Marblehead Veterans Middle School (Marblehead, MA)

December 7, 2009

Submitted by Ann Davis-Allan, Marblehead Veterans Middle School (Marblehead, MA)

Can a Teacher Transform a District? Maybe. I came upon the PLC concept due to a somewhat repressed frustration that had developed over my thirty plus years of teaching special and regular education. I read the book, Results Now by Michael Schmoker on the recommendation of our district’s new superintendent – and for the first time in a long time I felt real hope. Next, I entered some graduate courses in Educational Leadership at our local college – and the PLC concept began to take hold for me. College friends, also teachers, told me about the Dufours and Eaker and the Solution Tree website. The PLC model really made sense to me, just think, teachers focusing on student learning – how could I help to make this happen in my district when I am just a teacher?? I began to order books and tapes from Solution Tree, and I began to share them with the administration of my district. Last spring I submitted a proposal to lead a study group on the PLC model and Formative Assessments. My proposal was accepted. A new principal in our district read my copy of Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities. Last summer, thanks to that very principal, 12 teachers and administrators in my district went to a PLC at Work™ Institute in Boston, MA. Twenty-five administrators and teachers signed up to participate in my study group this fall. The study group meets monthly for four hour blocks. I have selected a variety of readings for all participants to read. Then I am leading text-based discussions using a variety of protocols when we meet. We are watching the tapes I ordered previously. With the support of my principal, the lead teachers in my building are distributing two of the study group readings to all teams in my building for similar text-based discussions. Although it is just a beginning, I am optimistic that some shifts in thinking are occurring and will result in some substantial changes in “how we do business” in our district. I am now pursuing my administrative license and have enrolled in a CAGS program in Educational Leadership with the sole intent of becoming a principal, so that I can help to transform a school into a highly functioning professional learning community. Seems like the perfect way to end my career.