
Hands-on, Practical Guidance for Educators
From math,
literacy, equity, multilingual learners, and SEL, to assessment, school counseling,
and education leadership, our books are research-based and authored by experts
on topics most relevant to what educators are facing today.
The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K-12
By: Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Taylor Almarode, Karen T. Flories, David T. Nagel
- Grade Level: PreK-12
- ISBN: 9781544378442
- Published By: Corwin
- Year: 2019
- Page Count: 176
- Publication date: June 03, 2019
Price: $32.95
For Instructors
Related Professional Learning
Related Signature ServicesRelated Institutes
- 2023 Annual PLC+ Conference
- Power of Clarity and PLC+ Institute
- Virtual PLC+ Certification
- Virtual PLC+ Institute
Tools
Description
Designed as an accompanying resource to PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, the Playbook helps educators bring the PLC+ framework to life by supporting teams as they answer the five guiding questions that comprise a PLC+:
- Where are we going?
- Where are we now?
- . How do we move learning forward?
- . What did we learn today?
- Who benefited and who did not benefit?
Twenty-three modules support PLC+ groups as they work through one entire cycle of learning, addressing the five questions and four cross-cutting themes—equity, high expectations, individual and collective efficacy, and effective team activation and facilitation. Tools to support implementation of the PLC+ framework are embedded throughout the Playbook:
- Blank templates allow team members to record their work for every module
- Step-by-step instructions guide PLC+ groups to facilitate productive discussion, engage in professional learning, and gather and analyze evidence of student learning
- Crosscutting themes provide cohesion and focus throughout the work
PLC+ groups can utilize each activity in the Playbook or find an appropriate entry point and continue the work of building PLC+. Engage in deeper learning around the ideas and concepts central to PLC+ and make greater equity and efficacy a reality in your school or district.
Key features
- Blank templates for team members to record their work accompany every module
- Includes step-by step directions on how to have productive discussions, gather evidence, engage in professional learning, and analyze evidence of student learning
- 4 Crosscutting themes from the PLC+ book provide cohesion and focus throughout the work:
- Equity
- Individual and collective efficacy
- High expectations
- Facilitation
Author(s)
Douglas Fisher
Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit and an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook, PLC+, Visible Learning for Literacy, Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading, How Tutoring Works, and How Learning Works. Doug loves being an educator and hopes to share that passion with others.
Nancy Frey
John Taylor Almarode
Dr. John Almarode is a bestselling author and has worked with schools, classrooms, and teachers all over the world on the translation and application of the science of learning to the classroom, school, and home environments, and what works best in teaching and learning. He has done so in Australia, Canada, Egypt, England, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Korea, Thailand and all across the United States.
He is an Associate Professor of Education in the College of Education. In 2015, John was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship. In 2021, John was honored with an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia. At James Madison University, he continues to work with pre-service teachers and graduate students, as well as actively pursues his research interests including the science of learning, the design and measurement of classroom environments that promote student engagement and learning.
The work of John and his colleagues has been presented to the United States Congress, Virginia Senate, at the United States Department of Education as well as the Office of Science and Technology Policy at The White House.
John began his career in Augusta County, Virginia, teaching mathematics and science to a wide-range of students. Since then, John has authored multiple articles, reports, book chapters, and eleven books including Captivate, Activate, and Invigorate the Student Brain in Science and Math, Grades 6 - 12 (Corwin Press, 2013), From Snorkelers to Scuba Divers (Corwin Press, 2018), both with Ann Miller, and Visible Learning for Science, with Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie (Corwin Press, 2018). He recently finished a book focusing on clarity, Clarity for Learning, with Kara Vandas (Corwin Press, 2019), as well as Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 6 - 8, and Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 9 - 12 both with Doug Fisher, Joseph Assof, Sara Moore, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie (Corwin, 2019), all with Corwin Press. Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades K - 2 and Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 3 - 5 with the same author team plus Kateri Thunder hit the shelves in March of 2019. He is also the past co-editor of the Teacher Educator’s Journal.
In 2019, John and his colleagues developed a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities: PLC+. Focusing on sustained change in teacher practice, the PLC+ framework builds capacity within teacher-led teams to maximize student learning. The books, PLC+ Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K - 12, The PLC+ Activator’s Guide will support this work in schools and classrooms.
