Aligning School Districts as PLCs

Districtwide alignment is the organizational equiv alent of ensuring that every student learns. To realize its full potential, all levels and all roles districtwide need to become aligned around the three big ideas of a PLC: ensuring a focus on learning, building a collaborative culture, and establishing a results orientation. For each of these big ideas, there are certain non-negotiables things around which there must be common agreement and expectations.

For the first big idea, ensuring a focus on learning, there are three non-negotiables: a guaranteed and viable curriculum, a balanced and coherent system of assessment, and a schoolwide pyramid of interventions.

For building a collaborative culture, the non-negotiables are a shared mission, vision, values, and goals; high-performing collaborative teams, and intentional collaboration.

And for the third big idea, a results orientation, the non-negotiables are establshing a data mindset; data management, collection, and analysis; and data-based action to improve results.

In aligning around the non-negotiables, there are four essential elements to consider the definition of district roles (strategic, tactical, and operational), communication using data, loose and tight leadership, and the so-called alignment constants. These alignment constants consist of non-negotiables that are identical for each big idea policies, practices, and procedures; appraisal systems; resources and training; and monitoring and reporting.

Professional learning communities have shown clear and demonstrated success. The approach of alignment across all roles districtwide has the potential to replicate that success on a larger scal