The focus of this presentation is to help leaders better understand the role they play in creating strong, collaborative cultures in an era of burdensome governmental and bureaucratic oversight. A culture that can stay focused on the mission and vision of a school district and keep learning at high levels as the number one priority.

1. Robert Mackey
Unadilla Valley Central School District

2. • Does the tail wag the
dog, or does the dog
wag the tail?

3. • Attendees will…
• Understand how a collaborative culture with
an unwavering focus on learning can assimilate
mandates to the culture rather than foster a
compliant culture.
• Understand the role of a diverse leadership
team in leading cultural transformation amidst
a storm of mandates.

4. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

5. “Who’s on first?”
T. PLAN A. PLAN
T. PLAN
RTI
TEST
IDEA
STANDARDS
REGULATE
ESSA
UMPIRES:
F. GOVERNMENT
S. GOVERNMENT
U.S. DOE
N.Y. SED
Fostering Compliant Cultures

6. R. DuFour, B. Eaker, & R. DuFour
The Charles Darwin School
“We believe all kids can learn…based on their ability.”
The Pontius Pilate School
“We believe all kids can learn…if they take advantage of the
opportunity we give them to learn.”
The Chicago Cub Fan School
“We believe all kids can learn…something, and we will help
all students experience academic growth in a warm and
nurturing environment.”
The Henry Higgins School
“We believe all kids can learn…and we will work to help all
students achieve high standards of learning.”

7. • Commitment to
COLLABORATION
•Focus on LEARNING
•Focus on RESULTS
•Focus on ACTION
"An ongoing process in which
educators work collaboratively in
recurring cycles of collective
inquiry and action research to
achieve better results for the
students they serve. PLCs operate
under the assumption that the key
to improved learning for students is
continuous, job-embedded learning
for educators."
DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many 2010

9. “In communities, we become
connected for reason of commitment
rather than compliance. People are
bonded to each other as a result of
their mutual bindings to shared
values, traditions, ideas, and ideals.”
Thomas Sergiovanni (1994)

10. “Significant school transformation will require
more than changes in structure….Substantive and
lasting change will require a transformation of
culture – the beliefs, assumptions, expectations,
and habits that constitute the norm for the people
throughout the organization.”
Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, & Rebecca DuFour
• The work of the entire staff is focused on acting
out the beliefs and delivering on the mission to
achieve the vision!

12. “Significant school transformation will require
more than changes in structure….Substantive and
lasting change will require a transformation of
culture – the beliefs, assumptions, expectations,
and habits that constitute the norm for the people
throughout the organization.”
Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, & Rebecca DuFour
• The work of the entire staff is focused on acting
out the beliefs and delivering on the mission to
achieve the vision!

13. • We built professional cultures that focused
on what they can control in public schools:
• What is essential for ALL students to LEARN?
• How will we KNOW if students are LEARNING?
• How will we RESPOND when students AREN’T
LEARNING?
• How will we RESPOND when students ARE
LEARNING?

14. “The right kind of continuous, structured teacher
collaboration improves the quality of teaching and pays
big, often immediate, dividends in student learning and
professional morale in virtually any setting.”
Mike Schmoker

15. “If students are to show real and sustained learning, schools
must also foster what sociologists label ‘social capital’ – the
value embedded in collaboration among teachers, and
between teachers and school administrators. Social capital
is the glue that holds a school together. It complements
teacher skill, it enhances teachers’ individual classroom
efforts, and it enables collective commitment to bring about
school-wide change.”
Carrie R. Leana & Frits K. Pil, Washington Post 10/19/2014
NYSSBA E-Clips 10/20/2014

16. “When teachers talk to and substantively engage
their peers regarding the complex task of
instructing students – what works and what
doesn’t – student achievement rises significantly.”
Carrie R. Leana & Frits K. Pil, Washington Post 10/19/2014

17. “Creating the conditions to help others succeed is one of the
highest duties of a leader. If school and district leaders are
to create the conditions that help more students succeed at
learning at higher levels, they must build the capacity of
educators to function as members of high-performing
collaborative teams. As Fullan (2010) writes, ‘Time and
again we see the power of collective capacity. When the
group is mobilized with focus and specificity, it can
accomplish amazing results’ (p. 9).”
Robert Marzano & Richard DuFour

18. Used with permission. From Professional Learning
Communities at Work™ Institute. Copyright 2011 by Solution
Tree, 555 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404,
800.733.6786, solution-tree.com. All rights reserved.

19. • 2008-09 collaborative teacher teams completed the first
round of identifying and agreeing on what is essential for
all students to learn.
• Spring 2009 draft PK-12 essential outcomes distributed
to all faculty. Updated annually since.
• Spring 2010 collaborative teacher teams begin unpacking
the CCSS for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics and revising
their essential outcomes.
• Fall 2017 collaborative teacher teams begin unpacking
the Next Gen ELA and Mathematics standards and
revising their essential outcomes.

20. • 2010-18 Professional development focused on
unpacking/aligning standards continues.
• 2011-18 Collaborative teacher teams begin to align
lessons & assessments to standards.
• Walk to learn, observing teacher teams, & APPR
focuses on growth.
• Work on standards-based report cards in grades PK-5
is focused on the essential outcomes.

