Profession

lopment
Coaching Inquiry-Oriented
Learning Communities
N DANA DIANE YENDOL-HOPPEY
reword by joellen Killion
 Reflective
The
Educator's
Guide to
Professional
Development
Coaching Inquiry-Oriented
Learnina Communities

NANCY FICHTMAN DANA DIANE YENDOL-HOPPEY

Foreword by Joellen Killion

A Joint Publication

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The reflective educator's guide to professional development: Coaching inquiry-oriented
learning communities/Nancy Fichtman Dana, Diane Yendol-Hoppey.
p. cm.
"A joint publication with the National Staff Development Council."
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 978-1-4129-5579-9 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-4129-5580-5(pbk.)
1. Teachers-In-service training. 2. Teachers-Professional relationships. 3. Action
research in education. I. Yendol-Silva, Diane. 11. Title.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

08 09 10 11 12

Acquisitions Editor: Carol Collins

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Contents
List of Figures vii
Foreword ix
Joellen Killion
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
About the Authors xix

1. Facilitating the Professional Development of Others:

The Role of Action Research and Professional Learning
Communities
What Constitutes Powerful Professional Development?
What Is Action Research?
What Are PLCs?
How Can Action Research and PLCs
Become the Dynamic Duo?
What's in a Name? The Importance of
Clarifying Language
What Might an Inquiry-Oriented PLC Look Like?
2. Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy
Inquiry-Oriented PLC
Ten Essential Elements of Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLCs
Assessing the Health of Your PLC
Using Action Research to Advance Inquiry-
Oriented PLC Work
3. Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering
The Wondering Playground
The Wondering Litmus Test
Looking Across the Litmus Test Questions and Stories
Passion Profiles
4. Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan
Facilitating the Development of an
Inquiry Brief: The Inquiry-Planning Meeting
The Inquiry Brief Litmus Test
5. Helping PLC Members Analyze Data
Data Analysis for the Action Researcher: A Review
Coaching Analysis: The Data Analysis Meeting
6. Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others
The Importance of Sharing: A Review
Creating a Space and Time for Sharing
Sharing PLC Inquiry Work With a Larger Audience
Four Core Components of Sharing
Sample Action Research Write-up
Sample Professional Development Plan Form
Lake Butler Showcase Program
7. From Good to Great: Lessons Learned in Coaching an
Inquiry-Oriented PLC
One Dozen Lessons for Coaching Inquiry-Oriented PLCs

References
Index
List of Figures
1.1 Types of Teacher Knowledge and Professional Development
2.1 Distinguishing Between Committees and PLCs
2.2 Types of Power Handout
2.3 Graphic Organizer
2.4 Aha's and Questions Response Sheet
2.5 River Activity Example I
2.6 River Activity Example I1
2.7 Essential Elements of a Healthy PLC
3.1 50 Examples of Wonderings by Grade Level and Teaching Area
3.2 Individual Monthly Action Plan (I-MAP) Form
3.3 Journaling Prompt
3.4 Reflective Guide
3.5 Learning Community Matrix
3.6 The Wondering Litmus Test
3.7 Actions Taken by Coaches During Wondering Discussions
3.8 Probing Questions
4.1 Inquiry Brief Example
4.2 Data Collection Exercise
4.3 Timeline for Inquiry
4.4 Inquiry Brief Tuning Protocol
5.1 Examples of Organizing Units
5.2 Strategies for Illustrating Your Findings
5.3 Data Analysis Protocol
5.4 Sentence Completion Activity
6.1 Sample Poster
6.2 Four Cs of Sharing

vii
Foreword

I mproving teaching and student learning requires intensive focus on

refining the interaction between teachers and students in classrooms.
Professional development holds the potential for dramatically improving
teaching and student learning. Yet not all professional development pro-
duces such lofty results. For some teachers, professional development is
more torture than treasure.
Menu-driven professional development models, while offering multi-
ple opportunities for teacher learning, fail to create a laserlike focus on
what happens each day in classrooms. This kind of focus results from pro-
fessional development that occurs daily as a regular part of teachers'
workday, focuses on the content they teach and their school's goals for
improvement, expands their pedagogy, deepens their content knowledge,
and engages them in professional collaboration with their colleagues. This
kind of professional development builds collective responsibility among a
school staff for student success and shifts the culture within the school so
that everyone learns every day. This type of professional learning requires
developing the capacity of professional development leaders in each
school who serve as learning facilitators.
A learning facilitator orchestrates, supports, organizes, leads, or guides
the learning among educators. As one of the ten roles of coaches (Killion &
Harrison, 2006), a learning facilitator understands how to structure learn-
ing experiences that allow teachers to learn with and from each other in
productive and efficient ways. In many schools, learning facilitators are
coaches who work to enhance teaching.
Coaches are frequently master teachers who work in a single or multi-
ple schools. They may also be district-based staff, school- or district-based
administrators, or external assistance providers who provide classroom-
and school-based support to improve instruction, content knowledge,
leadership, and student learning.
The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development: Coaching
Inquiry-Oriented Learning Communities offers support for learning facilita-
tors as they engage teachers in collaborative action research. Dana and
Yendol-Hoppey drill deeply into the action research process to offer coach-
ing strategies that amplify teachers' learning at each stage of the process
and build a community of professionals.
x a The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

The authors draw on their extensive experience with action research,

professional learning communities, and coaching to provide guidance on
shaping a culture of inquiry, building trust and safe places for risk taking,
reflection, and revision. They offer new insights on action research and
demonstrate how coaching promotes learning at each step of the process.
They share examples of interactions between coaches and teachers to
model skillful questioning, laserlike focus, and authentic inquiry. Each
chapter is filled with useful and easy-to-access tools that coaches can use
in their work.
The authors' most valuable contribution may be their insight on how
to generate opportunities for productive collaboration in learning commu-
nities focused on deep reflection and inquiry on practice and learning.
Within these collaborative interactions, teacher expertise emerges and con-
tributes to student learning. Dana and Yendol-Hoppey are clear that when
teachers collaborate about their practice and engage in inquiry using
action research, there are two beneficiaries-teachers' professionalism and
students' academic success.
-Joellen Killion
Deputy Executive Director of the
National Staff Development Council
Preface

T hroughout the years, those responsible for the professional learning

of teachers have come to realize that a great deal of untapped knowl-
edge about teaching and learning resides within the schoolhouse itself
(Killion & Harrison, 2006). The delivery of effective professional develop-
ment has transitioned from the sole provision of in-sewice days where
students have a holiday and teachers come to work to listen to an outside
expert share knowledge about a new educational innovation to tapping
the greatest underutilized source of knowledge about teaching and learn-
ing that exists within a school-the teachers and principals who work
there! Two ways teacher and principal knowledge has been accessed to
provide meaningful and powerful professional development are through
professional learning communities (PLCs) and action research. These two
mechanisms for professional development have literally exploded across
the nation, as hundreds of school districts realize the potential school-
based professional development holds for teacher growth and learning.
While both PLCs and action research hold tremendous potential for
improving the teaching and learning that occurs in schools and have
become a rampant form of professional development across the nation, the
quality of the PLC and action research experience, and therefore the suc-
cess these experiences hold for reforming schools, is directly related to the
quality of the coaching teachers engaged in this work receive. Yet, there
exists little literature on the coaching process.

What makes an effective coach?

What activities and tools do coaches use to spur the professional
development of the teachers with whom they work?
How do coaches make decisions about what activities and tools to
use and when to use them?
How can two of the most popular forms of school-based profes-
sional development (PLCs and action research) be combined so
that they can enhance each other, and therefore, magnify the
already powerful professional development practices occurring
in many schools and districts across the nation?
xii e The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

This book was written to provide answers to these questions and to

support those who work in teacher professional development-district
and school-based staff developers, grade- and department-level team
leaders, coaches, principals, mentor teachers, teacher-leaders, educational
consultants, and university professors-in the awesome responsibility of
facilitating the professional growth and learning of others. Whether you
have established PLCs or action research in your school, or are interested
in beginning this work, this book can help you think about the many
nuances that exist in leading school-based professional development or
enhance the systems you already have in place. In addition, courses in
action research are common at the university level as professors assist
teachers working on advanced degrees discover the power of studying
their own practice in a systematic way or induct novice teachers into the
teaching profession as lifelong learners and inquirers. This book can also
be useful for university professors who teach these courses, to provide
ideas for how to structure your course as a PLC with action research
becoming the product of structuring your course in this way.
There is no job that is more important than coaching the professional
development of teachers. Yet, for years, the act of coaching has not been
made explicit. There exists a plethora of books on action research and PLCs,
but few link together these two concepts that have so much in common, and
so much to offer each other. Furthermore, few are the resources that make the
action of coaching and the actions coaches take explicit. Those who coach
professional development are often left on their own to decipher the many
materials on how to do action research and what constitutes a PLC, and
figure out for themselves what it means to coach these processes. We
became amazed that so few resources existed to help coaches do what they
do best-support the learning and growth of teachers. Therefore, we wrote
this book to make explicit what we have learned based on our own experi-
ences coaching school-based professional development ourselves, as well
as research we have conducted on this process for almost twenty years.
Over this period, we have had the honor of working with many incredible
coaches, and share many of their stories and practices in this book in an
effort to make the work of the coach visible for all.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

To make the work of coaching school-based professional development
explicit, we begin in Chapter 1by discussing the question, "What consti-
tutes powerful professional development?" We then provide brief syn-
opses of two processes that meet the criteria for powerful professional
development-action research and PLCs. We end the first chapter by
comparing these two processes, noting commonalities and suggesting
 Preface xiii

how action research and PLCs can combine into a new entity-inquiry-
oriented PLCs. We define inquiry-oriented PLCs as a group of six to
twelve professionals who meet on a regular basis to learn from practice
through structured dialogue and engage in continuous cycles through
the process of action research (articulating a wondering, collecting data
to gain insights into the wondering, analyzing data, making improve-
ments in practice based on what was learned, and sharing learning
with others).
In Chapter 2, we discuss the finer points of establishing and maintain-
ing an inquiry-oriented PLC, and what is needed logistically to ensure that
the building blocks for a healthy and successful PLC are in place. If you
are just beginning as a coach, this chapter will provide many ideas for
organizing and calling the initial meetings of your PLC. If you are cur-
rently coaching an existing PLC, this chapter will help you review and
assess the essential elements of a healthy and high-functioning PLC, and
plan meeting(s) to address areas in your PLC that may need attention.
Specifically, in this chapter, we share protocols and stories to establish
effective ground rules for gatherings, enforce ground rules by identifying
behaviors consistent and inconsistent with them, enable colleagues to
develop the trust necessary to share information freely with each other,
help them attend fully to each other's perspective, and make a collective
commitment to the process of action research (J. P. McDonald, Mohr,
Dichter, & McDonald, 2003).
To help you develop a vision for how the process of action research can
be intricately intertwined with the work of a new or established PLC, in
the next four chapters of this book we explore four critical junctures in the
action research process in depth, sharing our own stories as well as the sto-
ries of many excellent inquiry-oriented PLC coaches we have observed in
action, as they facilitate group members' development of questions or won-
dering~for study (Chapter 3), help teachers develop an action research
plan (Chapter 4), assist teachers as they analyze their data (Chapter 5), and
provide spaces for teachers to share their inquiry work with others
(Chapter 6). Embedded in each of these chapters are numerous examples
of specific strategies, activities, and tools you can use in your own coach-
ing work, as well as an articulation of the thinking that went into each
action the coaches took as their work facilitating inquiry-oriented PLCs
unfolded throughout the school year. Finally, in Chapter 7, we share one
dozen "Lessons Learned" about coaching inquiry-oriented PLCs compiled
from the various coaches of teacher professional development we have
worked with throughout the years.
In whatever role you play in facilitating and supporting the profes-
sional growth of teachers, we hope this text provides helpful ideas for you
to consider as you lead renewal and reform efforts from within the four
walls of your school or district. Happy Inquiring!
Acknowledgments

T hroughout our careers, we have had the honor and privilege to work
with many tremendous educators that had taken on the responsibil-
ity of facilitating the professional growth and learning of teachers-
teacher-leaders, mentor teachers, district staff developers, coaches, and
principals. Throughout our careers, we have also always been passionate
about raising the voices of practitioners in educational reform, teaching,
and teacher education. In an effort to raise practitioner voices, we weave
within this text many rich examples and stories of the educators we have
witnessed engaged in masterful coaching of teacher professional develop-
ment. Hence, this book would not have been possible without the stories
and practices provided by these teachers and administrators.
In particular, we wish to name Broward County Professional Develop-
ment Coach extraordinaire, Terry Campenella; Miami-Dade School District
magnificent National School Reform Faculty Members, Pete Bermudez
and Linda Emm; Alachua Elementary School's terrific Teacher Leader,
Kevin Berry; University of Florida's wonderful Professional Development
School Coordinator, Darby Delane; and the North East Florida Educational
Consortium's fabulous Inquiry Facilitators: Rhonda Clyatt, Leanne
Criscitiello, Anna Faulconer, Debbi Hubbell, Jack Hughes, Sherri Jackson,
John Kreinbihl, Lynn Marshall, Mickey MacDonald, Cindy McCray, Tracie
Snow, Kim Sullivan, Tracy Taylor, and Joan Thate.
In addition to these practitioners, we are fortunate to work with the
phenomenal staff and faculty at one of the few remaining University Lab
Schools in the nation-P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School. We
wish to thank P.K. Yonge Director, Fran Vandiver, who continually both
supports and pushes our thinking about inquiry work as well as all of the
teachers at P.K. who have engaged in inquiry-oriented PLC work with us
throughout the years.
In addition to these extraordinary teachers and coaches of teacher pro-
fessional development, we are grateful to a number of principals who have
engaged in inquiry-oriented PLC work with us. We have learned a great
deal about making inquiry a part of staff development practice rather than
an add-on to teachers' already full plates through the work and support of
the following principals: Jim Brandenburg, Mark Bracewell, Teri Buckles,
Ann Hayes, Lynette Langford, and Marion McCray.
xvi The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

We would also like to acknowledge the important multiyear research

initiative, "The Peer Collaboration Initiative," conducted by a team led
by Dr. Betty Lou Whitford and funded by the Lucent Technologies
Foundation. This project aimed at developing PLCs in K-12 schools and
the research from this initiative significantly informed this book, as well as
encouraged us to share the nuts and bolts of inquiry-oriented PLC work
with those coaching the work in schools. We are particularly grateful to
Diane Wood, Hallie Tamez, and Debra Smith for their important work,
mentoring, and friendship.
In addition, The North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC)
has provided invaluable support for inquiry-oriented PLC work to take
root in sixteen districts in North-Central Florida. We are grateful to
NEFEC's Sabrina Crosby, Bob Smith, Marsha Hill, Ashley McCool, and
Jason Arnold for their support and for their passion for providing power-
ful professional development to the districts with whom they work.
We also wish to thank a number of people at the University of Florida.
Chris Sessums, Distance Education Director, provided assistance in the
construction of stories used in this text that were related to the integration
of technology into instruction. Katie Tricarico, Graduate Research
Assistant for the Center for School Improvement, helped to create some of
the figures for this text. Susan Stabel, Senior Secretary for the Center for
School Improvement at UF, provided assistance in the preparation of this
manuscript. Colleagues in the Lastinger Center for Learning-Don
Pemberton, Alyson Adams, and Sylvia Boynton-provided wonderful
feedback in our development of this model for inquiry-oriented PLCs as
they applied these concepts to their work in high-need, high-poverty
schools across the state of Florida. In addition to our colleagues at
University of Florida, we thank the wonderful acquisitions editors and
editorial assistants at Corwin Press--Carol Collins, Faye Zucker, Brett Ory,
and Gem Rabanera, who all helped this book move from conceptualiza-
tion to reality.
Finally, we wish to thank our husbands, Tom Dana (Director, School
of Teaching and Learning at University of Florida), and David Hoppey
(Inclusion Supervisor for the Alachua County Schools). These men con-
tinue to be our closest colleagues and best friends! We also wish to thank
our children, Greg, Kirsten, Caran, Billy, and Kevin, whose experiences in
schools continue to fuel our passion to keep inquiry alive for teachers and
the children they teach. Without our family's loving support and consul-
tation, this book could not have been written.

Corwin Press would like to thank the following individuals for their
contributions:

Amy Allen, Educational Consultant, Baton Rouge, LA

Roland Barth, Educator and Author, Aha, ME
 Acknowledgments xvii

Terry A. Crawley, Coordinator for School Planning and Professional

Development, Archdiocese of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Kathy Malnar, Superintendent, Hudson Area Schools, Hudson, MI
Ellen Meyers, Senior Vice President, Teachers Network, New York, NY
Bill Osman, Supervisor of Professional Development and Mentoring,
Hamilton Township Public Schools, Hamilton Twp., NJ
Gail Ritchie, Instructional Coach, Co-Leader Teacher Researcher
Network, Fairfax County Public Schools, Burke, VA
Gina Segobiano, Superintendent, Harmony Emge School District #175,
National Distinguished Principal, 2002, Belleville, IL
About the Authors
Nancy Fichtman Dana is a Professor of Education and
Director of the Center for School Improvement at the
University of Florida (http:/ /education.ufl.edu/csi).
Under her direction, the center promotes and supports
practitioner inquiry (action research) as a core mechanism
for school improvement in schools throughout the state.
She began her career in education as an elementary school
teacher in Hannibal Central Schools, New York, and has
worked closely with teachers and administrators on action research, build-
ing professional learning communities, and school-university collaborations
in Florida and Pennsylvania since 1990. She has authored numerous articles
in professional journals focused on teacher inquiry, as well as a bestselling
book (with Diane Yendol-Hoppey)from Corwin Press on the action research
process-The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research. Nancy Dana
may be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Diane Yendol-Hoppey is an Associate Professor in the
School of Teaching and Learning at the University of
Florida. She spent the first thirteen years of her career in
education teaching in a variety of public schools in
Pennsylvania and Maryland. Since joining the faculty at
University of Florida in the autumn of 2000, her work
with schools has focused on job-embedded, context
sensitive teacher learning and the cultivation of teacher leadership. Her
research explores how powerful vehicles for teacher professional develop-
ment including teacher inquiry, professional learning communities, and
coaching/mentoring can support school improvement. Her research has
appeared in such journals as Teachers College Record and Journal of Teacher
Education. She is coauthor (with Nancy Fichtman Dana) of two books, The
Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research and The Reflective Educator's
Guide to Mentoring, both from Corwin Press. Diane Yendol-Hoppey may be
reached via e-mail at [email protected].

@ xix
 Facilitating the
Professional
Development
of Others
The Role of Action Research and
Professional Learning Communities

Nothing within a school has more impact upon students in terms of

skills development, selfconfidence, or classroom behavior than the
personal and professional growth of their teachers. When teachers
examine, question, reflect on their ideas and develop new practices
that lead towards their ideals, students are alive. When teachers stop
growing, so do their students.' (Barth, 1981, p. 145)

I n the position o f district or school-based staff developer, coach, principal,

mentor, or teacher-leader, you have been charged w i t h the awesome
responsibility of facilitating the learning and professional growth o f the
1
2 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

teachers in your school and/or district. The job of keeping teachers alive
and growing throughout their careers is more important than ever! Given
the pressures of high-stakes testing and national, state, and district man-
dates, coupled with the charge to meet the endless list of student needs,
teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers (Luekens, Lyter, Fox,
& Chandler, 2004). Those that remain are hungry for support as they strive
to meet the endless challenges of teaching in today's schools. In your role
of staff developer, coach, principal, or teacher-leader, you are uniquely
positioned to fulfill the professional development appetites of teachers in
your building, keeping them in the profession, and most importantly,
keeping them vibrant and alive in their work. Staff developers who keep
teachers vibrant and alive in their work also keep learning vibrant and
alive for students each school day.

WHAT CONSTITUTES POWERFUL

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
So what is the best way to nourish the professional development of
teachers? In the past frfty years, we have learned a great deal about what
powerful professional development does and does not look like.
Historically, the most prominent model of professional development has
taken the form of workshops delivered on in-service days when teachers
work, but students have a holiday (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999a).In these
workshops, sometimes referred to as "sit and get" professional develop
ment, teachers often learn about a new pedagogy from an outside expert,
and then go back to their classrooms the next school day to implement the
new knowledge that was handed down from the expert. This type of train-
ing emphasizes developing a certain type of knowledge, referred to by
Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999a) as knowledge for practice.
Knowledge for practice is often reflected in traditional professional
development efforts when a trainer shares with teachers information pro-
duced by educational researchers. This knowledge presumes a level of cor-
rectness about specific teaching practices based on conventional scientific
methods that "yields a commonly accepted degree of significance, validity,
generalizability, and intersubjectivity" (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999a,
p. 255, referencing Fenstermacher, 1994, p. 8). Given that research can wisely
inform teaching practice, this knowledge for practice, often generated and
shared by an outside source, is useful to teacher growth but not sufficient.
Knowledge for practice may suggest a potential solution for a generic
learning dilemma but offers little insight into how to implement that solu-
tion within the teacher's specific classroom context. In most cases, teachers
need support as they transfer that newly acquired knowledge to the learn-
ing process within their classrooms. The problem with relying solely on
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 0 3

professional development focused on knowledge for practice is that these

researched-based practices are not necessarily easily transferable to a spe-
cific classroom context.
Therefore, experienced educators know that knowledge for practice as
the sole focus of professional development may be an efficient method of
disseminating information, but often does not satisfy teachers' yearning
for meaningful professional development or result in real and meaningful
change in the classroom. After a workshop, teachers often return to their
classrooms without support to implement the new knowledge they gained
as a result of workshop participation, and anything that may have been
good or useful about the workshop often gets lost in the already estab-
lished daily routines, pressures, and isolation of teaching. In addition, this
model of professional development relies solely on the expertise of educa-
tors outside of the school and/or district. In many cases, the expertise of a
district's own teaching force is never acknowledged or shared. Finally, this
model of professional development does not acknowledge the tremendous
complexities inherent in teaching.
Translating new strategies, approaches, and pedagogy from theory to
practice within individual classrooms is rarely a simple task for teachers,
and it is natural for dilemmas to emerge when implementing an innova-
tion. The traditional model of professional development offers no mecha-
nism to help teachers understand and address these dilemmas that emerge
as they implement new practices within their classrooms. Thus, educators
involved with the professional development of teachers must also culti-
vate knowledge in practice.
Knowledge in practice recognizes the importance of teacher practical
knowledge and its role in improving teaching practice. Often this type of
knowledge is generated as teachers begin testing out their new knowledge
for practice gained from traditional professional development training. As
teachers apply this new knowledge, they construct knowledge in practice
by e n g a p g in their daily work within their classroom and school. Knowledge
in practice is strengthened as teachers deliberatively reflect about specific
teaching episodes and articulate the tacit knowledge embedded in their
experiences. Knowledge in practice is strengthened through collaboration
with peers. Professional development vehicles, including mentoring and
peer coaching, rely on collaboration and dialogue that can generate reflec-
tion as well as make public the new knowledge being created.
A third type of knowledge that is gaining attention from professional
developers today is knowledge of practice. Knowledge of practice stresses
that through systematic inquiry "teachers make problematic their own
knowledge and practice as well as the knowledge and practice of others"
(Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999a, p. 273). Teachers create this kind of
knowledge as they focus on raising questions about and systematically
studying their own classroom teaching. Cochran-Smith and Lytle sug-
gest that "what goes on inside the classroom is profoundly altered and
4 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

ultimately transformed when teachers' frameworks for practice fore-

ground the intellectual, social, and cultural contexts of teaching" (p. 276).
What this means is that as teachers engage in this type of knowledge con-
struction, they move beyond the "nuts and bolts" of classroom practice
to examine how these "nuts and bolts" might reflect larger social struc-
tures and roles that could potentially inhibit student learning. Teachers
interested in constructing knowledge of practice receive support as they
collaboratively inquire with colleagues about how their own teaching
practices might inhibit the learning that takes place in their schools and
classrooms. For example, teachers might work in study groups to
uncover hidden agendas and explore issues of race, class, gender, cul-
ture, language, or ability that might influence the learning within their
school and classrooms.
Dissatisfied with the traditional "sit and get" model of professional
development, scholars throughout the past several decades have sug-
gested the need for new approaches to professional development that
acknowledge all three types of teacher knowledge. By attending to devel-
oping knowledge for, in, and of practice, we can enhance professional
growth that leads to real change. Figure 1.1 outlines the three different
types of teacher knowledge that we have shared as important to those
striving to support teacher learning, as well as some of the professional
development activities that can cultivate that type of knowledge.
Borne out of the dialogue focused on developing all three types of
teacher knowledge and moving away from relying on the traditional "sit
and get" professional development model, two driving forces for mean-
ingful, powerful professional development have gained momentum in
schools throughout the nation: action research and PLCs.

WHAT I S ACTION RESEARCH?

Action research, also referred to as teacher research, teacher inquiry, or
practitioner inquiry, is defined as systematic, intentional study by teachers
of their own classroom practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993). Action
researchers seek out change and reflect on their practice by posing ques-
tions or "wonderings," collecting data to gain insights into their wonder-
ings, analyzing the data along with reading relevant literature, making
changes in practice based on new understandings developed during
inquiry, and sharing findings with others (Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003).

Example: A Fourth Grade Teacher Researches Reading Fluency

To illustrate the process of action research, we turn to teacher-researcher
Debbi Hubbell. Debbi teaches fourth grade in a rural elementary school
located in North Florida. Intrigued when her principal offered the opportunity
 Facilitating the Professional Development o f Others @ 5

Knowledge for Knowledge in Knowledge of

Practice Practice Practice

Knowledge Knowledge that is the Knowledge that Knowledge that

Source result of generalizable recognizes the emerges from
behaviors and importance of teacher questions
techniques that show teacher practical about their practice
potential and are knowledge and its and results from the
verified and role in improving systematic study of
acknowledged as teaching practice. their classroom
effective. teaching.

Professional Read a professional Implement an Engage in teacher

book or journal. innovation and research individually.
Activities reflect individually.

Attend a workshop Implement an Engage in teacher

or professional innovation and research with
meeting. reflect with a mentor a partner.
or peer coach.

Participate in a book Implement an Engage in teacher

club. innovation and research as a part
reflect within a of a learning
learning community. community.

Observe another Engage in teacher

teacher. research around a
particular innovation.

Engage in Japanese
Lesson Study.

to engage in teacher research as a part of staff development at her building,

Debbi decided to look closely at one of her teaching passions-reading.
Debbi knew that one of the best predictors of performance on Florida's
yearly standardized test, the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment
Test), was reading fluency, and that research has shown a direct correlation
between fluency and comprehension. She wanted to help her students
become more successful readers, and she believed that if they became more
fluent they would develop their reading comprehension. In the end, this
would also allow them to perform better on the FCAT.
Worried about seven students she felt were at risk and less fluent than
others in her class, she decided to explore in more detail the research related
to developing fluency in elementary readers. She attended numerous
workshops and read a variety of research-based articles that developed her
knowledge of fluency. As a result of this knowledge development, Debbie
6 % The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

introduced the rereading of fractured fairy tale plays to these seven learn-
ers to see if this activity might increase reading fluency. The fractured fairy
tales differed from the more traditional skill-and-drill activity these
students often encountered in daily reading instruction.
To gain insights into her wondering, "What is the relationship between
my fourth graders' fluency development and the reading of fractured fairy
tale plays?" Debbi collected three forms of data. First, Debbi administered
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) at different
times throughout her research. The DIBELS are a set of standardized, indi-
vidually administered measures of early literacy development. They are
designed to be short, one-minute fluency measures used to regularly mon-
itor the development of prereading and early reading skills.
In addition, Debbi took anecdotal notes each time she utilized frac-
tured fairy tale plays with these fourth grade students, documenting their
reactions, engagement, and Debbi's assessment of their fluency develop-
ment with each rereading of a play. Finally, Debbi relied on student work
or artifacts as a third data source. At the end of the fractured fairy tale
series, Debbi asked her students to write "Dear Mrs. Hubbell" letters,
telling her about their perceptions and experiences with the fractured fairy
tale unit of study.
Debbi analyzed her data by charting student DIBELS scores over time,
as well as organizing and reading through her anecdotal notes and
student-produced artifacts. Based on her data, Debbi could make three
statements that characterized the knowledge in practice that she learned as
a result of her research. First, all students' DIBELS scores improved over
time. Second, the reading of fractured fairy tale plays generated enthusi-
asm for school and learning. A student who had hated school and was fail-
ing actually said later he enjoyed reading fractured fairy tales and
producing them as a play. This student improved at least by a grade or
more in each subject. Third, positive social interactions occurred between
students who previously had difficulty communicating in a positive way.
Students enjoyed helping each other when someone made a mistake in
word recognition, stress, pitch, or phrasing, and tolerance, as well as admi-
ration, replaced existing adversarial student-to-student relationships.
As her action research progressed, Debbi's data indicated the acade-
mic, social, and emotional value of fractured fairy tales. As a result, Debbi
decided to move beyond the seven initial learners in her study to imple-
ment fractured fairy tales with her entire class. At the close of the school
year, Debbi shared what she learned about the relationship between the
reading of fractured fairy tale plays and the fluency development of her
struggling fourth grade readers at a local action research conference.
During the presentation she shared the academic, social, and emotional
value of this strategy, as well as how her teaching changed as a result of
this inquiry. She also received solid feedback on her inquiry from other
teachers (Hubbell, 2005). Next, Debbie shared her research at a faculty
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 7

meeting in her school. Her inquiry served as the impetus for her school to
develop schoolwide fluency objectives and engage in dialogue to assess
existing reading practices in her school and district.

WHAT ARE PLCs?

PLCs serve to connect and network groups of professionals to do just what
their name entails-learn from practice. PLCs meet on a regular basis and
their time together is often structured by the use of protocols to ensure
focused, deliberate conversation and dialogue by teachers about student
work and student learning. Joseph McDonald and his colleagues explain the
importance of using protocols:

In diplomacy, protocol governs who greets whom first when the

President and Prime Minister meet, and other such matters. In
technology, protocols enable machines to "talk" with one another
by precisely defining the language they use. In science and medi-
cine, protocols are regimens that ensure faithful replication of an
experiment or treatment; they tell the scientist or doctor to do this
first, then that, and so on. And in social science, they are the scripted
questions that an interviewer covers, or the template for an obser-
vation. But in the professional education of educators? One could
argue that elaborate etiquette, communicative precision, faithful
replication, and scripts would prove counterproductive here. Don't
we best learn from each other by just talking with each other? No,
we claim. Among educators especially, just talking may not be
enough. The kind of talking needed to educate ourselves cannot
rise spontaneously and unaided from just talking. It needs to be
carefully planned and scaffolded. 0. P. McDonald et al., 2003, p. 4)

Protocols for educators provide a script or series of timed steps for how a
conversation among teachers on a chosen topic will develop.
A variety of different protocols have been developed for use in PLCs
by a number of noteworthy organizations such as the National Staff
Development Council (see, for example, Lois Brown Easton's Powerful
Designs for Professional Learning) and the National School Reform Faculty
(NSRF), who developed one version of a PLC called Critical Friends
Groups (CFGs; NSRF, 2007). In its work conceptualizing CFGs, the NSRF
laid much of the ground work for shifting the nature of the dialogue that
occurs between and among teachers about their practice in schools, and is
responsible for training thousands of teachers to focus on developing colle-
gial relationships, encouraging reflective practice, and rethinking leader-
ship in restructuring schools. Because of the intense focus and scope of the
8 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

NSRFfswork, in this book we rely most heavily on resources developed by

the NSRF. Further information about NSRF and access to their protocols
can be found at http:/ /www.nsrfharmony.org.
The CFGs provide deliberate time and structures dedicated to promot-
ing adult professional growth that is directly linked to student learning.
When used within a PLC, protocols ensure planned, intentional conversa-
tion by teachers about student work, a teacher's dilemma, a lesson to be
taught, or other aspects of practice. Different protocols are selected for use
depending on the topic for discussion that day.

Example: An Elementary School PLC Focuses on Inclusion

To illustrate the process of PLCs, we turn to the teachers in an elemen-
tary school in south Florida who were collectively struggling with how
to survive the pressures of high-stakes testing and accountability. The
teachers at Everglades Elementary School met for one or two hours at least
twice a month during a designated shared planning time. A facilitator,
who was the school's reading coach, led the group, which typically con-
sisted of ten to twelve regular participants. The facilitator or coach would
begin by stating the goals for the meeting, which had been set at the pre-
vious meeting. For example, the coach might state, "At our last meeting,
we decided to look more closely at a concern of ours-inclusion."
To accomplish the goal of this meeting, the group read a short article
that illustrated the importance of inclusion. After reading the short article,
the group members used an NSRF protocol called "The 4As" to structure
the text discussion. As group members read the article on inclusion, they
highlighted and wrote notes in the margin to answer the following four
questions:

1. What assumptions does the author of the text hold?

2. What do you agree with in the text?
3. What do you want to argue with in the text?
4. To what parts of the text do you want to aspire?

In a round, each person identified one assumption in the inclusion arti-

cle, citing the article, with page numbers, as evidence. The group contin-
ued in rounds talking about the text in light of each remaining A, taking
them one at a time-what do people want to argue with, agree with, and
aspire to in the article. At the end of all four rounds, the coach led a gen-
eral discussion focused on the question, "What does this mean for our
work with students?" As a result of the reading and structured dialogue,
the group deepened its understanding of inclusion. Upon concluding the
discussion, the group debriefed the activity by identifying how members
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 9

might improve the discussion in the future. At the end of the meeting, the
facilitator led the group in establishing the goals for the next meeting.
Although the activity of the learning community might change, this
same sequence is followed during each meeting. For example, in the next
meeting the facilitator asked Cheryl, a group member, to share a dilemma
of practice as the key activity of the group. This conversation focused on
Cheryl's dilemma related to her students' work. The group helped her
investigate "How do I improve the narrative writing of my students?" This
discussion used an NSRF protocol called the "Collaborative Assessment
Conference" to explore her students' writing, which she brought as "data"
for the group to review.
Following the steps of this protocol, Cheryl passed out copies of her
selected student's writing to the other members of the group. She said
nothing about the work, the context in which it was created, or the student.
The group members read the work in silence, making brief notes about
aspects of it that were particularly striking to them.
In Step 2 of the protocol, called "Describing the Work," the facilitator
asked the group, "What do you see?" Group members provided answers
without making judgments about the quality of the work. If a judgment
emerged, the facilitator asked for the evidence on which the judgment
was based.
In Step 3, "Asking Questions about the Work," the facilitator asked the
group, "What questions does this work raise for you?" Group members
stated questions they had about the work, the child, the assignment, and
the circumstances under which the work was created.
In Step 4, "Speculating," the facilitator asked the group, "What do you
think the child is working on?" Group members made suggestions about
the problems or issues that the student might have been focused on in car-
rying out the assignment. During Steps 3, 4, and 5, Cheryl listened care-
fully while also taking notes, but in following the rules of the protocol was
not allowed to respond.
In Step 5, the facilitator invited Cheryl to speak about her perspective on
the student's work, describing what she saw in it, responding to one or more
of the questions raised, and adding any other information she thought was
important for the group to know. Cheryl also commented on the surprising
and unexpected things that she heard during the describing, questioning, and
speculating steps of the protocol. Included in her comments was her emerg-
ing appreciation for more specifically developed rubrics as well as ideas for
leading focused individual writing conferences during the school day.
In the final steps of the protocol, the facilitator invited members to
share any thoughts they had about their own teaching, children's learning,
or ways to support this particular child in the future. The protocol discus-
sion ended with the group reflecting on the Collaborative Assessment
Conference protocol and thanking Cheryl, the presenting teacher, for shar-
ing the work of her student and her teaching dilemma.
10 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

At the end of this PLC meeting, the facilitator once again led the group
in establishing the goal(s) for the next meeting. PLC meetings, character-
ized by this same sequence of events (the statement of the agreed-upon goal
for the meeting, the selection and implementation of a protocol to guide
discussion to accomplish the meeting goal, and the setting of the goal for
the next meeting), continue as the PLC meets throughout the school year.

H O W CAN ACTION RESEARCH

A N D PLCs BECOME THE D Y N A M I C DUO?
Action research and PLCs as mechanisms for teacher professional growth
have a lot in common. Perhaps the most important, core, shared character-
istic of action research and PLCs is the foundation on which each of these
mechanisms for professional development is built. Both action research
and PLCs acknowledge the overwhelming, inherent complexity of teach-
ing and the multiple types of knowledge that teachers must create in order
to change their teaching practices in ways that benefit all children.
To illustrate the complexity of teaching, let's talk for a moment about
what it means to be a teacher. Effective teachers must know their content
deeply, know pedagogy, know human development, know the 25 (in ele-
mentary school) to more than 100 (in secondary schools) students they
interact with each day, including identifying each one of these learners'
academic, social, and emotional needs, and teachers must attend to these
individuals' needs, all unique and varied, all at the same time during each
instructional moment of the day.
Teachers must understand lesson planning, and understand that with
every lesson taught there will be a unique outcome that results from the
interaction of the context of the teaching, the timing of the teaching, the
teacher, and the learners in the room. Teachers must attend to management
and transitions of large groups of learners before, during, and after each
lesson. Teachers are bombarded with decision making each minute of their
day, ranging from deciding the next steps when a planned lesson is not
progressing productively to deciding if Jordan, who just asked to use the
bathroom for the third time that day, should be given permission to leave
the lesson to take care of his personal needs. In addition, teachers must
constantly assess their students' learning, formally and informally.
Teachers also make contributions to the school by managing such tasks
as lunch money collection, lunch counts, and bus and lunch duties. They
must communicate and collaborate with parents as well as other education
professionals, such as guidance counselors, the principal, school psychol-
ogists, and teaching colleagues. In their spare time, they serve on comrnit-
tees, attend faculty meetings, and read professional journals and books to
keep abreast of the latest developments in their field. They do all of this
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 0 11

while simultaneously keeping an eye on high-stakes testing and their

students' performance, balancing preparation for test taking and the teach-
ing of test-taking skills with real teaching and learning of content.
Both action research and PLCs, as mechanisms for teacher professional
development, acknowledge the inherent complexity of teaching by
embracing the notion that it is natural and normal for teachers to face
many problems, issues, tensions, and dilemmas as they teach. Rather than
sweeping the problems under the carpet and pretending they don't exist,
teachers who conduct action research or become members of PLCs
welcome problems by deliberately naming them, making them public,
examining them, and making a commitment to do something about them.
Through both engagement in action research and PLC membership,
questioning practice becomes part of the teacher's work, and eventually a
part of the teaching culture. Both teacher research and PLCs are actualiza-
tions of an inquiry stance toward teaching that leads to job-embedded
teacher knowledge construction. According to distinguished educational
scholars Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan Lytle (2001):

A legitimate and essential purpose of professional development is

the development of an inquiry stance on teaching that is critical
and transformative, a stance linked not only to high standards for
the learning of all students but also to social change and social jus-
tice and to the individual and collective professional growth of
teachers. (p. 46)

While teacher research and PLCs are prevalent and powerful mecha-
nisms for enacting an inquiry stance toward teaching, many times they
exist and operate independently of one another. We believe that together,
these two mechanisms can enhance each other, and therefore, magnify the
already powerful professional development practices occurring in many
schools and districts across the nation.
For example, in some schools where teachers are engaged in action
research, they engage in their research without the sustained, regular sup-
port of a PLC. We believe that when action research becomes a part of the
work of a PLC, individuals' engagement in inquiry is more thoroughly
developed and refined at each PLC meeting, deepening the learning and
knowledge construction that occurs as well as the quality of the action
research process. Furthermore, when action research becomes a part of the
work of a PLC, there is a greater likelihood that the learning that occurs
from individual teacher inquiries conducted into classroom practice will
spill over into collective inquiries conducted by a group of teachers shar-
ing a goal for school improvement.
Conversely, in some schools where teachers are members of PLCs
without engaging in action research, the group's work targets supporting
one another in reflecting deeply on practice. At each meeting of the PLC,
12 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

rich conversation occurs about the topic of the day (e.g., a teacher's
dilemma, looking closely at student work, fine-tuning a lesson plan to be
taught the next day), but no specific target goal ties each meeting to the
next. We believe that PLCs engaged in teacher research on their practice
are enhanced as meetings are given a focus over time by developing indi-
vidual or shared wondering(s) for exploration, looking at data, analyzing
data, and making findings public.
In addition to unleashing the potential power of combining action
research and PLCs, we know that the depth of learning that occurs through
both teacher research and participation in PLCs is directly related to the
facilitation and coaching that occurs. Cassandra Drennon and Ronald
Cervero, researchers on adult learning, share:

The day-to-day actions taken by the practitioner inquiry group

facilitator profoundly influences a group and many of the
results. . . . Facilitators, however, have attained only a subtle pres-
ence in the existing. . . literature despite their central position.
Little is known either about their strategies and tactics or the impli-
cations of their efforts. (2002, p. 194)

Hence, we wrote this book to help those interested in coaching or facil-

itating teacher professional growth as they combine two of the best prac-
tices professional development for teachers has to offer: teacher research
and PLCs. When these two strategies are intertwined with one another, we
believe the end result is a school characterized by teachers, students, and
administrators who keep learning alive and improve schools. Roland
Barth likens the critical nature of inquiry in schools to the potter:

Just as potters cannot teach others to craft in clay without setting

their own hands to work at the wheel, so teachers cannot fully
teach others the excitement, the difficulty, the patience, and the sat-
isfaction that accompany learning without themselves engaging in
the messy, frustrating, and reworking "clay" of learning. Inquiry
for teachers can take place both in and out of the view of students,
but to teacher and student alike there must be continuous evidence
that it is occurring. For when teachers observe, examine, question,
and reflect on their ideas and develop new practices that lead
toward their ideals, students are alive. (1990, p. 50)

Therefore, in this book, we share strategies and tactics for developing

and coaching an inquiry-oriented PLC based on the work of hundreds of
committed educators who have shared their learning experiences with us,
as well as our own research and experiences facilitating teacher research
and learning communities over the past twenty years.
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 0 13

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
THE IMPORTANCE OF CLARIFYING LANGUAGE
In Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet
Capulet meet and fall in love. Yet, they are doomed from the start as
members of two warring families. In the famous quote, "What's in a
name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as
nveet," Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless con-
\-ention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague," not the
Montague name and not the Montague family. In essence, Juliet is sharing
that what we name something is not as important as what that something
is. We can also learn from Juliet's quote that it is always important to pro-
vide clarity for the names we assign to objects, as those names can hold
different meanings to different people.
In education, whenever an innovation is introduced and gains popular-
itv in the field, that innovation emerges and grows as it is interpreted by dif-
ferent teachers and researchers and applied to many different teaching
contexts across the nation and the world. As such, like Juliet, it is not uncom-
mon for educators to face problems of language. For example, the ways one
district interprets and implements an innovation such as differentiated
instruction may vary in both subtle and apparent ways from the ways a dis-
trict across the country is implementing differentiated instruction. Both dis-
tricts use the term dzferentiated instruction to describe their practice, but that
term is not being used in exactly the same way by both parties.
Action research, professional learning communities, coaching, and inquiry
are all terms that are currently being interpreted and applied in different,
but related ways in classrooms and districts around the world. For this rea-
son, before we move on, we believe it's important for us to clarify the ways
we are using these terms in this book. We believe language is incredibly
important, and we, ourselves, have struggled with which terminology will
best paint a picture of the way powerful school-based professional devel-
opment can play out in schools. We can't solve overarching language
issues we experience in the field of education; innovations are constantly
taking root and sprouting different variations and forms. But we can be
clear about how we are using particular terminology in this text. Hence, in
this section, we review definitions and offer clarification on the concepts
and terms we used in the creation of our inquiry-oriented PLC model for
school-based professional development.

