LEADING
WITH
INTENTION
8 Areas for Reflection and Planning in Your PLC at Work®
Foreword by Douglas Reeves
Jeanne Spiller Karen Power
Copyright © 2019 by Solution Tree Press
Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Spiller, Jeanne, author. | Power, Karen, 1967- author.
Title: Leading with intention : eight areas for reflection and planning in your PLC at work / Jeanne Spiller, Karen Power.
Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018011555 | ISBN 9781945349836 (perfect bound)
Subjects: LCSH: School principals | Educational leadership. | Professional learning communities. | School management and organization.
Classification: LCC LB2831.9 .S66 2019 | DDC 371.2/012--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018011555
Solution Tree
Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO
Edmund M. Ackerman, President
Solution Tree Press
President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife
Editorial Director: Sarah Payne-Mills
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Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton
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To the memory of Becky DuFour for her tireless
belief in educators. Our work will live on as a
legacy to her strength, wisdom, and kindness.
Acknowledgments
This book is built on years of teaching experience, many leadership opportunities, countless mistakes, and, thankfully, several successful outcomes. As authors, we come from diverse backgrounds and have had different life experiences; however, we share a passion for education, and we believe in educators and their students. Our great desire is to support, coach, and encourage others and share what we have learned.
We are so fortunate to have met one another as we became part of the Solution Tree family. We have experienced profound professional support as consultants. We will be forever grateful to Jeff Jones, the chief executive officer of Solution Tree; Douglas Rife, president and publisher of Solution Tree Press; and our entire Solution Tree family. As coworkers and dear friends, we acknowledge the love and commitment that are the Solution Tree family of professionals.
It goes without saying that we owe a great deal of gratitude to the schools and districts in which we have worked. We cannot say enough about the amazing leaders and educators who have shared their stories and lives with us and have graciously agreed to allow us to share them with you in this book.
To our families: we sincerely acknowledge your patience and understanding when we were not present because we were writing and for your tolerance of the enthusiasm for our work that often gets in the way of our “other lives.” We say to you, we know this to be true, and we are so thankful for your love and care with us.
To you, our readers, we acknowledge that you have many choices of books to read. We appreciate that you will spend some of your precious time with us, reflecting and learning.
Finally, we have been blessed with each other. Our love for hockey was our very first bond and when we didn’t quite know what to do with this book, we talked about hockey. We both love Alex Ovechkin, and it was with great pleasure that we watched him and his team, the Washington Capitals, win the Stanley Cup in 2018 as we wrote this book. Without some diversions, this book might not have been finished as we relied on each other’s energy, personality, and interests to keep us in the game.
Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:
Debora Bamforth
Educational Consultant
Josh Curtis
Principal
Liberty Hill Intermediate School
Liberty Hill, Texas
Chip Greenwell
Middle School Principal, District
Director of Innovation, and District
Director of Alternative Learning
Huntsville School District
Huntsville, Arkansas
Diane Kerr
Educational Consultant
Springfield, Virginia
Louis Lim
Vice Principal
Bayview Secondary School
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Robin Noble
Educational Consultant
Boulder, Colorado
Mary Beth Riley
Principal
Maple Glen Elementary School
Westfield, Indiana
Kevin Williams
Principal
St. Mary’s Catholic School Toukley
Noraville, New South Wales, Australia
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/PLCbooks to
download the free reproducibles in this book.
Table of Contents
Reproducible pages are in italics.
