Achievement Gap in Schools across America: Analytical Essay

A. Advantages of Using PLC’s

Professional Learning Communities “are not a program or an organized curriculum, but it is a way of working together so that everyone involved in a child’s educational experience is focused on improving that child’s and all children’s learning” (Hord, 1997, p.2). According to Dr. Wanda Shelton, Superintendent of Lincoln County Schools of Fayetteville, TN, teachers and school and system leaders must work together to focus instruction on student learning and engaging students in the assessment process (2013, p1). Professional Learning Communities that seek to address achievement gaps and move students towards and beyond proficiency should focus on strategic questions, including how to respond to students who are not learning and how to respond when students already know what is being taught. The first and most essential element to efficacious professional collaboration is a growth mindset, before the commencement of our collective efforts we “must focus on the idea that all students can learn” (Shelton, 2013, p.3) independent of circumstances such as learning styles and socio-economic status.

The advantages of using professional learning communities to identify possible solutions that address achievement gaps stem from the logical factor of having professional experts work together on continuous professional development that is student-centered and data-driven. Professional Learning Communities turn the information we have regarding achievement gaps into goals, these goals turn into a plan and this plan later turns into action through instruction and intervention; and ultimately all collective efforts will turn into positive results of growth for our most important stakeholders-our learners. Reaching our students which means nothing more than our students learning what they need to learn in order to be successful, this is collective efficacy; this is sustainability. All members of Professional Learning Communities are trained professionals with vocation and a common mission and there are no people more qualified to address the achievement gap than those who are on the front lines each day. Goal orientated Professional Learning Communities increase collective teacher efficacy as they address the achievement gap and determine “new teaching practices they believe are the best options to improve student learning; simultaneously, they establish new goal(s) for their own learning that will target their acquisition of new knowledge and skills required for higher-quality teaching of their students” (Hord, 2015, p.1).

“PLCs provide fertile ground for teams to build collective action” (Buttram and Farley-Ripple, 2014, p.1) that will address and defeat the achievement gap. If we were to look at our schools as a team and think of the achievement gap as our opponent, then professional learning communities play the role of collective coaches (as well as players) deciding the best strategies to beat our opponent. As with any team, we cannot “play” our best if we do not work together and if we are not focused on the same goal (to reduce and in due course eradicate gaps in student achievement). And if we reflect further, we have no other option than to win because every instructional interaction is the equivalent of “game day” and our students are counting on us every day in every classroom to help them become the champions they are meant to be.

B. Using PLC’s When Creating Interventions

As an educational leader, I would use the collaborative efforts of the Professional Learning Communities in the school under my guidance when creating interventions that address achievement gaps. Before any collaboration can begin and before any interventions can be designed or implemented, as a professional learning community we “must come to believe that it is possible for all students to achieve, for, when a given population decides it is possible, children not only learn, children not only survive, but children thrive in these settings of high expectations, no excuses, and rigorous academic environments” (Pete, 2015, p. 12). All collaboration and all subsequent instructional efforts and interventions must be established upon a growth mindset through diligence and persistence. The focus of our collective efficacy would be on literacy, this because research has established the following facts related to the achievement gap in schools across America. “There is a 30% illiteracy rate across American schools” (Joyce, 1999, p. 129); “only 1 in 50 Latino and 1 in 100 African American 17-year-olds can read and gain information from specialized text” (Haycock, 2001, p. 7); “students entering high school in the 35 largest cities in the United States read at the sixth grade level” (Vacca, 2002, p. 9); and “ achievement in literacy hasn’t risen for 70 years” (Joyce, 1999, p. 129).

When addressing achievement gaps it would be essential for PLC’s to analyze qualitative and quantitative data in regards to sub-groups and results of formal assessments in order to identify areas of growth and design prospective interventions with a focus on literacy. After identifying trends in data and sub-groups (for example students with IEP’s and ELL’s) then professional learning communities would collaborate to create SMARTe goals for interventions. Professional Learning Communities would be given time every day to collaborate regarding data-driven interventions and enrichment. A formative assessment focus to intervention would be key as individual teachers would be expected to “monitor student learning by using frequent common assessments and progress monitoring in order to identify students who need additional support” (Rentfro, 2007, p.2). Teachers would be expected to bring data results to PLC for a once a week analysis and subsequent response to intervention. Ultimately, the primary function of PLC’s and our educational institutions at large is student learning and we must be responsive to student need and put forth our collective efforts in order to meet students where they are. The work of professional learning communities is centered on student learning and we know that what most affects student learning is adult practice (more so than individual and contextual factors). “What schools do matters enormously and what matters most is good teaching” (Haycock, 2001, p. 6) and the purpose of professional communities is continual professional development in order to work for and with our students and create the learning opportunities that will meet their needs and help them perform at and above grade-level (closing the gaps).