Action Research
Over the past three decades, there has been a great resurgence of inter-
est in action research (see, for example, Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999b).
Action research actually has its roots in the work of John Dewey. Over the
14 ,e Educator's Guide to Professional Development
The Rerit~,,

years, the term action research has been used interchangeably with other
terms such as classroom research, teacher research, and practitioner inquiry.
While these phrases have been used interchangeably, they do have some-
what different emphases and histories. Action research, for instance, usu-
ally refers to research that is intended to bring about change of some kind,
usually with a social justice focus, whereas teacher research quite often has
the goal only of examining a teacher's classroom practice in order to
improve it, or to better understand what works. Exploring the emphases,
histories, and different terminologies associated with teachers' systematic
study of their own practice is beyond the scope of this text, but if you are
interested in exploring the history and evolution of the teacher research
movement, numerous texts are available, such as the classics Inside/Outside:
Teacher Research and Knowledge by Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan Lytle
(1993), or Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge, and Action Research by
Wilford Carr and Stephen Kemmis (1986). In this book, we use action
research as an inclusive term to refer to the overarching process teachers
and other educational practitioners (e.g., principals) use to seek out change
and reflect on their practice by posing questions or wonderings, collecting
data to gain insights into their wonderings, analyzing the data along with
reading relevant literature, making changes in practice based on new
understandings developed during inquiry, and sharing findings with
others (Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003).

PLCs
In the past decade, there has been a proliferation of discussions in both
the education and business literature, as well as in schools across the
nation, about "professional learning communities" and their ability to help
institutions improve. For example, in Professional Learning Communities at
Work, Dufour and Eaker (1998) argue, "The most promising strategy for
sustained, substantive school improvement is developing the ability of
school personnel to function as professional learning communities" (p. xi).
The concept of PLCs took hold across the nation as many top scholars and
leaders in education, including Linda Darling-Hammond and Milbrey
McLaughlin (1995), Michael Fullan (2001), Peter Senge (1990), and Andy
Hargreaves (1994), claimed that schools must become "learning organiza-
tions." However, according to Whitford and Wood (in press), there is a
stunning lack of clarity about what actually is being proposed. "A wide
variety of distinct professional development approaches, school social
groupings, and change and improvement strategies appear in the litera-
ture labeled as 'professional learning communities"' (Whitford & Wood, in
press, p. 2). For example, in the past decade, the terms professional learning
community, collegial study group, and critical friends group have all been
used interchangeably. Exploring the emphases and different iterations of
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 0 15

the PLC is beyond the scope of this text, but we invite you to explore many
of the excellent resources and writings about the PLC concept, such as
Dufour and Eaker's (1998)Professional Learning Communities at Work, Roberts
and Pruitt's (2003) Schools as Professional Learning Communities, Easton's
(2004)P o w e l Designsfor Profesional Learning, Whitford and Wood's (in press)
Teachers Learning in Community: Realities and Possibilities, and the National
School Reform Faculty's journal titled Connections. In this book, we define
PLCs generically as small groups of faculty who meet regularly to study
more-effective learning and teaching practices.

Coach
As previously explored in this chapter, traditional professional develop-
ment for teachers (the "sit and get" model) occurs "separate from the class-
room contexts and challenges in which teachers are expected to apply what
they learned, and often without the necessary support to facilitate transfer
of learning" (Killion & Harrison, 2006, p. 8). In the past decade, to address
this weakness in professional development and to improve teacher and
student learning, many school systems have carved out a new professional
role for school-based coaches. According to Killion and Harrison (2006):

School systems and states call it by many different names and

describe its purposes and functions differently. Some of the titles
for the position are coach, literacy specialist, math coach, instruc-
tional specialist, mentor, master teacher, or lead teacher. Whatever
the name of this role, the job is complex. People in the job are part
teacher, part leader, part change agent, part facilitator. (p. 8)

In this text, we define the term coach, to be inclusive of all of the roles
Killion and Harrison name in the above quote, as "a teacher who has
responsibility for, supports, and facilitates the professional learning of
colleagues." All of the coaching roles described by Killion, no matter what
the specifics of their coaching jobs entail, can implement and weave the
inquiry-oriented PLC model described in this book into their coaching
responsibilities and practice. When an educator weaves action research and
PLCs together as a part of a coaching practice, we sometimes refer to that
person in this text as inquiry coach, PLC coach, or inquiry facilitator, no matter
what that person's official coaching role is called in the district. In some dis-
tricts, where there is no designated full-time coaching role, department
heads may receive one additional free-period in secondary schools to facil-
itate an inquiry-oriented learning community. Similarly, in elementary
schools, grade-level teams might decide to function as an inquiry-oriented
PLC, and the grade-level team leader might facilitate and coach the group.
1
16 0 Ihr Rdlective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

O\-er the years, in our own coaching of action research, we became

discouraged by the baggage that the research part of action research car-
ried with it when the concept was first introduced to teachers. The
images that the word research conjures up include a "controlled setting,"
"an experiment with control and treatment groups," "an objective scien-
tist removed from the subjects of study so as not to contaminate
findings," "long hours in the library," and "crunching numbers."
Teachers, in general, weren't overly enthused by these images, and it
took a good deal of time for us to deconstruct these images and help
teachers see that those images were antithetical to what action research
was all about.
So, over time, we began replacing the terms action research and teacher
research with one simple word that carried much less baggage with it-
inquiry. The term inquiry has also been used to refer to an instructional
strategy in the teaching of science in which lessons are investigation-
based. Of course, the term inquiry can also refer to the simple request for
information a teacher makes to another teacher, the principal, or the dis-
trict office. While inquiry has been used in different ways in the past, we
refer to inquiry in this book as a disposition or stance that teachers take
toward their practice. This disposition is characterized by an acceptance of
the truth that teaching is an inherently complex endeavor. Because of the
complexity teaching entails, it is natural and normal for many questions,
problems, issues, dilemmas, and tensions to emerge throughout a teacher's
career. The teacher commits to problematizing his or her practice to contin-
ually unearth and discover new questions about his or her own teaching.
As questions emerge, teachers commit to intentionally and systematically
studying these questions, learning from them in their own daily work.
Engagement in an inquiry-oriented PLC is one way to actualize an inquiry
stance toward teaching.

Inquiry-Oriented Professional Learning Community

In this book, we name a model for school-based professional develop-
ment that combines some of the best of what we know about action
research and PLCs, and in the process, addresses a weakness that has been
defined in traditional professional development practices. We name this
new entity the inquiry-oriented professional learning community. We define an
inquiry-oriented PLC as a group of six to twelve professionals who meet
on a regular basis to learn from practice through structured dialogue and
engage in continuous cycles through the process of action research (artic-
ulating a wondering, collecting data to gain insights into the wondering,
analyzing data, making improvements in practice based on what was
learned, and sharing learning with others).
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 1) 17

WHAT MIGHT AN
INQUIRY-ORIENTED PLC LOOK LIKE?
One might wonder what members of an inquiry-oriented PLC might do as
they gather to explore their teaching practice and student learning. There
are many configurations that the inquiry-oriented PLC might use, depend-
ing on the organizational structures and incentives that are available to
support their work. School leaders need to understand that the degree of
authenticity and acceptance of the PLC work will be highly influenced by
the resources that they dedicate to creating time and space for the activity.
In some cases resources only allow PLC groups to meet once a month to
engage solely in each phase of the action research cycle. In other cases,
PLC groups might be able to meet two or three times a month to engage
in inquiry-oriented professional learning into a shared dilemma that is
related to, but also moves beyond attending to the phases of the action
research cycle. Whatever your situation, remember that starting small is
better than not starting at all. Our only word of caution to the coach and
school leadership is to be sure that you match your expectations for the
work to the amount of time you realistically can dedicate to the work.
In an effort to illustrate what we mean by inquiry-oriented PLCs, we
would like to provide an example of the ultimate model for this job-
embedded form of professional learning. This example has four important
features.

1. It engages teachers in an inquiry-oriented PLC meeting each week

that is job-embedded and develops different types of teacher profes-
sional knowledge.
2. It is led by a school-based coach (in the following example, the math
coach for the school) with both subject area knowledge related to the
PLC work and knowledge of PLC processes.
3. Over time, the PLC meetings are characterized both by the use of
protocols to structure dialogue as well as the action research cycle to
gain insights into one shared and agreed-upon topic for inquiry.
4. The inquiry-oriented PLC work is viewed by the participants as a
part of their professional responsibilities.

Example: An Inquiry-Oriented PLC

Explores Differentiated Math Instruction, Grades 4-5
Our ultimate example of an inquiry-oriented PLC takes place in an
elementary school where Mr. Thomas, the math coach, meets a group of
upper elementary teachers each Tuesday for one hour during a shared
18 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

fourth and fifth grade planning period. Together, this PLC is exploring
ways to differentiate mathematics instruction to meet the needs of all
learners. This shared inquiry topic emerged during September as teachers
in the upper grades of this school examined school data that indicated the
bottom and top quartile students were not making the desired progress.
Each teacher within the learning community has crafted a subquestion
that connects to the overarching, shared question that focuses this PLC,
"How do we differentiate mathematics instruction to meet the needs of all
learners?" For example, Mr. Johnson, a fifth grade classroom teacher, and
Mrs. Smith, the English as a second language teacher who spends the
entire ninety-minute mathematics block in Mr. Johnson's classroom two
days each week, have elected to study, "How does coteaching allow teachers
to differentiate math instruction for their students?" Other teachers are
inquiring into individual questions related to differentiation in math such
as, "How does differentiating my assessment tools influence student learn-
ing?" and "How do I adjust mathematics curriculum content to meet the
needs of struggling learners?" As a group, the entire PLC is committed to
supporting each other's growth and student growth in the area of differ-
entiation and mathematics.
As October began, Mr. Thomas, the math coach who was facilitating
the inquiry-oriented PLC, identified a variety of tools that could deepen
their inquiry work. During the first meeting of the month, Mr. Thomas
realized that the teachers needed to deeply understand what differentia-
tion meant and create an image of what differentiated instruction looked
like in classrooms. Mr. Thomas realized that the internal knowledge did
not exist at their school, so he identified one of Carol Tomlinson's books on
differentiation and began a book study that helped teachers construct this
new knowledge. Over the course of the year, Mr. Thomas continued the
external knowledge thread by bringing in guests who were knowledge-
able about differentiated instruction to speak with the group. By bringing
in new knowledge from external sources, Mr. Thomas is acknowledging
the importance of knowledge for practice but simultaneously realizing that
he must make sure there are opportunities at other PLC meetings for
teachers to move beyond the processing of disseminated information to
engage in real and meaningful change in the classroom.
During the second meeting of the month, Mr. Thomas attends to the
teachers' need to begin engaging in real and meaningful change in the
classroom. To these ends, he creates an opportunity for teachers to really
examine the kind of math work that the students were currently engaged
in, as well as to get a sense of the learning that was and was not occurring.
As a result, Mr. Thomas engaged the learning community in looking at
student work that members brought from their own classrooms. By inquir-
ing into their own student work, the PLC members deepened their local
knowledge of their students, their curriculum, and their own planning.
 Facilitating the Professional Development of Others 0 19

As a follow-up during the third week of the month, Mr. Thomas asked
teachers to bring dilemmas of practice associated with their early attempts
at differentiation. Mr. Thomas used many protocols to facilitate these con-
versations and help the PLC members dialogue about ways to resolve
these dilemmas of practice. During the second and third week, Mr. Thomas
is purposefully identifying inquiry-oriented PLC activities that require
teachers to test out new ideas that can create knowledge in practice and
encourage dialogue about that activity that has the potential to generate
knowledge of practice.
Finally, in the fourth week of the month, Mr. Thomas turned the group's
gaze toward action research. Given that the group members had already
identified their collective and individual wonderings, this fourth meeting
in October focused on generating a plan for their inquiry and the develop-
ment of a research brief, a short one- to two-page outline that contained the
purpose of their action research, the stated wondering, how data would be
collected and analyzed, and a tentative timeline for the project's comple-
tion. The knowledge development that Mr. Thomas had facilitated in the
group during these earlier meetings jump-started the teachers' thinking
about differentiating instruction in mathematics and provided early data
for many of their research studies. By engaging in action research within
the inquiry-oriented PLC, these educators had the opportunity to create all
three types of professional knowledge construction: knowledge for prac-
tice, knowledge in practice, and knowledge of practice.

This illustration was offered to give the reader an image of what the
inquiry-oriented PLC work looks like and why we believe inquiry-
oriented PLCs are special forms of PLCs. In each of the activities-the book
study, the student work examination, the dilemma investigation, and the
action research-these educators shared a question that focused their collab-
orative work: "How do we differentiate mathematics instruction to meet the
needs of all learners?" This theme gave content and meaning to all of the
inquiry-oriented PLC activities over the course of the month, one activity of
which focused on action research development. During the action research
planning meeting, all teachers developed and received feedback on plans for
their individual or shared research around questions that differed somewhat,
but all related to the common theme of differentiated mathematics instruc-
tion (e.g., "How does coteaching allow teachers to differentiate math instruc-
tion for their students?" "How does differentiating my assessment tools
influence student learning?" And, "How do I adjust mathematics curriculum
content to meet the needs of struggling learners?"). Each member of the PLC
was prepared to share, analyze, and inquire into the data with colleagues.
20 9 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

This example provides a glimpse of the ways action research and PLCs
can commingle to create an inquiry-oriented PLC, and the ways this
inquiry-oriented PLC work can play out in schools. In the remainder of
this book, we continue to provide various examples and glimpses of the
ways inquiry-oriented learning communities might look and tactics and
tools for those who coach these important and powerful groups of teacher-
learners. We begin the process by providing a detailed look at how to
establish and maintain the health of an inquiry-oriented PLC in Chapter 2.

NOTE
1. Reprinted with permission from Roland Barth and Boston University
Journal of Education.
 Establishing and
Maintaining a
Healthy Inquiry-
Oriented PLC

Creating a culture of inquiry rather than continuing to work in a

culture of isolation represents a significant change within schools
that must be supported. Systems successful in improving student
learning are characterized by: articulated norms and values, a focus
on student learning, reflective dialogue, collaborative practice, and
deprivatization of teaching. (Garmston, 2007, p. 55)

G armston summarizes the essence of the role a culture of inquiry

plays in establishing a professional learning community (PLC) that
will be powerful enough to promote student learning and school improve-
ment. In Chapter 1, we highlighted the unique nature and culture of
inquiry-oriented PLCs and suggested how PLCs and action research can
merge to create powerful professional development. For PLCs to develop
an inquiry-oriented culture, coaches must understand the roles, responsi-
bilities, and activities that will promote this type of professional learning.
22 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Coaching an inquiry-oriented PLC, characterized by a group of six to

twelve professionals that collaborate on a regular basis to learn about their
professional practice through structured dialogue and engage in continu-
ous cycles through the process of action research (articulating a wonder-
ing, collecting data to gain insights into the wondering, analyzing data,
making improvements in practice based on what was learned, and sharing
learning with others), begins by the coach convening a group of interested
individuals committed to creating a culture of inquiry rather than contin-
uing to work in the culture of isolation described by Garmston in the open-
ing quote to this chapter. Coaches cultivate this culture of inquiry within
their PLC by continually assessing ten essential elements of a healthy PLC.
The purpose of this chapter is to name and illustrate these essential ele-
ments so that, like a doctor, you can continually assess the health of your
inquiry-oriented PLC, diagnosing areas that need attention and work to
keep your PLC functioning and productive.
Before we explore our "Ten Essential Elements of Healthy Inquiry-
Oriented PLCs," however, the overarching question you will need to ask is,
"Is my group congenial or collegial?" This question is important to ask
whether you are forming a new PLC or facilitating an existing one. There is
a subtle, but important, difference between these two ideas. Congeniality
refers to the friendly, cordial relationships some teachers have with one
another in the work place. We see congeniality when teachers chat in the
lunchroom about weekend plans, last night's football game, or the latest
episode of American Idol. We might also engage in congeniality when
attending birthday celebrations and retirement parties or sharing resources.
According to Roland Barth (1990),congeniality is defined as "people enjoy-
ing each other's company" (p. 30).
Although schools need congeniality, congeniality does not alone pro-
mote teacher learning and professionalknowledge construction. Congeniality
alone will also not promote the development of inquiry-oriented PLCs.
The dialogue that occurs in a purely congenial relationship excludes the
kind of teacher talk that promotes wondering, thought, growth, and
action. The type of relationship that allows conversation that promotes
inquiry and professional knowledge construction is collegiality. Barth
(2006) shares:

Famous baseball manager Casey Stengel once muttered, "Getting

good players is easy. Getting 'em to play together is the hard part."
Schools are full of good players. Collegiality is about getting them
to play together, about growing a professional learning commu-
nity. (p. 11)

Collegiality moves beyond congeniality, and this movement takes

work and risk on the part of both the coach and those being coached.
Collegiality sets the stage for inquiry-driven PLC work.
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC e 23

Judith Warren Little (1981) offers coaches insight into four specific
behaviors that characterize the conditions of collegial work. First, she
emphasizes that adults in the school must have frequent, continuous, con-
crete, and precise talk about their teaching practice. Second, she emphasizes
the importance of adults in schools observing each other engaged in the
practice of teaching and administration and serving as critical friends to
each other as they talk about those observations. Third, she describes the
importance of teachers collaboratively working on curriculum by planning,
designing, researching, and evaluating their curriculum work. Finally,
Little discusses that adults in schools must become comfortable sharing
their new craft knowledge by teaching each other what they have learned.
Each of these activities is key to the work of inquiry-oriented PLCs and
requires explicit attention by both the coach and the PLC members.
As a coach, you must realize that early PLC work requires establish-
ing ways of being together that are often quite different than the typical
cultural milieu of the school, as the opening quote to this chapter and our
discussion of congeniality verses collegiality reminds us. You most likely
will run up against challenges that will cause you to reflect, ponder,
wonder if you should retreat, and eventually resolve and move forward.
Establishing collegiality will rest on not only your ability but also the
groups' ability to create a context that includes ten essential elements.
The ten essential elements of healthy PLCs we describe in this chapter
will help you determine the extent of collegiality that is present in your
group, assess your existing learning culture, and intentionally select and
introduce activities that can encourage a shift away from cultural norms
that might inhibit collegiality and inquiry-driven PLC work. We illus-
trate each essential element through the work of Terry Campanella, an
educator with many years of teaching experience, as well as a wealth of
experience coaching PLCs and organizing PLC work in Broward County,
Florida.

TEN ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF

HEALTHY INQUIRY-ORIENTED PLCS

I Essential Element #1

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs establish a vision that creates

momentum for their work. I
According to Thomas Sergiovanni (1994), "Community building must
become the heart of any school improvement effort. . . . It requires us to
think community, believe in community, and practice community" (p. 95).
24 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

From the beginning, your job as an inquiry-oriented PLC coach is to help the
group establish and maintain a school improvement vision for the work
that they are about to begin. How do you begin this effort when the group
doesn't have a shared understanding of what the process of PLC work is
in the first place? As a coach, you will need to help the members of your
group create a vision that includes two components--a visionfor the process
that emphasizes how the community will use inquiry-oriented PLCs to
work toward school improvement, and an identification of the school improve-
ment goals or dilemmas that they will share. Both of these components are
essential to establishing a collegial context for shared work to unfold.
Let's get a glimpse of Terry helping her PLC group create a vision for
its work by first developing members' understanding of a PLC. Knowing
that PLCs were new to the teachers she was working with, Terry began her
first learning community meeting by helping members become familiar
with how a PLC works. She selected an article titled "Building Professional
Community in Schools" by Sharon Kruse, Karen Seashore Louis, and
Anthony Bryk (1994) and used a text-based discussion protocol titled
"Three Levels of Text" to help the group process the article.
The text-based discussion protocol was created by the NSRF, a group
of educators committed to creating networks that support professional
development focused on "developing collegial relationships, encouraging
reflective practice, and rethinking leadership in restructuring schools-all
in support of increased student achievement" (NSRF, 2007). Terry has
found the Web site (http://www.harmonyschool.org/nsrf/default.html)
and other NSRF resources invaluable to her work as an inquiry-oriented
learning community coach.
Terry had become very skilled in selecting specific protocols to struc-
ture these text-based discussions and other PLC activities that used proto-
cols throughout the year. She believes that when the right protocol is
selected these protocols focus and deepen the reflection, dialogue, and
processing that occurs within and between the group members. They help
teachers within the learning community collaboratively construct the
knowledge that is needed to begin working together.
Terry began the meeting, "I wanted to find an article that might pro-
vide us with an image of what an inquiry-oriented professional learning
community might look like and I found this piece that looked like it could
help us. It is called 'Building Professional Community in Schools."'
Terry had wrestled with whether she should have the seven group
members read the article ahead of time or if she should devote time dur-
ing the meeting to read the article. She believed it would take about fifteen
minutes for the group to read this article and decided that she would have
them read the article at the meeting so everyone would be prepared.
Before they began reading, she also distributed the "Three Levels of
Text" protocol to each teacher. She noted that the protocol would help
them focus their reading and that part of the protocol asked the members
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC @ 25

to identify passages in the text as they read that they believed had impor-
tant implications for defining the PLC's work. She then gave the group
about fifteen minutes to read the article.
Once they finished reading, Terry reviewed the protocol instructions.
The group would sit in a circle and engage in "rounds." A round con-
sisted of group members taking turns sharing one of their highlighted
excerpts from the article and reflecting on what that excerpt meant to
them, followed by the group responding (for a total of up to two min-
utes) to what has been said. Sandra was the first volunteer. Sandra began
her three minutes of reflection by reading the passage she had selected
and sharing how she interpreted the passage, as well as how her inter-
pretations connected and disconnected with her own past professional
development activities. She then described the implications she believed
the passage had for defining the PLC's work. After listening carefully, the
group spent two minutes responding to her reflection. This process con-
tinued until all group members had shared using the same processing
format. As the group was sharing, Terry charted the key ideas of the dis-
cussion on poster paper. This process continued until all seven group
members had a chance to share.
Once everyone in the group had shared, the group took about five
minutes to synthesize what they had learned, and then they debriefed the
protocol process.
This activity allowed the group to create some key understandings about
PLCs through focused dialogue. The debriefing process also allowed the
group to critique the protocol process. By the time they had finished the text-
based discussion, they had begun to chip away at answering the following
questions: "What is an inquiry-oriented professional learning community?"
'What are some of the structures, practices, and activities of inquiry-oriented
learning communities?" And "Why should we create inquiry-oriented learn-
ing communities in our school?"
During each of the following meetings, Terry worked to deepen the
group's answers to these questions. Terry realized that revisiting the PLC's
goals and deepening members' understanding of the PLC work was criti-
cal if she was truly going to help them shift their work toward the inquiry-
orientation she believed could lead to school improvement. A few weeks
later Terry led the group in another protocol titled, "Chalk Talk." This pro-
tocol focused on all group members reflecting on their experiences and
understanding of a committee, a PLC, and traditional professional devel-
opment. As the protocol name, "Chalk Talk," alludes to, the "conversa-
tion" was not oral. The "chalk talk" was carried out in silence by each
group member writing comments on a blackboard (in older schools), a
whiteboard, or a big piece of chart paper hung on the wall. An example of
the types of distinctions the group made between committee work and
PLC work that were generated through Terry's "Chalk Talk" appear in
Figure 2.1.
26 @ The Reflective Educator's G u i d e t o Professional Development

Category Committee Learning Community

Purpose Specific dilemma to be solved Shared area of inquiry guides purpose

Duration Ends when purpose is reached Ongoing cycle of self-study
Focus Concern for teacher participation Concern for member
in resolution changes in practice
Process Decision-oriented Reflection-oriented
Leadership Designated leaderlchairperson Facilitatorlshared responsibility
Tone Formal Informal
Use of Data Focus on identified need Focus on student data
Roles Constant Shifting
Structure Traditional meeting structure1 Democratic meeting structure1
hierarchical team-based
Goals Specific goals from onset Goals evolve from collaborative
inquiry
Time Bounded time period Ongoing
Feeling "Worker Bees" Ownership
Individual1 Consensus needed Individual voice encouraged
Group
Time Meet as needed Continuous

Terry realized how important it was for her PLC members to generate a
clear distinction between the activities of PLCs and committee work. She
knew from experience that creating this understanding is often what set suc-
cessful groups apart from less successful groups. By engaging in the "Chalk
Talk," they created a shared vision for collegial interaction and new ways of
learning together within community.
Although developing a strong understanding of what an inquiry-
oriented PLC does is essential, Terry's experiences coaching throughout
the school year remind us that creating an understanding of PLCs is not
enough to generate sustained commitment to teacher learning and school
improvement. The second aspect of vision development requires creating
a set of shared school improvement goals for the group's collective work.
Terry has watched many PLCs focus on the development of the learning
community roles, rituals, and responsibilities without delineating a clear,
shared vision for how their work will connect to school improvement.
Without a strong vision for school improvement, PLCs often lost steam
over time and members started questioning, "What are we meeting
about?" To avoid this, Terry dedicates time to creating a shared focus at
another one of the early PLC meetings.
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 0 27

Terry began the meeting, "Today's goal is to generate a shared vision

lor our PLC work by identifying some areas of school improvement that
can direct our work."
At the last meeting, the group had collectively identified resources that
could help them with today's conversation. As a result, Terry had invited
the principal, curriculum resource teacher (CRT), and the exceptional
student education (ESE) teacher to the meeting to share student data that
the group believed would be important to defining its work.
Terry asked each guest to share the data and emerging questions that he
or she had about the school as the group looked at the data. As the group lis-
tened, the members noted the kinds of questions that were emerging and
noted their own thoughts related to the data presented. Once each of the
guests had shared, the group added their own insights to the list of wonder-
ings based on their own classroom experiences. Terry took copious notes
along the way, recording both the data and the group's emerging questions.
After hearing all the presenters and reviewing the data, Terry's group
decided that the overarching question that would structure their PLC
work would be, "How can we use differentiated instruction within our
newly established inclusive classrooms to target and document the learn-
ing of our bottom quartile students?"
This question generated a great deal of interest and enthusiasm as it
attended to the wonderings that emerged during the principal's, CRTfs,
and ESE teacher's presentations, as well as the felt difficulties or wonder-
ings of the group members. The group had now identified a shared ques-
tion that they felt passionate about collectively exploring during the school
year. As a result, Terry facilitated a variety of activities that helped the
members of her PLC explore this wondering. For example, members of the
group engaged in a book study of differentiated instruction, used NSRF
protocols to examine student work, and engaged in a variety of action
research studies targeted at better understanding the needs of these bot-
tom quartile students. By building the knowledge of what PLCs are and
determining a shared focus for her PLC's work, Terry was able to cultivate
a vision for PLC work, as well as create the momentum for focused inquiry
around a shared goal for school improvement.

Essential Element #2

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs build trust among group members.

I
Educational scholars have long noted the critical importance of build-
ing trust among the adults within the school building and the correlation
between trusting relationships and successful school improvement efforts.
For example, Bryk and Schneider (2002) state:
28 me Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Relational trust does not directly affect student learning. Rather,

trust fosters a set of organizational conditions, some structural and
others social-psychological, that make it more conducive for indi-
viduals to initiate and sustain the kinds of activities necessary to
affect productivity improvements. (p. 116)

Michael Fullan (1999) also notes, "The quality of relationships is central to

success [of school improvement efforts]. Success is only possible if organi-
zational members develop trust and compassion for each other" (p. 37). As
a result, building trust within the group becomes a critical component of a
PLC coach's work.
The degree of trust the group members feel for each other will influence
the depth of their collaborative inquiry work. It is important to note that the
amount of trust individual group members have for each other and for you
as their coach is directly related to your school's existing culture. Therefore,
we cannot overemphasize the importance of understanding your school's
existing culture as you ascertain how much PLC time you wish to spend on
trust-building activities, and which type of trust-building activities would
be most productive for your group. For example, if you are coaching in an
underresourced school or an environment that is unforgiving, and/or
working under high-stakes accountability pressures, the teachers in your
group may feel less trusting and need more time to develop a sense of
safety and build relationships. As a result, the coach will need to be sensi-
tive to the amount of time the group needs to create congenial relationships
and safety, and even to boost morale. In other schools, where morale is high
and teachers are used to working collaboratively, PLCs will position them-
selves more quickly to begin the collegial inquiry work.
Terry offers some insights into how you can explicitly develop a more
trusting and safe environment. One way that Terry sets the stage for trust
to develop is by collaboratively establishing norms or ground rules for the
group. She once again draws on the NSRF work by selecting a protocol
to guide one of her group's early PLC meetings. The protocol is titled
"Forming Ground Rules." Terry believes that norms are guidelines that
establish parameters for the members' behavior. These guidelines can cre-
ate a safe space for the group members to make themselves professionally
vulnerable. In the following description of the group's "Forming Ground
Rules" meeting, Terry leads the group in setting norms.
Terry began by explaining to her PLC the need for norms and how
norms can support their collegial work together. To provide an example
for the group, Terry shared that one example of a norm might be, "to start
and end our meetings when we say we will." Next, Terry asked her group
members to take a few minutes to respond to the question, "What condi-
tions do I need to do my best learning in this group?"
After five minutes devoted to group members silently making an indi-
vidual list, Terry asked each participant to name one thing from his or her
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 29

list, going around in a circle, with no repeats. They were to complete as

many circuits as necessary to exhaust all group rules individuals had put
on their list. As group members shared responses, such as, "We need to
respect each other," "Confidentiality is important," "We need to be willing
to take risks," "It is important to respect discomfort and ambiguity as these
teelings can lead to growth," and "We must not only allow but embrace
mistakes," Terry listed all responses on chart paper, asking for clarification
when needed. When the group was finished, Terry led the group in look-
ing at the list as a whole, combining some items on the list and asking if
everyone could abide by the final list of ground rules. She noted that if
anyone disliked or didn't want to comply with one of them, they should
discuss it and make a decision to keep it on the list with a notation of objec-
tion, remove it, or try it for a specified amount of time and check it again.
All group members felt comfortable with the list of ground rules they had
developed.
Terry saved the piece of chart paper stating the group's norms and
brought that to each subsequent PLC meeting that was held throughout
the duration of the school year. The chart paper was hung in the front of
the room each time the PLC met.
These norms established by her group became a living document that
would be revised as her group worked together. Terry made sure that the
norms were reviewed at the beginning of each meeting and often drew on
resources from the NSRF Web site for norm-setting protocols and advice.
Although Terry was committed to making public the group's norms
for interacting with each other, she also was cognizant that whether a
group became a safe place for collaboration would rest on the integrity,
responsibility, and professionalism of each group member. As a coach,
Terry made sure to keep a pulse on the level of integrity, responsibility, and
professionalism that existed within her group and when she detected that
work needed to be done to ensure the health of the PLC she would return
the group to its norms.
Beyond establishing norms, Terry also led the PLC toward establishing
deeper trust in their colleagues by making their concerns about the learn-
ing community process public. One excellent protocol for helping PLC
members voice and discuss concerns is the NSRF's "Fears and Hopes
Activity."
Following this protocol, Terry began a PLC meeting with, "What I
would like you to do now is independently jot down two things-your
greatest fear of participating in our PLC work this year as well as your
greatest hope for participating in our PLC work this year."
After about five minutes, she asked group members to share their
hopes and fears, and as they shared she generated a collective list of those
hopes and fears on the chart for the group to review. Upon completing the
list of group hopes and fears, Terry debriefed the activity by asking if
members noticed anything surprising. She also asked them what they felt
30 0 The Reflective Educatofs Guide to Professional Development

was the impact of expressing negative thoughts, as well as what policies

and practices would be needed to reach their hoped-for outcomes.
By using this protocol and engaging in this dialogue, the group
members identified how they wanted their group to be. As a coach, you
will need to be open to all responses and seek input as to how the group
might respond to these concerns. This type of checking in can be useful
throughout the year as new hopes and fears are encountered.
Another exercise that Terry uses to promote trust-building is the
"Community Agreements" protocol, also developed by NSRE The com-
munity agreement establishes four principles that are critical to collegial
study group work. These principles include show up and choose to be pre-
sent, pay attention to heart and meaning, tell the truth without blame or
judgment, and be open to the outcome but not attached to the outcome.
These principles set the stage for both congeniality and collegiality. Terry
introduces these community agreements as text to discuss by using a
think/pair/share activity to help the group process these agreements.
She begins the process by first asking each participant to jot down one
image of what each agreement would look like in action. Next, Terry pairs
the participants and asks them to share their images with their partner.
Finally, each pair reports out one image for each of the four agreements. At
the end of the session, Terry would ask the group to discuss the degree to
which these agreements connected to the work that they envisioned doing
together. By integrating activities intended to build trust among PLC
members and monitoring the pulse of trust within the group, Terry can
move the group one step closer to engaging in inquiry-oriented PLC work.

I Essential Element #3

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs pay attention to the ways power

can influence group dynamics.

Defining, analyzing, and building power is a vital part of coaching

in an inquiry-oriented PLC. Power is both dynamic and multidimensional.
Power can get good work done or keep good work from getting done.
Power is influenced by context, circumstance, and interest. As a coach, you
will need to be cognizant of the way that power is used within your PLC
to accomplish the vision your group has set.
One way to create a collegial professional learning environment is to
make sure that the study group members understand the use and misuse
of power. According to Hunter, Bailey, and Taylor (1995), five kinds of
power exist. Positional power occurs when a person has a more powerful
position than the other group members. For example, when a principal
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 31

-..=comesa member of the PLC, members of the group might feel threat-
,ned due to the evaluative power a principal holds over his or her
.achers. This does not necessarily mean that the principal should not join
- e group. However, group participants, the principal, and the coach need
Ir be cognizant of the influence of a member with positional power. Within
taming communities, positional power should not be used as the tipping
-,:int for decision making as the goal of the PLC is to develop shared
understanding and equalize participant voices so that all members are
heard and understood.
Assigned power occurs when the group assigns a person within the
z o u p a particular role. For example, as a coach, your position offers you
assigned power and as a result you must constantly self-assess your own
LW of power. Knowledge power occurs when a group member has more spe-
&ed knowledge and experience in an area the group is exploring. For
example, if the reading coach is a member of the group and the group has
decided on a schoolwide reading focus, the reading coach would typically
possess knowledge power within the group. Members who possess knowl-
edge power are uniquely positioned to deepen the PLC's work. However,
the coach, as well as the group members who possess that knowledge
power, must self-monitor their participation, embrace members' questions,
and include the concerns of others in the group.
Another influential form of power that can emerge within PLCs is per-
sonal power. Personal power results from the skills and qualities an individ-
ual possesses that makes others in the group look to this person as a leader.
Recognizing and involving the teachers within the group who possess this
type of power helps the coach jump-start the development of trust and
deepen the group's work. There are always a few teachers who are the pio-
neers of innovation and more easily embrace the learning community work.
By developing these members as cofacilitators and teacher-leaders you can
begin distributing the PLC's facilitation across the group membership.
The most potentially divisive and unproductive form of power that
sometimes emerges within a PLC is factional power. Factional power occurs
when several people within the group act together to influence or dominate
the group process. As indicated, power can be expressed in forms ranging
from domination and resistance to collaboration and transformation.
Since the goal of PLC work is to bring all members along within an
inquiry community rather than leave a portion of the group behind, your
job as a coach is to help group members understand these sources of
power. Throughout the year, Terry encouraged the individual group
members to talk about power openly, and self-assess how the power struc-
ture influenced the group and how power could be more evenly shared
within the group to enhance the group's effectiveness.
One of the exercises Terry led her group through focused on initiating
reflection about power by focusing on personal assumptions and experiences.
In this exercise, Terry encouraged the PLC participants to identify their
32 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

own sources of power as well as challenges groups can face as a result

of power.
Terry began, "This activity introduces the concept of power and helps
us recognize our own power and potential." She handed out a copy of the
different sources of power (Figure 2.2) and asked the group to read the
handout. She asked them to think about their personal and professional
experiences with these various types of power while reading and identify
examples of each type of power with which they were personally familiar.
She also asked them to note the positive (strengths) and negative (limita-
tions) impact that different kinds of power could have on learning commu-
nity work.
Once the group had completed the sources of power exercise, Terry
continued the exploration of power by breaking the group up into triads
and giving each group a large sheet of paper and markers. Working in
groups of three, on one side of the paper they drew situations that made

Types of Power

Positional power occurs

when a person has a more
powerful position than the
other group members.

Assigned power occurs

when the group assigns
a person within the study
group a particular role.

Knowledge power occurs

when a group member has
more specialized knowledge
and experience in an area
the group is exploring.

Personal power results from

the skills and qualities an
individual possesses that
makes others in the group
look to this person as a leader.

Factional power occurs

when several people within
the group act together to
influence or dominate the
group process.
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 0 33

them feel powerful within the school and on the other side of the paper
they drew situations that made them feel powerless.
Once each group had finished, they presented their posters to the rest
of the group. Terry took notes about the themes that were emerging as the
groups presented. After all the groups had presented, Terry pointed out
the words the members used to describe experiences that illustrated dis-
comfort with power. Group members responded with words such as disre-
spect, putdowns, being ignored, denied opportunities, and isolation. She then
highlighted the words the members used to describe experiences where
they felt empowerment. Group members often noted words such as over-
coming fear, being recognized by others, creatively solving a problem, caring for
or helping others, and pushing myself to take action. In an effort to summarize
their collective wisdom about power, group members reflected on how the
collegial PLC could help them feel more empowered to make school
improvement, as well as what types of barriers they would need to avoid
in order to engage in inquiry-oriented PLC work together.

I
Essential Element #4

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs understand and embrace

collaboration.

Hunter, Bailey, and Taylor (1995) suggest that when it comes to collabo-
ration "one + one + one + one = five" (p. 26). This unconventional mathemat-
ics is what happens when a group of teachers work together toward a
common objective. When people work together they create synergy that
helps move the group toward fulfilling the shared purpose. To date, teachers'
work has been fairly autonomous, as classroom teachers have typically
worked independently in their individual classrooms. Cushrnan (1999)
describes the importance of collaboration to creating a culture of inquiry:

Cultures of inquiry depend on adults and students collaborating in

teams and networks, and they set up critically reflective processes
and norms that guide them. These structures-grade-level or cross-
grade teams, critical friends groups, school-university teams, lead-
ership teams-include professional interactions among teachers,
but also involve other people important to the work, inside or out-
side the school and community. To support this characteristic, the
larger system, too, must replace its hierarchy with multiple net-
works of this sort.