John and his colleagues have also focused a lot of attention on the process of implementation – taking evidence-based practices and moving them from intention to implementation, potential to impact through a series of on-your-feet-guides around PLCs,Visible Learning, Visible Teaching, and the SOLO Taxonomy. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, John and his colleagues developed the Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction (SAGE). In November of 2020, Student Learning Communities (ASCD) was released, followed by Great Teaching by Design (Corwin Press), The Success Criteria Playbook (Corwin), an educational textbook on teaching science in the inclusive early childhood classroom, Inclusive Teaching in the Early Childhood Science Classroom (Routledge), and A Quick Guide to Simultaneous, Hybrid, & Blended Learning (Corwin).
Continuing his collaborative work with colleagues on what works best in teaching and learning, How Tutoring Works, Visible Learning in Early Childhood, and How Learning Works, all with Corwin Press, were released in 2021.
Karen T. Flories
Karen Flories is currently a full-time professional learning consultant for Corwin. In her role, she works with teachers and leaders across the nation to understand the Visible Learning research and use it as a guide to inform decisions about what best impacts student learning. Karen also facilitates professional learning centered on teacher clarity, formative assessment, feedback and works hands on with teachers and leaders to drive learning at surface, deep and transfer levels. Most recently, Karen and her colleagues have developed a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities: PLC+.
Focusing on sustained change in teacher practice, the PLC+ framework builds capacity within teacher-led teams to maximize student learning. The books, PLC+ Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K - 12, The PLC+ Activator’s Guide will support this work in schools and classrooms. Other publications include, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Teacher’s Guide 6-12, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Learner’s Notebook 6-12, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Teacher’s Guide 3-5, Becoming an Assessment Visible Learner Learner’s Notebook 3-5.
Prior to her role with Corwin, Karen was the Executive Director of Educational Services for 5 years and Director of Literacy and Social Studies in VVSD for 2 years, after serving as the English Department Chair for Romeoville high school. Karen’s classroom experience includes high school English, special education, and alternative education. During her time at the district level, Karen led the implementation of Visible Learning specifically focusing on teacher clarity, classroom assessment and feedback. Karen’s presentation style is highly engaging and focuses on participants being able to understand and apply specific practices in their school or classroom based on solid evidence, instruction for secondary students, PLC facilitation, close reading, and text-dependent questions. She is a National Board-Certified Teacher and currently teaches 11th and 12th grade English at Health Sciences High and Middle College, an urban high school in San Diego, California.
David T. Nagel
Dave Nagel is an international educational consultant and researcher. He is an engaging and dynamic presenter that brings authenticity and practicality to all his work. Dave will ensure that participants understand how evidence-based concepts and ideas can be implemented to bring about student learning gains.
Dave’s educational career started as a middle school science and high school biology teacher. His administrative experiences involved middle school assistant principal, high school associate principal, and director of extended day and credit-recovery programs. In his former district, Dave was instrumental in implementing power standards and performance assessments. He was honored numerous times as a ‘Senior Choice’ winner, where graduating seniors selected him as someone who dramatically affected their life in a positive way. His efforts in augmenting and implementing a multifaceted credit recovery model transformed Ben Davis High School (enrollment 3,400 students in Grades 10-12) from a middle-of-the-road high school in terms of diplomas awarded into a graduation factory. By focusing on differentiated goals for students based on specific proficiency measures for all students, Ben Davis High School was able to move their graduation rate 14% in just over four years.
He is certified in many key Corwin service lines including Visible Learningplus, and has contributed to several white papers and SmartBriefs, national webinars, and submissions on Corwin Connect. Dave is also an author of several Corwin publications including the PLC+ series as well as Effective Grading Practices for Secondary Teachers (2015). He has been an author consultant with Corwin since 2013 and became a full-time consultant with Corwin in 2018.
Published multiple times in various publications such as Principal Leadership and Educational Leadership, Dave has also presented at various national conferences such as ASCD, Learning Forward (Formerly the National Staff Development Council), National Association of Secondary School Principals, National School Boards Association (NSBA), and The Superintendents Association (AASA).
Some specific areas Dave specializes in when working with schools revolve around teacher clarity, effective assessment, grading and effective feedback actions that align with targeted instruction, leadership, and effective collaboration. Dave has also done extensive work around helping school teams work on critical aspects of effective collaboration. This has proven to significantly impact student achievement through focusing on intentional adult learning and instructional actions and approaches as teams develop collaborative expertise.
