Mathematics at Work™ Plan Book - Sarah Schuhl

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school improvement. In a professional learning community, educators commit to working collaboratively in an ongoing process of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, & Mattos, 2016). The key to improving learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators as a type of collective teacher efficacy.

      Most plan books guide the individual classroom teacher in instructional decisions. They focus on, “What will I teach, when will I teach it, and how will I teach it?” The Mathematics at Work Plan Book is unique because it not only assists the individual teacher in unit-by-unit planning, but it also guides the collaborative team processes essential to schools that operate as PLCs. In this plan book, and throughout the Every Student Can Learn Mathematics series, we emphasize the concept of team action. Because some teachers may be the only members of a grade-level or mathematics course, we recommend you work with a colleague in a grade level or course above or below your own as a vertical team. Or, work with other job-alike teachers across a geographical region as technology allows.

      Collaborative teams are the engines that drive the PLC at Work process. Most importantly, this plan book calls on you to develop your self-confidence and sense of collective efficacy to go far beyond the traditional questions of teaching, arriving at a relentless collaborative focus on learning—for both students and adults.

      Your team can refer to the books in the Every Student Can Learn Mathematics series to help with your planning efforts: Mathematics Coaching and Collaboration in a PLC at Work (Kanold, Toncheff, Larson, Barnes, Kanold-McIntyre, & Schuhl, 2018), Mathematics Assessment and Intervention in a PLC at Work (Kanold, Schuhl, Larson, Barnes, Kanold-McIntyre, & Toncheff, 2018), Mathematics Homework and Grading in a PLC at Work (Kanold, Barnes, Larson, Kanold-McIntyre, Schuhl, & Toncheff, 2018), and Mathematics Instruction and Tasks in a PLC at Work (Kanold, Kanold-McIntyre, Larson, Barnes, Schuhl, & Toncheff, 2018).

      The first part of the Mathematics at Work Plan Book contains an overview of the big ideas that shape Mathematics at Work, cultural shifts that you can expect in a PLC at Work, and keys to building high-performing collaborative teams. It also includes tools to help you work with your team more effectively as well as protocols for evaluating current assessment, homework, instruction, and intervention routines. You can also visit go.SolutionTree.com/MathematicsatWork to access additional online resources. The second part provides unit-planning charts to help you work as a team to determine the mathematics units for the school year. The third part includes thirty-eight weeks of unit-planning pages with text and activities to inform, inspire, and challenge you and your teammates as you take the Mathematics at Work journey. We designed these pages to help inform the nature of your collaborative work together throughout the year. You’ll also learn from other schools and districts that have embarked on the same journey. The fourth part provides references and resources for further study.

      About the Authors

      Timothy D. Kanold, PhD, an award-winning educator, author, and consultant, is the former director of mathematics and science and superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, a model professional learning community district in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

      Sarah Schuhl is a consultant specializing in PLCs at Work, mathematics, assessment, school improvement, and response to intervention (RTI). She has been a secondary mathematics teacher, high school instructional coach, and K–12 mathematics specialist. To book Timothy D. Kanold or Sarah Schuhl for professional development, contact [email protected].

      PART 1

      Tools and Protocols

      This part contains an overview of the big ideas that shape Mathematics in a PLC at Work, culture shifts that you can expect in a PLC at Work, and keys to building high-performing collaborative teams.

      The PLC at Work Process as the Foundation for Mathematics at Work

      To create a PLC at Work, focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results.

      Three big ideas and four critical questions drive the work of the PLC process (DuFour et al., 2016).

      1. A focus on learning: Teachers focus on all students learning at high levels as the fundamental purpose of the school.

      2. A collaborative culture: Teachers work together in teams interdependently and take collective responsibility for the success of all students.

      3. A results orientation: Team members are constantly seeking evidence of the results they desire—high levels of student learning.

      Additionally, collaborative mathematics teams in a PLC at Work focus on four critical questions (DuFour et al., 2016) as part of their instruction, task-creation, homework, and grading routines.

      1. What knowledge, skills, and dispositions should every student acquire as a result of this mathematics unit, course, or grade level?

      2. How will we know when each student has acquired the essential mathematics knowledge and skills?

      3. How will we respond when some students of mathematics do not learn?

      4. How will we extend the learning for students of mathematics who are already proficient?

      The four critical questions of a PLC at Work provide an equitable formative process for your professional work in mathematics assessment, intervention, instruction, homework, and grading. Imagine the access and opportunity gaps that will exist if you and your colleagues do not agree on the core learning standards for each unit as well as the level of rigor for the essential question (question 1): What do we want all students to know and be able to do?

      Imagine the devastating effects on students if you do not reach team agreement on the rigor of lower- and higher-level cognitive demand for the mathematical tasks you use to engage students in mathematics lessons and assessments (question 2).

      Imagine the lack of student agency (voice, ownership, perseverance, and action during learning) if you do not work together to create a unified, robust formative process for helping students own their response during class, reflecting when they are and are not learning during the lesson and after each assessment (questions 3 and 4).

      For these reasons, we refer to our process as Mathematics in a PLC at Work. For you and your colleagues to effectively answer the four critical questions of a PLC at Work, in regard to a lesson’s instruction and tasks, requires the development, use, and understanding of lesson-design criteria that cause students to engage in the lesson, persevere through the lesson, and embrace their errors as they demonstrate learning pathways for the various mathematics tasks you present to them. Additionally, answering the critical questions well while planning for homework, grading, assessment, and intervention requires structure through the development of products for a team’s work together. It also requires a formative culture through the process of how you work with your team to use those products.

      Your team reflecting together and then taking action around the right mathematics lesson-design work is the key to improved student learning. The actions you and your colleagues take together can improve the likelihood of more equitable mathematics learning experiences for every K–12 student. The reflect, refine, and act cycle illustrates this perspective about the process of lifelong learning.

      This is a formative learning cycle. When you embrace mathematics learning as a process, you and your students:

      • Reflect—Work

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