A part of the coach's responsibility is to help create this mind-set

toward more collaborative learning. By helping teachers see that working
a .
 34 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

together yields greater results than working alone, the PLC can begin to
create a culture of collaboration.
The goal of the inquiry-oriented PLC is to create a collaborative learn-
ing space within the school that focuses on teacher and student learning.
Throughout the year, the coach must identify ways to inspire group
members to work as a team, as well as encourage them to assume leader-
ship roles within the group. As the group develops, the coach needs to
include all group members in critically evaluating their progress toward
effectively creating a collaborative learning space.
There are many ways to help groups reflect on the power of teamwork.
The NSRF Web site offers many team-building activities for coaches to
select from. One way that Terry helped her PLC members understand the
importance of collaboration is by sharing the tale of the blind man and the
elephant used by Lambert, Collay, Dietz, Kent, and Richert (1996) to high-
light why collaboration leads to more learning than isolation. During a
portion of the PLC meeting, Terry read aloud:

Each of the men tries to describe the elephant by approaching it

from a different perspective. One climbs a ladder, touches the ele-
phant's trunk, and says, "An elephant is long, thin, and round like
a rope." Another touches the elephant's side and says, "An ele-
phant is hard, smooth, and flat like a wall." Still another touches
the elephant's leg and says, "An elephant is round, firm, and tall
like a tree." All of them are correct in their assumptions, and yet
none of them understands the elephant. If they were to combine
their descriptions, they might have a sense of the features of the
elephant; yet they would still be lacking the gestalt, the wholeness
of the elephant.

After sharing the tale with the group, Terry posed the following ques-
tions: (1) How does the tale metaphorically connect to PLCs?, (2) Why is
- inquiry more powerful when done within a community?, (3) How can
we be sure not to function like the blind men within our own PLC?, and
(4) How will collaboration make our work more powerful?
One form of collaboration that Terry has consistently noticed requires
more support and encouragement is the movement to peer observation.
Kruse et al. (1994) note that deprivatization of practice is key to collabora-
tion. Based on Terry's experience, teachers who collaborate, share, observe,
and discuss each other's teaching methods and philosophies demonstrate
one of the deepest forms of collaboration. Terry has learned that peer obser-
vation requires the coach to help with both the logistics of arranging the
observation as well as helping teachers feel comfortable taking the observa-
tion risk. Of course, logistical nightmares exist in finding time to observe a
colleague in the classroom. However, resolving logistical barriers is proba-
bly the easier piece of the equation to solve. Teachers must feel comfortable
sharing a practice if they are going to collectively inquire into that practice.
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC e 35

Preparing teachers for peer observation requires beginning the work within
a relationship that they perceive as safe.
Helping teachers understand the importance of this type of collabora-
tion as well as giving them tools that can help them feel comfortable explor-
ing each other's practice is essential coaching work. Terry used the NSRF
Web site to find protocols that provide structures that support peer obser-
vation targeted at learning from school and classroom visits. Some of these
protocols include the "Collaborative Ghost Walk," "First Classroom Visits,"
"Pre-Conference Protocol," "Observing Students at Work," and "Peer
Observation."
During one of the PLC meetings early in the year, Terry introduced
eight different observation protocols to the group. She began, "At our last
meeting we discussed the importance of peer observation to establishing
collegiality within our group. Today I brought eight different protocols
that can help us become more comfortable with observing each other and
our context."
Terry asked the members to pair up and she gave each of the six pairs
one of the eight protocols. She kept one for herself and saved the last pro-
tocol for another day.
Next, she asked each pair to take twelve minutes to read through the
protocol and be prepared to share the purpose and process of the protocol
with the other group members. She also asked them to identify the
strengths as well as the barriers that might inhibit the use of this protocol
using the graphic organizer found in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3 Graphic Organizer

When would I use

this protocol? For
Name of Protocol what purpose? Strengths Weaknesses

SOURCE: Terry Campanella, adapted from the work of Debra Smith and Fern Tavalin.
36 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

After reading, discussing, and reflecting on the protocol, the pair

shared its protocol with the larger group. Each of the PLC members had
now become familiar with the protocols to support peer observation.
Additionally, each PLC member understood how the protocols differed
and how they needed to be purposefully selected for a particular use.
Terry asked, "Which of these activities are any of you willing to try
between now and the next meeting?"
After a brief discussion, one of the members agreed to pilot a protocol
she believed would help her answer a specific question that she had about
her bottom quartile students. She identified a colleague to work with and
agreed to share with the group the results during the next PLC meeting.
Terry also volunteered to pilot one of the protocols with one of the members
in her PLC observing her teaching mathematics, an area that Terry believed
she was not meeting the needs of her bottom quartile students.
As a coach, you can help other group members feel more comfortable
with peer observation and collaboration by sharing these protocols at
meetings, as well as modeling the use of these protocols within your own
classroom. Peer observation is one of the ultimate acts of collaboration, as
it requires teachers to make their actual teaching practice public to their
colleagues and open to scrutiny. PLCs that regularly embrace collaboration
such as peer observation are typically highly sophisticated groups who
have developed trust in each other and an understanding- of collective
inquiry into shared goal.

Essential Element #5

I Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs encourage, recognize, and

appreciate diversity within the group.

Just like the lesson from the blind men and the elephant tale, individ-
ual members of a PLC come with diverse values, skills, knowledge, beliefs,
philosophies, experiences, expertise, and perspectives. It is this type of
diversity that generates energy for change, as well as the disequilibrium
necessary for learning (Jacobs, 2007; Lambert et al., 1996). PLC coaches
recognize that membership diversity is something to both celebrate and
plan for.
Diversity is important to a PLC's work on multiple levels. First, PLCs
function best when comprised of people with different perspectives,
knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This diverse group membership is nec-
essary for the group to prompt each member's thinking, question each
other's assumptions, and engage in critical friendship. Without diversity,
study groups can become entrenched in groupthink, which can become
highly unproductive and may just perpetuate the status quo rather than
move the group forward. Groupthink often results in hasty decisions,
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 0 37

where individual doubts are set aside and ideas are not questioned. Coaches
can help group members recognize the importance of diverse group mem-
bership to their learning, as well as the importance of allowing members
both inside and outside of the group to disrupt the status quo. They
acknowledge the importance of both insider and outsider knowledge:

Cultures of inquiry are highly strategic and purposeful about seek-

ing and using outside information, resources, expertise, and collab-
orations. Ideas, information, and people constantly move across
their boundaries with the "outside." The larger system must pro-
vide access to information and support, networks for sharing and
building knowledge, and non-hierarchical, ongoing partnerships,
interactions, and critical friendships. (Cushman, 1999)

Coaches seek to make sure that diverse voices are heard within the
group and that diverse perspectives are garnered from outside sources
when the group lacks diverse knowledge and perspective.
In addition to acknowledging the importance of diverse knowledge
bases to a PLC's learning, coaches can help members recognize the diverse
ways that they approach learning. Effective PLC coaches, like Terry, not
only consider the diverse ways participants approach learning, they also
consider the diverse expertise of the group members and identify ways to
best use the internal expertise. Good coaches identify critical junctures
where bringing extemal expertise to the group will benefit teacher learn-
ing and the direction of the group's work. For example, the coach needs to
systematically plan how the group will gain access to knowledge related
to the school achieving the group's vision for improvement. This may
mean that teachers read research-based articles from educational journals,
observe teachers in other schools, visit a specialist, or listen to a guest
speaker from the district who has strong knowledge in a particular area.
Each week, Terry works with the group members to identify when the
professional knowledge found inside the group is not enough to maximize
the group's learning and, when needed, Terry secures help from external
sources. The goal of bringing in extemal knowledge is not to value exter-
nal knowledge over internal knowledge but rather to provide opportuni-
ties for developing diverse perspective taking that allows the members to
critically examine their own teaching practice. A healthy inquiry-oriented
PLC is strengthened by the presence of a diverse set of perspectives
brought to the group and inquired into through professional dialogue.

Essential Element #6

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs promote the development of

critical friends.
38 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

According to the Society for Organizational Learning (Senge, 2007),

developing capabilities for real conversation is not easy.

Most of what passes for conversation in contemporary society is

more like a Ping-Pong game than true talking and thinking together.
Each individual tosses his or her view at the other. Each then
responds. Often, we are preparing our response before we have even
heard the other person's view. In effect, we are "taking our
shot" before we have even received the other's ball. "Learningful"
conversations require individuals capable of reflecting on their own
thinking.

The challenge for coaches is figuring out how to make these kinds of
"learningful" conversations happen within their PLC. Meaningful and
practice-changing PLC work requires teachers to communicate with each
other in ways that promote collegiality and result in teacher learning. The
type of communication is referred to as criticalfriendship.The critical in crit-
ical friends means engaging in important, key, and necessary talk that care-
fully confronts and inquires into the issues being explored. This type of
friendship is essential within an inquiry-oriented PLC. Trust is a prerequi-
site for this movement toward becoming critical friends. Once a foundation
of trust is built, teachers can solicit and provide feedback that generates
reflective thinking.
One way that Terry develops critical friends communication skills is by
using a protocol developed by NSRF titled "Feedback Nightmares." Terry
stated at a PLC meeting, "You have five to ten minutes to write about a bad
experience you have had receiving feedback." Once the group had fin-
ished, Terry paired the participants to share their writing and generate a
list of five dos and don'ts about giving and receiving feedback.
After completing the work in pairs, Terry asked the pairs to share with
the larger group the list that they compiled and add any new ideas to the
group's norms. Once they had all shared, Terry debriefed the activity by
asking the group to discuss the value of this activity.
After exploring the group's experiences receiving feedback, Terry
introduced the idea of "learningful communication" as providing each
other with constructive warm and cool feedback when working together.
She began, "Constructive feedback is a critical component of collaboration
that moves people beyond congeniality to embrace collegiality. Warm
feedback refers to supportive and appreciative statements about the work
presented. Cool feedback refers to offering different ways to think about
the work presented or raising questions."
Terry had found that if her group had not worked together frequently
and the teachers in her school were not used to giving each other warm
and cool feedback on their work, she needed to do feedback work with the
group. Given that conversation is the heart of the PLC's work and the vehicle
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 0 39

that drives changes in teacher practice, Terry attends to the nature of the
conversation within the PLC as she cultivates critical friendship. She often
incorporates two tools described on the NSRF Web site, "Feedback
Principles" and "Feedback Carousel," to deepen each member's ability to
engage in critical friendship. Feedback principles contain guidelines for
giving feedback that include such statements as, "Give feedback with
care," "Let the recipient invite it," "Be specific," and "Avoid evaluative
judgments." Feedback principles also include guidelines for receiving
feedback that include statements such as "Specify the behavior about
which you want feedback," "Clarify your understanding of the feedback,"
and "Take time to sort out what you heard." By reviewing this document
from time to time with her PLC group members, Terry keeps the notion of
critical friendship fresh in their minds as they engage in PLC work
together.
The "Feedback Carousel" involves all members of the PLC creating a
display on a piece of chart paper depicting the significant elements of their
plan for teaching an upcoming lesson, for action research, or for some
other plan for work related to the PLC vision they will be doing in their
classroom during the upcoming week. The coach encourages the use of
color and creativity in the creation of the display. Next to each display, the
coach hangs another piece of chart paper that is divided into four quad-
rants, each designated for a particular purpose--one for clarifying ques-
tions, one for probing questions, one for recommendations, and one for
resources that might be helpful. The coach distributes a pack of small Post-
it notes to every group member and asks them to rotate through as many
plans as possible in an allotted time period, writing feedback on the Post-
its and placing the feedback in the appropriate quadrant. The group then
debriefs the entire process.
Terry believes this critical friendship will contribute to the degree to
which the members inquire, as well as the sophistication of the learning
achieved. She considers many feedback tools and activities such as the
ones described above, in order to create the relationships that can move
the conversations of her PLC group members from congenial to collegial,
which allows the inquiry to deepen and the school improvement to occur.

I
Essential Element #7

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs hold the group accountable for

and document learning.

As a PLC coach, one of your roles will be to document the group's col-
lective work, support individual teachers in the documentation of their
40 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

own work, and maintain the pulse of the health of the group itself.
Documentation is essential as the data allows the members and coach to
share their work with those outside of the PLC. By documenting success
in terms of changes for students, you will be better positioned to acquire
outside funds, compete for scarce internal resources, and perhaps even
influence education policy. One of the best ways to document an inquiry-
oriented PLC's work is through engaging in action research. This book
describes in detail the way that coaches can help groups of teachers collab-
orate around the action research process. As will be demonstrated, the
action research process requires the systematic and intentional documen-
tation of teacher and student learning.
In addition to the action research process, another way Terry docu-
ments participation at PLC meetings is to ask the members to provide
feedback at the end of a meeting using a reflection sheet. The sheet asks:
(1) To what degree do you believe the PLC is improving teaching and
learning? (2) To what degree did you feel involved in the day's session?
(3) What will you take back to your classroom from today's session? And
(4) What could have helped you learn better today? This data informs
Terry's planning for the next group meeting and provides a trail of
teacher learning from one session to the next. Another tool Terry uses for
gaining quick feedback at the end of a study group session is the "Aha's"
and "questions" response sheet (Figure 2.4). Group members jot down
questions that arise for them based on the meeting, as well as "Aha"
moments that occurred during the meeting. This sheet documents what
new insights and new questions the group members are generating as a
result of their work.
Given that ongoing assessment of the PLC's progress is essential,
another tool Terry often uses to capture the group's progress is the "Vessel
Activity." In this activity, the group or each individual within the group is
asked to select a vessel that best represents the nature of the PLC progress
being made. Some might pick a tugboat if they feel like they are dragging
along, others might feel like they are on a cruise ship with all the resources
they need close at hand, and still others may feel like they are paddling a
kayak but that the journey is worth it.
Whatever vessel they metaphorically connect with at that time, they
explain why they selected the vessel and place the vessel on a long piece
of chart paper that represents a metaphorical river. Terry then asks the
group to write on the river what barriers and facilitators exist that are
influencing how the vessel is moving, as well as what participants have
individually and collectively learned along the way. Sometimes this is
done on sticky notes that are added to the river and boat. By having insight
into the group's barriers and facilitators, you can make important deci-
sions that can remove some of these inhibitors to inquiry. This activity pro-
vides your PLC the opportunity to reflect on its lived experiences and
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC @ 41

'+ Figure 2.4 Aha's and Questions Response Sheet

42 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 43

provide an honest picture of members' work as they progress through the

year. Two rivers constructed by different PLCs Terry facilitated appear in
Figures 2.5 and 2.6.

Essential Element #8

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs understand change and

acknowledge the discomfort it may bring to some PLC
members.

Coaches must be aware that change will cause some PLC members a
great deal of discomfort. Change is full of uncertainty. "Change is a process
of coming to grips with new personal meaning, and so it is a learning
process" (Fullan & Miles, 1995, p. 408). One activity Terry has used to help
her PLC members explore feelings about change is engaging in a book
study using the book Who Moved M y Cheese? by Spencer Johnson (1998).
Who Moved M y Cheese? is a metaphorical story of four characters who
live in a maze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy.
Two of the characters are mice named Sniff and Scurry and two are "little-
people" the size of mice, who look and act a lot like people. Their names
are Hem and Haw. The reactions of these characters vary from quick
adjustment to change to waiting for the situation to change by itself to suit
their needs. This story is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life,
especially at work. Change occurs whether or not a person is ready, but the
author affirms that it can be positive. The overarching principles illus-
trated in the book are to anticipate change, let go of the old, and act as if
you were not afraid.
Terry began her early learning community work by having her group
read Who Moved My Cheese? before coming to the first PLC meeting. After
reading the text, the group engaged in discussion around the following
prompts:

Describe the four characters' personalities or social styles.

What does the cheese represent?
What does the maze represent?
What does the book say to you in relation to change?
Which character do you resemble?
What do you feel is the main message from the book?

Through the dialogue that transpired in response to the above prompts,

Terry believed that group members became more self-aware as to how
they respond to change and more sensitive of how their colleagues approach
change.
44 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Another activity that Terry uses to help PLCs she has coached explore
their inclination to change is an adaptation of the NSRFfs "Zones of
Comfort, Risk, and Danger" protocol. In this activity, Terry instructed her
group members:

I'd like you to draw a diagram of concentric circles that looks like
a target. Label the center circle "Comfort," the next circle "Risk,"
and the outer circle "Danger." The comfort circle represents the
times when you feel most at ease, with no stress, and have a good
grip on the topic. The risk circle represents the best opportunities
for learning. It is where you are willing to take some risks, not
know everything, and want to learn and take the risks necessary to
do so. Finally, the danger circle represents times when you feel
defensive or fearful. The danger zone is the least productive and
desirable zone to work from. When you find yourself in the danger
zone, it's best to work on some strategies to move yourself into the
risk zone.
Decide on what size you want to draw each of your circles
depending on the quantity of time you usually work in that zone.
Then, in each circle you are to note the various aspects or expecta-
tions of your work that make you feel really comfortable, that make
you feel like there is some risk involved, and that get you worried
and make you want to retreat. Write these work expectations in the
comfort, risk, and danger zones respectively.

After PLC members complete their diagrams, Terry continues, "Once

you have identified your comfort, risk, and danger zones, you will have
greater insight into the areas in which you will experience more difficulty
changing. By making this explicit, you will be better able to seek out sup-
port as you engage in that change." The activity ends with all individuals
sharing what they learned about themselves through constructing their
"Zone Maps."
A third activity that Terry uses is "Compass Points," also developed by
NSRF. This is a protocol that Terry believes helps group members under-
stand how each member approaches the change experiences differently. To
lead this activity, Terry arrives to the PLC meeting early, and hangs four
signs on each wall-North, South, East, and West. When PLC members
arrive to the meeting, Terry explains the signs and the meaning they hold
for understanding group work preferences:

In this simulation, north represents the need to get moving on the

change as quickly as possible. If you are inclined toward North,
then just like the Nike commercial, your motto is "Just do it!" You
love to act, try things, and plunge in. Now, South is quite differ-
ent from North. If you are a "South" person, you need to have all
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 45

members of the group share their thoughts and be sure that

everyone feels supported as they engage in the change. You are
the caring direction, wanting to assure that everyone's feelings
have been taken into account and that all voices have been heard
before acting. Let's move over to the East now. East represents the
need to understand the big idea or vision for the change. Before
doing anything associated with a change, you want to under-
stand the big picture and all the possibilities. Finally, West repre-
sents the need to have questions answered in detail. Before
proceeding with any change, a "West" person likes to know the
who, what, when, where, and why.

After reviewing each of the four directions, Terry asks each group
member to reflect on the ways he or she typically responds to change, and
physically move to the sign on the wall (North, South, East, or West) that
best represents that person's response to change. Once all group members
have placed themselves by a sign, Terry continues, "Now, within your
group, I would like you to answer the following four questions and be pre-
pared to report out to the larger group in about fifteen minutes. The ques-
tions are:

1. What are four strengths of your style?

2. What are four weaknesses of your style?
3. What is the style you have most difficulty working with?
4. What would you want others to know about your style?"

After each "Direction" group generates answers to the four questions,

Terry asks each group to share its responses to the questions. As they
speak, she has one of the group members chart the key ideas related to
change that are expressed. Upon completing the protocol, Terry asks,
"What did we learn about the diverse ways we can approach working and
changing together?" The group notes that by engaging in this self-assessment
and discussing the implications of the group members' different orienta-
tions to change, the group better understands and appreciates the diver-
sity of its membership, as well as how members might be experiencing the
change brought on by the PLC work.

Essential Element #9

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs have a comprehensive view of

what constitutes data, and are willing to consider all forms
and types of data throughout the PLC work.
46 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Given the context of accountability in which educators work today, the

goal that we seek as we work together in our PLCs is improved teaching
with an eye on student learning. By inquiring together, we can discover
ways to improve student learning and help one another improve teaching
practices along the way. The coach can maintain this vision by insisting
that student data is a regular artifact of the PLC group meetings. Data
includes, but is not limited to, standardized test data, formative assess-
ment, summative assessment, authentic assessment, performance-based
assessment, student work, and attitude/surveys. By using multiple forms
of data to drive our conversations and decisions, we keep the focus of our
conversations on our students and their learning.
The type of data teachers bring to the PLC and examine as a part of their
inquiry is important. As noted by Taylor (2002), teachers not only need to
bring data but they need to bring all data-the good, the bad, and the ugly.
A part of the PLC's culture must be the willingness to take risks and share
the "ugly" data as well as the more successful examples of student learn-
ing. It is often effective for PLC coaches to share their own ugly data to
model data selection for PLC members, as well as demonstrate their own
vulnerabilities. For when all types of data are shared, PLC conversations
will focus on student learning and teacher learning will occur.
Terry again uses the NSRF Web site to find and select numerous proto-
cols that legitimize student work as data. For example, Terry uses the
"Student Work Gallery" protocol adapted from the NSRF Web site as a tool
for helping one group she worked with move from its PLC school
improvement vision to improve writing instruction in their school to more
specific questions about how to go about improving writing that each
teacher can bring to the PLC conversations. Terry begins,

In order for us to become more familiar with the kind of writing

being done by our students, become aware of what we value about
writing, and identify what we are concerned about, we are going to
create a student work gallery during our next meeting. To do this,
for our next meeting, everyone needs to bring at least one piece of
your students' work in writing. In addition, I would like you to
bring a question that the piece or pieces of student work you
selected to bring to the meeting is creating for you.

As the next session began, Terry had PLC members hang the student
work they brought to share and their accompanying question around the
room. She then shared:

Today I would like you to identify the progressions, holes in the

progression, spiraling, repetition, and differences in approaches
that will help us become familiar with the "whole" of the students'
writing experiences in our school. To do this, we will do a walk
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC e 47

through the student gallery. Your goal is to notice the questions

being posed about the work and respond to those questions using
nonjudgmental statements by focusing on what the student is try-
ing to do and what the teacher believes or wants for her students.

At this point, Terry asked the group to take the next thirty minutes to
walk around the room and look in detail at the student work shared.
During this time, Terry asked the group members to write their thoughts
on Post-it Notes and stick them to the student work. She suggested that
they might share questions they have about the work or what questions
that they might have for the student.
Finally, Terry asked each group member to engage in a personal piece
of reflective writing that focuses on the question, "What does looking at
this work by these students make me think about my writing practice?"
The gallery walk ends when these reflections are shared with the larger
group. As a result of looking at this student data (writing samples from
across the school), this PLC could identify strengths and weaknesses of the
school's writing program.
This is just one example of how a PLC can use data to drive inquiry-
oriented PLC discussions. As a coach, it is important to remember that the
data that is useful to teachers comes in many forms. At times, useful data
may be quantitative and in the form of test scores. However, useful data
can also take the form of student work, teaching artifacts, and teacher
dilemmas. The NSRF Web site has many protocols that facilitate discussion
around different types of data. Data is an essential component of a healthy
PLC as the data allows educators to identify important problems of prac-
tice that are deserving of their attention.

II Essential Element #10

Healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs work with building administrators.

II
According to DuFour (1999), principals have been called on to: (1)cel-
ebrate the success of their schools and to perpetuate discontent with the
status quo; (2) convey urgency regarding the need for school improvement
and to demonstrate the patience that sustains improvement efforts over
the long haul; (3) encourage individual autonomy and to insist on adher-
ence to the school's mission, vision, values, and goals; and (4) build wide-
spread support for change and to push forward with improvement despite
resisters, and approach improvement incrementally and to promote the
aggressive, comprehensive shakeup necessary to escape the bonds of tra-
-. school cultures. For these reasons, principal support is critical to
ditional
m+
48 e The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

inquiry-oriented PLC work and inquiry-oriented PLC work is critical to

the effective leadership of the principal.
For principals to truly understand and support the inquiry-oriented
PLC work, the principals must possess a lived understanding of the nature
and purpose of the work. PLC participation by principals develops their
understanding of PLC work beyond what they can read in a text and also
familiarizes themselves with faculty concerns about student learning
needs within the school. This enables the principal to become a more
informed instructional leader.
Although each of the previously mentioned essential elements of
a healthy PLC is critical for successful PLC work, Terry has found that
without a strong working relationship and support from the principal,
PLC groups will not reach their potential. Those engaged in facilitating a
PLC must recognize the importance of the school administrator and plan
for his or her involvement. The principal must not only understand the
process of PLC work, but must question, investigate, and seek school
improvement solutions alongside the teachers. Whether or not the princi-
pal is a member of your PLC, the school administrator needs to provide
the organizationaland structural supports for this collaborative work to take
place. For example, coaches engaged in PLC work sometimes encounter
negative participants or those who refuse to do "extra duty" without extra
pay. By working closely with the principal and other district administra-
tors, coaches can identify organizational incentives that can support and
integrate inquiry-oriented PLC work into the existing structures. For example,
some districts have been able to integrate participation in an inquiry-
oriented PLC into the teacher's professional development plan (see, for
example, Chapter 6) and other districts have allowed teachers to use the
PLC work toward the teacher's recertification credits. In addition to these
creative incentives, some districts have recognized the value of utilizing
their National Board Teachers as coaches for inquiry-oriented PLCs.
In addition to identifying incentives to participate, some principals
who believe in the power of inquiry-oriented PLCs dedicate time to the
work as well. For example, some principals we have worked with identi-
fied and scheduled a planning period each week to make it possible for
grade-level teams (in elementary schools and middle schools) and depart-
ments (in high schools) to engage in PLC work focused on a shared goal
during the school day. Others have used weekly early release days or ded-
icated weekly team meetings or monthly faculty meetings to this form of
professional learning. Still others have used innovative scheduling options
to free up teachers across their buildings to collaborate during the day, and
a few principals have begun infusing online tools for PLC work.
When coaches, like Terry, take time to collaborate with district and
building level administrators, they can identify organizational structures
that can naturally support the work, making it "a part of" rather than
"apart from" what is expected of teachers in today's classroom. Teacher
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 49

professional learning is a part of what good teachers should be engaged in

as a part of their daily work. When school administrators are on board,
they can help with dedicating time, establishing communication proce-
dures, finding meeting sites, accessing data, and providing resources that
can support the work.
Although structural and organizational supports are important, the
principal must be the "keeper" of the school's vision and demonstrate vis-
ible commitment to teacher learning through inquiry-oriented PLCs. A
part of Terry's work is to help the principal she works with realize that
when teachers perceive that authority and power are invested exclusively
in the hierarchy of administration and that shared leadership isn't a goal,
there is little interest in collaboration. When there is little interest in
collaboration, teachers will retreat to the classrooms and close their doors.
By keeping the focus on this shared purpose, continuous improvement is
possible. Terry's work helps facilitate the vision as she works with the prin-
cipal to enhance relationships "between the principal and teachers, among
the teachers, and between the teachers and the students that enable risk
taking, coaching, and giving and receiving feedback, and reflection to
guide improvement" (Taylor, 2002, p. 43).
One way Terry helps the principal maintain a connection with the group
is by frequently communicating the successes and progress that the PLC is
making. By keeping these lines of communication open, the principal can
help a coach acknowledge the important work that is going on within the
PLC. We know that what gets rewarded and acknowledged is what gets
done. By acknowledging the group's efforts, the PLC work is not something
that is just taken for granted by the administrator, and the administrator
seeks ways to make PLCs a part of the daily work of teachers, rather than an
add-on to their already full days.
In addition to these reasons to collaborate with the principal, coaches
also need to be able to secure the necessary resources to support the group's
inquiry process. They may need resources for development, irnplementa-
tion, and/or data analysis. If the principal understands the power of
healthy PLCs, the coach has communicated the focus of the inquiry to the
principal along the way, and the work ties to student learning, securing
necessary resources for PLC work is much more likely to happen.

ASSESSING T H E H E A L T H OF YOUR PLC

The job of a doctor is twofold. First, doctors provide well-patient care by
seeing patients for regular check-ups and assessing that all systems in the
body are functioning properly and working together to ensure the overall
health of the patient. Second, doctors see patients when they are ill, diag-
nose the problem, and prescribe a course of treatment to bring the patient
back to good health again.
50 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Similar to the doctor, your job as a coach of an inquiry-oriented PLC is

to use the ten essential elements we discuss in this chapter to regularly
reflect on the PLC you are coaching to be sure "all systems are healthy." To
review, these "systems" include: establishing and maintaining a vision,
building trust, understanding power, enhancing collaboration, appreciat-
ing diversity, becoming critical friends, documenting learning and keeping
group accountable for shared goal, gaining comfort with change, using
multiple forms and types of data, and working with the school leadership.
These systems are not mutually exclusive but build on and influence each
other. Figure 2.7 provides a summary of the essential elements of a healthy
PLC that were explored in this chapter, and it can be used as a handy guide
to regularly assess how your PLC in functioning and make decisions about
areas that need more attention.
Like Terry, you can select activities and protocols to guide discussion
that help your PLC grow in the area diagnosed as needing more attention.
For, according to DuFour (2004):

The professional learning community model has now reached a

critical juncture, one well known to those who have witnessed the
fate of other well-intentioned school reform efforts. In this all-too-
familiar cycle, initial enthusiasm gives way to confusion about the
fundamental concepts driving the initiative, followed by inevitable
implementation problems, the conclusion that the reform has failed
to bring about the desired results, abandonment of the reform, and

Top Ten List: Essential Elements of a Healthy PLC

Healthy PLCs . ..
1. Establish and maintain a vision for their work.
2. Build trust among group members.
3. Pay attention to the ways power can influence group dynamics.
4. Understand and embrace collaboration.
5. Encourage, recognize, and appreciate diversity within the group.
6. Promote the development of cr~ticalfriends.
7. Hold the group accountable for and document their learning.
8. Understand change and acknowledge the discomfort it may bring to some PLC
members.
9. Have a comprehensive view of what constitutes data, and are willing to consider
all forms and types of data throughout thew PLC work.
10. Work with thelr budding administrators.
 Establishing and Maintaining a Healthy Inquiry-Oriented PLC 0 51

the launch of a new search for the next promising initiative. Another
reform movement has come and gone, reinforcing the conventional
education wisdom that promises, "This too shall pass." (p. 6 )

The success of your PLC depends not on the merits of the "concept but
m the most important element in the improvement of the school-the com-
nitrnent and persistence of the educators within the group" (DuFour, 2004)
and the coach who leads them. Your role as an inquiry-oriented PLC coach
a n make or break the authenticity and impact of the work you facilitate.
For this reason, we recommend you visit the NSRF Web site
whttp:/ /www.harmonyschool.org/nsrf/default.html)for clear instructions
on each of the protocols that Terry used with her PLCs, as well as a large
selection of additional protocols and activities you can use to keep your
PLC healthy and moving forward in its important work! In addition, if you
have not already participated in NSRF training, we encourage you to learn
more about the foundation of PLC work and strategies for coaches by
attending one of NSRFfsCritical Friends Training Sessions.
We must also note that in this chapter, we list the top ten essential ele-
ments of healthy PLCs. These essential elements are our top ten picks
based on our own coaching work and focus on the "dos" of coaching PLC
work. However, these top ten essential elements of healthy PLCs do not
exhaust all of the many factors that contribute to an effective and highly
functioning PLC. For example, the NSRF also shares a list of five things not
to do as a new coach. This list includes: (1)Don't set yourself up as the
expert, (2) don't facilitate every protocol session yourself, (3) don't spend
any whole meeting on team building, (4) don't stay in everyone's comfort
zone, and (5) don't allow your group to become alienated from the rest of
the faculty. While not exhaustive, our "Essential Elements of a Healthy
PLC" list is certainly enough to get you started in the process of continu-
ally reflecting on the state of your PLC, and ascertaining the next best steps
in moving the work of your PLC forward.

USING ACTION RESEARCH TO

ADVANCE INQUIRY-ORIENTED PLC WORK
One way to move your inquiry-oriented PLC forward, deepen your docu-
mentation, and help connect the learning to the classroom is through weav-
ing the process of action research into the regular meetings and agreed-upon
work that your PLC has decided to engage in. To review, action research is
defined as systematic, intentional study by teachers of their own classroom
practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993).Action researchers seek out change
and reflect on their practice by posing questions or "wonderings," collecting
data to gain insights into their wonderings, analyzing the data along with
52 e The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

reading relevant literature, making changes in practice based on new under-

standings developed during inquiry, and sharing findings with others
(Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003).
By carefully studying our own and other PLC coaches' facilitation of
action research, we have learned that there are four critical junctures in the
action research process that strengthen the inquiry process. Critical junc-
tures are places in the inquir)- process where decisions that are made dur-
ing h s phase of the pmxss greatlv enhance or inhibit the depth of
learning that can occur throughout the course of the inquiry. Critical junc-
tures are also places that often cause teachers some discomfort or uncer-
tamtv- REU include: (1) locating an action research question or
*
r ( 2 ) developing a plan for research, (3) analyzing data, and
(1,iP3 s H-or)l with others.
-n
-
:vou develop a vision for how the process of action research can
tw III~~K&&- intern\-ined with the work of a new or established PLC, in
thr next & chapters we explore each of these critical junctures in depth,
h m n g stories of PLC coaches as they facilitate group members' develop-
ment of questions or wonderings for study, develop an action research
plan, analyze their data, and share their work with others.
 Helping PLC
Members Locate
a Wondering

How do I maximize the use ofa science notebook as a tool for learning and
organizationfor ninth grade integrated science students?
What is the relationship between students' journaling and their develop-
ment as writers in Spanish class?
What are parent and student perceptions of online grade books?
How do I balance the provisionfor extensive responsive feedback on student
writing in English class with the class time and teacher time it takes to pro-
vide such feedback?
How does our school address the high-mobility rate of the migrant worker
population we serve?
How do we create more inclusive educational settings in our school?
How do we improve the reading scores of our bottom quartile students?
In this era of high-stakes testing and accountability, how do we enrich the
curriculum for gifted students?

I gniting the process of action research within a professional learning

community begins by PLC members articulating a burning question
they have about their practice. Burning questions, often referred to as
54 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

wondmings, emerge from issues, tensions, problems, and/or dilemmas teachers

face when confronted each day with the complexities inherent in the daily
act of teaching. PLC membership wonderings can be individual or collec-
tive. Individual wonderings occur when members of a PLC decide to look
deeply into their own classroom practice. Each member of a PLC then for-
mulates his or her own question, and PLC members support each other by
offering advice, suggestions, and critical comments about each PLC
member's inquiry as it unfolds. The first four questions that open this
chapter are examples of wonderings explored by individuals in a
high school PLC.
Alternatively, collective wonderings occur when all members of a PLC
elect to explore a single wondering or a series of related wonderings
together. The collective wondering(s) may emerge from a common-felt dif-
ficulty across teachers and grade levels, or in response to whole-school
data sets, such as standardized test scores. Members of the PLC work
together to plan the inquiry, divide the plan into discrete components, and
then divvy up each component to members of the group to complete in-
between PLC meetings. The final four questions that open this chapter are
examples of wonderings explored together by PLCs at four different
school sites. Figure 3.1 provides some additional examples of wonderings
explored by teachers in different grade levels and teaching areas to illus-
trate the scope and variety possible in wondering development. The few
examples of questions by grade level and teaching areas listed in this chart
are by no means exhaustive of the many possibilities for types of wonder-
ings that might be explored, but they can serve to jump-start the wonder-
ing brainstorming process for the teachers you coach.
Whether your PLC members decide to explore individual or collective
wonderings, or a combination of the two, it is important to note that:

Rarely does any teacher researcher eloquently state his or her

wondering immediately. It takes time, brainstorming, and actually
"playing" with the question. . . . By playing with the wording of a
wondering, teachers often fine-tune and discover more detail
about the subject they are really passionate about understanding.
(Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003, p. 47)

Hence, one critical component of coaching inquiry within your PLC is

creating a space for teachers to play. The purpose of this chapter is to help
you create a playground for wondering development.

THE WONDERING PLAYGROUND

Qualitative researchers Robert Sherman and Rodman Webb (1997) argue
that powerful research questions emerge from "felt difficulties." Teachers
are constantly faced with felt difficulties or dilemmas as they reflect in and
 Elementary
t (K-5):

I Math I How does one teach fractions conceptually, and what are the
impacts of that teaching on the different learners in my classroom?
What is the relationship between students' basic math fact
fluency and their ability to problem solve?
How can I differentiate instruction and use our district's adopted
math program?

Language Arts How can I use my word wall in a literacy center to make it more
meaningful for my students?
What is the relationship between the reading of fractured fairy-
tale plays and the fluency development of fourth graders?

Science r How can I encourage students to use scientific terms when

talking about science?
How do online demonstrations compare to live demonstrations
regarding effectiveness in capturing students' interest?
r How can I take a science unit that is heavy on content and
make it more inquiry-based?

Social Studies r How can the story of the "true discovery" of America be taught
to fourth graders in a developmentally appropriate way?
How will the implementation of the organizational structure
embedded in interactive notebooks help our students understand the
scientific process and gain historical perspectives in social studies?
How will using role play and simulations increase student
understanding of historical events?
@ How do I begin to engage students in discussing difficult and
controversial issues?
- .

Secondary

Math How does the use of tessellations as a context for students to

~nvestlgategeometric shapes and the~rproperties play out in my
classroom?
How can I instill in my seventh graders a hablt of work~ng
through math problems on mult~plechoice tests so they do well
on our state standardwed test?

Language Arts What happens when I put culturally relevant literature in the
hands of my eighth grade reluctant readers?
How will the use of comprehension strategies affect student
reading achievement In the area of vocabulary?
What are some strategies I could use to facihtate better
literature discussions?

(Continued)
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering @ 55

Elementary
(K-5):

Math How does one teach fractions conceptually, and what are the
impacts of that teaching on the different learners in my classroom?
What is the relationship between students' basic math fact
fluency and their ability to problem solve?
How can I differentiate instruction and use our district's adopted
math program?

Language Arts How can I use my word wall in a literacy center to make it more
meaningful for my students?
What is the relationship between the reading of fractured fairy-
tale plays and the fluency development of fourth graders?

Science How can I encourage students to use scientific terms when

talking about science?
How do online demonstrations compare to live demonstrations
regarding effectiveness in capturing students' interest?
How can I take a science unit that is heavy on content and
make it more inquiry-based?
p~- - -~

Social Studies How can the story of the "true discovery" of America be taught
to fourth graders in a developmentally appropriate way?
How will the implementation of the organizational structure
embedded in interactive notebooks help our students understand the
scientific process and gain historical perspectives in social studies?
How will using role play and simulations increase student
understanding of historical events?
How do I begin to engage students in discussing difficult and
controversial issues?

Secondary
(6-1 2):
-

Math How does the use of tessellations as a context for students to

investigate geometric shapes and their properties play out in my
classroom?
How can I instill in my seventh graders a habit of working
through math problems on multiple choice tests so they do well
on our state standardized test?

Language Arts What happens when I put culturally relevant literature in the
hands of my eighth grade reluctant readers?
How will the use of comprehension strategies affect student
reading achievement in the area of vocabulary?
What are some strategies I could use to facilitate better
literature discussions?

(Continued)
56 0 The Reflective Educator's G u i d e to Professional Development

(Continued)

Science How can I better utilize demonstrations in a way that empowers

my students' learning of high school chemistry?
What is the relationship between investigations I typically use and
my students' developing understandings of Bernoulli's Principle?

Social Studies How does using technology such as Google Earth impact
students' understanding and application of geography skills?
How will deepening my own adult content knowledge and
understandings about the Holocaust translate into the ways I
teach this topic?

Special Areas:

Art How can still life drawing help children see multiple
perspectives, and apply this to social situations?
What is the relationship between students' expressing themselves
through art and their writing for language arts assignments?

Music Which music and movement techniques can help improve my

students' behavior during large group/circle time?
How can I teach music theory in a performance-oriented class?
How might music help a particular student combat some
frustrations when reading and boost her self-esteem?

Foreign In what ways can 1 improve my students' ability to write in French?

Language How does keeping a daily, personal journal help Spanish
students improve written grammar?

Physical What are the best ways to grade students in physical education
Education class?
In what ways can physical education activities build on students'
learning to read in kindergarten and first grades?

Technology How can a team of teachers work through problems together and
Education support each other to overcome hurdles when using new
technologies?
How can the use of assistive technologies (Alphasmart,
Kidspiration, audio recordings, and Stationary Studio) increase
the writing quality, interest, and motivation for a gifted third
grade student?
How can I use a SMART board to best facilitate student learning?