22. Professional development focused on collaboration
and assessment for learning.
Reading First brought coaching to our district. We used
it to help all faculty improve student learning.
We used backwards design to create our own
assessments mapped to essential outcomes that are
intended to be formative.

24. • Summer 2009 Professional
Development focused on RtI
• Moved away from failure lists to PAS
• Work to embed AIS/RtI time into the
regular day for our students and
teachers
• Developed pyramids of intervention
• Data Meetings through Collaborative
Teacher Teams
• Additional RtI training summer 2014
• Mike Mattos, Pyramid of RtI guru,
worked with teachers in our BOCES
2016
• PLC Mini Institute June 2017
• BOCES Leadership Retreat focused on
developing collaborative culture 2017

25. Teacher Teams
challenge all students to
take academic risks.
1
Provide opportunities
for students to go
deeper if they are not in
need of intervention
while those in need of
intervention are
working on their plans.
2
Teachers Teams role
modeling action
research are great
examples for all
students, particularly
assigned enrichment
activities.
3

26. • Our goal was to research all of the
new mandates and first identify the
elements of each that matched the
practices of a PLC culture.
• We then added descriptions of how
each element fit a current practice in
our school.
• Each new mandate was assimilated to
our culture; the next few slides will
help you to understand our culture.

27. • Leadership Team focus
• BOE, Administrators, Union, & School
Leadership, School Improvement Team

28. • Leadership Team focus
• BOE, Administrators, Union, & School
Leadership, School Improvement Team
“Relationships between central office and school leaders is
typically unidirectional – moving expertise from central office
to schools – thereby inhibiting the mutual exchange of
expertise and, especially, the local expertise residing within the
schools themselves, which is arguably essential to school and
district wide improvement.”
Kara S. Finnigan & Alan J. Daly, Washington Post 7/7/2014

29. Collaborative Teacher Teams focusing on the four questions
unpack the NGNYS Learning Standards to identify essential
outcomes, develop SMART Goals, review student achievement
data, develop interventions & extensions for students, review
results and continue to take action to ensure learning at high
levels for ALL students.
“To create the conditions for high-performing collaborative
teams, leaders must develop the clarity of purpose and
priorities, structures, and support essential to successful
teams. They must be willing to be "tight" about the work that
must be done by teams, and they must accept the obligation
of providing teams with what they need to succeed in what it
is being asked to do.”
Robert Marzano & Richard DuFour

30. Collaborative Teacher Teams focusing on the four questions
unpack the NGNYS Learning Standards to identify essential
outcomes, develop SMART Goals, review student achievement
data, develop interventions & extensions for students, review
results and continue to take action to ensure learning at high
levels for ALL students.

31. Collaborative Teacher Teams focusing on the four questions
unpack the NGNYS Learning Standards to identify essential
outcomes, develop SMART Goals, review student achievement
data, develop interventions & extensions for students, review
results and continue to take action to ensure learning at high
levels for ALL students.
“To create the conditions for high-performing collaborative
teams, leaders must develop the clarity of purpose and
priorities, structures, and support essential to successful
teams. They must be willing to be "tight" about the work that
must be done by teams, and they must accept the obligation
of providing teams with what they need to succeed in what it
is being asked to do.”
Robert Marzano & Richard DuFour

32. Hierarchy

34. Our staff in 2007
building the
mission, vision,
& pledge
Our staff
2008-2011
with regards
to PLC
Our staff
2010-2012
economic
impact
Our staff
2011– present
with regards
to PLC

35. • Met C4E requirements in the first year
• Improved passing rates on Regents Exams
• High student success rates and mastery rates on math and
science Regents Exams
• Over 100 credit hours of concurrent enrollment classes
available to 9-12 grade students, allowing an Early College
Option
• Over 50% of seniors since 2013 graduated earning an average
of 525 total college credits
• Future Path Program to ensure CCR goals for all 6-12 students

37. And focusing on the four
questions of a PLC might just
change the world!
Or, at least learning!

38. Dewey, Richard. “The Journey to Extraordinary:
Professional Learning Communities at Work.”
Superintendents Conference Day, Unadilla Valley
Central School, New Berlin. 24 June 2007. Keynote
Address.
DuFour, R. (2007). “In Praise of Top-Down Leadership.”
The School Administrator, November 2007: 38-42. Print.
DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & DuFour, R. (2005). On Common
Ground: The Power of Professional Learning
Communities. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree (formerly
National Education Service).
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010).
Learning By Doing: A Handbook for Professional
Learning Communities at Work. 2nd edition.
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Print.
Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. (2000). The Knowing-Doing Gap:
How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action.
Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Print.
Popham, W. J. (2008). Transformative Assessment.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development. Print.
Stiggins, R. J. (2008). “Assessment Manifesto: A Call for
the Development of Balanced Assessment Systems.” A
position paper published by the ETS Assessment
Training Institute, Portland, Oregon. Print.

39. Unadilla Valley Central School District
4238 State Route 8
New Berlin, NY 13411
P:(607)847-7500 F:(607)847-6924
Web Page: www.uvstorm.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unadilla-Valley-Central-
School-District/340853612739318?ref=bookmarks
Email: rmackey@uvstorm.org
Presentation link:
http://www.slideshar
e.net/RobertMackey/
creating-a-
professional-culture-
that-can-out2014-
nyssba-convention