Week 7 Power Point with Narration on the Case Study of Professional Learning Communities

1. Lake Elementary and
Galena Park Middle
School Case Study
By Ellen White
Educ 6105

2. 1038
students
97.9%
White
No ELL
26% Free
& Reduced
Lunch
School
History
Known
for Good
Education
Old South
Traditions
Currently
2nd fastest
growing
area in state
District
History
Lake Elementary
Principal
2 Ass’t Prin.
2 Guidance
Counselors
74 Teachers
9 Para’s
Structure
Focus on student’s first
Staff hesitant to move
quickly
Looked outward to solve
problems
Reacted to issues as
needed
Took professional
development “in hopes” it
would filter down to stds
Teachers feared things
would not improve-just
made do
Parents worked OT and
tried on own to help child
Parents feared school
system
Culture

3. 1007
students
86.6%
Hispanic
7.7%
African
Am.
5.7%
White
11.1%
ELL
75.1%
Free &
Reduced
Lunch
School
History
Mission to
become life long
learners
Closest Comm.
To Urban Center
Highly
Industrialized
Area
Mainly
Petroleum &
Steel Industries
1st Generation
Immigrants
District
History
Galena Park Middle School
GPMS
Principal
3 Ass’t Prin.
3 Guidance
Counselor
80 Teachers
10 Instruc-
tional
Specialists
Structure
Central Office Controlled
Top Down Leadership
Knew they needed to
Improve
Atmosphere of willingness
to try anything
Felt isolated from others
Principal thought GPMS
was improving
Teacher’s priority was to
relate to students
No “Big Deal” how
students did on state tests
Working at GPMS ”was
good cause other places
were not so good” ¹
Culture

4.  Both needed to change to improve student
performance due to a new state mandate
 Both Schools underwent a change to a
Professional Learning Community (PLC)—
Community of Instructional Practice
 Both Schools moved away from principal as
sole source of information and teacher’s
performing in isolation
 Both Schools moved to a vertical and
horizontal structural alignment and put a
strong team concept in place- leadership,
grade level, subject area, and interdisciplinary
teams
 Changes in both schools were implemented
through the Federal SEDL Project (Southwest
Educational Development Laboratory) and
were funded by Federal Grants

5. Lake
 Principal had an
awakening
 ”All are so needy
we don’t realize
everyone is in the
same boat”
GPMS
 Principal joined
other schools in
district to
implement PLC’s
 Leadership
Realized that
“Anything goes
wrong blame
others and try
to straighten it
out”

6. Lake
 New Vision “We
Believe…” keep
learning no
matter what the
challenge
GPMS
 New Vision strength
in numbers-
“Teachers touch
lives, one day, one
lesson at a time”
Both Principals decided that
Re-culturing was needed and
established a Sense of Urgency
with the Staff

7. Lake
 Started with a
few close
associates on
board with the
new vision
 Vision was
reinforced at
every meeting
 “got the word
out to the
parents”
Both Principals Communicated Vision
Effectively and Often
GPMS
 Joined with other
schools
 Principal was
enthusiastic and
communicated it
to everyone
 Held meetings
among teachers,
staff, & admin. with
other schools
involved to talk
about the new
vision

8. Lake
 Known for high quality
education so why did
they have to
change?
 Teachers did not trust
admin. Thought they
were “abdicating
responsibility”
 Feared extra work,
loss of creative
freedom in classroom,
and lack of resources
& professional
development
Both Principals Encountered a Wall
Resistance
GPMS
 Another new “fad”
to try– again
 District not
supportative
wanted to keep
their top down
policies

9.  Providing needed resources (Ford)--Had the
community volunteer as subs so teachers could
go to training
 Principal communicated extensively
(Schermerhorn)--- sent out weekly newsletters to
the community, staff, & parents citing progress
made no matter how small it was
 Rebuild point of view (Michelman)--- Principal
showed teachers she was willing to work &
supplied resources for the teachers
 Engaged resisters early on and converted some
to supporters (Gandz)--- Principal accepted
suggestions from staff & treated them as
professionals. When it came to the students she
was very innovative making suggestions work
Lake Elementary was able to
Overcome Resistance By…