Administration: What are teachers' level of satisfaction with the current block
schedule in place at the secondary level?
What are viable alternatives to ISS (in-school suspension) and
how do they play out in our high school?
What are some strategies for promoting teacher leadership in
my school, and how are they working?
In what ways does peer-coaching contribute to the continued
professional development of veteran teachers and what role can
I play as a principal to facilitate the process?
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 57

Generic Act How can I better communicate with my middle school students'
of Teaching parents?
(K-12): What are the most effective methods to ensure that show and
tell is a meaningful, academic-related activity?
How do I design an extension of the reciprocal teaching method
that is both effective and efficient, while still engaging to students?
How can I incorporate more higher-level questions into
classroom discussions, and have students recognize and
answer them as such?
How can we make inclusion meetings more helpful for students
and educators in our school?
What impact will a Critical Friends Group have on the teaching
and professional growth of members of the group?
How can students be taught organizational skills and strategies
so they will use them to improve their academic performance?
How do the structure and management of my classroom affect
a particular student's behavior?
How does my questioning behavior change as I teach across
subjects?
How can I use my students' social skills to enhance their
learning and instruction at the same time?
How do the ways I phrase questions contribute to how learners
interpret them?
In what ways do my classroom management and practices deter
from my philosophy of teaching and my beliefs about how
children learn?
How can I maintain an inclusive classroom when high-stakes
testing seems to encourage noninclusive practices?

on their acts of teaching. As a result, these felt difficulties are direct con-
cerns that emerge from one's own teaching experiences.
Establishing your playground begins by creating a space for members of
your PLC to discover, share, and reflect on their felt difficulties or real-world
dilemmas. It is in this space that healthy, meaningful wonderings are born.
Coaches can use a variety of tools to create this reflective space. For
example, in our coaching work, we have asked teachers to progress
through a series of exercises in relationship to eight teaching passions-
"Helping an Individual Child," "Enriching Curriculum," "Developing
Content Knowledge," "Experimenting with Teaching Strategies and
Techniques," "Exploring the Relationship Between Beliefs and Classroom
Practice," "Exploring the Relationship Between Personal and Professional
Teaching Identities," and "Advocating for Social Justice." These eight pas-
sions, constructed based on our research and analysis of more than 100
teacher inquiries, are areas ripe for the development of wonderings (Dana,
Yendol-Hoppey, & Snow-Gerono, 2006; Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003).
To exemplify, one exercise related to the passion, "Helping an Individual
Child" involves creating a three-column chart naming each student in
58 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

a teacher's class, something unique or notable about the student, and

a question that if answered, would give the teacher insights into that
student's uniqueness. When completing this exercise, Jenn, a first grade
teacher, paused at the fourth student's name listed on her chart-Meg. It
was easy to fill out the next column, something unique or notable about
the student, as Meg was often observed singing throughout the day and
had a most incredible voice. Jenn wrote the word musical. In the next col-
umn, a question about the student, Jenn reflected on Meg's difficulty learn-
ing to read and her poor auditory processing skills diagnosed through
testing. Jenn wrote, "How can Meg be so musical, memorizing music and
lyrics to songs easily, and be having difficulty with reading?" After Jenn
completed this same process for the remaining members of her class, she
gazed at the entire list, and her eyes kept returning to the fourth row on
her table-Meg, a student who had puzzled her for some time. Why had
she never explored putting Meg's apparent musical gift to work on her
reading? Completing this exercise led Jenn to design an action research
study that did just that. Jenn's inquiry questions were, "In what ways
could I use music to help Meg become a better reader?" and "How might
music help her combat frustrations when reading and boost her self-
esteem?" Additional exercises for exploring each of the eight passions can
be found in one of our earlier books, The Reflective Educator's Guide to
Classroom Research: Leavning to Teach and Teaching to Learn through Practi-
tioner Inquiry (Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003).
Protocols are another tool coaches can use to help members of their
PLC explore tensions in practice that may yield inquiry wonderings. In
fact, Linda Emm and Pete Bermudez, NSRF coaches in Miami Dade school
district in Florida, adopted the passions from our text to create a protocol
for exploration with teachers in their PLC trainings (Emm, 2007). In this
protocol, teachers read paragraph profiles of each of the eight passions,
and select the passion that most accurately describes who they are as an
educator. Next, teachers identify others in the room that have identified
the same passion, and discuss what it is like to have this passion. After
that, each person in the group privately identifies an actual student, by
name, who has been affected by the group's profile and writes responses
to the following questions:

What have I done with this student?

What's worked? What hasn't?
What else could I do?
What questions does this raise for me?

After this silent individual writing time, group members discuss the
questions that teachers who share this passion are likely to have about
their practice. A recorder lists these questions on newsprint, with the pas-
sion profile number at the top of the newsprint page.
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering e 59

After briefly hearing reports by each group and viewing the questions
generated by each group on newsprint, Pete and Linda lead a discussion
based on the following questions:

What strikes you as you listen to the passions of these educators?

Which of the questions generated intrigues you the most? Why?
How might you go about exploring this question with colleagues?
What would you do first?

You can adapt the protocol Pete and Linda developed and use it at one
of your PLC meetings to help stimulate thinking about potential wonder-
ings, or to introduce the notion of teacher inquiry to members of your
group. Specific directions for the use of the protocol and the passion pro-
file descriptions can be found at the end of this chapter.
A third way coaches can help group members explore the space where
wonderings are born is through looking closely at PLC work documenta-
tion tools utilized over time. One documentation tool we have observed
numerous coaches use is called the I-MAP, which stands for Individual
Monthly Action Plan. Members of a PLC complete a monthly action plan
individually or collectively at the close of a PLC meeting. The purpose of
the I-MAP is to translate the learning that has occurred during a PLC meet-
ing into teachers' practice and to provide continuity from one meeting to
the next. Each individual or the entire group states a planned change they
will make in practice based on what they learned from the PLC work dur-
ing that meeting. Then, four columns are completed as teachers answer the
questions: (1) Why am I planning to do this? (2) How will I initiate this
change? (3) What supports do I need to be successful?And (4) How will I
know if I've made progress? Figure 3.2 illustrates the I-MAP form.
Looking at the I-MAPS the group completed over time can lead toward
some powerful discussions about wonderings.
Once a coach has created space for group members to explore dilem-
mas or tensions in practice, the next step is to dedicate one or more of your
PLC meetings explicitly to wondering development. If PLC membership
decides to investigate individual wonderings, each member of the PLC
comes to the wondering development meeting ready to share question(s)
he or she is considering for exploration through inquiry. Sometimes
coaches ask individuals to journal prior to coming to this meeting, or to
complete a reflective guide. Figures 3.3 and 3.4 share examples of a jour-
naling prompt and a reflective guide developed by Terry Campanella, the
PLC coach featured in Chapter 2, to prepare her PLC members for their
wondering meeting. At the wondering meeting itself, each individual
takes a turn sharing the felt difficulty, dilemma, or tension in practice that
has led to the question, and subsequently articulates his or her initial ques-
tion. Dialogue about the dilemma and question helps each individual
refine and further develop his or her wondering.
60 @ The Reflective Educator's G u i d e t o Professional Development

Individual Monthly Action Plan (I-MAP)

What implications does our collaborative work have for your practice between this meeting
and the next? What change will you make in your work with students, their families, or your
colleagues?

Planned Change: (What will I do?)

Why am I How will I What supports How will I know if

planning to do initiate this do I need to be I've made
this? change? successful? progress?
What do l hope What am I going Who can What evidence
will happen as a to do? What steps help me and will I review?
result of this will I take and what do How will
change in my when will I take I need from I document my
practice? them? them? growth?

SOURCE: http:Nwww.harmon~school.or~n~rf/protocol/dodimap.pdf
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 8 61

?iyre' 3.3 Prompt

~ourna~ing

Journaling Prompt

Think of the work you have done with your students this year.
What did not meet the expectations you had?
Was it "good" but could have been better?
What would benefit from being looked at with colleagues?
What would you have brought to be tuned with a colleague?
What would you have brought to be tuned with a protocol?
Describe the work and come up with a focus question that you might use.

SOURCE: Terry Campariella, adapted from the work of Debra Smith and Fern Tavalin

Similarly, if PLC membership decides to investigate a collective won-

dering, the foci for the group's wondering and ideas for framing the won-
dering are brainstormed at the meeting. Terri uses a learning community
matrix (Figure 3.5) to initiate dialogue around the formation of a collective
wondering. In this activity, PLC members decide on a name for their com-
munity based on the work they have done to date. Next, the community
completes the K box in the matrix by answering the question, "What do we
already know as a result of our PLC work to date?" Next, members of the
community complete the W box by answering the question, "What do we
want to know?" Finally, members complete the third P box with a plan for
finding out what they want to know. After this box is completed, the coach
helps translate the plan into the statement of a wondering, and facilitates
discussion about the proposed wondering until all PLC members feel com-
fortable with the question and the direction for their shared inquiry. After
the inquiry is completed, the group returns to the matrix and completes
the final, L box, stating what members have learned as a result of their col-
lective inquiry.
Whether the PLC wondering development meeting is a time when all
members of the PLC work to formulate one collective wondering or each
individual of the PLC is formulating a personal wondering for explo-
ration, as initial possibilities for wonderings are articulated, the coach
facilitates the process of PLC members "playing" with the wondering by
taking a wondering litmus test.

THE WONDERING LITMUS TEST

Chemists use a litmus test to determine if a substance is an acid or a base.
Coaches use this litmus test to determine if the statement of a potential
62 O The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

REFLECTIVE GUIDE

Learning From Examination of Student/Professional Work

In preparation for our January meeting, please use this guide to:
Identify a question about your practice.
Select student/professional work that relates most directly to your question.

1. What questions do I have about my practice as an educator?

2. Which of these questions (from # I ) most directly affect student learning? Why?

3. Of the questions generated in #2, which ONE question do I have a passion to

learn more about with the help of other colleagues, and do I think most directly
affects student learning? (This is my inquiry question.)

4. What student/professional work do I have that relates most directly to this

question? How does this work relate to my question?

Please bring at least six copies of the work you have identified, along with
this completed sheet, to the January meeting.

SOURCE: Terry Campanella, adapted from the work of Debra Smith and Fern Tavalin
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering Cb 63

Learning Community Matrix

Community Name: Date Completed:

K W P L
What do we What do we want What is our plan What have we
know about this to know? for finding out learned?
community? what we want to (This is to be
know? completed after
we analyze data.)

SOURCE: Terry Carnpanella, adapted from the work of Debra Smith and Fern Tavalin.

wondering for teacher inquiry is worthy of exploration, and if it is artic-

ulated in such a way that exploration of the wondering will be the most
valuable it can be for the classroom teacher(s) undertaking the inquiry
journey. The wondering litmus test consists of a series of questions facil-
itators can pose to themselves or to the group about the wondering
under consideration, and through dialogue and discussion, reframe
and refine a wondering until the individual or group has clearly and
concisely articulated a question that generates excitement, enthusiasm,
and intrigue.
When a teacher articulates a wondering for the first time, it may be
helpful to write the question on a whiteboard or chart paper to begin dis-
cussion. Some of the questions a wondering litmus test might include
are illustrated in Figure 3.6 and listed below, followed by stories of how
64 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

considering that question helped move an initially articulated wondering

through the development phase.
Before proceeding in this chapter, however, it is important to note that
these stories are just glimpses into PLC work, and not meant to represent
the entire process of wondering development or the evolution of a "per-
fect" wondering. In the business of teacher inquiry and coaching school-
based professional development, there is no such thing as perfection.
Rather, the stories are offered as a tool to guide a PLC coach in facilitating
the process of representing a teacher's felt tension or dilemma of practice
as a question written on the page, and "playing" with the wording, phras-
ing, and form of the question to help a teacher dig deeper into his or her
own proposed inquiry. The questions in the litmus test may be evoked in
any order, or some not at all, to help the coach and PLC members "play"
with wording, and in the process, get to the heart of teachers' passion for
reflection and action. You may also add your own questions to the won-
dering litmus test.

Is the Wondering Specific?

Pam was the third member of her PLC to share at the group's wonder-
ing development meeting. She began, "I'm always thinking about ways to
improve my teaching so that I can reach more students and this will be the
perfect opportunity to actually follow my 'wanderings' all the way
through! I'm constantly changing things but never totally analyze the
results of those changes, so I'm really enjoying this PLC work. . . .
"Of course, like everyone here, I sometimes feel like my teaching is
drowning in the sea of concern about student performance on our lovely
state standardized test. Therefore, I am currently using the computer

Take the Wondering Litmus Test

Is the wondering specific?

Is the wondering focused on student learning?
Is the wondering a real question (a question whose answer is not known)?
Is the wondering a question about which the teacher is passionate?
Is the wondering a "how can I" wondering?
Is the wondering free of judgmental language?
Is the wondering focused on the teacher's own practice?
Is the wondering a dichotomous (yeslno) question?
Is the wondering clear and concise?
Is your wondering doable?
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 65

program provided by the Department of Education to prepare kids for the

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT Explorer) every Friday in
the classroom. I've been using it since November and really wonder how
beneficial it is to my students. I believe this is what I'm going to do my
inquiry on. I'm not really sure of how to go about gathering data . . . here
are a few of my thoughts. . . . I could survey the students after they take
the FCAT and ask them how they think FCAT Explorer helped them pre-
pare. . . . I could monitor on-task time while they are working on the com-
puter. . . . I could analyze the results of their work from a report done by
FCAT Explorer. . . . HELP! Am I on the right track? Are these too broad?"
As Pam talked, the coach, Debbi, quickly wrote on a piece of chart
paper, "How beneficial is FCAT Explorer?" Debbi initiated the PLC dia-
logue by pointing at the question and saying, "Pam is interested in under-
standing the benefits of using FCAT Explorer with her students. She also
articulated a wondering about her wondering-is it too broad? What do
you think?"
PLC member, Kim, responded, "Well, Pam, I think you have a terrific
start here. Performance on FCAT is a topic that I think resonates strongly
with everyone in this room." (All members of the PLC nodded in reaction
to Kim's statement). "A question that I think about when I look at the
wording of your wondering-How beneficial is FCAT Explorer?-is what
types of benefits are you looking for from utilizing it? Are you looking for
an increase in student confidence taking the FCAT? Increase in student
scores on the FCAT? Are there any learning goals associated with your
students' use of FCAT Explorer in addition to test-taking skills, familiarity
with the test, and building confidence?
After some thought, Pam acknowledged that what she was really after
from utilizing FCAT Explorer each Friday afternoon was helping her
students develop a familiarity with the test, as well as confidence in taking
the test. She refined her wondering statement to be: "What is the relation-
ship between my students' weekly use of FCAT Explorer and their confi-
dence in taking the FCAT?"
PLC Coach, Debbi, continued, "I know another component many
teachers have shared with me related to FCAT test preparation is balanc-
ing test preparation, the teaching of test-taking skills, (all very important
for FCAT success) with other learning experiences. How much test prepa-
ration is beneficial to performance on standardized testing? How can I
navigate the tension between preparing students for a high-stakes test and
other components of my teaching practice? These are conversations I've
heard from some teachers, and even conversations we've had in our PLC
in the past."
"That's interesting," Pam replied. She paused, thought, and continued,
"Maybe what I'm really interested in is exploring the amount of time I
spend during the school day focused on preparation for the FCAT and per-
ceived benefits and actual benefits for FCAT performance. It feels like after
we return from our break in December that there's a real press to focus on
66 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

FCAT preparation and the time I spend on things like FCAT Explorer takes
away the time I spend on other learning activities. Certainly preparation
for FCAT is important, but I don't think anyone has ever looked at how
much time is too much time, if you know what I mean. We just keep being
bombarded with more and more FCAT material, and I feel like I better use
it all, or I risk poor student performance on the test. I've never really ana-
lyzed the value of any of these materials, however. I just pretty much
blindly use everything that comes our way.
"Wow, this is really helpful! I'm going to work on the wording of my
wondering a bit more now, so I can somehow investigate the different
tools and activities I use to prepare my kids for FCAT (including FCAT
Explorer), the time I spend on these activities in the classroom, and the
value addedness of each preparation strategy for FCAT performance. I'm
not exactly sure how I'll do it yet, but perhaps by framing my wondering
in this way, I'll be able to more closely scrutinize the ways I'm spending
time in my class, and better balance preparation for FCAT with continued
learning in my classroom."

In this story, Pam began with a very broad wondering, "How beneficial
is FCAT Explorer?" Through careful questions from her coach and members
of her PLC, she was pushed to consider more carefully what she meant by
"beneficial" and subsequently reworded her wondering to the more specific
question, "What is the relationship between my students' weekly use of
FCAT Explorer and their confidence in taking the FCAT?" Through further
probing from the coach, Pam began to articulate the tension she felt as the
time it was taking to prepare her kids for the FCAT was taking time away
from engaging her kids in continued learning. By working to make Pam's
question more specific, a focus on student learning emerged. Assessing a
wondering's focus on student learning is another venue a coach can use to
help teachers "play with" the wording of their wonderings.

Is the Wondering Focused on Student Learning?

In her second year as a third grade teacher, Julie Jones chatted with the
facilitator of her PLC over lunch on Friday. "I've been thinking about our
next PLC meeting on Monday afternoon, and what I want to focus on for
my inquiry to share with the group. I'm toying with the idea of doing my
inquiry on how to manage the last ten to fifteen minutes of the day. It
always seems so hectic and stressful. You know, packing up, answering
questions, getting notes to parents in backpacks, organizing the class-
room. . . all that kind of stuff. What do you think, and how might I word
this to share at our meeting on Monday?"
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 67

Linda, the PLC coach, took a bite of her sandwich and pondered Julie's
question. "I think this sounds like a wonderful topic for an inquiry that
many teachers would be extremely interested in, particularly primary
grade teachers! I know the office staff always cringes when we have a new
substitute in kindergarten, because they never begin getting the kids ready
in time for the bus, especially in the winter when each five-year-old has to
be stuffed into their snowsuits, mittens, hat, and boots. When a kinder-
garten class has a new substitute, there are always bus delays!"
Julie and Linda laughed. Linda continued, "Something that might help
fine-tune this inquiry a bit is thinking about why you are interested in
those last fifteen minutes. For example, are you interested in increasing the
efficiency of managing the last fifteen minutes taskwise to shorten the time
it takes to get ready to leave? Are you interested in building classroom
community goals? As you answer the why question, it will help you think
about the wording of your wondering and ways to collect data to answer
your question.
Julie responded, "I haven't really thought that deeply about it yet-I
just know that those last fifteen minutes don't feel right. I guess I just want
my kids and me not to feel so scattered at the end of the day. . . . So, how
would something like-How can I increase the efficiency of the last fifteen
minutes of the day in my third grade classroom?-be for a wondering?"
Linda grabbed a piece of scrap paper from the table, and jotted down
that question. As Linda and Julie considered the wondering on paper,
Linda shared her thinking, "This is a great start. Efficiency is really impor-
tant for managing classroom routines so that the precious instructional
time we have as teachers isn't burned away by classroom management.
Now that we have your wondering worded on paper, I have a question for
you. What might you learn about your students as a result of exploring
this wondering?" /'

Julie was perplexed and intrigued at the same time as she pondered
this question. "That's a good question. I can alleviate the stress I feel at the
end of the day, but I'm not sure I'll necessarily discover anything about my
kids through this wondering. Maybe I don't only want to be efficient, but
effective too!"
"Tell me more about what you mean by effective," Linda queried.
"Well, I want to make the most of every minute of the day I have with
the kids. I really want to build my classroom as a community, and help my
students take responsibility for that sense of community. I also want to
milk every academic learning moment there is-I wonder if there's a way
to get to a place where the end of the day is not only efficient, but also
effective for meeting learning community and academic goals."
Linda returned to the paper and carroted in the words and eflectiveness
so that Julie's wondering now read, "How can I increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of the last fifteen minutes of the day in my third grade class-
room?" She stated, "This may be a good overarching wondering, that
68 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

could be fleshed out with some supplemental wonderings that help you
focus on your students and their learning during those last fifteen minutes
as well."
Julie replied, "I wonder how other primary grade teachers organize the
close of their day, and if I can find any books or articles that might help me.
If I try some new things, I want to do it with the goal of connecting end of
the day routines to social and academic goals for the kids. Is it okay for an
inquiry to try some new things and then collect data so that I can under-
stand how they're working?"
"That makes a lot of sense. I see that you are taking your wondering a
little deeper. Lets brainstorm some subquestions together." As they
thought out loud, Julie added the following to her scrap paper:

What end of the day routines are already in place and how are they
working? How much time do they take?
What do I hope to accomplish in the last fifteen minutes?
How do other primary teachers utilize the last fifteen minutes?
What new structures might I introduce into the last fifteen minutes
of the day to connect management to social learning and academic
goals for my students?
How are the newly introduced routines working?

Julie glanced at the clock and realized she had just one minute to get to
the cafeteria to pick up her kids, and not aggravate the lunch aide. She
quickly whisked out of the teacher's lounge, simultaneously grabbing the
paper with her brainstormed wonderings, thanking Linda, and sharing
that she was going to play with the wording of her wondering(s) a bit over
the weekend and looked forward to the PLC group meeting on Monday!

In this story, in her second year of teaching, Julie began by focusing her
wondering exclusively on the efficiency of classroom routines, "How can
I increase the efficiency of the last fifteen minutes of the day in my third
grade classroom?" Although this focus is natural and developmentally
appropriate for a beginning teacher, by posing the question, "What might
you learn about your students by exploring this wondering?" coach Linda
gently pushed Julie to consider not only management efficiency, but ways
management might relate to goals Julie holds for student learning.
Although the target goal for everything one does as a teacher is
student learning, sometimes teachers lose sight of their target when
immersed in all of the complexity teaching entails. A teacher's target,
student learning, is blurred by a number of factors that compete for a
teacher's attention. When a coach helps a teacher articulate an explicit con-
nection to student learning within the statement of his or her wondering,
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 69
,
the coach is helping the teacher bring the target-student learning-back
into focus. Student learning becomes the driving force of the inquiry.

Is the Wondering a Real Question

(a Question Whose Answer Is Not Known)?
Third grade teacher Lynn was passionate about technology and the
meaningful integration of technology into her instruction. It came as no
surprise to the members of her PLC when she began sharing about using
her latest gadget-an Interwrite Pad. This bluetooth wireless electronic
whiteboard comes with software that allows students to be interactive
during a lesson. Lynn boasted, "This technology lets me teach from any-
where in the classroom, or sometimes I pass it to a student and let them
contribute from their desk."
Jack, the PLC coach interjected, "Okay, Lynn. You know how I am with
technology. I'm still using the tried-and-true overhead projector!"
(Members of the PLC chuckled, as Jack often poked fun of his own reluc-
tance to incorporate technology into the classroom, but with some support
always did end up adapting the latest technology the district had to offer.)
"Tell me, what exactly is an Interwrite Pad?"
Lynn replied, "Oh Jack, it is truly amazing. You would love it! It looks
like a miniature whiteboard, but it interfaces with the computer. As the
students write on it, it can be projected on screen for the whole class to see
at once. It also allows students to work in groups. You've got to come
down to my classroom to see it sometime."
Lynn went on to share that she first introduced the Interwrite Pad into
the teaching of reading. She was literally exploding with enthusiasm as
she recounted stories of different students in her class and the ways the
Interwrite Pad was engaging and motivating them. She ended with the
statement, "So my wondering is-How can I effectively use the Interwrite
Pad to teach reading?"
Jack, as PLC group facilitator, wrote her wondering on the whiteboard
as she stated it. He summarized what Lynn had shared with the group. "So
what I hear you saying is that you have recently begun using the
Interwrite Pad to teach reading, and all of the students in your class are
finding it to be very motivating. You're observing that this tool keeps all
learners engaged during reading, and you want to document how well it's
working?"
"Well," Lynn responded, "Sort of. I actually purchased the Interwrite
Pad because I thought it would be a really powerful tool for all of my
students. I was so excited and enthusiastic at the response I was getting
from the entire class, until I noticed that my struggling readers didn't seem
as engaged as the rest of the class. A technology tool that seemed to be 'Oh,
Wow!' at first turned to 'Oh, Bummer' when I noticed my students with
severe reading problems begin to disengage during the lesson. This seems
70 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

to be so counterintuitive to 1- thought the Interwrite Pad would

provide a perfect tactile experience for these struggling kiddos."
Referring to the whiteboard with Lynn's initial question written on it,
another PLC member commented, "It sounds to me that you already know
how to use the Interwrite Pad to effectively teach a reading lesson to the
majority of your class. You might want to rephrase your wondering to
focus on those learners that are puzzling to you. Maybe something like,
'How do I effectively teach struggling readers using the Interwrite Pad?"'
Jack chimed in, "Or maybe it's not about effectively teaching your
struggling readers using the Interwrite Pad, but systematically exploring
the reasoning behind your observation that these struggling kids aren't
benefiting in the ways you anticipated they would through using this tech-
nology. Maybe something like, 'How do struggling readers experience the
use of the Interwrite Pad?' Or maybe even broader, 'How do my strug-
gling readers experience reading time in my classroom?' You might be able
to get at that through focused observation as well as interviewing your
kiddos. Plus maybe looking at their work. If you gain insights into how
they are experiencing their struggle with reading, you may gain insights
into the Interwrite Pad, and ways you might alter your instruction for
these kids to reach them."
Lynn responded, "You're right. I like where this is going! I do know the
Interwrite Pad can work wonders, but it's my kids with the severe reading
problems I'm puzzled about. My wondering should focus there. I'm going
to play with it some more as I design my inquiry and I'll run it by you all
when I'm ready. Thanks!"

In this story, Lynn initially thought her wondering focused on effec-

tively using the Interwrite Pad to teach reading. As she talked, however, it
became clear that she already knew the answer to that question-she was
doing it, and felt really good about it, describing it as "Oh Wow." However,
her "Oh Wow" description of using the Interwrite Pad didn't apply to her
students with severe reading problems. In Lynn's words, something that
was "Oh Wow" went to "Oh Bummer" when she watched struggling read-
ers disengage during instruction. Lynn was truly puzzled by this, and with
the help of her coach and PLC members, began to shift the statement of her
wondering to focus on something she didn't know the answer to-why
her struggling readers were disengaging during instruction that was
extremely engaging to every other member of the class.
It is not uncommon for teachers to initially word their wondering as a
question they already know the answer to. If they stay on this path, they
risk investing time and energy into an inquiry that will merely confirm
something they already know, and not lead to any new discoveries about
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 71

their teaching. Through careful listening, coaches and PLC members can
help teachers identify "already know the answer to" wonderings, and
reframe and refocus them in more productive and valuable ways.

Is the Wondering a Question About

Which the Teacher Is Passionate?
Steve's passion for teaching high school chemistry caught fire with his
participation in a PLC at his school. He especially enjoyed interacting with
other teachers outside of the science department, and found that listening
to their experiences teaching other subject areas (English, Spanish, math,
geometry, and biology) offered him a fresh perspective on his own teach-
ing of chemistry. Last year, his PLC members helped Steve craft an inquiry
that helped him look deeply at the use of lecture demonstrations to
empower student learning. Steve learned a great deal about his practice
through engaging in this inquiry, and was even invited to present his
research at his state's annual science teacher meeting. This school year,
Steve's PLC decided to again support each other in the teacher research
they would conduct into their own classrooms. Steve was looking forward
to another cycle of inquiry.
Knowing that this PLC not only worked well together, but also enjoyed
each other's company, PLC facilitator and English teacher, Greg, suggested
that the group meet Friday afternoon at 4:00 at a local bar to share and dis-
cuss their potential questions for exploration through inquiry. Greg affec-
tionately referred to this meeting as, "Our Wondering Happy Hour." The
group agreed that it would be a nice, relaxed way to get moving on the
research.
In between chicken wings and sips of beer, group members each took
a turn sharing questions. Greg looked at Steve, "We haven't heard from
you yet. What are you thinking about for this year?"
Steve began, "I've been thinking about my assessment strategies, espe-
cially the tests I give. I'm thinking of doing something focused on my
students' performance on these tests . . . maybe do an item analysis, or
something like that."
Greg noticed from Steve's body language and tone of voice that the
same enthusiasm evident throughout Steve's inquiry the previous year
was not present. Greg invited Steve to elaborate on his thinking, "Tell me
more."
"The tests just don't feel right to me, so it might help to analyze their
content."
Greg continued, "What would you expect to learn about your students
from this inquiry?"
"I'm not sure what I'd learn about my students from analyzing the
tests, but I can tell you something about the students I teach. There's a
small group of kids that rely extremely heavily on my extra-help sessions.
72 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Because they know I offer these sessions, as the school requires us to do,
they don't pay attention when I introduce a concept to be tested in class-
instead they figure they can pick it up in the extra-help session."
Greg noticed Steve was becoming more and more animated as he
talked about the extra-help sessions. Steve continued, "Often in chemistry,
my students are overwhelmed with the complexity of learning such an
abstract science. They often enter my class having heard stories from their
parents about the horrors of college chemistry classes. Many have notions
that chemistry is something that will be impossible for them to learn. I, as
a chemistry teacher, realize that the subject will be more easily understood
by some students than others. Many of my students honestly need help
outside of the normal class in order to achieve an acceptable grade. Help
sessions are a place where students can get the help they need. Yet, what I
have noticed is that many of these students rely on these out-of-class help
sessions to be a place where they can learn the concepts that I have already
taught in class itself. As a result, some of my students are off task during
class because they feel like they can learn the material in the help session
anyhow. Why do they need to pay attention during class?"
Greg responded, "It seems to me that the tests themselves are not what
you are really interested in exploring, but the help sessions to prepare
students for the test."
"Yes," Steve replied, "that's it. More specifically, I would like to exam-
ine my students' perceptions of help sessions. I feel like maybe a different
perspective would be beneficial both to them as students and to myself as
their teacher. I think that help sessions should be better termed ofice hours.
Students should come to these office hours to seek answers to questions,
not to be taught concepts that have already been covered in class."
Greg grabbed his notepad and said, "Let's jot down those ideas before
we lose them." On the pad, Greg wrote the phrases, "Understanding
Student Perceptions of Help Session," and "Getting a Different Perspective
on Help Sessions." Steve worked some more on that paper, playing with
questions to frame his inquiry. When he left the happy hour that evening,
he read through the scribbling on his notepad:

What is the most productive way to structure afterschool help?

What are students' perceptions and expectations for extra help?
How does one create a student driven versus teacher driven after-
school session?
What is the relationship between misbehavior during class and
attendance at afterschool help?
What skills do my students need to take charge of their extra help?
What is the chemistry skill level of my students who seek help out-
side of class?
Are these help times increasing the knowledge of my chemistry
students?
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 0 73

Steve believed he had a great start to wondering development, and

was excited to get this inquiry underway!

In this story, the coach used keen observation skills. Greg could ascer-
tain through Steve's body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions
what Steve was and was not passionate about exploring. Through inviting
Steve to continue talking ("Tell me more") and gently posing some ques-
tions that helped Steve delve deeper into his thinking ("What would you
expect to learn about your students through this inquiry?"), Greg created
a space for Steve's true passion (the extra-help session) to emerge in the
natural progression of his talk.
One of the most important factors in coaching inquiry is ensuring that
a question is one that a teacher owns and is truly passionate about explor-
ing. Completing the cycle of inquiry is hard work, and if a teacher isn't
truly passionate about a wondering, he or she risks losing the commitment
to sustain an inquiry over time. With patience, careful listening, and ques-
tioning, effective coaches can draw out the burning questions about prac-
tice that reside in the heart of every teacher.

I s the Wondering a "How Can I" Wondering?

Beverly had been teaching in the primary grades at her elementary
school for twenty-five years and attributed her involvement in the forma-
tion and development of a primary grade PLC at her school to a renewed
passion for teaching. Her group consisted of the three first and three sec-
ond grade teachers in her building. They were a diverse group, but all
shared a passion for young learners. The primary PLC group met every
first Wednesday of the month, on early release days. Bev felt fortunate that
her district released the children one hour and fifteen minutes early each
Wednesday at the elementary level to afford teachers planning and profes-
sional development time. The primary grades PLC was facilitated by
Sandra, the reading coach at Bev's school.
At the previous meeting, the group decided that it wished to fine-tune
and refine the implementation of a guided reading program that was insti-
tuted at the school the previous year. Guided reading is one component of
the shared reading block during which the teacher provides support for
small, flexible groups of beginning readers. The program consists of self-
selected reading, shared reading, writing, and working with words. By read-
ing text that is unfamiliar to them, students learn to use reading strategies,
such as context clues, letter and sound knowledge, and syntax or word struc-
ture. The overarching objective of guided reading is for students to use these
strategies independently on their way to becoming fluent, skilled readers.
14 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Two summers ago, the pri- grade teachers had attended a summer
institute on guided reading, and spent the following school year in their
PLC group using text-based protocols to do further reading on this
approach to teaching, as well as protocols to examine student work in their
primary classrooms. Some PLC members also shared dilemmas they
encountered as they translated guided reading strategies into practice.
Borne out of the previous year's PLC discussions on guided reading,
this year, as reading coach and PLC facilitator, Sandra suggested that the
group might focus on studying various guided reading strategies to develop
deeper understandings of how they play out in practice. Group members
agreed that "Guided Reading Strategies" would be a great focus for the
year, and decided that each member of the PLC would select a strategy
that was of particular interest to him or her, and develop an action research
question to explore in his or her own classroom this school year. They
would use their PLC meetings to talk about their individual research, and
in addition learn a great deal about guided reading by looking across the
individual, but related work each PLC member was undertaking.
Beverly eagerly looked forward to their next meeting, during which
she was going to share her "slice" of the PLCfs collective inquiry into
guided reading-the word wall. Word walls are a systematically orga-
nized collection of words displayed in large letters on a wall or other large
display place in the classroom. In anticipation of her next PLC meeting,
Bev e-mailed Sandra:

I decided to focus on the literacy centers in my classroom and, more

specifically, word walls. I do not feel I make much use of my word
wall and the kids do not seem to be interactive with it, yet I keep
hearing the words of the guided reading trainer in my head over
and over again, "The word wall is a tool, not a display." I guess
where I am leading is: How can I use my word wall in a literacy cen-
ter to make it more meaningful for my students? Do you think this
will work or do I need to narrow it down even more? This week I
started with prefixes pre-, re-, and un-, and had the students part-
ner read and then find words with these prefixes and add those
words to the word wall. The students seemed to like it, but how do
I follow up to make sure it really is useful? I am just brainstorming
and would appreciate any thoughts from you. Thanks!-Beverly

Sandra was excited when she read Bev's e-mail. As reading coach and
PLC facilitator, she wanted to gently push the PLC members in their
inquiries beyond the development and implementation of strategies, to
focus on the implications of implementing the new strategies, and she
believed Bev was headed in that direction. She responded:

Hi Beverly-I think your focus on word walls will be fantastic for

our group! It seems to me that many teachers in our building have
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 75

word walls displayed, but are unsure of how to make them useful
and interactive. Your inquiry can really be informative to not just
our PLC members, but the teachers in the intermediate grades as
well. When I read your wondering, the first thing I noticed was
that you began with the phrase, "How can I?" It seems since our
PLC is focusing on the reading curriculum in the primary grades
this year, we are all starting to phrase our related wonderings with
the words "How can I?" For example, I talked with Marge yester-
day and she was interested in exploring, "How can I use partner
reading with first graders?" While "How can I . . . " phrased ques-
tions are wonderful starting points for inquiries, if we stop here,
I fear that our work may become purely the development of lesson
plans and activities without systematic study of what was devel-
oped. I think this is what you are doing with the development and
implementation of your first activity of having students look for
words using the prefixes pre-, re-, and un-, and adding those words
to the word wall. The development and implementation of new
activities is important and wonderful work, and we did a lot of that
last year as we were implementing guiding reading for the first
time in our classrooms. Yet, in your statement, "The students
seemed to like it but how do I follow up to make sure it really is
useful?" you are realizing that it is the focus on what is learned
about the development and implementation of activities that will
deepen our thinking and teaching, not the development of new
activities in and of themselves. To be sure we focus on what is
learned from implementing new strategies, I'm thinking that if we
all begin with a "How can I" phrased wondering, it might also be
helpful to formulate a companion wondering that leads us beyond
the lessons/activities we develop to what we are learning about
our kids, the guided reading curriculum, and/or ourselves as
teachers as a result of developing and implementing guiding read-
ing strategies. What do you think? -Sandra

Sandra hit the send button, shut down her computer, gathered her
belongings, and left for home. When Sandra checked her e-mail the next
morning, she read the following response from Bev:

Sandra-Thanks for your reply. I see what you are saying-"How

Can I" wonderings often begin with developing activities to make
something happen (In my case using the prefixes pre-, re-, un- and
having students partner read, then find words with these prefixes
to add to the word wall). The next step is to implement the strategy
and "study" how it works. One thing I might do is take notes as I
implement strategies such as the one I developed on prefixes. I also
could interview students (just informally, of course, in first grade)
after a strategy is utilized to see their perceptions of its usefulness.
76 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

I might ask you, as the reading coach, to come in and observe my

students in action as I implement my strategies-maybe other
members of our PLC might even be interested in some peer coach-
ing. I'm just doing some brainstorming here of ways I might collect
data to gain insights into my wondering.
Developing some companion wonderings to my "How can I"
wondering might help me continue to focus on what I am learning
about implementing the new word wall strategies rather than just
the development of the strategies themselves. Here are some ideas
I'm playing with that I'll share at our next PLC meeting:

Overarching Wondering: How can I use my word wall in a literacy

center to make it more meaningful to my students?

Subquestions:
How am I currently using my word wall?
How do other elementary teachers utilize word walls in their
classrooms?
What strategies might increase the word wall's usefulness and the
ways it engages my learners?
What is the relationship between the new strategies I employ and
my students' learning?

Thanks again, Sandra! I really appreciate your help. -Bev

In this story, Sandra and Beverly's e-mail exchange helps both of them
focus as much on the learning that is happening as a result of trying new
strategies for using a word wall as they are focusing on the development
and implementation of the new strategies for using word walls themselves.
When a teacher-researcher begins her wondering with the common phrase,
"How can I?" there is a possibility that the inquiry will never actually
develop into an inquiry, but get stuck in the development and implementa-
tion phase of the process. Sometimes creative teachers, especially, become
so excited about new strategies and techniques that appear fun to students,
they stop at the implementation phase, never systematically exploring the
ways something that appears to be enjoyable for kids contributes to acade-
mic learning. In the case of "How can I?" wonderings, it is often productive
for the coach to guide the teacher to focus on the relationship between the
new thing they are trying and student learning. Coaches might pose the
question, "What do you hope your students will learn from this activity?"
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 0 77

In addition, it is often fruitful to try adding some companion wonderings

to a "How can I?" wondering, as Beverly began to do in this case.

Is the Wondering Free of Judgmental Language?

And, Is the Wondering Focused on the Teacher's Own Practice?
Fifth grade teacher Ashley and her colleague teaching in the third grade,
Marissa, decided to team on a collaborative inquiry as they both shared a
frustration with their current report card system, and hoped to be a catalyst
for change. Their elementary school had worked hard over the years to pro-
vide solid feedback to parents on student progress, and each quarter, a
detailed report of student performance on various measures was sent home.
Ashley and Marissa believed a report on various assessments helped portray
where the students were at in relationship to grade-level goals and expecta-
tions, as well as where they were at in relationship to their own individual
progress over time. However, in addition to this detailed report, teachers in
the elementary school also assigned a traditional letter grade to each student.
Ashley and Marissa wondered why. With only ten minutes left in their PLC's
wondering development meeting, Ashley and Marissa were the last two
teachers to share their idea for an inq~ury.Marissa began, "I know we are
short on time, so we'll be brief. As teachers, you know we all report student
progress using a traditional grading system-the assignment of letter grades.
Ashley and I would like to explore alternative methods of communicating
student progress to all stakeholders. We feel that perceptions of letter grades
are varied and may not accurately convey true development."
"I know what you mean," shared PLC member Brian, "I think letter
grades should represent student effort on classroom assignments, so I
developed a rubric on work ethic, and I mostly use that to determine a
student's grade. Sometimes it causes problems, though, when one of my
students who is testing below grade level on some of our assessments,
brings home an A. The parents don't understand."
"Exactly!" Marissa and Ashley chimed in at the same time.
"Wow, that's a brave inquiry undertaking," shared another teacher in
their group. "You know you could potentially hit a lot of hot buttons with
that one!"
"We know," Ashley responded, "and that's why we need some help in
framing this. We obviously have some real opinions on this subject, and
we want to explore it openly. We also don't want to cause a ruckus, if you
know what I mean."
"We are nearing the end of our meeting time," PLC facilitator, Donna,
shared.
"Could we meet with you sometime in the next week to discuss this
some more?"
"Sure," responded Donna. "Let's find a time after our meeting." Donna
ended the PLC meeting with an "Aha and Questions" reflection sheet.
78 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

The following Wednesday, Donna, Ashley, and Marissa met in Marissa's

classroom after school. Marissa printed out the list of questions she and
Ashley had brainstormed together after their previous PLC meeting.
"Donna, we really need some help. It just seems like this is so big, and
we're not sure where to focus. Here's what we have so far." They viewed
the printout of questions together:

How do teachers accurately assign a grade?

What is the difference between accurate assessment and actual grades?
Does the traditional method of assigning letter grades provide the
most accurate portrait of a student's progress?
What alternative methods are available that may better convey
student progress?