Finally, and most pertinent to Dave’s work and his passion, he has done deep level work and implementation related to effective grading practices. He has worked with teams, schools, and entire districts adopting new grading policies and practices: Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools, Tri-Creek Schools (Lowell, Indiana), Lyon County Schools, (Nevada), the Pajaro Unified School District in Watsonville, California, Lovejoy ISD, near Dallas, Texas, and Lancaster School District (California). His book is Effective Grading Practices for Secondary Teachers: Practical Strategies to Prevent Failure, Recover Credits, and Increase Standards-Based/Referenced Grading (Corwin, 2015) and has received excellent reviews from numerous practitioners in the field.
Table of Contents
List of Videos
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Welcome to the PLC+ Playbook
Module 1: The Purpose and Status of Your PLC+
Put the Playbook to Work for You
PLC Defined
PLC+ Guiding Questions
Module 2: Crosscutting Values and Opportunities to Grow Your PLC+ Team
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Crosscutting Values
SWOT Analysis
Module 3: On Your Own: The Plus Is You
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Your Individual Identity
Teacher Credibility
Teacher Credibility and Its Intersection With Crosscutting Values
Teacher Self-Efficacy
Teacher Self-Efficacy and Its Intersection With Crosscutting Values
Module 4: Collective Efficacy and Credibility in a PLC+
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Revisiting Teacher Credibility and Teacher Self-Efficacy
From Individual to Collective Teacher Efficacy
Setting Norms for Our Ways of Work
Norms for Our Ways of Work in Our PLC+
Module 5: Guiding Question 1: Where Are We Going? Analyze Standards
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Analyzing Standards
Design the Learning Progression
Develop Daily Learning Intentions
Identify Success Criteria
Complete PLC+ Template for Guiding Question 1: Where Are We Going?
Module 6: Where Are We Going? Crosscutting Values Check
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Equity and Expectations Values Checklist
Activate Learning for Myself and Others Checklist
Collective Efficacy Checklist
Module 7: Guiding Question 2: Where Are We Now? Data Collection
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Initial Assessment Data Collection
Data Gathering
Module 8: Where Are We Now? Data Analysis, Common Challenges, and Misconception Analysis
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Data Analysis Protocol
Common Challenge Protocol
Identify Student Misconceptions
Module 9: Where Are We Now? Crosscutting Values Check
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Equity and Expectations Values Checklist
Activate Learning for Myself and Others Checklist
Collective Efficacy Checklist
Module 10: Guiding Question 3: How Do We Move Learning Forward? Strengthening Our Teaching Practices
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Pair Teaching Strategies With Evidence Gathering
Coaching Corners Protocol
Module 11: How Do We Move Learning Forward? Assignment Analysis
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Assignment Analysis Tool
Module 12: How Do We Move Learning Forward? Learning Walks
Put the Playbook to Work for You
What Is a Learning Walk?
Types of Learning Walks and Their Purposes
Module 13: How Do We Move Learning Forward? Microteaching
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Microteaching in a Professional Learning Community
Preparation for Microteaching: The Volunteer Teacher
Module 14: How Do We Move Learning Forward? Crosscutting Values Check
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Equity and Expectations Values Checklist
Activate Learning for Myself and Others Checklist
Collective Efficacy Checklist
Module 15: Guiding Question 4: What Did We Learn Today?
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Build the Habit of Reflection
Module 16: What Did We Learn Today? Build Expert Noticing
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Expert Noticing: How Is Our PLC+ Using Student Evidence of Learning?
Expert Noticing Video Protocol
Noticing Note-Taking Guide
Module 17: What Did We Learn Today? Common Assessments
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Common Assessments/Quality Assessment Evidence
Design a Common Assessment to Use for Preunit and Postunit Comparisons
Module 18: What Did We Learn Today? Determining Impact and Comparing Progress and Achievement
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Determining Impact
Progress Versus Achievement
Visualizing Data
Module 19: What Did We Learn Today? Crosscutting Values Check
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Equity and Expectations Values
Overcoming Obstacles to Talking About Learning
Equity and Expectations Values Checklist
Activate Learning for Myself and Others Checklist
Collective Efficacy Checklist
Module 20: Guiding Question 5: Who Benefited and Who Did Not Benefit?
Put the Playbook to Work for You
On Your Own
Data Review
On Your Own
Equity Audit Protocol: Revisit the Data as a Team
Module 21: Who Benefited and Who Did Not Benefit? Responding to Improve Student Learning
Put the Playbook to Work for You
The Vital Nature of Progress Monitoring
Tiered Intervention Progress Monitoring Protocol
Module 22: Who Benefited and Who Did Not Benefit? Crosscutting Values Check
Put the Playbook to Work for You
Equity and Expectations Values Checklist
Activate Learning for Myself and Others Checklist
Collective Efficacy Checklist
References