10.  Countered Lack of Understanding through
Communication (Schermerhorn)---Principal
worked on gaining the trust of the community,
showing that the school & the community share
the same values “…but we are alike in work
ethics, values, purpose, and philosophy”
 Self-Interest through Communication
(Schermerhorn)– Principal started “Critical
Friends” monthly group meetings between
parents, teachers, & staff to share info in a non-
threatening relaxed atmosphere
 Empowered staff through accountability
(Beach)--- Principal held everyone accountable
and worked as partners to get where they
needed to go
Lake Elementary was able to
Overcome Resistance By…

11.  Developed Strong Relationships (Ford)--- Principal
worked on positive relationship with district to earn
their trust
 Understand Resister’s View & address concerns
(Anderson)– Principal found with the group of
schools to get district onboard with the needed
change
 Developed Strong Relationships (Ford)- Principal
built relationships with teachers, staff, & community
 Provided Resources (Ford) (Beach)– Principal
provided for teachers by securing Federal Grant $
 Time ( Beach)- Time was allowed for all to “adjust”
 Get People on-board (Beach)- Principal showed
district teacher were on-board with the idea
Overcame Resistance By…

12. Both Schools sustained changes through frequent
Communications, such as celebrating even the
smallest successes—certificates awarded, banner
to hang in classroom, etc.
Both Schools proclaim the success of the change
and how well it is working. They are often heard
saying how well things are now, better than
before. Everyone wants to work at GPMS now
because it is a great place.
Both Schools reinforce vision through
Periodic Team Meetings reflecting upon
successes & listening to perspectives of
others to learn among themselves

13. Lake Elementary- used a form of Diffusion
Practices with “Peer Coaching” to help keep
change moving forward
Galena Park Middle School- Maintained
Consistency when the principal left for the
district position the Assistant Principal who
has been a part of the change became
Principal and status quo was maintained
Galena Park Middle School- Principal
moved to district & supports local schools to
change to PLC’s AND the Vision developed
into deep individual & school wide cultural
belief—”Tests are important, but life success
is the real goal”

14. Both Schools used researched effective best practices to restructure the
culture to unfreeze the school then moved the schools through further
implementation of researched effective strategies and are now in the
process of refreezing and institutionalizing the changes
GPMS is much further along in the sustaining process than Lake
Elementary
GPMS models an excellent vertical & horizontal alignment and teaming
concept
GPMS has effectively gained the districts support from top down clearly
enabling GPMS & other schools to implement the PLC
Lake Elementary is struggling to sustain the change. I would suggest
putting in place a reward & recognition program to help keep the change
moving forward

15. Both Schools were extremely effective in implementing the
change process to PLC’s
Both leaders were strong leaders; dedicated to the
change, enthusiastic about the change, patient with the
process, willing to show they cared about the change, and
implemented researched best practices to be successful
Both Schools are beginning the sustaining process
Lake Elementary
• Faces challenges- they are
now being reconfigured from
a PK-8 to another combo.
• Teams & Relationships built
will be effected due to this
reconfiguration
• Will Lake still be able to
sustain PLC’s in light of the
reconfiguring of the school?
Galena Park Middle
• Has an upper had due to their
principal & greatest supporter is
now in district & can give
support to GPMS
• The questions looms what will
happen as the leadership
changes at the district level? Will
the vision & values change? Or
will they be imbedded into the
culture so deep they will stay?

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Organizational Transformation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & D'Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to
change: the rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2),
362-377.
Anderson, D. L. (2010). Sustaining Change, Evaluating, and Ending an
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Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G., Osborn, R. N. (2008) Organizational
behavior

17. Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. (2008). Introducing Organizational Behavior. In
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