Ashley continued, "What we were thinking was that we would search

into the history of our current system to understand the continuing use of
letter grades. We will gather data from all stakeholders to better under-
stand perceptions of letter grades by giving out surveys. Additionally, we
will research alternative methods of communicating student progress and
also review current literature regarding traditional verses alternative grad-
ing systems. We just aren't sure where to go. It seems big. It seems that the
topic could be touchy, and we know we have strong opinions. We want to
be open-minded, but how?"
"Okay," Donna replied. "Give me a minute. Let me just look at your
questions and think for a little bit." Donna looked at the sheet of paper, did
some underlining, and jotted down a few notes. She proceeded, "You've
got a lot going on here and a lot to think about. Let's start by looking at the
questions you brainstormed. One thing I noticed was the word accurate.
That word is all over the place. It appears in your first three questions in
one form or another. Tell me what you mean by the word accurate."
Marissa spoke, "I think what we mean is a real representation of the
student."
Donna queried, "What does that mean to you?"
Marissa continued, "Well to me it has to include a reflection of effort.
But I know for some teachers that's not what it means, and they spend a
lot of time constructing ways to assign a grade to a student using number
grades on class assignments, and for what? What does that really show?"
Ashley added, "And the parents and the students don't always see
things the way you intended as a teacher. It's a real mess."
"So," Donna said, "In your own minds you have a strong view of what
should be, and this view of what should be is the way you are defining the
word accurate in your wondering statements."
Ashley and Marissa looked at each other and laughed. "I guess we
should get rid of the word accurate, huh? Pretty judgmental?"
"The word accurate does have some value judgment inherent in it. As
I listen to you talk, what I think I hear you being troubled by is varying
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 79

perceptions teachers and parents have about what constitutes the letter
grade of A, B, C, and so on. Is this accurate?-no pun intended!" Marissa
and Ashley giggled at Donna's play on words.
"Yes, that's right, and the students too! What if we framed a wonder-
ing statement something like-How do student, parent, and teacher per-
ceptions affect the way grades are interpreted?-Is that better? You know,
opening ourselves up for this inquiry, and not clouding our inquiry with
our opinion?"
Donna wrote down this question as Ashley spoke. She spoke the ques-
tion again slowly out loud as she and the two teachers considered it,
"How do student, parent, and teacher perceptions affect the way grades
are interpreted?-I think that's getting there. Tell, me, though, how will
you collect data on this question?"
Ashley spoke, "I guess we'd survey parents and other teachers-you
know, something like what does the letter grade of A mean to you; what
does the letter grade of B mean to you?"
"We'd have to think about that more, and also be careful about how we
worded the surveys. I wonder if we'd really get many turned in too."
"Hmmrn," Donna paused and thought. "Okay, let me ask you a ques-
tion. If you were to send out surveys to teachers and parents to get at their
perceptions, what would you learn about your own practice?"
There was a pause, as Ashley and Marissa carefully considered this
question. Ashley spoke first: "Nothing really, I guess. I think we'd end up
just confirming what we already know. Letter grades mean something dif-
ferent to everyone, and we'd probably open up a can of worms."
Donna continued, "What if you turned the focus of your gaze from
looking outside to other teachers and parents at large, and looking inside
of yourselves and your practice with grading."
"Tell me more," Marissa said, '
"What if you looked at your own grading practices? It sounds like you
are uncomfortable with the discrepancy that sometimes appears between
the letter grade you assign to certain learners, and their accompanying
report on various assessments when they don't match. Have you ever
looked systematically at these cases and what you can learn from them?
Maybe the two of you can sit down together and look at all of your recent
report cards, selecting the ones where students received a letter grade of A,
but a below grade-level rating on some of the assessments you use, or a
student received a letter grade of B or C, but is performing at or above
grade level on assessments, and investigate these cases in depth. How do
these parents make sense of the discrepancy?"
"I like that," Marissa said, "But if we go this route, then where does the
change part come in? Ashley and I are really interested in igniting a dis-
cussion among our faculty about our grading system. If we just focus on
ourselves, how does that happen?"
"It happens through the sharing of your inquiry and what you learned
as you looked deeply at your own students and their parents. This sharing
80 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

will generate discussion, but the discussion emerges from your practice,
not your assessment of other's practice."
Marissa responded, "That makes sense. The discussion might still lead
to a heated debate, but when we focus on ourselves rather than others, it's
less likely we'll be threatening to others, and come off like we're trying to
impose something, when really we're not. We truly do want to resolve the
tension we're feeling between assigning the letter grades along with our
assessment report, and I'm pretty sure other teachers are feeling this ten-
sion as well. We'll have much to share with other teachers in our school by
looking at our own students and parents and the ways they make sense of
letter grades and our whole reporting system. That's a great way to get
started. Ashley and I will work a bit on framing our inquiry in this way,
and we'll bring a question to our next PLC meeting to share with the
group. I can't wait to get started. Thanks!"

In this story, Ashley and Marissa had a strong opinion about the
assignment of letter grades in their elementary school-there was no need
to assign letter grades! Their strong opinion crept into their wondering
statements. By calling attention to the word accurate and inviting Ashley
and Marissa to speak about what that word meant to them, Donna created
a space for the strong opinion Ashley and Marissa held to be articulated.
Once articulated, the formation of the opinion could be explored for the
issues that surrounded it (varying perceptions held by teachers and
parents of what a letter grade means). At this point, the phrasing of the
wondering evolved to focus on the issue (differing perceptions), rather
than on a judgment made by Ashley and Marissa about what constituted
accurate grade reporting. As they worked with Donna to rephrase,
reword, and reframe their wondering, they discovered more about their
own thoughts and subjectivities, and how to keep those in check as they
proceeded with their inquiry.
A key to helping Marissa and Ashley consider their own thoughts and
the roles they play in teacher inquiry occurred when Donna posed the
question, "If you were to send out surveys to teachers and parents to get
at their perceptions, what would you learn about your own practice?" The
posing of this question created a critical juncture in the design of the
inquiry. Marissa and Ashley realized they were focusing outside of them-
selves, rather than looking inside their own classrooms. They both had the
instinct that their wondering didn't feel quite right, and could create a
"ruckus," in Ashley's words, but didn't quite know why. Once Donna
helped them turn their focus from teachers and parents across the whole
school to themselves and the parents of the children in their classroom,
Ashley and Marissa felt much more comfortable exploring their passion-
letter grades, without alienating other teachers in the building, or potentially
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 0 81

agitating parents. They realized that a sound, systematic study of their

own experiences with letter grading could provide rich data necessary to
provoke discussion facultywide, a much healthier way to serve as a cata-
lyst for school change than designing a study that collected data from
others to prove a point.

Is the Wondering a Dichotomous (YesINo) Question? I s the

Wondering Clear and Concise?And, I s the Wondering Doable?
Elementary school principal, Marion, and five of her faculty members
met regularly to reflect on the teaching and learning that was occurring in
their school building for all members of the community-students,
teachers, and administrators. Through the process of using protocols to
examine student and educator work, they uncovered and addressed prob-
lems and took action to address them. The group was facilitated by Adam,
a veteran fourth grade teacher who had been through the NSRF's intensive
weeklong training on PLCs three years earlier.
About to embark on a new school year, teachers reported to work
one full week before the students after summer vacation and were
busy preparing for the arrival of their new class of students. During this
preplanning week, Marion called her PLC together to look at their
students' results on standardized test scores from the previous school year.
Along with Marion, all members of the PLC concluded that they really
needed to focus on the bottom quartile of students in their school,
and could use the process of action research to make a difference for this
population.
Marion shared with Adam and the group, "I've been thinking about
this a lot over the summer, and I'm also thinking of a lot of initiatives we
have ongoing in our building. I played around with a question that might
guide our PLC this year." She handed out a paper with the following
words typed across the top:

Will focusing on the lowest student quartile through teacher cul-

ture awareness, mentoring, progress monitoring, intervention by
the reading teacher, and the afterschool program be sufficient to
raise our percent making AYP (adequate yearly progress) in read-
ing from 47% to 65%?

There was a pause as members of the PLC silently read and considered
the wondering statement, and then Marion queried, "Is this too wordy, or
is it even where we should be headed?"
Adam began the dialogue, "Marion, thank you so much for getting us
started! This actually comes at a great time-I just finished reading an arti-
cle about teacher and principal research in the Madison, Wisconsin,
Metropolitan School District. The article shares ideas for what they believe
82 e The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

makes a good action research question. I think we can learn a lot from this
article. Among other things, the authors believe that good action research
questions are clear and concise, are 'doable,' and require a more complex
answer than yes or no (Caro-Bruce & McCreadie, 1994). I think we should
play with this research question with these three things in mind. To start,
how might we rephrase this question so it is not stated as a dichotomous
question?"
PLC member Rita gave it a try, "How about something like: What role
does teacher culture awareness, mentoring, progress monitoring, reading
teacher intervention, and afterschool program participation play in raising
the AYP of our lowest student quartile?"
Adam wrote the question on the whiteboard as Rita spoke. He stepped
back and looked at what he had written and responded, "I think that's
good. Now it reads as an open-ended question. By carefully wording ques-
tions so they are open-ended, we open ourselves up to frame the design of
our research to uncover lots of possibilities. When a question is posed in a
dichotomous fashion, we force the design of our research to fit into narrow
categories."
Marion replied, "Okay, I see that. But I still think the question is really
wordy-not clear and concise like that article shares."
Adam responded, "Well, what if we broke that question down further
into an overarching wondering with subquestions. Would that make it
more clear and concise?"
All members of the PLC agreed that this was a good plan and con-
tributed to the discussion for ideas on how to "pare down" the wondering
on the whiteboard. After lots of crossing out and erasing, their discussion
led to the following revision of Rita's question that Adam inscribed on the
whiteboard for all members of the group to view:

Overarching Wondering: What actions can our faculty take to

improve reading achievement of our lowest quartile students?

Sub-Wonderings:
2
o What is the relationship between teacher culture awareness
and raising the adequate yearly progress (AYP) of our lowest
quartile?
0 What is the relationship between progress monitoring and

raising the AYP of our lowest quartile?

o What is the relationship between mentoring and raising the
AYP of our lowest quartile?
o What is the relationship between reading teacher interven-
tion and raising the AYP of our lowest quartile?
o What is the relationship between afterschool program partic-
ipation and raising the AYP of our lowest student quartile?
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering e 83

0 How do our lowest quartile students experience and benefit

from engagement with each of these strategies (teacher cul-
ture awareness, progress monitoring, mentoring, interven-
tion, afterschool programs)?

The group all agreed that they were making progress, but Rita
expressed that it still didn't feel quite right to her. "The process of break-
ing down this wondering has helped me realize how many initiatives we
are participating in. No wonder our faculty was feeling so overwhelmed
and stressed at the end of the previous school year. Morale was low. I think
we should consider the doability of this research-are we trying to do too
much all at once? If we attempt to do too much all at once, can we really
do anything well? And if we end up not really doing anything well, how
can we get good data to understand how various initiatives are working?
If we do too much all at once, we'll only drag ourselves down. We ought
to consider this before we proceed."
All members of the PLC nodded in agreement. As it was nearing
4:00 PM, Adam drew attention to the clock and reminded everyone that
one of their ground rules was that they always started and ended on time,
and they were scheduled to end in five minutes. Through discussion, the
group decided that it shared a commitment to focus on the bottom quar-
tile of students this school year, but needed to work further on framing
the question and research plan. Adam agreed to look through his book of
protocols and find one that might help accomplish this goal at their next
meeting.

In this story, all members of the PLC are working to determine one col-
lective school improvement wondering to explore together. When this
happens, it is not uncommon for a wondering to become so large, it is
impossible to explore well. It is also not uncommon in this case for the
wording of a wondering to become bogged down with a good deal of tech-
nical jargon, making it difficult to get a handle on. As coach, Adam skillfully
leads PLC members through the process of teasing apart the wondering,
and in the process, the group becomes uncomfortable with the number of
initiatives it is currently implementing. This, in and of itself, is a valuable
learning experience for the PLC.
Sometimes the process of wondering development leads to interesting
(and potentially tough to face) discoveries by a teaching team. An effective
coach acknowledges these discoveries, and creates a time and a space to
examine them more deeply.
84 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

LOOKING ACROSS THE

LITMUS TEST QUESTIONS AND STORIES
Each of the coaches portrayed in these stories were skilled in facilitating the
development of a wondering. A common element across all coaches was
their ability to listen carefully and patiently as the teachers they were coach-
ing in the inquiry process gave voice, perhaps for the first time, to a
dilemma, problem, issue, or tension in their practice. This articulated
dilemma served as a springboard to formulate and state a question for
exploration. Once the question was formulated, coach and teacher-inquirer
"unpacked" the question together through spoken or written dialogue.
The coaches in this chapter took seven distinct actions in their dialogue
with teachers to spur continued talk about the proposed wondering and, in
the process, help the inquirer clarify thinking and design an inquiry that
would be meaningful to both the teacher and other professionals. These
seven actions are summarized in Figure 3.7. The first two actions capture
the types of questions the coaches pose to the teachers--clarifying and
probing. A clarifying question occurs when a coach needs the answer to a
factual question in order to better understand the teacher's inquiry. For
example, in the Interwrite Pad inquiry, coach Jack asked Lynn, "What
exactly is an Interwrite Pad?" By asking clarifymg questions, the coach
helps the teacher-inquirer share information that may be useful to the coach
and other members of the PLC as they consider the teacher's wondering.
Likewise, a probing question occurs when a coach poses a question that
causes teachers to reflect on their practice in relationship to the wondering
they are proposing. An example of a probing question occurred in the class-
room management inquiry when Linda asked Julie, "What might you learn
about your students as a result of exploring this wondering?" Some
examples of additional probing questions coaching might pose to facilitate
teacher thinking about a proposed wondering appear in Figure 3.8.
The next three actions in Figure 3.7 are not questions at all, but inten-
tional statements that coaches make to move dialogue along. A declarative
statement occurs when a coach expresses his or her own state of mind or
thought in relationship to what the teacher-researcher has just said. For
example, in the FCAT Explorer inquiry, Debbi made a direct statement
about a thought that occurred to her as Pam pondered out loud on the
subject of her reasoning for using FCAT Explorer:

I know another component many teachers have shared with me

related to FCAT test preparation is balancing test preparation, the
teaching of test-taking skills, (all very important for FCAT success)
with other learning experiences. How much test preparation is
beneficial to performance on standardized testing? How can I nav-
igate the tension between preparing students for a high-stakes test
and other components of my teaching practice? These are conver-
sations I've heard from some teachers, and even conversations
we've had in our PLC in the past.
 H e l p i n g PLC Members Locate a Wondering aB 85

Definition of Action Example

Coach poses a factual "What exactly is an

question he or she or lnterwrite Pad?"
PLC members might
need an answer to in
order to understand
the teacher's proposed
inquiry.

Coach poses a question that "What might you learn

causes teachers to reflect on about your students as a
their practice in relationship result of exploring this
to the wondering they are wondering?"
proposing.

Coach expresses his or her "I know another component

own state of mind or many teachers have shared
thought in relationship to with me related to FCAT
what the teacher test preparation is
researcher has just said. balancing test preparation,
the teaching of test-taking
skills, (all very important
for FCAT success) with
other learning
experiences."

Coach rephrases "So what I hear you saying

something the teacher is that you have recently
inquirer has just said, giving begun using the lnterwrite
it an exact and economical Pad to teach reading, and
sense. all of the students in your
class are finding it to be
very motivating."

Coach invites a teacher- "Tell me more."

researcher to elaborate on
his or her thinking.

Coach deliberately says Pause a few seconds to

nothing at all for some time create think time.
after a teacher completes a
comment.

Coach interjects a funny Linda paints a picture of an

story related to the inquiry, inexperienced substitute
makes a play on words, or kindergarten teacher trying
other humorous action to desperately to stuff
invoke laughter from the eighteen five-year-olds into
group. mittens, snowsuits, and
boots in order to make it to
the buses on time.
86 . The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Sample Probing Questions

What might you learn about your students as a result of exploring this wondering?
What difference might exploring this wondering make in your classroom
practice?
What potential impact will the insights you gain from this inquiry have on you?
What potential impact will the insights you gain from this inquiry have on your
students?
What potential impact will the insights you gain from this inquiry have on your
pedagogy?
What potential impact will the insights you gain from this inquiry have on the
school?

When a coach makes a declarative statement, the teacher-inquirer has

the option of accepting or rejecting the coach's declaration, and often
speaks elaboratively in acceptance or rejection of that statement. As the
teacher speaks, he or she often brings clarity to the proposed inquiry, In the
FCAT Explorer case, in response to Debbi's declarative statement, Pam
realized she was interested in more than the connection between her
students' use of FCAT Explorer and their confidence in taking the test.
Rather, she wanted to measure the time she was spending on FCAT review
and the time she spent on new learning activities during FCAT season. She
wished to discover the value of a number of different FCAT preparation
materials she used and ascertain what (and how much of each) con-
tributed to better test performance. She wished to systematically explore
how to balance FCAT prep with normal teaching activities. As Pam
responded to Debbi's declarative statement, her inquiry was taken to a
deeper level.
A reflective statement occurs when the coach rephrases something the
teacher-inquirer has just said, giving it an exact and economical sense. A
coach forms a reflective statement with such beginning clauses as "I get
from what you are saying that. . . " or "So you think that. . . . " Returning
to the Interwrite Pad Inquiry, Jack used a reflective statement to summa-
rize Lynn's talk:

So what I hear you saying is that you have recently begun using the
Interwrite Pad to teach reading, and all of the students in your class
are finding it to be very motivating. You're observing that this tool
keeps all learners engaged during reading, and you want to docu-
ment how well it's working.

When a coach paraphrases what a teacher-inquirer has just shared, the

reflective statement becomes a mirror for the inquirer to examine his or her
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 0 87

own ideas as they come out of another's mouth. Hearing what he or she
has just said paraphrased by another person often leads to the inquirer
offering clarification remarks. In response to Jack's reflective statement,
Lynn offered:

Well, sort of. I actually purchased the Interwrite Pad because I

thought it would be a really powerful tool for all of my students.
I was so excited and enthusiastic about the response I was getting
from the entire class, until I noticed that my struggling readers
didn't seem as engaged as the rest of the class.

This act of clarification led Lynn to get to the heart of her dilemma-
struggling readers. The act of offering a clarifying statement often leads
the teacher-researcher to reveal something more about his or her practice.
This revelation can have important implications for a teacher's wondering.
An invitation to elaborate occurs when the coach invites a teacher-
researcher to elaborate on his or her thinking. This can be very simple to
accomplish, as in the chemistry extra-help inquiry when coach Greg said to
Steve, "Tell me more." As Steve continued to speak, a true passion for a won-
dering was revealed. A coach can also use an invitation to elaborate to probe
a teachers' thinking. This is often accomplished by inviting teachers to elab-
orate more on the meaning they hold for a particular word in their wonder-
ing statement, as in the classroom management inquiry when Linda stated,
"Tell me more about what you mean by efective," and in the letter grade
inquiry, when Donna stated, "Tell me what you mean by the word accurate."
In both of these cases, elaborating on the meaning they held for a specific
word led the teachers to dig deeper into their proposed inquiry.
The sixth action a coach can take is really not an action at all, but the
absence of an action that takes the form of deliberate, intentional silence.
The coach deliberately says nothing at all for some time after a teacher
completes a comment. Sometimes, the coach makes the pause for silence
explicit as in the letter grade inquiry when Donna stated, "Give me a
minute. Let me just look at your questions and think for a little bit."
Sometimes, the coach just allows natural silences to happen without inter-
jecting a comment. For example, in the lowest student quartile inquiry,
immediately following Marion's presentation of her wondering, coach
Adam allowed the PLC members think time: "There was a pause as
members of the PLC silently read and considered the wondering state-
ment." Although silence is often perceived as uncomfortable, a skilled
coach intentionally uses silence to allow all members of the PLC needed
think time before proceeding with the discussion.
A final action a coach can take throughout wondering development
may not necessarily contribute to the evolution of a wondering, but helps
relax a conversation that can often become intense as teachers voice dilem-
mas of practice. This final action is providing humor. According to Roland
Barth (1990):
88 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Humor is sorely lacking in this profession, in textbooks and educa-

tional writing, in research, in state departments, in universities-
and in schools. Yet, humor, like risk taking and diversity, is highly
related to learning and the development of intelligence, not to men-
tion quality of life. And humor can be a glue that binds an assorted
group of individuals into a community. People learn and grow and
survive through humor. We should make an effort to elicit and cul-
tivate it, rather than ignore, thwart, or merely tolerate it. (p. 170)

Humor appears throughout the coaching stories in this chapter. Linda

and Julie laugh when Linda paints a picture of inexperienced substitute
teachers in kindergarten tryrng desperately to get the five-year-olds ready
for bus dismissal during the winter months and the resulting bus delays.
Members of the PLC chuckle as Jack pokes fun of his own reluctance to inte-
grate technology into instruction. Marissa and Ashley giggle at Donna's
play on the word accurate used in their wondering statement and used by
Donna to see if her understanding of Marissa and Ashley's inquiry is correct:

As I listen to you talk, what I think I hear you being troubled by is vary-
ing perceptions teachers and parents have about what constitutes the
letter grade of A, B, C, and so on. Is this accurate?-no pun intended!

The work of an inquiry-oriented learning community is difficult, and can

even be exhausting at times. The interjection of humor helps all members of
the PLC relax, build rapport with each other, and take a momentary break
from the great complexity inherent in teaching.
From reading and analyzing each of the stories shared in this chapter
and delineating seven distinct actions coaches take in their facilitation of
wondering discussions, you may be feeling overwhelmed as a coach! Yet,
take heart in the fact that all of the coaches portrayed in this chapter find
great joy in their work, as we believe you will as well. Many facilitators we
have worked with have articulated that the process of coaching a wonder-
ing has renewed and reenergized their passion for the teaching profession.
To exemplify, and to inspire, we end this chapter with an e-mail correspon-
dence we received from one of these facilitators, our colleague and friend,
Darby Delane:

Hi, Nancy and Diane,

I have become very hooked on helping people articulate their
wonderings. While naming a wondering can be empowering for
the person I am helping, the process has come to be a very empower-
ing experience for ME. The way I do it with people has come to follow
a particular path-each one always different, of course, but usually
with the same sort of benchmarks. If you want a metaphor (and I
know it's overused, but it is perfect), I feel just like a midwife. These
wonderings are precious and, as embryos, they develop and define
 Helping PLC Members Locate a Wondering 89

over time. Getting people to become conscious of that development-

being there to help what was previously unconscious become artic-
ulated into language in a way that names and problematizes our
experiences fills me with hope and awe for the potential power we
have as teachers.
As far as the benchmarks of this experience for me are con-
cerned, it usually starts by my reaching into a teacher's heart, into
the place where she is uncomfortable, but not willing to go by her-
self, since it is counterintuitive and can potentially increase a sense
of disequilibrium. As she is already overwhelmed, she does not
want to increase this discomfort by attending to those felt difficul-
ties. For some the degree of ambivalence in doing this is more
intense than others. I try to help create a safe place just to be plain
rotten for a brief time-to vent and complain, or be absolutely con-
fused with no answers at all. We can do this in writing through dia-
logue journal and e-mail, orally one-on-one, and sometimes as
"witnesses to dialogue" that have occurred in learning community
meetings. I have had teachers tell me that while they didn't want to
articulate their own felt difficulties at one of our meetings, it was
tremendously freeing for them to witness mine, and those of others
willing to voice them. They were able to practice through us and take
that courage to their own dilemmas in order to craft a wondering.
It goes on from there. As we problematize our felt difficulties, we
begm to coconstruct language that names them in a way that just
feels so satisfying-the wondering is born. There is nothing like see-
ing that previously nonverbal, disorienting irritation come to form
and be named on the page in a way that seems workable-doable-
maybe even solvable--but even if it isn't solvable, it is manageable.
We can do something about it. We can create a plan to investigate
and collect data, bring out the raw material necessary to analyze and
make an action plan. Self-efficacy goes through the roof, and it doesn't
even matter what the outcome is at that point. We are acting upon
our worlds in a way that crystallizes our visions for teaching- in a
way that makes us feel authentic again-and not alone!
I want to be that safe place for the teachers I work with to prac-
tice being vulnerable to what they think may be their failures, inse-
curities, dilemmas . . . all those felt difficulties. I get to go into their
worlds in a profound way. These are the conversations where their
relationships with kids start becoming revealed, where their hearts
begin to peek out from behind the safety of "teacher speak."
I have seen inquiry transform the lives of so many teachers
with whom I work. It has also transformed my own life as a
teacher, in a way that-one day-I hope to be able to fully articu-
late. Thanks for letting me practice here on the computer screen.
90 0 The Reflective Educator's G u i d e to Professional Development

PASSION PROFILES ACTIVITY

pavsion (p2sh" . . . n) n. 1. A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or

anger 2.a. Ardent love. 3.a. Boundless enthusiasm.. .

Read the passion profiles and identify the passion that most accurately describes who you are
as an educator. If several fit (this will be true for many of you), choose the one that affects you
the most, or the one that seems most significant as you reflect on your practice over time. [five
minutes]
Without using the number of the passidn profile, ask your colleagues questions and find
the people who chose the same profile you did. [five minutes]

Directions for Small Croups:

1. Choose a facilitatorAimer and a recorder/reporter.

2. Check to see if you all really share that passion. Then, talk about your school experiences
together. What is it like to have this passion-to be this kind of educator? Each person in
the group should have an opportunity to talk, uninterrupted, for two minutes. [ten minutes]

3. Next, each person In the group prwately ident~fiesan actual student, by name, who has
been affected by the group's profile. Write In your journal: [five mlnutes]
What have I done with this student?
What's worked? What hasn't?
What else could I do?
What questions does this raise for me?

4. Talk as a group about the questions that teachers who share this passion are likely to have
about their practice. List as many of these questions as you can. [fifteen minutes]
The recorder/reporter should write on the newsprint, and should be ready to report out
succinctly to the large group. Be sure to put your passion profile number at the top of the
newsprint page.

5. Whole group debrief (after hearing from each passion profile group): [fifteen minutes]
0 What strikes you as you listen to the passions of these educators? Listen for the silences.

Where are they, and what do you make of them?

0 Which of the questions generated intrigues you the most? Why? How might you go

about exploring this question with colleagues? What would you do first?
 H e l p i n g PLC Members Locate a Wondering 0 91

PASSION PROFILES

Passion 1 : The Child

You became a teacher primarily because you wanted to make a difference in the life of
a child. Perhaps you were one of those whose life was changed by a committed, caring
teacher and you decided to become a teacher so that you could do that for other children.
You are always curious about particular students whose work and/or behavior just doesn't
seem to be in sync with the rest of the students in your class. You often wonder about how
peer interactions seem to affect a student's likelihood to complete assignments, or what
enabled one of your English language learning students to make such remarkable progress
seemingly overnight, or how to motivate a particular student to get into the habit of writ-
ing. You believe that understanding the unique qualities that each student brings to your
class is the key to unlocking all their full potential as learners.

Passion 2: The Curriculum

You are one of those teachers who are always "tinkering" with the curriculum to enrich the
learning opportunities for your students. You have a thorough understanding of your content
area. You attend conferences and subscribe to journals that help you to stay up on current
trends affecting the curriculum that you teach. Although you are often dissatisfied with "what
is" with respect to the prescribed curriculum in your school or district, you are almost always
sure that you could do it better than the frameworks. You are always critiquing the existing cur-
riculum and finding ways to make it better for the kids you teach-especially when you have
a strong hunch that "there is a better way to do this."

Passion 3: Content Knowledge

You are at your best in the classroom when you have a thorough understanding of the
content and/or topic you are teaching. Having to teach something you don't know much
about makes you uncomfortable and always motivates you to hone up this area of your
teaching knowledge base. You realize that what you know about what you are teaching will
influence how you get it across to your students in a developmentally appropriate way. You
spend a considerable amount of your personal time-both during the school year and in the
summer-looking for books, material, workshops, and courses you can take that will
strengthen your content knowledge.

Passion 4: Teaching Strategies

You are motivated most as a teacher by a desire to improve on and experiment with teach-
ing strategies and techniques. You have experrenced and understand the value of particular
strategies to engage students in powerful learning and want to get r ~ l l good
y a t t h ~ sstuff.
92 @ The Reflective Educator's G u i d e to Professional Development

Although you have become really comfortable with using cooperative learning with your
students, there are many other strategies and techniques that interest you and that you want
to incorporate into your teaching repertoire.

Passion 5: The Relationship

Between Beliefs and Professional Practice
You sense a disconnect between what you believe and what actually happens in your
classroom and/or school. For example, you believe that a major purpose of schools is to pro-
duce citizens capable of contributing to and sustaining a democratic society; however, students
in your class seldom get an opportunity to discuss controversial issues because you fear that
the students you teach may not be ready and/or capable of this and you are concerned about
losing control of the class.

Passion 6: The Intersection Between

Your Personal and Professional Identities
You came into teaching from a previous career and often sense that your previous identity
may be in conflict with your new identity as an educator. You feel ineffective and frustrated
when your students or colleagues don't approach a particular task that is second nature to you
because of your previous identity-e.g., writer, actor, artist, researcher-in the same way that
you do. What keeps you up at night is how to use the knowledge, skills, and experiences you
bring from your previous life to make powerful teaching and learning happen in your classroom
and/or school.

Passion 7: Advocating Equity and Social Justice

You became an educator to change the world-to help create a more just, equitable,
democratic, and peaceful planet. You are constantly thinking of ways to integrate issues
o f race, class, disability, power, and the like into your teaching; however, your global
concerns for equity and social justice sometimes get in the way of your effectiveness as
an educator-like the backlash that resulted from the time you showed Schindler's List to
your sixth grade class. You know there are more developmentally appropriate ways to infuse
difficult and complex issues into your teaching and want t o learn more about how to do
this with your students.

Passion 8: Context Matters

What keeps you up a t night is how t o keep students focused on learning despite the
many disruptions that go on in your classroom/building on a daily basis. I t seems that
the school context conspires against everything that you know about teaching and
learning-adults who don't model the behaviors they want t o see reflected in the students,
 H e l p i n g PLC M e m b e r s Locate a W o n d e r i n g 93

policies t h a t are in conflict with the school's mission, and above all a high-stakes testing
environment that tends t o restrain the kind o f teaching and learning t h a t you know really
works for the students you teach.
 Helping
PLC Members
Develop an
Action Research Plan

A n elderly man had lived his entire life in the same small town.
Approaching his sixtieth birthday, he decided to venture out of his
small town to explore the ways people lived in other parts of the
world. Excited by the prospect of his journey, he filled his car up
with gas, and began driving. He had some general notions of where
he might head, but did not bother to chart a coursefor his travels or
bring a road map. Before long, hefound himselfwandering aimlessly
from road to road, town to town, and he had lost sight of why he
began this trip in the first place. He returned to the comfort of his
home without the enrichment or insights that travel can bring.

L ike the elderly gentleman in the vignette that opened this chapter, in
the absence of a well-developed plan for inquiry, teacher-researchers
risk making little or no progress in their work, getting lost, and even
returning to the comfort of the ways their teaching has always been done
96 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

without the benefits and insights that inquiry can bring. Hence, one criti-
cal component of coaching inquiry within your PLC is creating an oppor-
tunity for teachers to construct a road map and chart the course for their
inquiry journeys. The purpose of this chapter is to help you create that
opportunity.
Once the process of action research is ignited with the birth of a wonder-
ing, the next step in the coaching process is to support members of your PLC
in the development of their road map in the form of an inquiry brief, defined
by Hubbard and Power (1999) as "a detailed outline completed before the
research study begins" (p. 47). In general, a research brief may cover such
aspects as the purpose of your study, your wonderings, how you will collect
data, how you will analyze data, and a timeline for your study (Dana &
Yendol-Silva, 2003). An example of an inquiry brief, completed by high
school English teacher, Tom Beyer (2007), is found in Figure 4.1.
Through the process of developing a brief, teacher-inquirers commit
their energies to one idea. The process also helps members gain insights
into their wondering(s) and the "doability" of action research becomes
apparent. Through the development of an inquiry brief, your PLC mem-
bership develops a sense of direction and knows where to go next.

Sample Inquiry Brief

Tom Beyer
Purpose
I love to read. I grew up with my parents reading to me at night and any other time I
could persuade them to pick up a book. My love of literature and reading continued to
grow throughout grade school and into high school. In college, it tapered off due to my
course load, but I still found time to pick up a good book and get carried away to another
world. Something has troubled me lately, and I want to gather some concrete data to
either confirm my suspicions-or hopefully, prove them wrong. The rapid advances in
technology have provided an increasing number of options available for students to
spend their free time. As I thought about the things I had available to entertain me when
I was growing up, I realized that the generation that is going through high school now
has many more options than I had twelve years ago. When I was a senior, we still had
regular pep rallies and a Friday night football game or basketball game was a major
event where the community came together and supported the team-in other words: it
was a priority. Similarly, if you weren't going to a movie, shopping, or working: reading
a good book was a viable option.The internet hadn't taken a firm hold yet-libraries still
served as the primary location for research (vice the family computer in the living room
or a student's laptop nowadays). Hence, I want to know what the reading habits are of
the high school seniors that I teach-is their interest in reading tapering off?
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan 97

Questions
What are the reading habits of my high school seniors?

Method
I teach approximately 100 seniors over my four periods of twelfth grade English. I plan
to begin by interviewing one or two students from each of my different classes:
Advanced Placement, Honors, and English IV. Based on what I learn in the interviews,
I will develop a survey to give out to all of my students and then I will analyze the results.
I plan to conduct multiple sessions in which the students read silently for a sustained
amount of time, while I observe them. Sessions will be announced and I will take field
notes on such areas as: what they are reading, how long it takes them to settle in, and
did they bring something to read. I plan on holding a few open forums with each group
to discuss their reading habits and interview a small sample of students to go beyond
the survey questions. For the interviews, I will pick students from different ability groups
and students who are achieving different grades and interview them as a small group
and individually.

Data Collection
Observationlfield notes of reading sessions, interviews, and open forums
Survey results
Any additional reflections from students
Discussions with peers about this guided Inquiry

Calendar
January 2007
- Interview a few students from each class
- Develop and administer survey and review answers
- Look for patterns and trends in responses
- Conduct silent sustained reading (SSR) sessions
February 2007
- Conduct SSR sessions
- Conduct open forums
- Continue to collect data

March 2007
- Conduct small group and individual interviews
- Begin data analysis

April 2007
- Complete data analysis
- Write paper summarizlng results to share with my peers
- Present my work at the inquiry showcase
98 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

FAClLlTATlN DEVELOPMENT OF AN
INQUIRY BRIEF: THE INQUIRY-PLANNING MEETING
If members of your PLC have elected to explore a single wondering or a
series of related wonderings together, the process of developing an inquiry
brief can be accomplished by dedicating one PLC meeting to this purpose.
The coach may begin this meeting by stating and posting the agreed-upon
wondering, and facilitating a meeting that will result in devising a plan to
systematically explore that wondering. Important components of this plan
will include addressing the following questions: "How will we collect data
to gain insights into this question?" "How will we analyze this data?"
"When will we collect the data?" "Who will collect the data?" And, "How
will we share the results of our work?" A peek into a meeting led by PLC
Coach Kevin helps to illustrate this process.
Kevin's PLC had been meeting since just before school opened in
August. During the group's early meetings, members engaged in a series
of conversations about their struggling students' needs and a series of
readings related to engaged instruction. One of the topics that generated
much attention from these early group discussions was the role that cul-
turally responsive teaching might play in helping the teachers reach their
struggling students. The group had learned that culturally responsive
teaching uses the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance
styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective
by teaching to and through the strengths of these students (Gay, 2000).
Additionally, the group had come to recognize culturally responsive teach-
ing as multidimensional, including elements of: curriculum content, learn-
ing context, classroom climate, student-teacher relationships, instructional
techniques, and performance assessments.
As a result of this shared learning and identification of a shared goal,
the group gave birth to the following wonderings: How do we create more
culturally responsive teaching in our classrooms? What happens to student learn-
ing when we create more culturally responsive teaching? The group believed
that this work connected to a larger context including the school's improve-
ment plan, the district's initiative, and the community's needs.
In mid-October the group met to begin developing its inquiry plan. The
meeting began with ten minutes devoted to a protocol called "Connections"
designed to help learning community members build a bridge from where
they are or have been (e.g.,mentally, physically) to where they will be going
and what they will be doing in this PLC meeting (see the NSRF Web site for
additional instructions on this protocol-http:/ /www.harmonyschool.org/
nsrf /protocol/index.html).
Once "Connections" was completed, Kevin began, "We left our last
PLC meeting with two questions that we agreed to explore together this
year." Kevin pointed to the chart paper he had hung up prior to the start
of the meeting that read, "How do we create more culturally responsive
teaching in our classrooms? What happens to student learning when we
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan 99

create more culturally responsive teaching?" He knew it would be impor-

tant to have that question front and center during each of their meetings in
order to keep the group's eye on the goal.
He continued, "I think that at today's meeting, it might be beneficial
for us to develop a plan for how our inquiry will proceed, but first I need
to confirm that we are all comfortable with the decision to pursue this
question, and committed to engaging in action research in order to pursue
it. The floor is open for thoughts and comments for five minutes."
PLC membership dialogue ensued, reaffirmingthe membership's com-
mitment toward culturally responsive practices and the action research
process.
At the end of five minutes, Kevin spoke, "I hear we all share a passion
and commitment to devote our PLC work to the exploration of this ques-
tion, so let's begin by discussing how we could collect data to explore this
question. Let's brainstorm a list of the information we would need to help
us answer this question, and then match up data collection strategies that
would help us generate this information. This is a time to be open to all
possibilities and not limit our brainstorming in any way, so let's begin."
Kevin drew a two-column chart on the whiteboard that he filled in as
PLC members generated ideas. The group began by generating a list of the
types of information that they believed would help them better under-
stand their students and their students' culture, and Kevin listed this infor-
mation in the left-hand column (see Figure 4.2).
When no new ideas were forthcoming from PLC group members,
Kevin stood and admired the chart they had created together. They had
created a lengthy list of areas they knew they needed more knowledge
about in order to teach these struggling students. Next, Kevin brain-
stormed with the group the kinds of data that would help members get the
information they deemed potentially useful. In the right-hand column of
the chart, Kevin scripted their ideas. Figure 4.2 represents the chart that
was generated by the group.
Although the group seemed pleased with the list, some members
looked overwhelmed at the amount of data that was at hand. As a result,
Kevin proceeded to ask the group to carefully evaluate the chart and the
data suggestions as he posed the following questions:

What data collection strategies that appeared on our list surprised you?
What data collection strategies would be great sources of data, but
impractical to obtain?
What sources of data do you think would be most valuable and why?
What structures need to be in place to support this data collection effort?

Through discussion of these questions, the group committed to collecting

and analyzing a variety of data sources to gain insights into the question.
For example, at the beginning of their work together, the group members
decided to distribute a survey to both parents and students to better
100 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Shared Inquiry Questions:

How do we create more culturally responsive teaching in our classrooms?
What happens to student learning when we create more culturally
responsive teaching?

lnformation That Would Help Us Answer Data Collection Strategies That Would
Our Question Generate This Information

Find out more about the neighborhoods Field notes

Find out what parents expect from the Survey

school community. Home visits

Find out how our students are performing Assessment data

in each academic area and subarea.

Find out what goals students set for Student interviews/surveys

themselves.

Find out what management patterns are Focus groups with teachers

+--
familiar to students; find out what teachers Classroom observations
expect from their students and how they
encourage students to meet expectations
and recognize their accomplishments.

Get to know students' learning style Survey

preferences.

Utilize content and resources that connect A search for books, articles, and Web
to students' backgrounds. resources
Journaling about new strategies that
might benefit your students and why

Develop a variety of learning activities that A search for books, articles, and Web
are engaging and reflective of students' resources
backgrounds (cooperative learning, Journaling about new strategies that
literature circles, community projects). might benefit your students and why

Find out how students respond (both Student work analysis

learning and engagement) to various Field notes
teaching strategies. Student feedback sheets
Journaling about changes you are
seeing in your teaching and with your
students

understand their own goals as well as expectations they had of the school.
During the bulk of the year, the group members also believed that saving
student work samples, tracking student growth on assessments, as well as
notes from peer observations would help them make sense of their ability
to transfer new ideas about culturally responsive teaching to the class-
room. All of the members also committed to keeping a journal that
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan 101

included field notes as well as personal reflections on their teaching.