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C. PLC’s Response to Intervention

According to Buffum and Mattos (contributors of the blog, “All Things PLC”), Professional Learning Communities must create a sound foundation on which they will establish their work and this foundation must be made up of three basic principles: a focus on student learning (a belief that all students can and will learn), a focus on professional collaboration (time to collaborate and knowledgeability of goals for best practice), and a focus on results (this includes a system of timely formative assessments to measure student learning) (2008, p.1). Response to intervention is a best practice that functions in direct alignment to the purpose and function of PLC’s. Response to intervention (RTI) is the equivalent of early response to students need and is “based upon the assumption that schools cannot wait for struggling students to fall far enough below grade level to 'qualify' for help” (Buffum and Mattos, 2008, p.1). Simply stated, when students are struggling, they are not learning or developing in an optimal way and therefore it becomes necessary to intervene on their behalf, meet them where they are, through differentiation and personalization of learning that is research-based and responsive to student variability.

The time invested in PLC’s is focused on student learning and creating optimal opportunities for student learning outcomes, in the same way, Response to Intervention is focused on improving the conditions of learning opportunities to also promote improved learning outcomes. This being said, it could be considered that the work and purpose of PLC’s and RTI’s are both interconnected and synonymous in terms of purpose and efforts and cannot effectively be implemented without the efficacious practice of the other. PLC’s must respond when students are not learning through carefully designed and implemented RTI’s because we are called to teach every student every day and we cannot falter in our mission. Professional Learning Communities that are student-centered and that establish their collective efforts upon a growth mindset understand the importance of perseverance in the face of the multiplicity of challenges we face in the enterprise of learning but are indefatigable in their determination to reach every learner.

D. Technology for at Distance PLC Collaboration

“The Internet and mobile communication technologies have greatly expanded opportunities for teams of educators to reflect and collaborate with each other and experts outside their schools—and even outside their districts—for learning, joint lesson planning, and problem solving” (Blitz, 2013, p. 3). Technology (digital tools) can be used purposefully in order to expand the realm of our collective efforts beyond the limitations and constraints of our educational institutions. Therefore, we no longer need to be in the same physical space in order to effectively collaborate, improve student achievement, and promote best practice. Technology tools that are widely used and that promote timely and effective professional communication include e-mails, blogging, and most recently social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Twitter, allows for free and real-time communication and interaction, of course in 140 characters or less, making it condensed and concise. According to associate editor for Education World, Sarah W. Caron, there is a “vast and growing contingent of educators on Twitter, discussing what’s working in their classrooms and how they’ve addressed important issues” (2011, p.1).

It is commonly known that isolation is detrimental to the institution of education; educators, in particular, strive on a fostered sense of community through professional collaboration. As an educational leader, I would use and promote the use of this technology tool as a means for the cost-effective, timely, and boundless professional collaboration of PLC’s. Twitter as a tool for professional development would additionally expand the sense of community and collaboration beyond the limitations of district and state to that of the international world. Using Twitter, I would set up chat sessions of no more than one hour in which members of PLC’s could discuss pressing and relevant topics that address achievement gaps. This, whilst they receive feedback from other each other and other professionals. Twitter as a technological tool for professional development and collaboration would support finding possible solutions to achievement gaps, particularly in terms of our focus on literacy, by allowing a forum for discussion regarding best practice in promoting literacy in struggling readers. Additionally, Twitter allows for the creation of a conversation that is inclusive of multiple perspectives, broadening our understanding of the challenges we face and how to best and most efficaciously address these challenges.

Twitter allows for immediate access to information and as educators, we have to be “constant consumers of information that is current and important because if we aren’t doing this, then we become stagnant in our work and complacent in our profession” (Caron, 2011, p.1). It is important that teachers, as members of professional learning communities, constantly learn and grow, feel their voice is heard and validated, and feel that they are part of a larger community that is collectively working towards a common goal. It is the responsibility of educational leaders to create a culture and climate conducive to the holistic professional development of teachers that as we know, will translate into best practice and ultimately the attainment of our goals for student advancement and the sustainability of our educational institutions. Meaning we will be able to breach the gaps in student achievement as we build and expand our networks of collaboration.