About the Authors
Foreword By Douglas Reeves
Introduction
Using Your Great Power as a Leader
The PLC Process
Eight Areas
About This Book
Chapter 1
Achieving Focus and Staying Intentional
Time: The Struggle Is Real
Strategies for Gaining Focus
Loose and Tight Leadership
A Positive Mindset
The Right Place
Positive Habits for Spending Time
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Achieving Focus and Staying Intentional
Chapter 2
Establishing and Maintaining Organization
Creating Systems and Protocols
Avoiding Mixed Messages
Considering Organizational Versus Instructional Focus
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Establishing and Maintaining Organization
Chapter 3
Building Shared Leadership
Shared Leadership and PLCs
The Guiding Coalition
Shared Leadership Among Staff Members
Collaborative Responsibility
Scheduling
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Building Shared Leadership
Chapter 4
Using Evidence for Decision Making and Action
Using Evidence Versus Experience
Using Data
Measuring Current Reality
Determining Root Causes
Using Data for Action
Setting SMART Goals
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Using Evidence for Decision Making and Action
Chapter 5
Pri
oritizing the Student
Students First
A Primary Focus on Student Success
Student-Centered Decision Making
An Equitable Learning Environment
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Prioritizing the Student
Chapter 6
Leading Instruction
Focusing on Instruction in a PLC
Supporting Instruction
Supporting Instruction in Struggling Schools
Supporting a Positive Classroom Environment
Supporting Collaboration
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Leading Instruction
Chapter 7
Fostering Communication
Unproductive Listening Habits
Productive Listening Habits
Deep Understanding
Crucial Conversations
Communication Beyond the School
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Fostering Communication
Chapter 8
Developing Community and Relationships
Levels of Leadership
The Why Before the What
Community-Building Practices
Community Outreach
Wrap-Up
Making an Impact in Eight: Developing Community and Relationships
Afterword
Creating the Future
References and Resources
Index
About the Authors
Jeanne Spiller is assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. School District 96 is recognized on All Things PLC (www.AllThingsPLC.info) as one of only a small number of school districts with all schools in the district earning the distinction of model professional learning community (PLC). Jeanne’s work focuses on standards-aligned instruction and assessment practices. She supports schools and districts across the United States to gain clarity about and implement the four critical questions of a PLC. She is passionate about collaborating with schools to develop systems for teaching and learning that keep the focus on student results and helping teachers determine how to approach instruction so that all students learn at high levels.
Jeanne received a 2014 Illinois Those Who Excel Award for significant contributions to the state’s public and nonpublic elementary schools in administration. She is a graduate of the 2008 Learning Forward Academy, where she learned how to plan and implement professional learning that improves educator practice and increases student achievement. She has served as a classroom teacher, team leader, middle school administrator, and director of professional learning.
Jeanne earned a master’s degree in educational teaching and leadership from Saint Xavier University, a master’s degree in educational administration from Loyola University Chicago, and an educational administrative superintendent endorsement from Northern Illinois University.
To learn more about Jeanne’s work, visit www.livingtheplclife.com, and follow her on Twitter @jeeneemarie.
Karen Power is a consultant and former teacher, principal, superintendent, and senior advisor for professional learning and leadership. Karen has implemented the Professional Learning Communities at Work® process both as a principal and as a superintendent, and, for several years as a consultant, she has supported collaborative work in schools to meet the needs of students.
Karen’s work focuses on school improvement, leadership coaching, and professional learning community implementation, as well as instruction, assessment, and evidence-based decisions for long-term sustainability.
In 2010, 2011, and 2012, Karen was selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the Public Sector by the Women’s Executive Network. She also received the national Reader’s Digest Leadership in Education Award and was named one of the Outstanding People in the Atlantic Region by Atlantic Canada’s Progress magazine.
Karen has served on the Greater Moncton United Way Board, Moncton Rotary Board, Horizon Health Network Board of Directors, and Canadian Education Association Board. Karen holds a master’s degree in school administration.
Karen divides her time between New Brunswick, Canada, and Jensen Beach, Florida, with her husband, Wayne. She has two grown daughters, Sandra and Elizabeth, who have provided her with endless opportunities for learning, love, and lots of fun.
To learn more about Karen’s work, visit https://karenpower.blog, Karen’s weekly blog for school improvement.
To book Jeanne Spiller or Karen Power for professional development, contact pd@ SolutionTree.com.
Foreword
By Douglas Reeves
Too often while implementing effective educational reforms, school leaders are tempted by the “check-off syndrome”; leaders proclaim, “We’ve already done that! Now let’s find the latest new thing!” Although professional learning communities (PLCs) are in wide use around the world and the evidence is overwhelming that, when implemented with depth and duration, PLC has a profoundly positive impact on student achievement, schools make the mistake of half-hearted implementation that Richard DuFour characterized as “PLC lite.” Indeed, implementing PLC at Work® practices requires diligence and perseverance, and flavor-of-the-month education fads and strategies are the arch enemy of this sort of focus.