Finally, they decided that by asking students to complete feedback sheets
after engaging in culturally relevant teaching, they would be able to
include student voices in the findings.
Kevin continued, "Okay, great, we have a plan for collecting data.
Now, we need to establish when and how we are going to do this plan.
Our PLC meetings are the first Wednesday of every month. How about if
I list our monthly meeting dates on the board and we can use that to set
goals for when this data is collected, not to mention which of us will be
involved in collecting it, when we'll do some analysis, and then we'll share
what we learned with others. Clearly, some data we will all be collecting,
but some data (like the survey data), we should divide and conquer."
Through discussion, the timeline represented in Figure 4.3 emerged.
As shown, this plan integrated the inquiry process as well as many of
the protocols for looking at student work, resolving dilemmas, and gener-
ating lesson plans that are offered by the NSRF as tools for deepening
teaching practice. Additionally, the plan required the learning community
members to do data collection outside of the learning community meeting
times, and the principal of the school could allocate this important time for
the teachers and Kevin to engage in the professional work associated with
the inquiry.
Once the shared question had been formed, the data collection plan
generated, and the timeline created, Kevin asked the group to evaluate its
work so far using a set of prompts that help teacher-researchers maintain
the integrity of their work. These were thoughts that Kevin regularly kept
in the back of his mind as he coached and now he would make those ques-
tions explicit to his group: (1)Have we established a connection between
the inquiry question and all other components of the inquiry plan (data
collection, data analysis, timeline)? (2) Are we using multiple forms of
data? (3) Is our plan doable? And (4) Can we make our timeline for imple-
menting the inquiry plan work?
As coach, Kevin volunteered to type up the plan, and ended the PLC
meeting with a reminder, "We have engaged in some hard work today to
develop a plan for our inquiry. 1'11 type up our work and e-mail it to every-
one before our next meeting. I will also be keeping a notebook of the arti-
facts we generate from our inquiry work, but we will each need to keep our
own inquiry notebook as well. Just as I will document our collective work,
you must each document your individual work toward making sense of
how culturally responsive teaching is working for you and your students.
"I also want us all to keep in mind, however, that even though we com-
mit a plan to paper, it's okay for us to deviate from our plan as our inquiry
unfolds. We may discover something along the way in our data that leads
us in a new direction. We can help each other remain open to shifts in our
inquiry along the way by periodically returning to this plan and suggesting
modifications. We need to remember that the plan we constructed today is
important to provide direction, but it isn't set in stone! Let's spend our
final five minutes writing a reflection on today's meeting." PLC group
102 @ The Reflective Educator's G u i d e t o Professional Development

How do we create more culturally responsive teaching in our classrooms?

What happens to student learning when we create more
culturally responsive teaching?

Before Meeting During Meeting

Read articles on culturally Connections

responsive teaching (all Text-based discussion on articles
members) Establish groups' shared goals
Review own student and inquiry questions
assessment data Reflection

Develop, distribute, and collect Connections

parent and student surveys Analyze parent and student
(Jane, Mark, and Beth) surveys using the chalk talk
Collect and review baseline protocol
assessment data (each Engage in a text-based
classroom teacher) discussion of culturally
Visit neighborhoods (entire responsive teaching strategies
PLC; invite pastor) Reflection

Student interviews (each teacher Connections

completes three interviews) Tuning protocols or dilemma
Peer observation (each teacher protocols focused on teachers
observes one other group sharing their efforts to engage in
member) culturally responsive teaching
Collect student work as teacher strategies (three presenters;
implements culturally responsive four groups)
teaching strategies (each teacher) Analyze student interviews
Take field notes as teacher Reflection
implements culturally responsive
teaching strategies (each teacher)

Read article about culturally Connections

responsive teaching strategies Engage in a text-base discussion
(each teacher) of culturally responsive teaching
Peer observations (each strategies
teacher observes one other Tuning protocols or dilemma
group member) protocols focused on teachers
Collect student work sharing their efforts to engage in
Take field notes as teacher culturally responsive teaching
implements culturally responsive strategies (three presenters;
teaching strategies (each teacher) four groups)
Review student assessment Reflection
data (each teacher)

Collect student work Connections

Peer observations (each teacher Use protocols to analyze student
observes one other group work
member) Use consultancy to explore
Take field notes as teacher dilemmas you are having with
implements culturally responsive your students
teaching strategies (each teacher) Reflection
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan a 103

Before Meeting During Meeting

Collect student work 8 Connections

Peer observations (each teacher 8 Use protocols to analyze student
observes one other group work
member) 8 Use consultancy to explore
Take field notes as teacher dilemmas you are having with
implements culturally responsive your students
teaching strategies (each Reflection
teacher)
- -

Collect student work samples Connections

Take field notes as teacher Use protocols to analyze student
implements culturally responslve work
teaching strategies (each Use consultancy to explore
teacher) dilemmas you are having with
Rev~ewstudent assessment your students
data (each teacher) Reflection
Meet with Kevin (each teacher
met with Kevin or another
trained coach in the school to
closely examine the individual
data that he or she had
collected)

Repeat survey (Jennifer, Mike, Connections

Angi) Analyze survey data
Repeat subset of student Analyze data across learning
interviews community meetings to generate
Gather all data overarching findings from the
Engage in preliminary analysis year's inquiry work
by reading through own data Reflection

Develop presentation Provide an overview of results to

principal
Share at faculty meeting and with
district office
Reflection

members took out a piece of paper, and jotted down their feelings and
thoughts about the ways their inquiry-planning meeting had transpired.

When developing a group inquiry brief, as in the case of Kevin

described above, a number of individuals are contributing to the plan as it
emerges. The end result of the PLC inquiry-planning meeting is the brief
itself. Because it is a group process, the brief is both constructed and fine-
tuned at the same time. Kevin was always keepinginmind the key components
104 W The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

that make inquiry work and would prompt his group to consider these
ideas along the way. However, if you are coaching a PLC where members
are each exploring different questions, it is often helpful for each individual
to come to the inquiry-planning meeting with an inquiry brief already
developed, and enough copies for each member of the group. Hence, rather
than the inquiry-planning meeting ending with one brief that is both fine-
tuned and constructed at the same time by the entire group, the inquiry-
planning meeting begins with an individual PLC member presenting
his or her already developed brief and receiving feedback from PLC
group members to fine-tune the plan. Subsequently, each member of the
PLC takes a turn presenting and receiving feedback on his or her individ-
ual brief. When all members of the PLC have received feedback, the meet-
ing ends with the writing of reflective statements on the brief-tuning
experience.
We have found that it is helpful to use a protocol to provide structure
to inquiry-planning meetings focused on the individual presenting his or
her brief and to be sure everyone in the group gets equal time for feedback
and tuning. Figure 4.4 provides an example of a protocol we developed for
this purpose. If your PLC has more than five members, we suggest you
break into groups of three or four to engage with this protocol.
Sometimes, in addition to or in lieu of participating in an inquiry-
planning meeting for individuals to cycle through sharing their own briefs
and providing feedback on the briefs of others, a teacher-inquirer may seek
out help from his or her coach, asking the coach to review his or her brief
and provide personal feedback. Other times a teacher-inquirer may "try
out" ideas on the inquiry coach as he or she writes the inquiry brief.
Similar to the wondering litmus test in Chapter 3, in the next section,
we raise a series of questions facilitators can pose to themselves when they
read a brief or hear an inquirer discuss a plan for study. By considering
these questions, a coach can engage in dialogue with the inquirer to tune
the plan until wondering, data collection, data analysis, and timeline for
implementation of the inquiry are clearly articulated and all in alignment
with one another. The evolution of an inquiry plan based on a coach's con-
sideration of these questions is illustrated through the work of one teacher-
inquirer Nancy coached-Debbi Hubbell.

T H E I N Q U I R Y BRIEF L I T M U S TEST
Is there correlation between the inquiry question and all other compo-
nents of the inquiry plan (e.g., data collection, data analysis, timeline)?
Is the teacher-researcher using multiple forms of data?
Has the teacher-researcher already (or does the teacher-researcher plan
to) connect his or her work to a larger context (e.g., a school's improve-
ment plan, a district initiative, research already completed on the topic)?
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan @ 105

Is the design of the study experimental?

Is the inquiry plan doable?
Does the inquirer have a timeline for implementing the inquiry plan?

Inquiry Brief Discussion Protocol:

Six Steps to a Fine-Tuned Plan for lnquiry
Suggested Group Size: 3 4
Suggested Time Frame: 15-20 MINUTES PER GROUP MEMBER

1. Select a timekeeper.

2. Presenter hands out a hard copy of the inquiry brief to each member of the group.
3. Group members silently read the inquiry brief, making notes of issues/questions
they might like to raise in discussion with presenter [four minutes]. As group
members read the brief, presenter engages in a writing activity to complete the
following sentences:
Something I would like help with on my inquiry brief is. . .
One thing this group needs to know about me or my proposed inquiry to better
prepare them to assist me is . . .
4. At the end of four minutes (or when it is clear that every member of the group has
completed reading and taking notes on the inquiry brief, and the presenter has
finished his or her response to the writing activity), the timekeeper invites the
presenter to read his or her sentence completion activity out-loud [no more than
one minute].
5. Participants talk to each other as if the presenter was not in the room, while the
presenter remains silent and takes notes [approximately ten minutes]. Participants
focus on each of the following:
Provide "warm feedback" on the inquiry brief. This is feedback that is positive in
nature and identifies areas of strength. [one to two minutes]
Address the area the presenter would like help on and discuss the following
questions [eight to ten minutes]:
A. What match seems to exist (or not exist) between the proposed data
collection plan and inquiry question?
B. Are there additional types of data that would give the participant insights into
his or her question?
C. Rate the doability of this plan for inquiry. In what ways is the participant's
plan meshed with the everyday work of a teacher?
D. In what ways does the participant's proposed timeline for study align with
each step in the action research process?
E. What possible disconnects and problems do you see?
6. Timekeeper asks presenter to summarize the key points made during discussion
that he or she wishes to consider in refining the plan for inquiry. [one minute]

SOURCE: Developed by Nancy Fichtman Dana and Diane Yendol-Hoppey.

106 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

With more than a decade of elementary teaching experience behind

her, Debbi was approached by her principal and asked if she wished to
participate in a professional development opportunity that would last the
entire school year-learning about and engaging in action research. After
Debbi had gone through the process, she would then help to teach others
at their school about action research as staff development, as well as sup-
port her colleagues in their own action research endeavors in subsequent
school years. Debbi was excited about the opportunity, and eagerly
attended the first full-day meeting, where she was provided with an
overview of the entire action research process through the presentations of
teachers who had previously engaged in inquiry. In addition, Debbi was
provided with a book, The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research
(Dana & Yendol-Silva, 2003) that would guide her through each compo-
nent of the action research process step by step.
Debbi was grouped with four other teachers from surrounding dis-
tricts, along with Nancy, her inquiry coach. Nancy explained that they'd be
meeting once a month, forming a PLC to support each other in their own
inquiry endeavors. They engaged in a series of activities that helped them
get to know each other, to set ground rules for the ways the group would
function as they met several times that school year, and to explore possi-
ble topics and wonderings associated with those topics to frame their first
inquiries.
In one of these activities, Debbi articulated that she was passionate about
reading, and in particular, fluency. Debbi's school had been one of thirteen
schools to pilot a statewide program called the Florida Reading Initiative. In
addition, her school had set a goal as part of its annual school improvement
planning process to raise the fluency levels of the lowest-achieving students
in order to increase their performance on the reading portion of their state's
standardized test-FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test).
Finally, Debbi was a voracious reader and had been studying the literature
on reading fluency. She knew the research indicated that a correlation exists
between fluency and comprehension. Perhaps a focus on fluency would
help her struggling readers perform better on FCAT.
Debbi left the meeting with a list of brainstormed potential wonder-
ings she had related to the fluency development of her students, and the
assignment to read about the finer points of developing a wondering and
inquiry brief in her book. In addition, Debbi was to prepare an inquiry
brief for their next meeting in three weeks, bringing enough copies for all
members of her group.
As Debbi began to work on her brief, she called her coach to "try out"
some of her ideas. Nancy and Debbi decided to meet on Wednesday after-
noon to discuss her emerging plan for research. After a few minutes of
casual conversation, Debbi got to the point of their meeting:
"Well, it's great to see you again, and thanks for agreeing to meet with me
to help me work on my brief. I'm not sure how to word my wondering, but
what I want to investigate is fluency with my fourth graders. Research shows
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan 107

that repeated readings improve fluency. I'd like to see if there is a difference
in fluency gains between using a commercial reading program we have pur-
chased in our district called Great Leaps and repeated readings of plays with
my students. I have a book of plays that are "fractured fairy tales," that seem
as if they would be very motivational for fourth grade learners. They're basi-
cally humorous takes on traditional fairy tales. I think they have the potential
to boost the fluency scores of my lowest readers on the assessment my dis-
trict uses to track fluency development-DIBELS. If you're not familiar with
DIBELS, it stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, a set
of standardized, individually administered measures of literacy develop-
ment. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to
regularly monitor the development of prereading and early reading skills. So,
I'm thinking I could divide my lowest performing students into two differ-
ent reading groups-I can use the Great Leaps program with one group and
the fractured fairy tales with the other group and then compare their DIBELS
scores to see which group had higher gains."
Nancy paused and thought for a minute. As she had been listening to
Debbi articulate plans for her inquiry, a few things ran through her head.
First, she was not surprised that Debbi's initial study design emulated the
design of a traditional experimental study. In her experience coaching, she
found that first-time action researchers were often drawn to experimental
designs in the early stages of developing a plan for their research. Nancy
attributed this inclination toward experimental studies to all the baggage the
word research carried with it. When teachers first hear the word research, they
often conjure images of formulating a hypothesis and setting up comparison
groups--one to receive a "treatment," and one to remain "the control."
In her experience, Nancy also knew that rarely does it make sense for
an action research study to take this form, as teacher action research is gen-
erally about capturing the natural actions that occur in the busy, real world
of the classroom. In addition, by and large, a single teacher's classroom
usually is not a ripe place to design an experimental study since the Sam-
ple size utilized in the study generally would not be adequate to indicate
any statistical differences, and any one treatment variable (such as the
reading of fractured fairy tales) would almost be impossible to isolate from
intervening variables such as phonics and intonation. Finally, one would
need to question the ethics of providing a potentially beneficial "treat-
ment" to some children within a classroom but not to all.
Nancy began her response with some warm feedback, "I think you
sound like you've got a fantastic focus for your inquiry! Reading fluency is
definitely an area that many teachers and whole schools are looking at
much more closely these days, especially based on research that indicates
a relationship between fluency and comprehension. It's wonderful that
your passion relates closely to a schoolwide goal as well as the literature
on reading. I also think it makes a good deal of sense to focus on imple-
menting a teaching strategy that you think would be motivational and
enjoyable for children-the reading of fractured fairy-tale plays.
108 e The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

"One thing you might want to consider a bit more is the way you are
thinking about your inquiry as a comparison between two different pro-
grams and two groups of children. I have found in my work with teachers
over the years that often, initially, we tend to always think of research or
inquiry in terms of comparison, sort of like an experimental study. In real-
ity, it's really hard to control variables between two different groups or
treatments-for example, in your case, the children who would work with
the Great Leaps program and the children who will do the fractured fairy
tales. You might want to simplify. Let me ask you a question, if you weren't
about to embark on an action research project, would you, in the natural
ways that you think about teaching, assign your struggling readers to two
different groups and teach them in two different ways?"
Debbi thought for a moment and responded, "No, I don't think I
would. If I wasn't trying to design a plan for my inquiry, I think I would
just try the use of fractured fairy tales with all of my struggling readers,
and see what kinds of results I would get."
"Okay then," Nancy responded. "If you wouldn't assign kids to two
differently taught groups as a natural part of your teaching, then you
might want to rethink your initial plan for inquiry. Would it work for you
if you developed a plan to try fractured fairy tales with all of your strug-
gling readers, and look closely at the ways the introduction of this new
strategy plays out in the classroom? In essence, rather than looking at
cause and effect, you would be looking at the general relationship that
develops between the reading of fractured fairy tales and fluency develop-
ment in struggling fourth grade learners over time."
"I like that," Debbi shared. "It feels more comfortable to me. And I
think that I could still use DIBELS data as an indicator of fluency growth
for data."
"Yes, that definitely would be one data source that would give insights
into your wondering. Are there any others?"
"Hmmm. I'm not sure. I guess I'm still caught up in traditional notions
of research and I think in terms of data being numbers, but I suppose I
could also collect any student work that was generated in relationship to
the fractured fairy-tale play readings, and see if I notice any changes over
time. And I've read that many teacher-researchers keep a journal. I guess I
could write down things I'm noticing after each fractured fairy-tale read-
ing that I might otherwise forget if I didn't record it in some way."
Nancy smiled, "Now you're cooking! One of the most wonderful
aspects of the teacher inquiry process is that it honors all of the great com-
plexities inherent in teaching. Through teacher research, we can systemat-
ically tease apart some of that great complexity and develop a rich picture
of what is occurring in the classroom in relationship to a wondering. Any
one data source, whether it be student performance on a test or an assess-
ment, student work, teacher anecdotal notes, a teacher-researcher's jour-
nal, survey responses, interviews, field notes, photographs, lesson plans,
 Helping PLC Members Develop an Action Research Plan e 109

or any other documents produced as a result of teaching, only provides

one piece of the picture. Rich teacher research relies on more than one
source of data to create a more complete picture of what is occurring in
relationship to the wondering posed. Using multiple sources of data and
data collection strategies can enhance your inquiry as you gain differing
perspectives from differing strategies.
"In addition, by employing multiple strategies, you can build a strong
case for your findings by pointing out the ways different data sources all led
you to the same conclusions, a process research methodologists refer to as tri-
angulation" (Cresswell, 2002; Patton, 2000). "Finally, by employing multiple
data sources you enhance your opportunities for learning when different
data sources lead to discrepancies.It is often through posturing explanations
for these discrepancies that the most powerful learning of teacher inquiry
occurs, and that new wonderings for subsequent inquiries are generated."
Debbi carefully considered Nancy's comments about relying on more
than one source of data and queried, "Are there other data collection
strategies that you think I might use that could be insightful to my study?"
Nancy replied, "Well I heard you say that you believe the reading of
fractured fairy tales might be motivational for your learners. I always think
it's a good idea in an inquiry such as yours to collect some sort of data to
give you insights into the perceptions your learners held of the new strategy
you employed. You might interview some students after you are done with
your fractured fairy tale unit, or even collect some data by having them
reflect in writing on the fractured fairy-tale experience. In fourth grade, you
might have them compose "Dear Mrs. Hubbell" letters where they tell you
what they liked and disliked about reading fractured fairy tales."
"Wow, that's a great idea! I love the Dear Mrs. Hubbell letters because
that actually kills two birds with one stone-my students have a meaning-
ful writing assignment in which they have the opportunity to apply their
writing skills, and 1/11have another data source for my inquiry!"
"Sounds like a plan! As you think about using Dear Mrs. Hubbell let-
ters as a data source, you might want to return to your wondering and
tweak it a bit and/or develop one or two subwonderings that get at the
relationship between fractured fairy-tale plays and student motivation to
read. Now, have you thought through a timeline for your study? For this
type of inquiry, you'll want to plan both the specifics of your implementa-
tion of the fractured fairy-tale plays as well as how you will collect and
analyze the data as you go. When you bring your inquiry brief to our next
PLC meeting, be sure to ask your group members to help you assess the
doability of your plan. It's easy to go overboard and plan such large
inquiries that they would be impossible to carry out. Keep this in mind as
you develop your brief."
"I will. This discussion has been extremely helpful. I can't wait to get
my inquiry started, and see what shape our other group member's
inquiries are taking. I am very oriented toward considering data to be only
110 9 The Reflective Educator's G u i d e to Professional Development

things like scores on assessments such as DIBELS and standardized test

scores, so I'm new to this type of thinking. I look forward to seeing you at
our next meeting."
"Me too! You are on a great track here! This will be a wonderful
inquiry! I can hardly wait to see what you discover."

In the excerpt of Nancy and Debbi's dialogue above, Nancy runs

through the inquiry brief litmus questions in her own mind to formulate
some solid feedback on Debbi's emerging plan, as well as to formulate some
questions for Debbi that help her consider some of the finer aspects of action
research plan development. In many cases, it is not uncommon for some
skepticism around the notion of research to surface, and a serious question
to arise in the minds of PLC members during the inquiry plan development
phase--"Is what we're doing really research?" To help coaches address this
question, we end this chapter with one of our favorite explanations of the
differences, but complementary nature, between traditional forms of
research and teacher research, from the book, Living the Questions: A Guide
for Teacher Researchers (1999)by Ruth Hubbard and Brenda Power.

Litt\e r and Big R

When we first talk with teachers about the possibilities for research in their profes-
sional lives, they often recount negative experiences with research, and stereotypical
views of what researchers do. As teacher Julie Ford explains:

When I think of research, I think of the Big R type and long hours in the library,
notes that could fill a novel, and a bibliography several pages long. I think of
tension and stress lurking in the shadows. Feeling as I do about Research, the
thought of conducting it in my classroom didn't curl my toes. But as I read
classroom-based research, I felt as though a door was beginning to open. My
definition of research took a turn, and that familiar twinge of anxiety didn't
come rushing forward.

Teachers are surprised and delighted to realize that research can focus on problems
they are trying to solve in their own classrooms. At its best, teacher research is a natural
extension of good teaching. Observing students closely, analyzing their needs, and
adjusting the curriculum to fit the needs of all students have always been importam
skills demonstrated by fine teachers.
Teacher research involves collecting and analyzing data, as well as presenting it^
others in a systematic way. But this research process involves the kinds of skills and clasc
room activities that already are a part of the classroom environment. As Glenda B i s m
 H e l p i n g PLC Members Develop a n Action Research Plan 0 111

writes, a teacher-researcher is not a split personality, but a more complete teacher. While
research is labor-intensive, so is good teaching. And the labor is similar for teachers,
because the end goal is the same-to create the best possible learning environment for
students.. .
(The research agenda) of most teachers are a kind of "dance" between teachers,
students, and learning. Teacher-researchers rarely seek to initiate and carry out studies
that have large-scale implications for education policy. Unlike large-scale education
research, teacher research has a primary purpose of helping the teacher-researcher under-
stand her students and improve her practice in specific, concrete ways. Teacher research
studies can and do lead to large-scale education change. But for most teacher-researchers,
the significance of the study is in how it informs and changes her own teaching.. .
Lawrence Stenhouse noted that the difference between the teacher-researcher and
the large-scale education researcher is like the difference between a farmer with a huge
agricultural business to maintain and the "careful gardener" tending a backyard plot:

In agriculture the equation of invested input against gross yield is all: it does
not matter if individual plants fail to thrive or die so long as the cost of saving
them is greater than the cost of losing them.. . .This does not apply to the care-
ful gardener whose labour is not costed, but a labour of love. He wants each of
his plants to thrive, and he can treat each one individually. Indeed he can grow
a hundred different plants in his garden and differentiate his treatment of
each, pruning his roses, but not his sweet peas. Gardening rather than agricul-
ture is the analogy for education. (Rudduck & Hopkins 1985, p. 26)

This view of the teacher-researcher as a "careful gardener" is the image we hold in

our minds of the ideal teacher-researcher-not a scientist in a lab coat, staring down at
a "research subject" (a kid!), but a human being in the midst of teaching, carefully
weighing the value of different ways of teaching and learning (pp. 3-4).

As your PLC m e m b e r s d e v e l o p and t u n e t h e i r inquiry plans, r e m i n d

t h e m that t h e y a r e not trying to e m u l a t e t h e s c i e n t i s t in a lab coat, but t h e
c a r e f u l gardener.
 Helping
PLC Members
Analyze Data

In relationship to their work, a woman, her husband, and two young

children had the opportunity to travel through all of Australia for
twofull months. O n their return to the United States, the woman
rushed to develop the ten rolls offilm she had shot throughout their
travels. When the film was developed three days later, she whisked
the almost 400 pictures out of the store and went straight to her
parents' house. One by one, they went through each of the pictures
in the order they were takenfiom the envelopes. After sitting at the
kitchen tablefor two hours, they still had three envelopes yet to open
and view. The woman sensed the fatigue felt by her parents, and her
heart grew heavy as she realized that laboring through every single
picture did not convey to others the magnificence of their trip. The
pictures were in no meaningful order, some were blurry, and in some
cases, there were way too many photographs of the same things.

Returning home, her husband eagerly greeted her at the door and
queried, "Well, how did the pictures come out?" The woman sighed
as she explained that the number of pictures was overwhelming her,
and while many came out great, there were some that were out of
114 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

focus, and during some parts of their trip, they must had been too
camera happy-there were way too many shots that were similar.
The woman feared that the pictures, that potentially held so much
meaning for their family and their children's memories, would
become a meaningless pile placed in a box and stored away in the
attic. She imagined her young children all grown up, telling others
that at one point in their lives, they had lived eight weeks in
Australia, but they were so young, they hardly remembered a thing.

Disturbed by his wife? disappointment in the pictures, the man had

an idea. He remembered that a new store had opened recently across
town called Scrapbook Haven. He purchased a gift certificate and
series of classes for his wife as a gift in hopes that this experience
would help her capture their travels in a way that was meaningful
and would have lasting impact on their two children.

The woman was gratefil. At herfirst class, she learned that the best
scrapbooks begin by sorting through pictures. "There's no need to
use every single picture you brought to this class," the teacher said.
"Why don't you look through e v e y picture that was developedfirst,
just to get a sense of what you have?" As the woman did so, she
noticed she had some pictures fiom each stop on their itinerary.
Some of the pictures were related to their work. Many of the pictures
were of her two children.

Next, the teacher shared, "It is often helpful to group your pictures in
dzferent ways to decide how you want to proceed with the organization
of your scrapbook. You might organize your scrapbook chronologically,
or maybe by key events that took place during your trip, or perhaps
even group pictures by individual child. T y sorting and resorting your
pictures into piles that have some sort of meaning until you feel a sense
of orderliness, commonality, and comfort with your assemblage.

The woman'sfirst pass through her pictures was relatively easy. She
sorted the pictures by stops on their travel itineray, and then put
the piles in chronological order. Next, she sorted each one of these
piles into two subcategories-quality and nonquality photos.
Quality photos were in focus, had good lighting, and were framed
nicely by the photographer. Nonquality photos were out of focus, had
some part of the subject being photographed cut out of the picture,
or were photos she considered to be "bad" pictures of heme& her
husband, or their children.
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data @ 115

After looking at the piles, she noticed that three of them were of dif-
ferent stops OM their itinerary, but were related as they were all pic-
tures of families they had stayed with at dzferent times during their
trip. She combined these three piles together and placed a Post-it
note on the pile that read, "Family Stays." She also noticed other
piles that could befurther divided up. For example, she had a pile of
pictures she named "Caines, Australia" in the itineray sort. Within
this pile, however, there were multiple pictures of their time snorkel-
ing over the Great Barrier Reef, multiple pictures of hiking i n the
Daintree Rainforest, and multiple pictures of swimming in the Coral
Sea. She subdivided the "Caines" pile into these three subpiles, and
i n the process, realized that she had no photographs of theirfirst stop
i n Caines-a visit to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, where
her son learned to throw a boomerang. She would need tofind the
brochure from this park and add it to her Caines pictures once she
returned home. In addition, there were a couple candid shots of their
children at their hotel i n Caines. She decided to remove these from
the "Caines" subpiling and started a new pile called "Assorted
Candids." She also found a few pictures of her daughter's fourth
birthday party that must have been at the start of their first role of
film they used in Australia. She placed these pictures aside and
would not use them i n the scrapbook.

After many iterations of the sorting process, the ways her scrapbook
might take form began to become apparent to the woman. A t this
point, the teacher said, "It's time to create yourfirst scrapbook page.
Take one of your picture piles and arrange it on the page. Think
about a statement you would like to write on this page that expresses
the meaning this grouping of pictures holds for you. You also might
want to add a title to your page. And remember, you don't have to
use every single picture, and you might even use portions of a
picture-it's okay to cut and paste."

The woman's class ended. She excitedly burst into her home and
shared her hard work with her husband. Over time, she created a
complete scrapbook oftheir travels. Thefinal page contained a picture
of her children back i n their home i n the states on the night they
returned. The page was titled, "Home Sweet Home" and contained
the following caption: "When we arrived home at 11:OO PM, jet lag
had already set i n as we were ready for breakfast, not bed. It took a few
weeks tofully recover and reestablish our routines. It was good to be
home, yet we will always fondly remember our days down under."
116 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Upon its completion, the woman once again drove to her parent's
house to share her new creation. As they turned each page of the
scrapbook, short stories, humorous moments, and key experiences all
seemed to jump out from the pages and fascinate her parents. The
trip had been captured and conveyed to others in a way that never
would have happened had the pictures stayed haphazardly thrown
into a box labeled "Trip to Australia." The woman knew that the
process of creating this book enabled her to better understand the
enormous implications this eight-week excursion had for herself, her
husband, and most importantly, her children. She knew that the
scrapbook would serve as an important catalyst to trigger their
memories as they grew into adulthood.

L ike the woman in the vignette that opened this chapter who lamented
over the fact that she had developed nearly 400 pictures, but didn't
know what to do with them so they would have meaning beyond just a big
pile stored away in a box, teacher-researchers often find themselves over-
whelmed when they get to the data analysis phase of their studies and face
making sense of a huge pile of collected data. Hence, one critical component
of coaching inquiry within your PLC is supporting the data analysis
process. The purpose of this chapter is to provide some tools you may use
to provide that support. These tools include a review of the data analysis
process, suggestions for planning and running a PLC meeting devoted to
data analysis, and a protocol developed specifically to help teacher-
researchers dig deeper into their analyses.

DATA ANALYSIS FOR THE

ACTION RESEARCHER: A REVIEW
The first tool we provide is a brief review of the data analysis process.
First, it is important to note that data collection and analysis are often two
processes that intertwine with each other throughout the action research
cycle. This means that analysis isn't just something done at the end of an
inquiry-teacher-researchers often move back and forth between collect-
ing and analyzing data throughout an entire study.
One example of the flip-flop relationship between data collection
and analysis comes from the work of twelfth grade English teacher and
researcher Tom Beyer (2007),whose inquiry brief appears in Chapter 4. Tom
wanted to better understand the reading habits of his students in order to
more effectively differentiate the instruction for his Advanced Placement,
Honors, and English IV classes. He began his work by pulling a student
aside from each of these classes during homeroom, and posing a few ques-
tions about what and when each student read. Tom analyzed the notes he
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data 117

took on these interviews to determine questions he would utilize on a sur-

vey that would be given to all his students. Tom administered the survey,
collecting the responses, and again returned to data analysis by tallying
responses to survey questions and grouping narrative responses to the same
questions together. The information he obtained in this portion of his study
guided his observations of students during sustained silent reading time. He
continued to collect data for a number of weeks after the initial interviews
and surveys as he observed his students and took field notes. Analysis of his
field notes led him to conduct further individual interviews with students
who were selected based on what Tom observed. In addition, Tom held a
whole-class focus group interview session toward the end of his study.
While Tom had engaged in some data analysis to give direction to his
study as it proceeded from January through March, as he approached the end
of the school year he placed all of his data-initial interviews, surveys, field
notes, later interviews, and focus group notes-into one pile. It was now time
to synthesize his learning by looking at his entire data set as a whole.
When teacher-inquirers get to this point in their inquiries, they often
ponder: "Okay, I've collected all of this 'stuff,' and I have a whole crate full
of data. . . now what do I do with it?" The findings and conclusions that
teacher-researchers make at the end of a study do not materialize out of
thin air-they come from careful scrutiny of their data sets as they proceed
through a systematic process of making sense of what they learned.
Research methodologists have developed, described, and named a
long list of systematic processes that facilitate data analysis. Two of the
processes most frequently discussed in the social sciences are coding and
memoing. We turn to Schwandt's (1997) Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of
Terms to provide brief, technical definitions of these concepts:
-
CODING-To begin the process of analyzing the large volume of
data generated in the form of transcripts, field notes, photographs,
and the like, the qualitative inquirer engages in the activity of cod-
ing. Coding is a procedure that disaggregates that data, breaks it
down into manageable segments, and identifies or names those
segments. . . . Coding requires constantly comparing and contrast-
ing various successive segments of the data and subsequently cat-
egorizing them. (p. 16)

MEMOING-A procedure suggested by Barney Glaser (Theoretical

Sensitivity: Advances in the Methodology of Grounded Theory, Sociology
Press, 1978) for explaining or elaborating on the coded categories
that the fieldworker develops in analyzing data. Memos are concep-
tual in intent, vary in length, and are primarily written to oneself.
The content of memos can include commentary on the meaning of
a coded category, explanation of a sense of pattern developing
among categories, a description of some specific aspect of a setting
or phenomenon, and so forth. Typically, the final analysis and
118 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

interpretation is based on integration and analysis of memos.

(pp. 89-90)

While the data analysis work of a teacher-inquirer does draw from the
field of social sciences and borrows the processes described by these schol-
ars, it is easy to get bogged down in the jargon or technical language in the
definitions above that are not a part of the daily language of teachers.
Phrases such as disaggregating data, coded categories, phenomenon, and final
analysis and interpretation may feel foreign to teaching practice and set up a
roadblock to data analysis. To help teacher-researchers around this road-
block, we suggest that PLC coaches focus on describing the processes of
data analysis named above with language, phrases and metaphors that are
consonant with the life and work of a teacher. To aid in this process, in the
remainder of this section, we review the data analysis process step-by-step
using teacher-friendly language and phrases, as well as the scrapbooking
story that opened this chapter as a metaphor for data analysis. We hope
the language and metaphor we invoke to describe each step will be useful
for you as you support the data analysis process of others.

Data Analysis Step One: Description

In the description phase, teacher-inquirers read and reread their entire
data set, with no other objective than to get a descriptive sense of what they
have collected. The goal of this first step of analysis is to describe the
teacher-researcher's inquiry data. Like the scrapbook teacher in the open-
ing vignette of this chapter who suggested, "Why don't you look through
every picture that was developed first, just to get a sense of what you
have?," PLC coaches can suggest that members of their PLC begin data
analysis by reading through their entire data set. During their initial read
of the data set, PLC coaches can help their group members by posing the
following questions to consider as they read:

Why did you inquire?

What did you see as you inquired?
What was happening?
What are your initial insights into the data?

Data Analysis Step Two: Sense-Making

Next, teacher-inquirers begin the sazse-making step by reading their data
and asking questions such as, "What sorts of things are happening in my
data?" "What do I notice?" "How might different pieces of my data fit
together?" And, "What pieces of my data stand out from the rest?" Sometimes
teachers take notes in the margins of their data, or write down their answers
to these questions on a separate sheet of paper. Organizing data is one of the
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data @ 119

most creative parts of the sense-making process. Sometimes inquirers get

stuck at this stage and need some prompts to help begin this sense-making
process. Figure 5.1 offers some organizing units that coaches can offer to
serve as prompts for helping teach& begin analysis.

Examples of Organizing Units

Chronology Key events Various settings

People Processes Behaviors

Issues Relationships Groups

Styles Changes Meanings

Practices Strategies Episodes

Encounters Roles Feelings

For example, teachers might look at their data and see if a story emerges
that takes a chronological form. Teachers may notice that their data seems to
be organizing itself around key events. Or, teachers may see some combina-
tion of organizing units that are helpful. The table in Figure 5.1 is by no
means exhaustive, and teachers should let the organizing units emerge
from their own data rather than forcing an external set of units.
Based on answers to the questions posed above and a teacher's emerg-
ing units of analysis, teacher-inquirers identify common themes or pat-
terns, and begin a process of grouping or sorting data by theme or
category, a process likened to the woman's initial sorting of her Australia
pictures by "stops on the travel itinerary." One way to group data is to use
a different color marker for each theme or pattern identified, and highlight
all excerpts from the data that fit this theme or pattern. Another way of
grouping data might be to physically cut it apart and place the data in dif-
ferent piles. If teachers do decide to cut the data apart, you might want to
suggest they keep a complete set of data as a backup.
Just as our scrapbooker found some pictures from her daughter's fourth
birthday, as teachers engage in this process, they will notice that not all of the
data they collected will be highlighted or coded, or will fit with their devel-
oping patterns or themes. These diverging data excerpts should be acknowl-
edge and explained if possible (e.g.,"Those pictures must have been at the
start of our first role of film and don't really belong."). Likewise, just as the
scrapbooker realized she had no photographs of the Aboriginal Cultural Park
and would need to find the brochure to add to her photographs, teacher-
researchers may find that they need to collect additional data to inform an
emerging pattern. Finally, like the scrapbooker who decided to regroup some
pictures into new piles called "Family Stays" and "Assorted Candids," as
120 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

teacher-researchers' findings emerge, they may regroup, rename, expand, or

condense the original ways they grouped their data.

Data Analysis Step Three: Interpretation

Just as the scrapbook teacher invited her student to create her first
page by writing a statement that expressed the meaning a group of pic-
tures held for her, in this phase, patterns or themes yield statements about
what a teacher-researcher learned and what the learning means. To facili-
tate this process, you might direct your PLC members to look at the pat-
terns they coded in Step Two, and pose the following questions:

What was your initial wondering and how do these patterns inform it?
What is happening in each pattern and across patterns?
How is what is happening connected to . . .
a. your teaching?
b. your students?
c. the subject matter and your curriculum?
d. your classroom/school context?

The findings from this step can be illustrated by the teacher-inquirer in

a number of ways, including but not limited to themes, patterns, cate-
gories, metaphors, simile, claims/assertions, typologies, and vignettes.
Figure 5.2 provides a definition of these possible illustrative techniques, as
well as examples.
These strategies help illustrate, organize, and communicate inquiry
findings to an audience. Once teacher-researchers have outlined their
organizing strategy, they will need to identify the data that supports each
finding presented in the outline. Excerpts from these data sources will be
used as evidence for their claims.

Data Analysis Step Four: Implications

Finally, upon completing each of the three previous steps, teacher-
inquirers must draw implications from their learning. To facilitate this
process, you might pose the following questions to members of your PLC:

What have you learned about yourself as a teacher?

What have you learned about children?
What have you learned about the larger context of schools and schooling?
What are the implications of what you have learned for your teaching?
What changes might you make to your practice?
What new wonderings do you have?
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data O 121

1. Themes/PatternslCategories/Labels/Naming. A composite of traits or features;

a topic for discourse or discussion; a specifically defined division; a descriptive
term; set apart from others.
Example: Collaboration, ownership, care, growth
2. Metaphors. A term that is transferred from the object it ordinarily represents to an
object it represents only by implicit comparison or analogy.
Example: the Illustrator, the Translater, the Reporter, the Guide, Casting the Play
3. Simile. Two unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as.
Example: Music as a motivator, music as a confidence builder, music as a context
for making meaningful connections, writing as conversation
4. ClaimslAssertions. A statement of fact or assertion of truth.
Example: Inappropriate expectations discouraged many of the learners in my
classroom and hindered my effectiveness as a writing teacher.
5. Typologies. A systematic classification of types.
Example: Different uses for puppets: instructional, entertainment, therapeutic
6. Vignettes. A brief descriptive literary sketch.
Example: "The Struggle for Power; Who Is in Control"
The children were engaged in conversation at the meetings, jobs were continuing
to get done, but there was still a struggle centering around who was in control. With
the way the class decided to make a list of jobs, break the jobs up into groups, choose
the people they wanted to work with, there were breaks in communication. Conflicts
were arising with the groups. Everyone was mostly aiming to get "their own" way.

These questions call for teacher-researchersto interpret what they have

learned, to take action for change based on their study, and to generate
new questions. For, unlike the scrapbooker who can marvel at her com-
pleted book, the scrapbook for a teacher-inquirer is never quite finished,
even after intensive analysis. Hubbard and Power (1999)note that, "Good
research analyses raise more questions than they answer" (p. 117).While
teachers may never be able to marvel at a perfected, polished, definitive set
of findings based on the data analysis from one particular inquiry, they can
marvel at the enormity of what they have learned through engaging in the
process, and the power it holds for transforming both their identity as a
teacher, as well as their teaching practice. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2001)
propose that:

a legitimate and essential purpose of professional development is

the development of an inquiry stance on teaching that is critical
and transformative, a stance linked not only to high standards for
the learning of all students but also to social change and social jus-
tice and to the individual and collective growth of teachers. (p. 46)
122 a The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

As a result of data analysis, be%me to take the time to allatiCT PLC

members to marvel at their growth, and the impact they can have as indi-
vidual teachers who have joined a PLC, as well as a larger community of
teacher-researchers. Through engagement in inquiry as a member of this
community, you and the teachers you coach are contributing to the trans-
formation of the teaching profession itself!

COACHING ANALYSIS:
THE DATA ANALYSIS MEETING
If members of your PLC have been engaged in one collaborative inquiry
during the school year, you have likely already had a number of meet-
ings that occurred after your inquiry brief meeting, during which time
you looked at data collected at different points along the way. After a
series of these meetings in which you looked closely at individual pieces
of data, you will reach a point where all data collection for the entire
inquiry has been completed. At this time, it is a good idea to dedicate one
entire meeting (often for an extended time) to the data analysis process.
For example, let's return to Kevin, the PLC coach introduced in Chapter 4,
and his learning community's inquiry focused on creating more culturally
responsive teaching for the students in their school. Early in their inquiry,
the group administered a survey to all of the teachers in their building to
capture their thoughts about culturally responsive teaching as well as their
students' needs. At one of the PLC meetings, Kevin used a protocol called
"Chalk Talk (NSRF, 2007) to facilitate the discussion of the survey data.
The first ten minutes of the meeting was devoted to each PLC member
reading through the typed-up responses to the surveys. Next, Kevin
briefly explained that they were going to engage in a "chalk talk" to gen-
erate ideas about the survey responses. This was a silent activity- no one
was to talk and anyone could add to the chalk talk as they pleased by
commenting on other people's ideas simply by drawing a connecting line
to the comment. In essence, rather than engaging in conversation with
spoken words, they were to engage in conversation with words written
on paper. Next, Kevin hung up a large roll of chart paper and gave every-
one in the group a marker. He wrote the following question in a big circle
in the center of the chart paper, "What did you learn from reading the sur-
vey responses?" For twenty-five minutes, individuals silently took turns
writing on the chart paper about responses that surprised them,
responses that confirmed their dissatisfaction with the current state of
inclusive practices in their building, and responses that gave direction for
their future. When the chalk talk was done, Kevin rolled up that paper
and shared that he would save it to revisit later in their inquiry as they
approached final data analysis. Over the next few months, Kevin's PLC
continued to collect data to inform their wondering according to their
plan, discussing this data at PLC meetings in various ways.
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data 123

As they were approaching the final third of the school year, PLC mem-
bership had completed all of the data collection, and it was time to look at the
entire data set as a whole. Kevin facilitated this process by dedicating one
PLC meeting to this purpose. Two weeks prior to the date set for that meet-
ing, Kevin made enough copies of all of the data collected for each member
of the PLC, placing each different copy in its own notebook. Kevin gave one
notebook to each PLC member and requested that all members read through
the entire notebook once in preparation for their data analysis meeting.
Together, at this extended two-hour data analysis meeting, Kevin walked
the group through each step of the data analysis process4escription, sense-
making, interpretation, and implications. Through the process, the group
articulated findings from the data and drew conclusions they planned to pre-
sent to their principal and the rest of the faculty the next month.

