learning goals. Professional learning communities gives professional educators the opportunities to look deeply into the process of teaching and learning where they can learn how to become more effective in their work with their

A professional learning community is an environment that focuses on collaboration and results. Students are expected to work together and so are the teachers. The classrooms I have observed are keen to implement collaborative activities. I have not witnessed

Professional development has been described as “ongoing learning opportunities available to teachers and other education personnel through their schools and districts.” (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011) It is a concept that is very common in the field of education. Some educators participate in it for continuing education requirements, some because it is mandated my administration, and others on a voluntarily basis to enhance their instruction and keep abreast of new best practices. Whatever reason educators have for engaging in professional development opportunities, it is a necessary part of any efforts to improve or reform a school. The CT State Education Resource Center (SERC)

For the purpose of this paper I will be structuring my group based on that I am employed by Chesterfield Community Corrections. Chesterfield Community Corrections is made up of seven different agencies and I work for the domestic and sexual violence resource center. I will be running a group for survivors of domestic violence. However, before I discuss my group I will introduce you to the mission and vision statement of Chesterfield Community Corrections Domestic Violence Center and a background on the agency itself. The center serves as Chesterfield County’s hub for coordinating response efforts to domestic and sexual violence. A goal of the unit itself is to develop a county wide policy and practice that places value of the victim’s safety and accountability on the offender. The center works with other Chesterfield County units such as the police department, Commonwealth Attorney’s office, Community Service Board, Social Services, Health Department, Magistrates Office, Victim’s Witness Protection, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts and Community Corrections and Pretrial Services. The center is a valuable resource for county wide service providers and victims and assists by linking them to professionals with available services to the community. (Retrieved from http://www.chesterfield.gov/DSVRC/)

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a model that many schools have implemented in an effort to improve both teacher performance and collaboration. Through PLCs, teachers and administrators work together to improve instructional delivery and in turn, improve student academic performance (Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt-Yates, & Mark, 2013). Three factors have been identified as necessary components for proper functioning of PLCs. These three factors are enabling school structures, collegial trust, and academic emphasis (Gray, Kruse, & Tarter, 2016). There are many potential positive effects which may result from implementing PLCs, including improved teacher perceptions towards student learning and

This goal did not appear to be farfetched in the planning stages. The teachers of Florence Middle School were engaged in a culture where subject area teams regularly planned lessons together. Furthermore, grade level teams were meeting once a month. These teams already had a history of clearly articulating their ideas, goals, and plans to the administrative team on initiatives other than the RTI process. On the outside looking in, it appeared professional learning communities (PLCs) were in place at Florence Middle

Despite research supporting the need for educators to move from isolation to collaboration to build capacity and improve the learning of multigenerational students (Hiatt-Michael, 2001). The COCE leadership did not fully plan or execute Fullan’s (2016) three phases required to sustain change. Nor did the COCE leadership demonstrate the four essential elements of successful PLCs: “servant leader (guide and nurturer); shared moral purpose; sense of trust and respect among all members; and an open environment for conducive to collaborative decision making” (Hiatt-Michael, 2001, p.

Educators should strive to collect, analyze and present thorough evidence. The data should be used to build and strengthen PLC’s by addressing the needs and strengths of the existing program. Furthermore, equity in instructional practices can be addressed through the use of such data. Continued research must be performed once the PLC has been developed to address areas that are not equally served. Educators should not be spending a lot time alone during this process; this will lead to an ineffective PLC. Collaboration occurs only after each person involved has time to reflect and make use of the PLC (Reynolds, 2008).

The results of this study supported hypothesis one, meaning that enabling school structures, collegial trust, and academic emphasis shows significant correlation with PLCs. Enabling school structures collegial trust, and academic emphasis explained around 68% of the variance in the development of PLCs. In terms of affecting development of PLCs, enabling school structures made a substantial contribution, academic emphasis had a smaller effect, and collegial trust did not demonstrate a significant effect. PLC development was positively correlated with enabling school structures, collegial trust, and academic emphasis. PLC development was negatively correlated with school level, indicating that PLC development was higher at the elementary school level and progressively declined at the middle and high school levels. No significant correlation was found between PLCs and SES, as measured by percentages of students receiving free and reduced lunch. The strongest correlation of .73 existed between