We needed to know where we were as a district and as individual campuses in order to determine where to begin in our PLC journey. Towards that end, we started by examining our current reality based on a data review led by the district LLC. In "Good to Great," Jim Collins found that only when organizations were willing to confront the brutal facts (our current reality), were they able to transform themselves to great.

We focused on what we want our students to learn in November. Barbara Bushnell spoke about collaborative teams in the morning, and then teams worked together to develop power standards. In the afternoon, newly drafted power standards were posted and gallery walk took place.

Niole Vagle, a Solution Tree consultant, worked with us on the process of developing and using common assessments with our students. Nicole shared examples of common assessments in various subject areas and grade levels, and she answered questions about the development of teams' assessments for our students. Teams worked together most of the afternoon to identify learning targets and create a common assessment to be given to students by May.

*10/28-10/31 - Assessment Conference in Atlanta, Georgia
*12/10 - Rick and Rebecca DuFour at Trinity University
*1/14-1/15- Rick and Rebecca DuFour at ESC XII
*2/23-2/26 - PLC National Summit in Phoenix, Arizona
*3/6-3/8 - ASCD's Annual Conference in San Antonio
*3/11-3/12 - Solution Tree's Collaborative Teams Conference in Dallas, Texas