When engaging in one collective inquiry as a learning community as

in the case of Kevin described above, one single data set is produced. The
PLC coach and membership all read this data set and participate in the
four-step process of data analysis together. However, if you are coaching
a PLC where members are each engaged in their own individual
inquiries, each individual inquiry will generate its own unique data set.
Time constraints usually do not permit all members of the PLC to read
through every individual's entire data set and go through the four-step
process together. For this reason, we have found it is helpful to structure
the data analysis meeting as a sharing and feedback session, in which
each member of the PLC comes to that meeting having already gone
through one or more of the steps in the data analysis process on his or
her own. During the data analysis meeting, individuals present to the
group what they are learning from their data so far. We have developed
a protocol (Figure 5.3) to focus each individual and to be sure that every-
one in the group gets equal time for sharing and feedback. If your PLC
has more than five members, we suggest you break into groups of three
or four to engage with this protocol, or hold two separate data analysis
feedback meetings with half of your group presenting during the first
meeting and the other half presenting at the second. We have found that
it is also helpful to have presenting individuals spend about five minutes
completing a sentence-completion activity (Figure 5.4) prior to beginning
the protocol to help them organize their thoughts.
We end this chapter with a glimpse at the way this protocol might play
out in practice through the story of Chris, an eleventh grade English
teacher, and his PLC coach, Leanne.
124 @ The Reflective Educator's G u i d e t o Professional Development

. t 'i

Figure 5.3 Data Analysis Protocol

Data Analysis Protocol:

Helping Your Colleagues Make Sense of What They Learned
Suggested Group Size: 4
Suggested Time Frame: 25-30 MINUTES PER GROUP MEMBER
Step One: Presenter Shares His or Her Inquiry [four minutes]-Presenter briefly
shares with group members the focus or purpose of the inquiry, what his or her won-
d e r i n g ~were, how data were collected, and the initial sense that the presenter has
made of his or her data. Completing the following sentences prior to discussion may
help presenter organize his or her thoughts prior to sharing:
The issue/dilemma/problem/interest that led me to my inquiry was. . .
Therefore, the purpose of my inquiry was t o . . .
My wonderings were. . .
I collected data by . . .
So far, three discoveries I've made from reading through my data are . . .
StepTwo: Group Members Ask Clarifying Questions [three minutes]-Group members
ask questions that have factual answers to clarify their understanding of the inquiry, such
as, "For how long did you collect data?" "How many students did you work with?"
Step Three: Group Members Ask Probing Questions [seven to ten minutes]-The
group then asks probing questions of the presenter. These questions are worded so
that they help the presenter clarify and expand his or her thinking about what he or she
is learning from the data. During this ten-minute time frame, the presenter may respond
to the group's questions, but there is no discussion by the group of the presenter's
responses. Every member of the group should pose at least one question of the pre-
senter. Some examples of probing questions might include:
a. What are some ways you might organize your data? (See Figure 5.1)
b. What might be some powerful ways to present your data? (See Figure 5.2)
c. Do you have any data that doesn't seem to fit?
d. Based on your data, what are you learning about yourself as a teacher?
e. What is your data telling you about the students you teach?
f. What are the implications of your findings for the content you teach?
g. What have you learned about the larger context of schools and schooling?
h. What are the implications of what you have learned for your teaching?
i. What changes might you make in your own practice?
j. What new wonderings do you have?
Step Four: Group Members Discuss the Data Analysis [six minutes]-The group
talks with each other about the data analysis presented, discussing such questions as,
"What did we hear?" "What didn't we hear that we think might be relevant?" "What
assumptions seem to be operating?" "Does any data not seem to fit with the presen-
ter's analysis?" "What might be some additional ways to look at the presenter's data?"
During this discussion, members of the group work to deepen the data analysis. The
presenter doesn't speak during this discussion, but instead listens and takes notes.
Step Five: Presenter Reflection [three minutes]-The presenter reflects on what he
or she heard and what he or she is now thinking, sharing with the group anything that
particularly resonated for him or her during any part of the group members' data analy-
sis discussion.
Step Six: Reflection on the Process [two minutes]-Group shares thoughts about
how the discussion worked for the group.

SOURCE: Developed by Nancy Fichtman Dana and Diane Yendol-Hoppey.

 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data @ 125

The issue/tension/dilemma/problem/interestthat led me to my inquiry was

Therefore, the purpose of my inquiry was to

My wondering(s) were

I collected data by

So far, three discoveries I've made from reading through my data are:

Copyright O 2008 by Corwin Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted from The Reflective Educator's Guide to
Professional Development: Coaching Inquiry-Oriented Learning Communities, by Nancy Fichtman Dana
and Diane Yendol-Hoppey. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, www.corwinpress.com. Reproduction
authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.
126 0 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Over the past several years, Chris had developed a passion for technol-
ogy. As an early adopter, he was one of the first to own his own Palm Pilot
and the latest smart phone, and to develop his own Web site. As he both
enjoyed and benefited from the personal use of technology, through the
years, he slowly introduced a number of technological advances into his
instruction of American literature for high school juniors. He believed that
the meaningful integration of technology into his instruction held promise
for adding variety to the traditional literature discussions he held in the
classroom, and enriching students' understandings of the great American
novels they covered in eleventh grade.
Chris was in his first year as a member of a PLC at his school. Chris
became a member of this group at the suggestion of his principal, and found
membership in this group to be a painless way to earn the professional
development points required by the state to renew his teaching license.
Unlike previous professional development sit-and-get workshops, he actu-
ally was enjoying the PLC experience and the support he was receiving from
other teachers in the completion of a teacher inquiry project focused on his
technology passion. For his research this year, Chris was exploring the use
of Weblogs with his Honors/AP students to discuss the novel Moby Dick.
To gain insights into the ways blogging might enhance in-class discus-
sions, Chris set up a site, reviewed students' posts, and developed a ques-
tionnaire students completed focused on their perceptions of the blogging
experience. Chris also saved all of his lesson plans and in-class work
students completed throughout the Moby Dick unit. Chris developed a
series of "blog prompts" to initiate the students' participation on the site,
and sometimes assigned responding to the prompt as homework.
He had been collecting data for some time, when his PLC coach,
Leanne, suggested they devote their next meeting to helping each other
begin the process of data analysis. Chris was to read through all of the data
he had collected so far, and complete a sheet of open-ended statements
(Figure 5.4) to prepare for their next meeting.
Leanne began this meeting by encouraging everyone to take one of her
famous brownies she had brought to share. She then handed out the data
analysis protocol (Figure 5.3) and reviewed the protocol procedures with
the group. She stated, "I know many of you are at a point where you've
collected a ton of data, and I think this exercise could really help each of
you clarify what your data might be telling you, and where you might go
next in your inquiry. Who would like to present first?"
Chris volunteered, "I'll go, although I'm not sure you all can help me too
much. You see I feel like I'm not really learning anything from my data-this
whole blog experience I set out to do isn't really going as I had hoped."
"Thanks for volunteering, Chris. Let's follow the protocol and see what
happens. You'll have four minutes to share with us where you are with
your inquiry. You can use the sentence completion sheet you filled out to
help you share about your inquiry in a succinct manner. Four minutes goes
quickly. I'll keep time. Let's begin."
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data 0 127

"Okay, I'm ready," Chris began. "Well, as you already know, I'm
extremely intrigued with technology. Most recently I've become fascinated
with blogging. Every year, when I teach the novel Moby Dick,I'm not
entirely happy with the nature of the discussions we have in class.
Sometimes I just don't know how to get students to participate more, dig
a little deeper, and use higher-level thinking skills as we discuss the novel
in class. I thought it might be interesting to see if blogging could make a
difference. Therefore, the purpose of my study was to understand how
Weblogs might support or hinder my students' discussion during class.
My wonderings, which you all so brilliantly helped me craft a few months
ago, were: 'What happens when I add a blogging component to my unit
on Moby Dick with my eleventh grade Honors/AP class?' 'In what ways
does blogging contribute to my students' understandings of the novel?'
And 'What is the relationship between blogging and the application of
higher-order thinking skills to literature discussion?'"
Leanne told Chris, "You have one minute remaining," and Chris
continued.
"I collected data by setting up a site, printing out, and reading all of the
posts, giving out a questionnaire to my students about blogging, and sav-
ing every bit of paper produced by me and my students during my teach-
ing of Moby Dick.So far, one thing I'm discovering from my data is that
students are posting, but not necessarily responding to each other's posts.
It's like they use the blog to dump their thoughts out, but no one responds
to each other. Another thing I'm discovering is that there is great variety
in the quality of responses by the students. A few responses are really
thoughtful as well as thought provoking, but most responses are so gen-
eral I have to wonder if the student even read the assigned chapter. It's def-
initely not working like I thought it would."
Leanne interjected, "Okay, Chris, I'm going to have to stop you there.
It's been four minutes." Leanne addressed the group, "In the next three
minutes, we get to ask Chris clarifying questions. As a reminder, these are
questions that have factual answers."
During that three minutes, members of the group posed the following
four questions that Chris responded to:

1. Can you tell me more about what the site looks like and how it
operates?
2. What instructions did you give to your students about how to use
the blog site?
3. Are there instructions for the students on the site itself?
4. Have you ensured that all of your students have access to comput-
ers to participate?

After Chris's response to the fourth question, Leanne jumped in,

"Although I know we may have a few more clarifying questions we might
128 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

want Chris to answer, it's time for us to shift gears now and ask probing
questions. As a reminder, probing questions are worded to help Chris dig
deeper into his thinking and his data analysis. One thing to be careful of is
disguising a suggestion as a probing question, or disguising your own
thinking or opinion as a probing question by starting out with a phrase
such as, 'Did you think of trying . . . ?' or 'Did you ever consider that . . .' At
this point, we do not want to offer suggestions to Chris, or impose our own
thinking on him. Rather, we want to ask questions to help us delve a little
deeper into his inquiry and his data. We'll have the opportunity to make
suggestions and share our thinking in the next step of this protocol."
Joan began, "What are you looking for when you review the postings?"
Chris answered, "Well, I'm looking for a couple things. First, I'm look-
ing at the responses, kind of with a Bloom's taxonomy eye. What I mean by
that is, are they analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating in their responses
to my blog prompts? I'm also looking not just at how I might categorize
their responses using Bloom's taxonomy, but looking at their responses for
how they might get scored on Florida Writes, our lovely state test. Of course
I want these students to do their very best on this. And as I read their
responses, I also can't help but consider how that response might be scored
on the AP exam too. I haven't been happy with what I've seen so far."
There was a brief pause and Sherri jumped in, "I remember reading
Moby Dick in high school and it was very difficult reading. I can't say I
have fond memories of it. I'm wondering why you chose Moby Dick? Are
they required to read that text?"
"Well, no, they're not required to read it. We have a list of books from
the state that we can choose from, but you don't have to read every book
on the list. I chose it because I consider myself a child of the sea-I grew
up myself not far from the ocean. I love fishing and adventure stories, and
I like the writing style of the author, so I thought it would be a great novel
for the kids. I know it's a challenging read. There's a good deal of internal
dialogue the kids have to get through. There's usually a bunch of groans
when I first introduce the book. The kids give me a look as if to say, 'Are
you kidding me?' But I like the book, and I think it's good for them!"
Sherri responded, "Did you ever think that it might be difficult for the
students to relate to this novel and because they can't relate and it provides
some difficult content, their blogs aren't up to par?"
Leanne interjected, "Hold on a minute. Let me stop everyone for a sec-
ond. Sherri, that's one of those disguised questions-you're really giving
Chris your own ideas in the way that question is phrased. Hold onto your
own thoughts for the next step, and let's keep our questions open. Could
anyone reword Sherri's question so it's a probing question and not a sug-
gestion for Chris?"
Mickie said, "I'll give it a try. Chris, what factors might contribute to
your students' ability (or inability) to produce quality blog entries?"
Chris responded, "Wow, that's a great question, Mickie. One factor
could be the direction for the blog assignment itself. If the directions aren't
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data e 129

clear, that could affect the quality. Another thing I suppose is me being
explicit about what I'm looking for in their entries. Since I'm new to using
blogging, I think I had in my head what I wanted to see, but I'm not sure
I communicated it well to the students. I guess I also might see more qual-
ity blog activity if the content wasn't so difficult, but that's a catch-22 situ-
ation. I thought the blog activity would be good just for that reason-it
would give the students yet another venue to deconstruct a difficult text.
I'll have to think about that some more."
Leanne took a turn probing, "Chris, you said that one of the things you are
looking for in their prompts is higher-order thinking skills. What have you
done with your students to help them understand higher-order thinking?"
"Well, I've done some instruction with topic sentences, and various
activities to help them build on those sentences." Chris stopped and thought
for a minute. "I don't think I'm answering your question. In reality, Leanne,
I don't think I've done much to scaffold their learning and application of
higher-order thinking from other class activities to the blog activity."
Joan was next, "What implications does what you are learning from
your data have for your teaching?"
Chris responded, "I am definitely seeing adaptations I could make to
the ways I designed the site so it is more effective. I also just assumed that
because these kids were eleventh grade Honors/AP students they would
really take off with the blogging, you know, like a duck takes to water.
Being bright students, I also assumed that their blogs would be so thought
provoking that they would automatically be compelled to respond to each
other. Those were naive assumptions on my part. You would think that
after so many years teaching I would have known better. I can't just teach
the content Moby Dick,I have to teach the technology too. I need to teach
them what constitutes a quality blog entry, and perhaps not only what con-
stitutes a quality blog entry, but a quality response to a peer's blog."
Leanne finished up with the final question, "Chris, we have time for
only one more question, and I think a good one to finish up might be,
'What new wonderings do you have?"'
"There's a lot of things swirling around in my head right now, but one
thing that's coming to mind is the development of a rubric for blog
responses. If I developed a rubric, I'd want to know the relationship
between the rubric and the students' ability to produce blog responses that
are indicative of higher-order thinking."
"Okay, thanks Chris. At this point, we're going to move on to the next
step in the protocol. Chris, we are now going to discuss your inquiry with
each other, as if you weren't in the room. You are to remain silent. You
might want to take notes as we talk. You also might want to scoot your
chair back a little from our circle and turn away from us just a tad to help
you resist the urge to contribute to the discussion."
Chris scooted his chair back from the group as Leanne suggested, and
took out his notepad, ready to write. Leanne continued by addressing the
group, "We are going to talk about Chris' data for six minutes. We should
130 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

discuss questions such as: 'What did we hear?' 'What didn't we hear that
we think might be relevant?' 'What assumptions seem to be operating?'
'Does any data not seem to fit with the presenter's analysis?' And, 'What
might be some additional ways to look at the presenter's data?' What
we're trying to do is deepen Chris' analysis. And Sherri, here's the time
you could make suggestions."
Joan began, "I hear Chris say that when analyzing his students' blog
entries, he was looking for the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy in their
responses, and most of the responses were not at those higher-order think-
ing levels. I wonder if Chris made this statement based on his impressions
over time, or if he actually sorted his data by Bloom taxonomy level. He
might want to actually sort the blog entries into the categories of knowl-
edge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. He
also might want to sort his blog prompts into these categories as well. He
might discover some interesting things by sorting his data this way. Maybe
it's not as bad as he thinks. Maybe the prompts themselves aren't all
higher-level questions. Are knowledge, comprehension, and application
questions inherently bad? Especially for a difficult novel like Moby Dick,I
would imagine the students would need to spend some time in the knowl-
edge, comprehension, and application domains before they can discuss the
text at a higher level."
Mickie continued, "I also hear Chris say that he was looking at the
responses for how they might get scored on the Florida Writes and the AP
exam. That was puzzling to me, because I heard nothing in Chris' wonder-
ing statements that had to do with student writing. In all the discussions
we had about his inquiry at previous meetings, I never remember hearing
anything about Florida Writes or the AP exam. Did you?"
Members of the PLC shook their heads.
"This writing thing is totally new. He needs to return to his wonder-
ings to remind himself of what he set out to look for in the first place. He
didn't ask, 'How does blogging help students prepare for Florida Writes
and the AP test?"'
Joan spoke, "Along with that, I was thinking that his students were
perceiving the blog site like they might perceive MySpace, or Facebook, or
Instant Messenger. They write in a much more informal way in these
venues. Why would you expect they'd write like they would for an exam
on a blog site?"
Members of the PLC nodded in agreement. Leanne shared, "I think an
important part of his data analysis is going to be looking very closely at all
of his lesson plans and everything that went into designing the blog site
itself. He might want to turn his gaze to focus on the set up-What did I
learn from the way I set it all up? What worked? What didn't?"
Mickie said, "I didn't hear him talk at all about the questionnaires. Did
he look at them yet or did he only look at the blog entries themselves?"
Sherri continued, "Alright, I've been quiet long enough. I have to come
back to his choice of Moby Dick.I can't imagine that's an easy book for the
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data 0 131

kids to relate to, and that certainly could inhibit their responses. Maybe
Chris should try a more accessible novel for eleventh graders in the future.
I know they're Honors/AP students, but Moby Dick? There may be better
choices on that list from the state."
"Does Chris have to be the one to pick from that list? What would hap-
pen if he did a little two-minute commercial on each book on the list, and
then his students could vote on the one they want to read," suggested Mickie.
Joan chimed in, "Or, each individual student could pick the book he or
she wanted and Chris could make book blog groups. Does everyone in the
class have to be reading the same book at the same time?"
There was a pause while everyone thought. Leanne took this opportu-
nity to look down at her watch and broke the silence with, "We have two
minutes left."
Joan continued, "I think Chris uncovered some of his own assumptions
when he was speaking. For instance, Chris noted that just because they were
bright kids, he thought they'd take to blogging like ducks take to water."
Leanne elaborated, "He also thought they'd respond to each other
naturally."
"I think this is one thing he might take into consideration in the design
of the blog and his directions for its use," Sherri recommended. "Maybe
the kids need to be required not just to post, but to respond to at least three
classmate's blog posts by a certain date . . . or something like that."
Joan expressed concern, "I worry that Chris is beating up on himself too
hard for making some assumptions about advanced learners. He even
started out by saying that he didn't think he was learning much from his
inquiry since the blogging was not going as he had planned. Well gosh, I
think he's learning an incredible amount. One thing he is learning is that
we all make assumptions based on ability when we plan our lessons.
Sometimes the assumptions we make limit our planning. This could even be
one of the claims he makes in his findings . . . something like, 'It is important
for teachers to uncover hidden assumptions they hold about their learners
that may interfere with the teacher's ability to introduce something new to
the class.' I know I was thinking about that as he was talking. His inquiry
helped me look at myself and the assumptions I make as well. The practice
of uncovering our assumptions is a good reminder for us all!"
Leanne agreed, "I think that's really powerful. It's important to
remember that engaging in teacher research isn't about finding a new
strategy and reporting on the miraculous difference it made to teaching.
Although that does happen occasionally, more often that not, teaching is
just too complex to have any one new thing a teacher might try in the class-
room lead to dramatic improvement for every learner in a short period of
time. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't tons of learning that happens
through each inquiry cycle. It seems like Chris has a lot of rich learning to
report on! And with that comment, I'm going to have to call time and ask
Chris to come back and join us in the circle. Chris, you now have three
minutes to reflect on what you heard us say."
132 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

"Wow, this was incredible. I have three full pages of notes. Let me just
share a few things. First, I really like the idea of sorting the blog entries and
prompts by taxonomy level. I haven't done that yet. I do think that would
be an interesting exercise. I was thinking it's all about higher-level think-
ing and that's the only valuable blog response to have. Once I sort, I think
I might find some value in using the blog for knowledge, comprehension,
and application as well as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. I'm going to
go through my data again and look closely at what exactly is happening at
each of those levels, as well as how the lower level responses might be
building blocks for the higher-level responses.
"I also want to say that you're right on about the Florida Writes and the
AP test. That did just seem to creep into my inquiry. I think that probably
happen because we're getting close to the end of the year, and of course,
just like everyone, those tests and my students' performance on them is
ever present on my mind. This wasn't the focus of my study, though, so I
need to let that one go. There's no need to sort my data by the score a
response like that would receive on the exams.
"I do think there's something to the students' application of MySpace,
Facebook, and instant messaging behaviors to the blog space. I think I
even might want to do a few interviews with certain students to see if they
perceive my blog site in the same ways they perceive all those social net-
working sites-wow, that could have some powerful implications for how
I adapt my blog site in the future, as well as the instructions I give about
participation on the site.
"And I have administered and collected the questionnaires, but I just
glanced at them. So far, I've really focused my analysis on just the blog
entries themselves. I have to go back to my data and look at the question-
naires more closely.
"I have a lot more to say, but Leanne is giving me the time signal, so I
just want to thank everyone. I have to admit, I was really skeptical about
this whole protocol thing and data analysis at first, but this session has
been incredibly helpful. I have so much to consider! Thanks."
Leanne responded with a smile, "Thank you, Chris. You were brave to
present first. We will now take just two minutes to reflect on the process."
Mickie said, "For lack of a better word, this was really cool. The proto-
col worked well. It kept us focused and on topic, and the time moved
quickly."
Sherri added, "I think it's hard to distinguish between suggestions and
probing questions. I know I had a hard time with that, but when Mickie
rephrased my question, I did see that difference, and why it is important
to make sure a question is a true probing question and not a suggestion
disguised as a probing question."
Leanne responded, "It's not easy to develop good probing questions,
but it's a skill we'll all get better at with time."
 Helping PLC Members Analyze Data 0 133

Joan said, "It felt a little weird talking about Chris as if he wasn't in the
room when he was sitting right next to me." Everyone chuckled.
Chris shared, "You think it felt weird to you-I'm glad I took Leanne's
suggestion and pulled away from the circle a bit. There were so many
times I wanted to say something when you were discussing me. I'm glad
the protocol wouldn't let me though. I learned so much by just listening!"
Leanne finished up, "That's time! Let's take a quick five minute break
and then Joan, why don't you present next?"
The members of the learning community relaxed. Chris helped himself
to a second brownie, Sherri went to the restroom, Mickie purchased a soda,
and Joan engaged in some quiet conversation with Leanne as they waited
for the others to return. While they momentarily went their separate ways,
each member of the learning community had experienced the power
of protocols that afternoon, as well as the power teacher inquiry and the
data analysis process holds for teacher learning. They eagerly awaited the
next round.
 Helping
PLC Members
Share Their
Work With Others

A young man took his thirteen-year-old son to the lake. He was look-
ing forward to spending the beautiful spring day making fond mem-
ories with his son, who was growing much too quickly for his
father2 comfort. The weather was perfect-the sun was warm, and
the air wasfresh with just a little nip of cold remainingfrom the long
winter months. Because it was early spring, they had the entire park
to themselves, not another family was in sight.

The day was going just as the young father had planned. After the
perfect morning canoe trip, they headed to the shore and ate their
picnic lunch. After lunch, the man gazed out and admired the peace-
ful, calm lake before him. His thoughts drifted to replaying the won-
derful morning he and his son had shared together, and he was
feeling quite proud of the all-day excursion he had planned for his
son during these delicate teenage years-if couldn't have been going
any better. Just then, his thoughts zuere abruptly interrupted by his
child's voice: "Dad, I'm bored."
136 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

The man was taken aback-stunned that his son could feel boredom in
the face of the beaut@ glassy-still lake before them. "How could you
be bored, son?" his father queried. "The lake is so beautz@l-peaceful
and still."

"That's just it, Dad," his son replied. "You might see beauty, but I
see stagnation. " His son's comment provided a stark reality check for
the man-they had sat for too long, and he needed to think quickly
to save the perfect day he had planned with his son from spoiling.

"Son," his father said, "I think it's time to put an end to the stagna-
tion. You see all of these rocks along the shore? Have I ever told you
I was m y town's rock-skipping champion when I was a kid? I can
give you a few pointers, and teach you how to skip rocks like
nobody's business!"

The teenaged boy looked skqtical. " A w Dad, I'm too old for that s t u -"

"You're never too old to have fun and to learn something new. Now
watch me."

The man searchedfor the perfect rock on the lake shore, and tossed it
into the water. It skipped three times before it finally fell to the bot-
tom. Its hops across the water's surface created an interesting pat-
tern of ripples.

While the boy didn't want to admit it, he was impressed. He watched
his father throw five more rocks in quick succession-one even
skipped four times! He decided since no one was in sight to see him,
it would be okay to participate with his father.

They threw for an hour, his father teaching him technique and form
to get as many skips as possible out of each rock. As they tossed stone
after stone, the clear, stagnant lake came alive with small swells,
ridges, and swirls. Some of the ripples even reached the shore of the
lake! The man was once again proud of his quick thinking-the stone
throwing game had saved the day.

L ike the stones laying on the lake shore that have no chance of impact-
ing the still water unless tosscd in by the man and his teenaged son.
an unshared inquiry has little chance of changing practice unless that
inquiry is tossed into the professional conversation and dialogue that
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others @ 137

contributes to the knowledge base for teaching. Once tossed in, it disturbs
the status quo of educational practices, creating a ripple effect, beginning
with the teacher himself or herself, the immediate vicinity (the students and
classroom) and emanating out to a school, a district, a state-eventually
reaching and contributing to the transformation of the perimeter of all
practicethe profession of teaching itself. Hence, one critical component
of coaching inquiry within your PLC is helping the teachers you work
with "jump into the lake" by sharing their work with others. The purpose
of this chapter is to explore several venues for sharing inquiry and to help
coaches create spaces for that sharing to occur.
It is important to note that a precursor to teacher sharing often involves
alleviating any concerns or trepidation created by the prospect of sharing
work with others, many of which are discussed in Chapter 2. Unfortu-
nately, for many years, norms of teacher isolation existed in schools, and
part of your work as a coach will be to collaborate with school leaders and
teachers to break this mold of isolation. Peter W. Dillon (2007), a MetLife
Fellow who writes for the Teacher's Network, notes:

Traditionally, schools have been isolating places for teachers to work

in. Teachers often feel separated from each other. The press of busy
schedules, course loads, and additional duties makes it difficult for
teachers to make the time to talk never mind work together. Teachers
need opportunities to talk and collaborate with each other to best
serve their students, to make their work more meaningful, and to
transform schooling in a way that keeps it vibrant and relevant.

Because these norms have been so pervasive, it is not uncommon for

teachers to feel anxiety about the prospect of sharing their practice with
others outside the comfort of the PLC. Like the man encouraging his son,
"You're never too old to have fun and learn something new," an inquiry
coach must gently encourage and sometimes create the spaces for shar-
ing to occur in a nonthreatening, comfortable, but meaningful way.
Encouragement begins by reviewing why it's critical to share inquiry work
with others.

THE IMPORTANCE O F SHARING: A REVIEW

There are four important benefactors when the teachers in your PLC
"jump into the lake" and share their work-the teachers themselves, their
students, other teachers, and the profession at large.
For teachers, the process of preparing their findings to share
with others helps them to clarify their own thinking about their work. In
addition to clarifying their own thinking, in the actual sharing of their
work, they give other professionals access to their thinking so that they can
question, discuss, debate, and relate. This process helps inquirers and their
colleagues push and extend their thinlung about practice as well.
138 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Clarifying, pushing, and extending thinking are not the only benefits
of sharing. Fellow professionals also benefit from the knowledge a teacher
or group of teachers created through engagement in action research. For
example, veteran teacher-researcher George Dempsie's passion for using
puppets as a form of pedagogy with young children led him to study and
publish the results of this practice (Dempsie, 1997, 2000). In his own dis-
trict, he has inspired puppetry as pedagogy in dozens of teachers, across
eleven different elementary buildings. His presentations at conferences
and publications allow his work to spread outside his immediate vicinity
(classroom, school, district) as well.
Sharing inquiry with other professionals can also change the very
ways children experience schooling. For example, we know one teacher
who completed an inquiry on an individual second grade child who was
having great difficulty fitting into the structure of schooling as it existed
socially, but was not receiving any services because she did not qualify in
any traditional ways. Her inquiry illuminated many critical insights into
the child that traditional forms of assessment would not have generated.
Becoming an advocate for this child, the teacher shared the results of her
inquiry with other specialists and the principal. Eventually, a full-time
paraprofessional was hired to work individually with this child within the
regular classroom each school day. In a year's time, the child made great
strides forward in her academic and social development.
We have provided just two specific examples here to illustrate the
power, and therefore, necessity of sharing inquiry. Some inquiries inspire
small, local change. Some inspire large, sweeping change. All change, large
or small, is sigruficant in that the changes that are occurring are emanating
from those best positioned to make a difference in education, and those that
for years have been kept from making that difference-teachers themselves!
Kincheloe (1991) writes about the ways teachers have been kept from
making that difference using a comparison between teachers and peasants
within a third-world culture with hierarchical power structures, scarce
resources, and traditional values:

Like their third-world counterparts, teachers are preoccupied with

daily survival-time for reflection and analysis seems remote and
even quite fatuous given the crisis management atmosphere and
the immediate attention survival necessitates. In such a climate
those who would suggest that more time and resources be dele-
gated to reflective and growth-inducing pursuits are viewed as
impractical visionaries devoid of common sense. Thus, the status
quo is perpetuated, the endless cycle of underdevelopment rolls on
with its peasant culture of low morale and teachers as "reactors" to
daily emergencies. (p. 12)

When teachers in your PLC get into the lake and share their inquiries, you
and the teachers you coach contribute to breaking the cycle described
above. You, and the teachers you coach, contribute to educational reform:
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others 0 139

The plethora of small changes made by critical teacher researchers

around the world in individual classrooms may bring about far
more authentic educational reform than the grandiose policies for-
mulated in state or national capitals. (Kincheloe, 1991, p. 14)

By getting into the lake and sharing your inquiries, you and the
teachers you coach contribute to changing the ways some people outside
of teaching view teachers and their practice and try to change education
from the outside in. In the sharing of your inquiry, you contribute to
reforming the profession of teaching-from the inside out!

CREATING A SPACE AND TIME FOR SHARING

In our work, we have witnessed numerous venues that have been con-
structed for teacher research sharing. In this section, we name the five
most common examples we have witnessed-executive summary write-
ups, district alternative evaluation plans or professional development
plans, Powerpoint presentations, posters, and Weblogs. By naming and
describing these venues, we hope to spark your best creative thinking as
you ponder ways to provide meaningful contexts for the wonderful work
that has occurred within your inquiry-oriented PLC to be packaged and
spread, just like the ripples in the lake created by the stones in the story
that opened h s chapter.

Executive Summary Write-ups

Some teachers enjoy packaging their research experience and learning
in prose describing every detail of their inquiry and the subsequent learn-
ing that occurred as a result of engaging in the process. In many cases,
these lengthy action research stories become a part of a larger collection of
teacher research that is published for others outside of the immediate
vicinity of the work to benefit from (see, e.g., Caro-Bruce, Flessner, Klehr,
& Zeichner, 2007; Masingila, 2006; Meyers & Rust, 2003).
In many more cases, however, writing is seen as a chore and many
teachers experience stress when confronted with the prospect of writing
up their work. To alleviate this stress, we have introduced the concept of
an executive summary write-up into our work at the Center for School
Improvement (http://www.coe.ufl.edu/csi) at the University of Florida
(Dana & Baker, 2006; Dana & Delane, 2007). Executive summaries provide
brief overviews of a teacher's inquiry, as well as contact information for
the teacher so more detail about a teacher's work can be shared through
personal contact with the author. Executive summaries are generally three
to five pages in length and contain the following six components:

Name of the teacher, title, school, and e-mail address

Background information (three to five paragraphs that discuss what led
the teacher to h s inquuy, ending with a statement of the wondering)
140 # The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Inquiry design (three to five paragraphs that describe what the

teacher did, including data collection and analysis)
Stating what was learned and resulting changes in practice (five to
ten paragraphs that describe what the teacher learned and how his
or her practice has changed based on what was learned)
Providing concluding thoughts (three to five paragraphs stating the
implications this research had for the teacher's future practice and
stating new wonderings that emerged as a result of engaging in this
inquiry)
References

One example of an executive summary appears at the end of this chap-

ter (Burgin, 2007). Teachers who have written an inquiry brief as described
in Chapter 4 have already completed the first two bullets above. Therefore,
the first two sections of the inquiry write-up can often be lifted directly
from the brief, or modified from the brief if the inquiry has changed over
time. When teachers realize that half of their executive summary is already
drafted and can be lifted from their inquiry brief, the prospect of sharing
their work in writing becomes an even less daunting task.
Working in partnership with the University of Florida (UF) and per-
sonnel in the Lastinger Center for Learning, whose mission is to promote
sustained, measurable improvement in the academic achievement of
Florida's elementary school children in high-poverty schools, Collier
County Public Schools introduced the notions of PLCs and teacher inquiry
into the work of teachers in Immokalee, an isolated, high-poverty rural
community located on the northern edge of the Everglades. Five elemen-
tary, one middle, and one high school provide the education for a large
population of migrant families in this community. UF faculty members
Sylvia Boyton and Alyson Adams worked with Collier County Public
Schools staff developer Cathy Gould to organize more than fifty
Immokalee teachers into smaller inquiry-oriented PLCs and engage in
action research.
Each teacher or team of teachers who engaged in research produced an
executive summary of their work, following the model described above.
These executive summarizes were organized by topic and compiled into a
monograph (Adams, Boynton, Church, & Gould, 2007). Subsequently, the
monograph was shared with other teachers in the Collier County School
District, outside the community of Immokalee. The monograph not only
helped other teachers across the district think about their own practice in
relationship to the topics of the inquiries printed in the monograph, but
helped to educate these teachers about the process of teacher research as well.
Cathy Gould led her district in capturing the enthusiasm for the
inquiry process on DVD, and is using this district-produced DVD along
with the monograph to spread the PLC and teacher research work across
the entire district.
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others 141

District Professional Development Plans

Some PLCs have integrated their work into the fabric of the school and
school system so that the teachers are provided the opportunity to connect
their inquiry work to their professional development plan. A professional
development plan is often an alternative evaluation approach that a dis-
trict uses to document teacher competence and in many cases is more of an
effort in compliance rather than a true mechanism that promotes teacher
learning. In districts such as Alachua County, Florida, school principals
have found ways to integrate the professional development plan into the
teacher evaluation system. For example, Jim Brandenburg, the principal at
Alachua Elementary School, has worked with the teacher's union and dis-
trict officials to develop the professional development plan form to accom-
modate the work of teacher inquiry, making teacher inquiry a part of
rather than apart from the work teachers are doing in his school (Brandenburg
& Yendol-Hoppey, 2007).
In this case, the teachers' inquiry work is not compiled into one collec-
tion within a monograph but rather is summarized using the professional
development plan form found at the end of this chapter. Teachers at
Alachua Elementary School use this form to share their individual inquiry
work with their principal throughout the school year as well as with the
members of their PLC.
During the final PLC meeting for the academic year, typically held in late
April, the group convenes to review the inquiry findings using the NSRF "A
Change in Practice" protocol. Similar to the inquiry brief packaging and shar-
ing, a PLC member makes enough copies of his or her professional develop-
ment plan for all members of the PLC. Using the protocol to help PLC
members deconstruct the inquiry, the PLC divides into triads and spends
approximately seventy-five minutes reviewing each other's inquiry. The pro-
tocol begins with the presenter distributing a professional development plan
and presenting a five to seven minute overview of his or her inquiry. Next,
the group members spend about five minutes asking the presenter clarifying
questions about the inquiry. After the group finishes clarifying the inquiry
work, the group moves to discussing the inquiry. In many cases, the group
looks at each step of the inquiry process from creating a wondering, to col-
lecting data, to generating findings in an effort to both share and raise ques-
tions about the important work that was completed, to teacher and student
learning. The group ends by summarizing "What new insights occurred for
all of us as a result of hearing about this particular work?" This small group
sharing provides the presenter a space for deeper reflection on the sum of his
or her work, as well as moves the work out to a broader audience.

PowerPoint Presentations
Some teachers enjoy packaging their research experience and learning
by giving an oral talk. To create a visual component to accompany the oral
142 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

story of teacher research, many teachers create a series of PowerPoint

slides. When a handout of these slides accompany an oral talk about the
research, the slides serve to capture the oral story in a way that it can be
told and retold many times as teachers refer back to the slides when they
consider their own practice in relationship to the presenter. Presentations
can be small (a ten-minute talk for the members of the PLC or the building
administrative team), medium-sized (a ten-minute talk at a division meet-
ing), or large (a ten- to twenty-minute talk at a faculty meeting).
Mark Bracewell and Rhonda Clyatt, principal and reading coach at
Lake Butler Middle School located in Union County, Florida, planned a
special extended faculty meeting for their entire school as they neared the
end of the year. The purpose of this special faculty meeting was for
teachers to share both best practices and action research conducted at Lake
Butler that school year.
As reading coach, Rhonda had incorporated the facilitation of action
research into her duties as reading coach at the school. She formulated a team
of four interested teachers, and they had met monthly over the school year as
a learning community to support each other throughout each step in the
inquiry process. They were scheduled to present their work to other teachers
in North Central Florida at a teacher research conference run by the Center
for School Improvement at the University of Florida the last week of April
each year. Rhonda lamented that while her PLC members were to share their
work with other teachers across the northern part of the state, they had no
opportunity to share their work with teachers right in their own building.
As principal, Mark had conducted numerous classroom walk-
throughs and was proud of the wonderful practice he had observed dur-
ing many of these walk-throughs. As he reflected on these walk-throughs,
he realized that in his role as principal, he was the only one who got to see
some of these outstanding practices at his school enacted, and longed for
other teachers in his building to experience his pride in seeing the good
work of their teaching colleagues.
Together, Rhonda and Mark planned the Lake Butler Best Practices
Showcase for an early-release staff development day in early April. The
teachers Rhonda had worked with created PowerPoint presentations of
their action research, and Mark sent e-mails to a number of teachers he had
been impressed with and asked them to share the particular strategies he
had witnessed in their classrooms. After fourteen teachers agreed to par-
ticipate as presenters, Rhonda obtained a title and a few sentences from
each teacher describing what he or she would share, and created a pro-
gram that was handed out to the entire faculty at the start of their early
release day showcase. This program appears at the end of this chapter.
Each presenter took turns sharing his or her work with the entire fac-
ulty in seven to ten minute increments. After half of the presenters had
shared, the faculty enjoyed a meal together, provided by one of the grade-
level teams as is practice during each early-release staff development day
at Lake Butler. After their meal, the remaining presenters shared their work.
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others @ 143

Rhonda and Mark received very positive feedback from the faculty. In fact,
one faculty member shared that this was their best staff development early
release day to date! As a result of this afternoon, many teachers expressed
a desire to visit the classrooms of their colleagues. Mark set a goal for him-
self to get teachers into each other's classrooms the following school year.

Posters
Some teachers enjoy packaging their research experience and learning
using a postei- that can be presented to the PLC members, to the school fac-
ulty, or in some other district forum. For example, teachers and prospective
teachers at Alachua Elementary School have created a space that looks much
like a science fair where inquiry posters are set up around the media center
during an early-release day at the end of the school year. Figure 6.1 shows
one example of a poster completed by an Alachua Elementary teacher.
The faculty, comprised of thirty-six teacher-inquirers, are divided into
four groups of nine presenters and each group is given a thirtyminute time
slot for presenting their posters to the rest of the faculty. The audience move
from poster to poster asking the poster presenters questions about the
inquiry work. The inquiry poster fair typically consists of two rounds of shar-
ing and then a break for refreshments. The refreshment break is followed by
two more rounds of sharing and then the teachers are asked to submit a
reflection sheet that they had been making notations on throughout the after-
noon. The reflection sheet summarizes their learning as a result of both their
own presentation as well as their review of others' presentations.
One way that the Alachua teachers recognize the value of the inquiry
fair is that most teachers don't run out of the media center as soon as the
sessions conclude but rather many stay and discuss interesting ideas they
were contemplating as a result of their participation. These opportunities
to hear about each other's work during the poster sessions generate con-
versation beyond the inquiry fair as teachers become more familiar with
each other's interests and work.

