Case Study of Successful PLCs Think of a PLC that you were involved in this past year. Use the PLC Case Study Scoring Guide (available in Files in the CANVAS classroom and below) to guide your reflect
Case Study of Successful PLCs
Susan McAdams
EDL 7910 40.1E
I conducted my case study at Greenlee Elementary School which is located in Ethel, MS.
This is a small county school in a rural setting with about 368 students in grades K-6. The
PLC team I met with is required to meet on alternating Wednesdays. They occasionally meet
as a school where they discuss chapters of a book entitled, The Classroom Management System.
At this meeting, I talked with three 1st-grade teachers who teach reading, English, math,
spelling, and writing in a self-contained class. First on the agenda was a discussion of their
STAR scores. Their goal for the year was to focus on all students who generate below the 40%
range in STAR and come up with interventions for these students. As this is a meeting late in the
year, most of these students were already in the tier process. They did discuss how these
interventions were going and tweaked the process very little. Most were seeing growth and
decided to continue with previous plans.
For their meetings, each member is required to bring an idea to the table, preferably
something that has worked for them in their classroom. One of the members shared a behavior
idea that she had read about. She referred to it as Ready to Learn. Students’ names are placed
on a green dot and can either move above or below the dot, depending on the amount of effort
they are making each day. The child who has moved up the most is rewarded at the end of that
day. They were very excited to implement this plan, because they stated that they were having
some “spring fever” issues. Last, they discussed an upcoming lesson in writing which I was
allowed to see in action in Mrs. Smith’s room. The meeting lasted about 55 minutes, and they
adjourned to their classrooms.
I was then allowed to go to Mrs. Smith’s room where I observed her teaching the discussed
writing lesson. It was called the Four Square Method. She read her students a book entitled
Armadillo Rodeo, and then everyone completed an organizer together. She displayed her
example on the Promethean board for all to see. I was very impressed with this procedure. She
referred to the closing sentence as a “feeling” sentence and the children seemed to understand
easily what that meant. Her students were really excited about writing. After this was complete,
the students had to transfer this information to paper in paragraph form. At this point, I assisted
because her assistant had been called away. The students had a difficult time with this, but Mrs.
Smith said this was their first time to put a paragraph into paragraph form. This experience was
very fulfilling, and I had a great time.
This PLC addressed several of DuFour’s (2009) questions. They were anxious to discuss
ways they could help the children who were below the 40% range. They shared lessons that
worked in their classrooms for the children who were getting it. They added the element of
transferring their planned paragraphs to paper for enrichment. They collaborated which shows
horizontal alignment. Mrs. Smith’s plan was to look at each child’s paragraph to be sure they
were understanding paragraph form. If not, she would re-teach. This was her plan to monitor
and assess. I believe they did an excellent job of covering and answering these questions.
The greatest strength I saw with this team was their ability to work so well together. There
were no negative attitudes, only concern for their students. Since I was not able to observe any
weaknesses, I asked Mrs. Smith what she thought of as a weakness of her PLC team. She
pointed out that time was always a factor. She mentioned that her team would set up a meeting
and then something would come up that day or one of the assistants would be absent. They
often had to reschedule. She also said the meetings tend to get lengthy because it takes a while
to plan effectively. Other than that, she was an advocate for their PLC team.
I saw several best practices that I can use. I will definitely use the 4 Square Method. It would
be an excellent way to begin writing paragraphs even for my third graders. I was very impressed
with their cooperation and teamwork. I truly wish I could bottle their attitudes and take them
back to my PLC team. Since I cannot do that, I will share my experience with my team and try
to help them understand how important and beneficial these meetings can be to us.
Effective “team members have mutual goals and share both responsibility and accountability
for failure or success” (Roberts & Pruitt, 2009, p. 97). This is an adequate description of the
Greenlee team. They were focused on their students and their responsibilities. I think everyone
should be required to observe another PLC. There is a renewal of energy that happens when you
witness other teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching. We, as teachers, tend to get set in our ways and
forget that we can change. There is always something new to learn, and we are never too old to
learn. I was worried about this assignment, but now am glad to have been a part of it.
References:
Roberts, S. & Pruitt, E (2009). 2nd Edition. Schools as professional learning
communities. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, Inc.
Solution Tree, (2009). Rebecca DuFour, 4 critical questions of a PLC. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2UCLZDWdyA&feature=youtu.be&list=PLAqSsIiT7m2EymvlPceaWNpZ_P2jH5gF
