Every Educator Engages in Effective Professional Learning
So Every Student Achieves

By Bridget Lewis, Interim Superintendent, and Debbie Lahue, Director of Learning

How teachers work . . . the work of teachers has evolved over the years. Given the present needs of our students and the intense curriculum work, teachers are committed to finding ways to work together. Gone are the days when teachers go into their rooms, close the door, and teach in isolation. Teachers continually strive to meet the needs of all learners. The challenge of meeting the needs of students needing additional support, while at the same time challenging our top achieving students, inspires teachers to participate in continuous professional learning communities. Teachers work to meet the needs of every student by participating in ongoing professional learning.

Educators today are engaged in continuous professional learning. Teachers observe each other at their work, reflecting on dialogue that leads to increased teacher effectiveness, and ultimately improved student learning. This learning is richer and deeper because it is not done in isolation. The most significant influence to determine whether students learn well is the skill of the teacher. Nine Mile Falls School District has a deep commitment to continuous student reflection, dialogue, and learning for all. Teachers throughout our system spend time learning together each Thursday morning. Our collaboration time provides teachers with valuable time to work in grade level teams and curricular area teams. Conversations include such topics as aligning curriculum, designing lessons, creating common assessment, sharing successful instructional strategies, evaluating student assessment results, and professional reflection all focused on what is best for students. Thursday collaboration time is very important; it provides crucial time for teachers to examine data, dialogue about best practices, and make plans for how to best serve all students.

Many teachers have taken on roles of teacher leadership to guide the effort in curricular areas. Currently, Curriculum Learning Teams are in place at the district level that focus in the areas of reading, writing, health/fitness, science, the arts, and mathematics. These teams include teachers from all levels, elementary, middle, and high school, who coordinate the improvement efforts in that particular curricular area, as well as participate in learning opportunities themselves. These team members return to their buildings, take their new learning with them, and communicate the work back to their peers. Participants focus on the process of learning as well as measurable results.

Each building has a SIP (School Improvement Process) Team that supports and enhances the work done through the district level teams. Again, teachers, in conjunction with the principal, take the lead in constructing the efforts of continuous improvement in their individual buildings. Critical Friends Groups are another way teachers are coming together to learn in order to become more effective so that students learn successfully. These groups use protocols that make their time together very efficient and effective. The protocols are followed to evaluate student work, lesson plans, dilemmas, or any other focus a teacher feels would be helpful. This is professional learning at its best, designed by teachers for teachers.

Additional support has come by the way of the STAR Protocol. This structure affords teachers the opportunity to observe each other as well as teachers’ instruction in other districts. The STAR Protocol, developed by the BERC Group, is a tool that guides reflective conversation around effective strategies. The protocol helps educators to reflect on their own instructional practices and to understand the relationship between instructional practices and student achievement.
Teacher leaders and instructional coaches provide support in a variety of ways. One of those ways is collaborating after school on Mondays in specialized job-embedded, learning called Digging Deeper. This allows teachers to spend quality time with their peers discussing strategies and equipping themselves to implement new curriculum and instructional strategies. This job-embedded, on-going work is all about teachers helping teachers. Nine Mile Falls School District teachers actively engage with each other over their knowledge, using a wide range of data to devise the most effective strategies to help all children learn.

It used to be “good enough” for teachers to be trained at the collegiate level prior to entering the profession and be done with their own learning. Now the mantra for all educators is accepting the constant challenge of “getting better.” The work has changed and so has the landscape of professional learning. Teachers have committed to teamwork and engaged in the process more than ever before. Trust and teamwork are large factors in our pursuit of meeting kids’ needs. Together we can make a difference.