Weblogs
Some teachers enjoy packaging their research experience and learning
using technology. For example, some teacher-researchers are using blogs,
typically written and displayed in chronological order, to share their
inquiry work with other educators. One teacher, Barbara, used a blog to
document and share her reflections as she explored the following question:
"How does technology actually change the way students think?"
Barbara posted her progress during each stage of her inquiry, and the
members of her inquiry network would provide feedback and questioning
that helped her deepen her inquiry work. By the end of the year, Barbara
could not only provide documentation that illustrated each step of her
inquiry work and her reflections on each stage, but she could also identify
144 7 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Profess~onalDevelopment

Figure 6.1 Sample Poster

 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others @ 145

the types of feedback she received from other group members that
prompted deeper thinking and changes in her teaching. In addition to pro-
viding Barbara with a vehicle to document her inquiry process, the blog
also allowed her to share the key findings from her inquiry related to tech-
nology with an audience that extended far beyond the school community
as she networked with other educators from around the world.

SHARING PLC INQUIRY

W O R K WITH A LARGER AUDIENCE
In addition to using the five venues named above to create in-school and in-
district sharing opportunities for the teachers you work with, in your role as
inquiry-oriented PLC coach, you might also suggest that the teachers you
have worked with share their work with larger audiences by submitting
work to journals and/or state and national conferences. There are many
structures in place that coaches can help make teachers aware of as vehicles
for sharing teacher inquiry work with an audience outside of their school.
Today, an increasing number of journals and conference forums are
designed with a teacher-researcher audience in mind. These include Teacher
Research: The Journal of Classroom Inquiry, and Teaching and Learning: The
Journal of Naturalistic Inquiry. Additionally, you can share your written work
online by exploring one of the many actions research Web sites, listservs, and
online journals. Mills (2003) identifies the following Web sites as useful to
those interested in sharing their teacher research: Educational Action Research
at http: / /www.tandf.co.uk/journals/ titles/09650792.aspf Networks at
http: / /journals.library.wisc.edu/index.php/networks, Action Research
International at http: / /www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/arihome
.html, Action Research Electronic Reader at http:/ /www.scu.edu.au/
schools/gcm/ar/arr /arow /default.html, and Centre for Action Research in
Professional Practice at http://www.bath.ac.uk/carpp.
I n addition to these forums, teacher-researchers can become involved
in special interest groups (SIGs) that are a part of the American
Educational Research Association (AERA), perhaps the largest and most
well-known education organization. AERA offers membership in a
Teacher as Researcher special interest group, as well as a special interest
group focused on Professional Development Schools, where a good
amount of action research is completed each year. More information about
these groups can be found at http://www.aera.net/. In addition to the
Professional Development School SIG, given that substantial attention is
given to teacher inquiry by professional development schools, teachers
who engage in inquiry as a part of their work in professional development
schools might benefit from presenting their work at the National
Association of Professional Development School (NAPDS) Conference or
preparing a manuscript for the NAPDS journal. More information about
NAPDS can be found at http://napds.org/.
146 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Finally, the International Conference for Teacher Research (ICTR),a small

conference that occurs each April right after the annual meeting of AERA,
seeks to promote practitioner research among educators, and to foster con-
versations among academics and classroom teachers. More information
about ICTR can be found at http://www.nl.edu/academics/nce/ictr.cfm.

FOUR CORE COMPONENTS OF SHARING

Whatever venues you and the teachers you work with use for the sharing
work, coaches need to pay attention to four critical components as they
determine the best process for sharing the inquiry work within their context.
The four components, summarized in Figure 6.2, titled "Four Cs of Sharing,"
include Celebration, Community, Collegial Conversation, and Connections.

Celebration
First and foremost, all sharing should be completed in the spirit of cel-
ebration. Communities develop celebrations as rituals for highlighting the
success of their individual and collective work. Celebrations provide the
opportunity for educators to gather together to mark an accomplishment,
as well as make that accomplishment widely known to others. By organiz-
ing a celebration for the inquiry work, you will help create roles, rituals,
and symbols that call attention to the importance of teacher learning
within your community. The celebration helps to communicate a vision for
teacher learning. Many PLCs enhance these celebrations by having bever-
ages and food, providing a token of accomplishment in the form of a pin
or certificate, and/or having inspirational speakers. You should be think-
ing about these extra touches as you plan these settings for sharing!
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others 0 147

Community
It is important to remember that one of the three words the acronym
PLC stands for is community! The word community can be defined as a
group of people with a common background who possess a shared, com-
mon interest. In the case of your PLC, you are working with participants
who share the common background of devoting their lives to education
and they share the common interest to improve schools and continually
learn more about the teaching and learning process. In relationship to
sharing, however, community also means developing a sense of trust and
connection to others within the group, and creating a space that enables
group members to feel good about the work they have accomplished over
the course of the year-wrestling with identifying a common intent,
shared beliefs, and useful resources, as well as identifying individual and
collective preferences and needs for PLC work.
Sharing sessions that review these activities help the definition of com-
munity in PLC represent not just a group of people who gather together
with common background and interest, but represent that your PLC has
developed a sense of community. A sense of community is characterized by
the individuals within your PLC exhibiting care and concern for one
another as they share their work and/or become an audience for PLC
members who are sharing. A sense of community is also characterized by
individuals expressing a feeling of belonging to the group and the PLC
work. For this reason, sharing sessions ought to promote a reminder of the
critical importance of PLC work and teachers' engagement in inquiry, and
promote a feeling that PLC members are proud to be a part of the work
that the group completed. When attention is given to developing a sense
of community during sharing, PLC participants begin to develop an
identity as a teacher-inquirer and see that their work as an educator is
far-reaching. In a profession that is fraught with daily struggles and chal-
lenges, reminders of what the teaching profession and PLC work is all
about help teachers feel good about themselves and become inspired to
continue the work of inquiry-oriented PLCs.

Collegial Conversations
Although the first two Cs of sharing (celebration and community) work
together during sharing sessions to help teachers feel good about their learn-
ing, collegial conversations are critical to making a PLC's sharing sessions a
successful learning experience for all. Recall in Chapter 2 our discussion about
the difference between congeniality and collegiality.Congenial conversation is
the type of conversation that occurs when people enjoy each other's
company-talking about family, television, upcoming social events. In con-
trast, collegial conversations are the types of conversation that occur when
teachers focus on their practice, and participants in the dialogue feel com-
pelled to ask each other probing questions, look at their practices from multi-
ple perspectives, and collaboratively shape new meanings together. While
148 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

creating a spirit of celebration and community are extremely important, the

danger of focusing on celebration and community is that sharing, in whatever
form it takes, becomes congenial rather than collegial. A sharing session ought
to promote collegial questioning and conversation, not just congenial com-
mentary such as "Wow, great work!" Celebrations that embrace collegiality
will make your PLC thrive, becoming a synergistic space for all participants
to learn.

Connections
In addition to creating a celebratory feel, developing a s&e of com-
munity, and encouraging collegial conversations during sharing, sharing
should be organized so that teachers can network and connect with others
who are interested in the same ideas. By connecting their work to others,
the participants can generate localized and shared knowledge rather than
creating an unsystematic piling up of teacher research. A part of your
coaching work needs to focus on establishing ways to enhance teacher net-
works both internally and externally to your school context.
Each of the four Cs described in this section are critical components of
an inquiry culture, the kind of culture that you will want to foster as you
coach your PLC. Within an inquiry culture, each inquiry builds on another,
leading to deep changes in teacher and student learning. Linda, a teacher
collaboration specialist, described the importance of creating a culture of
inquiry on the Teacher Leaders Network (2007):

Ideally, part of the transition process and reform of the schools is

the idea of collaborative inquiry-learning together about issues,
about the work that teachers identify that they feel passionate
about pursuing. This way, everyone takes a learning stance. Norms
are key, so that we learn to treat each other as partners, with every-
one having skills, knowledge, and pieces of the whole to offer. As
we work together over time, trust will be built through learning
together on behalf of our students and our profession.

Linda's reflection highlights how a culture of collaborative inquiry can

fuel the work of teacher inquirers. Coaching the sharing of inquiry helps
create this culture!
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others 0 149

SAMPLE A C T I O N RESEARCH WRITE-UP

---

A Demo-a-Day in High School Chemistry

Stephen Burgin, Chemistry Teacher
P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School
[email protected]

Background
As a high school chemistry teacher, I have been constantly dis-
tressed by the apparent fright that accompanies the typical high
school student's enrollment in my introductory chemistry course.
What is it about chemistry that makes it so seemingly "impossible"
for so many students? Sometimes it feels as if a student's belief that
he or she will fail at chemistry becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
My personal study of chemistry came with no such fears. What was
it about my experiences that got me excited and even passionate
about this subject? Thinking back to my high school and college
chemistry courses, the use of demonstrations was the one thing that
most enthralled me. I can still remember most of the demonstra-
tions that I saw as a high school student. These "magic tricks" were
one of the reasons I decided to major in chemistry in college. The
anticipation of being able to perform them one day in a classroom
of my own was a key motivating factor for me in becoming a high
school chemistry teacher.
Looking into the research on lecture demonstrations yielded
some very interesting discoveries. I found that many educators are
apprehensive about performing demonstrations for a number of
reasons. Some believe that demonstrations are too costly for their
science department. Others feel that demonstrations are too
exhausting to execute or too time-consuming to prepare. The most
surprising find was that research on the connections between lec-
ture demonstrations and student achievement is so limited that
educators don't feel like an extensive use of such demonstrations
is warranted (Meyer, Schmidt, Nozawa, Panee, & Kisler, 2003).
However, the pedagogical reasons for performing demonstrations
given by Meyer, et al., (2003)are much more numerous. Demonstra-
tions provide students with learning opportunities that would be
otherwise impossible. Doing demonstrations allows students to
visualize experiences that would not be feasible in a laboratory set-
ting. For example, some demonstrations might be too dangerous, or
too costly, to perform as a large-scale laboratory activity. Another
reason for performing demonstrations is that it allows students to
150 .+ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

"see" a chemical reaction in a way that textbook graphics cannot

depict. These demonstrations provide a visual framework for
abstract concepts, facilitating the learning and understanding of
this fundamental and central science discipline. "By using demon-
strations in appropriate and thoughtful ways, teachers will teach
better, inspire more, and increase the likelihood that chemistry will
contribute to a better future for all of us." (Meyer, et al., 2003)
I have been using lecture demonstrations consistently during my
first three years of teaching, but I find that my students still have neg-
ative feelings toward the subject of chemistry that I hold so dear.
How can I better utilize demonstrations in a way that empowers my
students' learning of high school chemistry? This was the question
that fueled my personal inquiry into this matter.

Inquiry Design
I teach a total of seventy-one students dispersed among three
general level high school chemistry classes. In seeking to answer
my wonderings, I developed a month long curriculum that con-
sisted of a discrepant event demonstration for each and every time
my class met. Since my school is on a block schedule, my classes
meet three times a week. A total of thirteen demonstrations were
used in the teaching of this unit. These demonstrations explored
the topics of acid and base chemistry, dynamic equilibrium, and
catalysis. Most of the demonstrations came from handouts I had
received from the chemical supply company, Flinn Scientific, while
attending sessions at several National Science Teacher Association
conferences. After the unit was over and all assessments were com-
plete, the students began preparing demonstrations to perform for
third, fourth, and fifth graders at an elementary school in our dis-
trict. The instructional goals of these "shows" were for the high
school students to gain a deeper understanding of the chemistry
that was taking place in their demonstrations, and for the elemen-
tary students to understand the difference between a chemical and
physical change.
My students were quizzed and tested prior to the Demo-a-Day
unit to gauge their current levels of achievement in my chemistry
class. During the unit, students videotaped me performing each of the
thirteen demonstrations. Students were then quizzed and tested on
the content of the Demo-a-Day unit. During these assessments, the
videotapes were played back for the students to help stimulate their
thought processes and remind them of what they had previously
observed in class. Following this assessment, I then placed my
students in groups of four. Each group selected one of the thirteen
demonstrations that they had previously observed in the Demo-a-Day
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others @ 151

unit. Groups then prepared the necessary solutions, planned a script,

and practiced their demonstrations in front of their peers. Students
were asked to complete a demonstration show planning form, which
I collected and graded. In this form, students had to describe all
aspects of their demonstration. This included the chemicals they
would need to use, the script they would use as they were performing
the demonstration for the elementary school students, and the safety
hazards of their specific demonstration. Groups were then videotaped
as they performed their demonstration shows for the elementary
students. Following the show, students were asked to write a reflec-
tive paper on both the Demo-a-Day unit and the demonstration show.
Students also completed a Likert attitude assessment form. This con-
sisted of ten items measuring student feelings toward chemistry, the
Demo-a-Day unit, and the demonstration show.
During this entire unit, I reflected in my journal after each of the
demonstrations was performed, and as I reviewed the videotapes. I
then compared student grades before and after the unit, and used
graphic organizers to compile my data. Student reflections were
graded, and data obtained from the Likert attitude assessment was
graphically represented on pie charts.

What I Learned
A number of claims can be made from this study. The first is that
there appeared to be no correlation between the use of teacher demon-
strations and achievement in my chemistry class. This was observed
when grades before and after the demonstration unit were compared.

Quiz Grades
80 i

Pre-Demo After Demo

152 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Y
Test ~ r a d e&fore
" and ~fterthe

Test Scores

Pre-Demo After-Demo

After careful examination of these graphs, it is apparent that no

significant changes were observed in the achievement on my tests
or quizzes in my class. While the average quiz grade increased, the
test grades actually slightly decreased. This indicates to me that a
number of factors need to be taken into consideration when assess-
ing my students. First, I do not think that these grades can be
directly attributed to the use of the demonstrations every day. They
may be due to the amount of laboratory experiences in this unit, or
to a more complex nature of the topics that were addressed in this
unit. Second, perhaps students were not performing to their full
potential due to a lack of motivation that often accompanies the
start of the third quarter of the school year. Regardless of the causes,
future research would need to be done to make claims about the use
of demonstrations and the achievement in chemistry class.
My second claim from this inquiry is that students believe that
both the Demo-a-Day unit and the demonstration show actually
increased their understanding of chemistry. Regardless of the lack of
significant improvement in test and quiz scores, students do feel like
they learned something. I think that this could lead to better attitudes
in my class. In turn, this might potentially challenge the self-fulfilling
prophecy that "chemistry is impossible" that so many of my students
seem to carry into class. The Likert attitude assessment, in particular,
revealed this dimension of increased student efficacy.
Videotape evidence and examinations of student reflections
revealed that students truly enjoyed the Demo-a-Day unit and the
demonstration show. This leads to my third claim. The process
used in this inquiry was enjoyable to both the high school students
and to the elementary students who observed the demonstration
show. High school students were heard in the videotapes enthusi-
astically expressing comments such as, "That's amazing," "I loved
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others @ 153

' Likert Attitude Assessment of Demo-a-Day Unit

Demo-a-Day Unit Helped Me Understand Chemistry

tikert Attitude Assessment of Demonstration Show

Demonstration Show Helped Me Understand Chemistry

0 Strongly Agree
D~sagree Strongly D~sagree

that," and "That's what I am talking about!" In addition to these

statements, the amount of engagement that I observed in the video-
tapes leads me to believe that the students were truly enjoying the
demonstrations as a welcome change from a traditional lecture
style. The elementary students also expressed their excitement.
They, too, made statements following the demonstration show,
such as, "Cool!" "Awesome!" and "That's neat." One elementary
student even said, "I'm going to be a chemical scientist one day."
Another asked, "Will I get to do that in high school?" One elemen-
tary teacher wrote, "I just wanted to take a minute to thank you, on
154 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

behalf of the third grade team, for the awesome chemistry demon-
stration show last week. Our third graders really enjoyed the show
and learned 'and sawf real-life chemical reactions." Based on these
findings, claims can be made that student attitudes toward this
unit and culminating show were very positive.

Reflections and Future Practice

Although no significant claims could be made regarding the
achievement of my students being a result of daily teacher demon-
strations, I feel confident concluding that the Demo-a-Day unit, cou-
pled with the student-facilitated demonstration show, positively
impacted student feelings in regard to the subject of chemistry, in
general. As a teacher-researcher, this led me to recognize the pro-
found significance of demonstrations in the high school chemistry
classroom. It was revealed that demonstrations should not be the sole
method of teaching chemistry, but should be supplemented with
other hands-on experiences, such as laboratory investigations. I agree
with Beall when he says, "Demonstrations are only one of many
teaching techniques and should not be used for their own sake"
(Beall, 1996, p. 641). However, demonstrations do lead to lasting
memories and positive attitudes about the subject. Therefore, demon-
strations should be encouraged at the high school level. Additionally,
elementary students are impacted when high school students per-
form demonstrations for them. They learn beginning chemistry con-
cepts while the high school students learn how to explain complex
concepts in a simplified way. Both younger and older students are
positively impacted. Based on my findings here, I plan to make the
chemistry demonstration show an annual event.
Two important questions arose as a result of this study that I plan
to examine in the future. First, what impact did student performances
of the "exocharmic" demonstrations have on their own learning? At
the time of this writing, students had not yet been tested following
their show for the elementary students. Perhaps direct student plan-
ning and facilitation of demonstrations played a more significant role
in their conceptual development and understanding than would
have been possible by merely observing teacher-executed demonstra-
tions. Another question to look into is whether or not the elementary
students will truly remember the demonstrations in future years. If
they do, will they enter my high school classroom with a better out-
look on the subject of chemistry? Will they be better rooted in the fun-
damental concepts of chemistry than students who didn't witness
demonstrations like these when they were in elementary school?
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others 155

In closing 1 am going to list some of m y favorite quotes from the

student reflection assignment. They truly reveal the change in atti-
tudes that occurred during m y inquiry:

"ln the beginning I really didn't understand the reason behind

the demonstration of the 'chemistry' of it. But when w e actu-
ally had to mix our own chemicals and make the reaction hap-
pen, it made m e understand everything a lot better."
"The Demo-a-Day was a great and fun learning experience."
"At that very moment, I wanted to be a chemistry teacher."
"1 think you should d o this next year with the upcoming chem-
istry class. The demos were the most exciting thing we've done
all year."
"Things like this make Chemistry fun."

References
Beall, H. (1996).Demonstrations as a teaching tool in chemistry: Pro and con.
Journal of Chemical Education, 73(7), 641.
Bodner, G. M. (2001).Why lecture demonstrations are 'exocharmic' for both
students and their instructors. U. Chem. Ed., 5,31-35.
Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Silva, D. (2003). The reflective educator's guide to class-
room research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner
inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Louters, L. L., & Huisman, R. D. (1999).Promoting chemistry at the elemen-
tary level: A low-maintenance program of chemical demonstrations.
Journal of Chemical Education, 76(2), 196-198.
Meyer, L. S., Schmidt, S., Nozawa, F., Panee, D., & Kisler, M. (2003). Using
demonstrations to promote student comprehension in chemistry. Journal
of Chemical Education, 80(4), 431435.
Thompson, J., & Soyibo, K. (2002) Effects of lecture, teacher demonstrations,
discussion and practical work on 10th graders' attitudes to chemistry
and understanding of electrolysis. Research in Science & Technological
Education, 20(1), 25-37.
@ SAMPLE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN F O R M

Name: School: Year: Principal:

Inquiry Goal: Inquiry Question:

Connection of lnquiry to School Improvement Plan:

Criteria for Success

Activities and Data Sources (How (How will you know
Objectives (Refer to Resources Needed you will know if gains when objectives are Timeline for
Needs of Children gain goals) to Meet Objectives are being achieved?) met?) Completion
 -

Initial Planning Conference Interim Conference Final Conference Special Notes

Date: Date: Date:

Comments: Comments: Goal Met?

Yes -

No -

Comments:
This teacher consistently meets
andlor exceeds the program's
expected level of competency in
the following areas:
Instruction
Student Performance
Class Management
Interpersonal Relations
Professional Responsibilities

What questions are being raised Findings: Teacher and Student Findings: Teacher and Student
related to teacher and student Learning Learning Principal's Signature
learning?

Date

Copyright O 2008 by Corwin Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted from The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development: Coaching Inquiry-Oriented Learning
Communities, by Nancy Fichtman Dana and DianeYendol-Hoppey. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, www.corwinpress.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local
school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.
d
Cn
V
158 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

LAKE BUTLER SHOWCASE PROGRAM

 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others 0 159

LAKE BUTLER MIDDLE SCHOOL

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECTS
The four LBMS teachers listed below have participated in a year-long
action research project in which they problematized their practice,
systematically studied their practice, and took action for change based
on their studies. This process illustrates educators taking charge of
their own professional development. This is a shortened version of
their presentation that will be held at P.K. Yonge Developmental
Research School at the University of Florida on April 21.

Interest Is THE Center of Learning by Brian Tomlinson

After studying my students' grades and the frequency in which
they were turning in homework, I discovered their interest in the
material was declining as the year progressed. I decided that
I needed to change the way I was presenting the material and
started using centers. The centers allowed the students to be
involved in teaching the material.

New Kids in the Blod by April Crawford

In previous years, the fifth graders at my school have been on a
typical middle school schedule of seven-period days. The fifth
graders this year have been on a block schedule, having four
teachers instead of the usual six teachers. Will the new block
scheduling in fifth grade benefit the students, teachers, and parents?
// i

So Much Time, So Little Experience: How Can Classroom Management

for rr New Teacher Be Effective Yet Productive? by Philip Marston
As a first-year fifth grade reading teacher, I immediately became
concerned about how to be a good manager of time and resources.
I needed to find out what motivates these young students to be and
do their best. Through the process of trial and error, I am beginning
to learn some things that work well, and some that don't. This has
enabled me to adjust my own classroom behavior to help begin
turning this wondering into fact.

Visualizing: It's lust Like Describing a

Picture, Only Backwards! by Mark Freeland
Since I began teaching, I have asked my students about the
pictures or movies they see in their minds as they read. At first
160 The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

I was astonished by the number of kids that had no clue what I was
talking about. I am hoping to gain some insight as to where the
process breaks down and how to teach, coach, model, coax, or
somehow help readers who do not visualize while reading to
acquire this gift.

The following LBMS teachers are sharing best practices from their
classroom:

Station Rotation by Gail Peacock

I needed to cover the main topics from two chapters in a short
amount of time. I created folders for each of the main topics.
Included in the folders were all the materials needed and the
directions for completing the assignment at that station. The
students had fifteen minutes at each station. The activities varied at
each station, such as WEB construction from an article in a Junior
Scholastic, Venn diagrams, and an Internet site to research. I took a
class grade for each day to encourage completion at each station
and then an open note quiz on the last day to get a grade for
accuracy. The day after the stations were completed, we discussed
the main ideas at each station.

Character Education Infusion Process by Will Bowen

With the dissolution of the traditional two-parent household,
values and morals are not being assimilated to our youth. The six-
step process allows important character traits such as honesty and
respect to be taught by all teachers throughout all disciplines.
Students can receive this necessary instruction by default rather
than through a separate program. The six-step process and lesson
plan examples will be provided.

Welcome to Study Island by Donna Harris

This presentation is a brief overlook of a Web-based program
that allows students to master FCAT benchmarks. The program is
teacher-friendly and the reports are crystal clear and breathtaking.

Accelerated Math by Priscilla Conner

This individual self-paced math program is being implemented
in the math classes of LBMS. This program has proven to be great
for struggling math students because it takes them from a level of
 Helping PLC Members Share Their Work With Others @ 161

success and then builds on that success. The assessment portion

targets deficiencies, making it easy to track the progress of the
students.

Parts of Speech by Julia Rooks

After introducing and working with adverbs and adjectives for
several weeks, I found that my students were still having difficulty
grasping the concepts. I knew that I needed to help them break the
task into small bits and help them "see" the connections of each
word. These two activities helped my students and made it less
frustrating for me.

The Essential Question in the Classroom by Prudence Pate

As a review of all tested reading benchmarks for sixth grade,
I involved the students by assigning groups to teach each
benchmark. The students did a super job, but getting started was
very difficult. We discovered that using the essential question for
the specific benchmark helped the group focus on the skill and
direct the planning and instruction. The lessons were then taught to
their peers in the classroom. It not only increased the students'
knowledge and understanding of the subject, but assisted me in
eoaf;nting their knowledge of the skills.

Interrogative Inclusion by
Mary Kay Metz and Rebecca Abercrombie
The inclusion classroom is something that is often
misunderstood or even maligned until you have the honor of taking
part in one. Like all new coteachers, we have stumbled and worried
our way through the year, and have learned to use our strengths
and weaknesses to cocreate and coteach units such as this one on
the strategy QAR.

Customized (lesson-Specific)
Graphic Organizers by Robert Ulmei
I noticed during several of the previous Wednesday afternoon
sessions that many teachers were interested in increasing their use
and variety of graphic organizers, but that most of the ideas directly
employed the standard formats (KWLs, webs, 3-column notes, etc.).
I often give my students customized graphic organizers that I have
162 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

created for specific lessons, and the results are even greater than
with the standard formats.

8th Graders Helping 6th Graders:

A Cross-Age Tutoring Model by Nancy Griffis
As teachers, we all see the need to help students succeed in
school. We also know that there are not enough hours in the day
and that we often need more help to do our jobs properly. Using
cross-age tutoring, I have found a way to get more people involved,
therefore supplying more help to students. This one-onone tutoring
situation is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Rainforest Proiect by Glenda Gunter

This unit project was designed in my sixth grade classroom to
encourage more independent reading on the topic of study.
Students were to complete a poster linking together the location of
rainforests, causes of damage to the rainforests, and effects of the
damage. This "Quadrant D" project could be adapted to any subject
area to make the students become actively involved in their
learning.

Thanks to all teachers who presented today. Since we have the

BEST teachers, we also have the BEST ideas. Hopefully, you
have found some techniques or programs to use in your own
classrooms. This shows the importance of sharing and
collaborating as a faculty. You may think your ideas are simple,
but someone else may be able to use them. Many of you have
expressed a desire to visit the classrooms of your peers. Next
year we are planning to create a schedule in which you will
have a substitute for at least one day during the year for the
purpose of visiting other classes at LBMS. This will enable you
see the great things that are happening at our school and take
ideas back to your own class.
 From Good
to Great
Lessons Learned in Coaching
an Inquiry-Oriented PLC

The problem is not that we do not have enough good teachers. The
problem is we have way too many. There is too much ''good teaching."
This good teaching has become totally acceptable, and some teachers
have been doing a good job for years. Good has become marginalized.
To create a major improvement in learning within a system or a dis-
trict or even a state, we need programs that will move large numbers
of good teachers to become great teachers. (Barkley, 2005, p. 20)

C oaching an inquiry-oriented professional development community

assists good teachers in their quest to become great! The movement
of teachers f;om good to great is heHvily dependentin the coaching they
receive. Yet, relatively few resources are available for coaches, staff devel-
opers, teacher-leaders, and principals that help make explicit the intrica-
cies of coaching school-based professional development through the
establishment of PLCs and engagement in action research. Hence, we
164 @B The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

believe that just as there exists too many good teachers, there exist too
many good coaches. To tap into the power school-based professional
development has to move good teachers, good students, and good schools
to become great teachers, great students, and great schools, good coaches
need to become great coaches! Good professional development coaches
become great professional development coaches by looking deeply at the
practice of coaching, connecting with and learning from others who
engage in the act of coaching, and systematically studying their own
coaching practice.
In the previous chapters of this book, we have looked deeply at some
of the critical elements of establishing and facilitating an inquiry-oriented
PLC, including building a healthy PLC (Chapter 2), helping PLC members
develop a wondering (Chapter 3), helping PLC members develop a plan
for their inquiries (Chapter 4), helping PLC members analyze data
(Chapter 5), and helping PLC members share their work with others
(Chapter 6). In an effort to connect you to others engaged in the act of
coaching, in each one of these chapters, we drew on the experiences and
stories of many of the talented coaches we have worked with throughout
the years. We end this book by further connecting you to other profession-
als committed to coaching powerful professional development in their
schools, as we briefly share twelve lessons learned from these coaches, as
well as our own coaching practice.

ONE DOZEN LESSONS FOR

COACHING INQUIRY-ORIENTED PLCS

An inquiry-oriented PLC works well with a group of six to twelve

committed people. The larger the group, the more logistical nightmares
can occur. By organizing the PLCs within your schools so that they don't
grow beyond six to twelve participants, the group will have a better
chance at establishing routines, meeting logistics, shared focus, inquiry
stance, and relationships. These are key components needed to sustain col-
laboration focused on teacher learning. Coaches we have worked with
from Broward and Alachua County in Florida have indicated that "start-
ing small" within their school during the first year allowed them to build
interest and commitment from the "bystanders" who were watching from
afar. As a group of teacher-leaders, sometimes referred to as the pioneers,
demonstrated the power and potential of collaborative learning to their
colleagues, the reluctant teachers who had the chance to watch the PLC
work unfold successfully joined the ranks of teacher-inquirers within their
schools.
 From Good to Great @ 165

Building a highly functioning, powerful inquiry-oriented PLC takes

time. Additionally, the coach needs to be willing and prepared to work
through initial struggles. Experienced coaches note that although the
struggles will be many, growth always occurs out of the initial dissonance
and discomfort. Coaches we have worked with have described the
patience and challenges that they needed as they worked to create a trust-
ing environment; help participants learn to serve as each other's critical
friends; negotiate with school leaders for resources, time, and support; as
well as shift participants' conception of professional development from a
"sit and get" event to an inquiry-oriented process that requires changes in
teaching practice and documentation of the results. The truth of the mat-
ter is that if you aren't feeling the need to exercise patience or noticing
your PLC members experience a productive level of dissonance, you
might want to revisit the essential elements of a healthy PLC described in
Chapter 2.

I Lesson #3: Be Flexible

Finding a time to meet can be one of the most challenging aspects of

coaching a PLC. One coach we worked with, Jack Hughes, reflected that
"Scheduling around school and family demands for our PLC work equates
to tiptoeing through tulips (or minefields)." Similarly, after her first year of
establishing and coaching a cross-district PLC to support teachers in her
district as they engaged in action research for the first time, Debbi Hubbell
reflects:

"Being, flexible" is the big lesson I learned from coaching this

year . . . flexible with scheduling, with personalities, and with cre-
ative assistance. When our group first met, scheduling teachers
from all over the county to meet on a day that there were no meet-
ings was nearly impossible. One teacher had a college class on
Mondays and Fridays, ran the afterschool program on Tuesdays
and Thursdays, and had faculty meetings on Wednesdays. I
wanted to say, "Why are you doing this also?" but realized that she
was totally committed to learning about inquiry and was deter-
mined to help her faculty all become involved with it as well, so I
decided it was worth my time to be creative with helping her.
While she didn't always meet with our group, we worked out a
schedule where I met with her during lunch or after her meetings
and we did a lot of e-mailing. When she needed to miss our PDC
166 IB The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

meetings, the others missed her input, but I kept them informed
of what she was doing, and served as a "proxy," representing her
work at our meetings, and delivering feedback to her from the
group. Was it optimal? No. Yet, rather than excluding her, we made
a commitment to work around her schedule when possible and use
alternative plans when necessary. By being flexible, we all bene-
fited greatly from her membership in our group, and perhaps more
importantly, her school and students benefited as well.

Lesson #4: Involve the Principal

1
Principal support beyond simple approval is critical for the health of
your PLC. View a part of your coaching role as educating and informing
administration. Keep your principal abreast of the work of your PLC.
Place articles about learning communities and action research in your
principal's mailbox. Enlist your principal as a co-problem-poser and
problem-solver to attack logistical issues such as when and where to meet
and how to share the PLC work with other professionals in the school. If
it's okay with PLC members, invite the principal to key meetings your
group has during the year. A coach we know invited her administrator,
who was not overly knowledgeable and supportive of the PLC work, to a
meeting focused on data analysis that used the data analysis protocol
described in Chapter 5. She reported that the principal was literally
"blown away" by the quality of the dialogue that ensued among the
teachers about their data, and subsequently, the principal became much
more open to supporting the work of the PLC.

,but Don't Let the Protocols

Because the dialogue and conversation that occurs in education has

not been structured traditionally, teachers have had few opportunities to
engage in rich professional exchanges with their teaching colleagues.
When teachers experience dialogue and conversation that is structured by
the use of a protocol, like the principal who observed the data analysis
meeting, they are often "blown away" by the richness of their exchange
with colleagues. This rich exchange fills an empty void in the teacher's
practice that has existed for years, and PLC members express how mar-
velous a protocol-led discussion has been for their professional learning.
Protocols can be very powerful, and are a wonderful coaching tool.
However, the power of protocols can become seductive to coaches, when
 From Good to Great aDI 167

PLC members marvel at how incredible the experience of engaging in dia-

logue using the protocol has been for them. This can lead some coaches to
believe that the selection and teaching of protocols are the most important
part of their coaching work. Coaches begin planning their PLC meetings
around the question, "What protocol would be good for our PLC to try this
week?" rather than "What is the next step in our collective work to move
us closer to our PLC goals?" It's important to remember that the value of
protocols is not in the protocols themselves, but in their ability to be used
by you as a tool to move the PLC group members' collective work forward.

--

Lesson #6: Front Load Your Support-Start Early and Spend Time o
the Wondering Development

Many coaches we have worked with realize after they have taken a
group through an entire school year, they wish they had started earlier in
the school year and spent some more time up front helping PLC group
members define a wondering rather than moving quickly onto the next
steps in the action research process so it felt like the group was making
progress, as the school year was "ticking away." After her first year of
coaching an inquiry-oriented learning community, Coach Joan Thate
reflected that if she were to do it all over again, "I would push harder
when I thought a question was not clearly enough defined or when it
seemed to be a not very productive question."

/
--

Lesson #7: Provide Both Pressure and Support

"Pushing harder" is probably one of the most difficult aspects of being

a coach. Coaches are sometimes afraid that pushing harder, or exerting
some pressure on the thinking of a PLC member, could lead to conflict, or
worse yet, a PLC member resigning from the group.
In general, it is much easier for a coach to provide support, and become
a cheerleader and advocate for teachers, rather than exerting pressure on
the teacher to delve deeper into his or her own thinking. Providing sup-
port and as one coach we worked with put it, "providing plenty of pats on
the back" is an essential component of coaching and should not be taken
for granted. Teaching and inquiring into teaching is incredible intense and
difficult work. All PLC members need affirmation that their work as a
teacher and member of the PLC is both valued and valuable.
Yet, support without pressure risks teachers feeling good about their
practice without looking at that practice in new and different ways, and
making improvements in practice that will enhance teaching and learning.
168 cllb The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

As a coach, providing support without pressure could ultimately lead

toward a PLC going through all of motions of inquiry-oriented PLCs
without rich, deep growth and development of PLC group members. All
members of the PLC may be happy and feel good about themselves, but
not learn and change as a result of the PLC work. The PLC work might
run smoothly and look good from the outside-in, but become shallow
and hollow when looked at from the inside-out. Outstanding coaches
know that providing some pressure is a critical part of the teacher pro-
fessional development equation: Pressure + Support = Teacher Learning
and Change.

Sometimes pressure comes just by being willing to create some dis-

comfort within your PLC. According to Barkley (2005):

Coaching can move good teachers to become great teachers. It pro-

vides the strongest return on the investment of teaching. Coaches
may cause discomfort at times. However, great coaches create envi-
ronments where the coachee is comfortable with discomfort.
Discomfort is key to growth and change. When good teachers
become uncomfortable, that discomfort gives them impetus to
improve, to wake up and get out of their box; it stimulates positive
change. (p. 21)

Lesson #9: Be Wary of Mandated Participation

I
Sometimes pressure and discomfort comes from administration that
mandates PLC work and/or action research. This creates an interesting
dilemma for the coach. On the one hand, mandated participation might be
the pressure an individual needs to become involved and a skilled coach
can capitalize on that pressure and cultivate a commitment to PLC work
in a member who originally started because it was mandated by the prin-
cipal or district. On the other hand, mandated participation can also be an
oxymoron. Engagement in an inquiry-oriented PLC requires that each
individual PLC member make a commitment to look deeply and system-
atically at student learning as well as one's own teaching. Without that
commitment, PLC work cannot succeed. So, which comes first, involve-
ment or commitment? A skilled coach knows that voluntary participation
in this professional development process is best, but simultaneouslyworks
with administration to reframe mandates as opportunities, and spread the
growth of PLCs.
 From Good to Great @ 169

I Lesson #10: Remember-Relationship Are Everything!

Every single coach we have worked with cites the relationships he or

she developed with PLC members, and the PLC members develop with
one another, as a primary factor associated with the success of the PLC
work. Some coaches even attribute their bringing of food to early PLC
meetings as an entree into developing good relationships among the
group's membership. One coach we worked with this year, Sherri Jackson,
reflected, "The camaraderie of my PLC was wonderful. I did not feel like I
was in charge, but that we were all in this together." Cultivating the feeling
that "we're all in this together" is an essential part of the coaching process.

/ Lesson #I1 : Study Your Own Coaching Practice!

One way to create the feeling of "we're all in this together" is by

engaging in systematic study of PLCs, the process of action research,
and/or your own coaching practice, right alongside members of your
PLC as they study their own classroom practices. For example, we
learned a great deal about coaching PLCs and action research by using the
action research process to study our own work with teachers. Early in our
own action research work, we wished to transfer what we knew about
teacher professional development to student-teacher supervision. We
obtained permission to engage three student-teachers in a pilot program
to reconceptualize the traditional student teaching seminar as an inquiry-
oriented PLC. We met weekly with these student-teachers, and ran our
sessions similarly to the ways we've outlined in this book. As the student-
teachers were engaging in action research, we engaged in our own action
research study to understand how they experienced the process of action
research as preservice teachers (Dana & Silva, 2001). This inquiry laid the
foundation for teachers' engagement in action research becoming a sig-
nature feature in the establishment of professional development schools
at Penn State, our institution at the time (see, e.g., Dana & Silva, 2002;
Dana, Silva, & Snow-Gerono, 2002; Silva & Dana, 2004). In another
inquiry, as we coached a PLC and the members of our PLC were analyz-
ing their data, we taught PLC members the data analysis process by ana-
lyzing the wonderings generated by teachers we had worked with over
time as they engaged in action research (Dana et al., 2006). Finally, we
recently engaged in an inquiry as members of the PLC we were coaching
to examine our own practice as coaches of inquiry (Dana & Yendol-
Hoppey, 2006). It was the data that we collected during this particular
inquiry that led us to articulate the critical junctures in coaching an
inquiry-oriented PLC, and ultimately, led to the writing of this book!
170 @ The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development

Other coaches we know that have studied aspects of their own coach-
ing practice, PLCs, and/or action research alongside of teachers they were
coaching in an inquiry-oriented PLC include Debbi Hubbell (2006), who
explored how to best utilize her time in her new position of reading coach;
Kim Sullivan (2006), who studied the positive impact a critical friends
group had on the teaching practices of group members; Mickey McDonald
and Gloria Weber (2007), who explored using PLCs to initiate schoolwide
knowledge of differentiated instruction and how it might play out at the
secondary level; Greg Cunningham (2007),who investigated how he could
minimize the negative effects of his absenteeism from class due to the
responsibilities he was taking on as a teacher-leader at his school; and Jack
Hughes (2007), who examined the effects on his school's culture when a
first-time, schoolwide action research project was instituted. Engaging in
your own inquiry as you coach others in the inquiry process and making
your own inquiry transparent to the group members you are coaching is
not only a wonderful way to create a "we're all in this together" atrnos-
phere, but to improve your own coaching practice and serve as a model for
your PLC members as well!

Lesson #12: Remember: It's the Journey, Not the Destination!

Once you've coached your PLC through one cycle of inquiry, at the end
of the school year, it may feel like your work is complete. . . and yet, you
can clearly see that so much more work lies ahead. It is easy for coaches to
become discouraged, and even wonder if the intense work of coaching is
worth it!
At this point, it's important to remember that teaching and learning
are incredibly complex endeavors. One of the most wonderful aspects of
inquiry-oriented PLC work is that it is a form of professional development
that honors all the great complexity that is inherent in teaching. For this
reason, engaging in inquiry and coaching school-based professional devel-
opment is not about solving every educational problem that exists-it's
about finding new and better problems to study, and in so doing, leading
a continuous cycle of self and school improvement...truly, becoming the
best that you can be and helping others to become their best as well.
Remember that your work as a coach is about living this journey, not
reaching one particular destination.
Your journey as a coach of school-based professional development is
of critical importance to keeping teachers, students, and schools alive!
We believe no other author captures the importance of coaching teacher
learning than Roland Barth (1981) in the following quote we used at the
very opening of this book. Coming full circle, we end this book as we
began it:
 From Good to Great 4B 171

Nothing within a school has more impact upon students in terms

of skills development, self-confidence, or classroom behavior than
the personal and professional growth of their teachers. When
teachers examine, question, reflect on their ideas and develop new
practices that lead towards their ideals, students are alive. When
teachers stop growing, so do their students. (Barth, 1981, p. 145)

Through coaching, you breathe new life into teachers. You breathe new
life into teaching. You touch the lives of countless students you will never
even meet-the students of the teachers you coach. For them, you keep
learning alive. For them, continue on your coaching journey!
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