So educational leaders must choose what path to take when undergoing PLC transformation: (1) the easier path of surface-level PLC implementation that avoids the difficult challenges of collaboration and evidence-based decision making that are at the heart of PLCs, or (2) the more rigorous path of persistence in deeper and deeper implementation. Fortunately, for leaders who wish to make the leap from PLC lite to the deep levels of implementation that lead to improved student achievement, Jeanne Spiller and Karen Power offer a wealth of practical tools and strategies within these pages to accomplish this transition. They guide PLC leaders in their quest to lead with intention so that their PLCs flourish.
In this book, Spiller and Power identify eight essential areas of reflection and focus for PLC leaders:
1. Achieving focus and staying intentional
2. Establishing and maintaining organization
3. Building shared leadership
4. Using evidence for decision making and action
5. Prioritizing the student
6. Leading instruction
7. Fostering communication
8. Developing community and relationships
These eight areas represent core leadership responsibilities with which many school leaders—both within PLCs and in traditional schools—struggle. The everyday challenges PLC school leaders face make it increasingly difficult to stay the course and lead staff to deep PLC implementation. In this important book, Spiller and Power explore how readers can use their great power as school leaders in the most positive and productive ways.
Importantly, in this book, leaders have the opportunity to reflect on their practice in the eight areas. Readers will consider their current practice and determine how they can best use the strategies, tools, and protocols the authors provide to strengthen their leadership, leading to deeper PLC implementation. The first area—achieving focus and staying intentional—has a critical bearing on the rest. In a true PLC, leaders must deliberately reject those factors that interfere with the shared focus on all students learning at high levels. Spiller and Power help leaders gain focus to maintain a positive mindset, support loose and tight leadership, and develop positive habits for spending time.
In the remaining seven areas, readers will reflect on and learn about effective practice and how to avoid worst practice when creating systems and protocols, building shared leadership, using data and making decisions, prioritizing student success, leading and supporting instruction, and building their communication skills. Additionally, Spiller and Power go beyond the school walls to assist PLC leaders in building positive community and relationships, which is essential for enduring PLC implement
ation.
Throughout this book, Spiller and Power help school leaders develop a relentless focus and build intentional actions so they understand not only what to do, but also what to stop doing. It’s much more pleasant and enjoyable to talk about best practices, but a challenging and essential part of the professional work of educators is to identify and avoid worst practices. Leaders who focus on best practice only can find themselves practicing a kind of “whack-a-mole leadership”—constantly attempting to latch onto every opportunity that has a best-practice label. The more nuanced approach in this book is that leaders must be judicious in choosing a few ideas that have the greatest impact on student achievement, and then implement those practices with diligence.
Among the many things I admire about this book is that the authors include many stories and anecdotes from real educators in real schools along with a wealth of practical advice from their years of experience as classroom teachers, administrators, and consultants. This level of authenticity distinguishes their work and provides readers with concrete examples of success as well as struggle.
As Spiller and Power state in their introduction, school leaders “are faced with challenging, demanding, important work every day” and their challenge is to “figure out how to share this power and responsibility to create a focused, organized, and consistent school in which leaders and teachers collaborate, make evidence-based decisions, understand that the student is the top priority, communicate effectively, and are involved in trusting relationships” (p. 1). This book will help PLC leaders as they endeavor to lead their PLCs with intention, choosing the more difficult—but ultimately more rewarding—path to deep implementation over PLC lite.
Introduction
Using Your Great Power as a Leader
With great power comes great responsibility. Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, comes to this realization after a spider bites him and he is transformed into a superhero with exceptional powers, including the ability to sense impending danger. Initially, Peter doesn’t know how to control and appropriately use his newly acquired powers. He struggles with how his power will affect others and what it means for his future. Ultimately, after his Uncle Ben reminds him that the decisions he makes will shape who he is for the rest of his life, Peter accepts that he needs to learn to harness his power and use it responsibly for the greater good. Peter relies on the insight of his uncle and others while facing many challenges and eventually learning how to control and utilize his powers to make the world a better place. In other words, he doesn’t save the world alone.