• IV-C-1: Professional Collaboration
    Unsatisfactory
    Needs Improvement
    Proficient
    Exemplary
    Rarely and/or ineffectively collaborates with colleagues; conversations often lack focus on improving student learning. Does not consistently collaborate with colleagues in ways that support productive team effort. Consistently and effectively collaborates with colleagues in such work as developing standards-based units, examining student work, analyzing student performance, and planning appropriate intervention. Supports colleagues to collaborate in areas such as developing standards-based units, examining student work, analyzing student performance, and planning appropriate intervention. Is able to model this element.
    Why Proficiency in this Element Matters
    • School-wide and individual student improvement can be achieved and maintained with all faculty and staff working in tandem, with these goals at the heart of the work.
    • Each individual educator has different skills, perspectives, and sets of experiences that, when contributed meaningfully, enhances the teaching and learning of all educators and students in a school building.
    • When professional learning communities are healthy and productive, the overall school culture reflects this through positive, fulfilled and happy educators. The knock-on effect of this is positive, fulfilled and happy students; and students who are able to learn more over time.
    • Based on a 2016 research study, “...teachers universally point to the impact of teacher collaboration on student learning by improving classroom practice, promoting data use, increasing academic rigor, and supporting students’ non-academic needs. One school leader sums it up quite well: “It’s the highest leverage strategy for school improvement that we have.” (“Making Space, “ Ed Vestors research study, 2016)
    Reflection Questions

    These questions may help to assess how effectively common obstacles to consistent/sustained proficiency in this element are addressed.

    For Educators For Evaluators/Coaches
    Have I maximized my impact on various teams within the school building? Have I, in multiple contexts and with various stakeholders, helped to create common assessments, shared insights about my own students,’ as well as other students’ work and contributed to school-wide behavioral and academic interventions?

    Have I set my faculty and staff up for meaningful and impactful collaboration? Have I ensured that adequate time and resources have been allocated to professional collaboration? Are my structures for CPT, ILT, CST, and PD currently conducive to productive work that can be implemented to improve student learning outcomes?  
    Have I done “my fair share” of the collaborative work by both taking ownership of aspects of the work but also allowing others to shine at the right times? Have I spotted/cultivated/utilized talent among individuals and facilitated the organization of optimal groupings and partnerships to ensure positive outcomes (without micromanaging)? Have I ensured equitable work loads and encouraged educators to both lead and follow at the right times?
    What have I done to contribute to a positive professional culture in my building? Have I worked to avoid and/or counter toxicity in the workplace (which may look like: frequent resistance to feedback, collaboration, or leadership discretion; engaging in gossip) Or have I assumed positive intent, looked for the best in my colleagues and supervisors even when there are differences of opinion, personality contrasts, or changes to policy, procedure or habits? Have I made new colleagues and supervisors feel at home and veterans feel valued for their level of expertise, insight and institutional knowledge? Has my behavior and communication with adults been emblematic of how I want my students to behave and communicate with their peers? As a leader in the building what have I done through my own speech and actions to create a positive and healthy professional culture? Have I ensured that my own professional approach can be a model for my staff and faculty when there is smooth sailing but especially when there are challenges. Am I confident that my faculty will work together and sustain a collective approach to problem solving and foster conditions that lead to isolation.
    What have I done to document my contributions to various teams and “connect the dots” to student impact? When uploading artifacts during formative and summative periods, how can I go beyond uploading sign-in sheets (or similar compliance-oriented materials) but rather upload documents wherein my own contributions are made clear?  Have I maintained high expectations by insisting that educators document their contributions in professional groups? Have I required educators to demonstrate that these contributions have been utilized in classes and have lead to class/grade-wide and individual student learning growth? What can I do to move my building toward an “open door” culture regarding classroom observation so that teachers are free and enthusiastic in hosting/watching each other teach and building up each others’ instructional prowess?
    What instructional practices should be observed? What student impacts should be expected?
    For TEACHERS this may look like...

    1. Educator has rarely collaborated meaningfully with colleagues or shared evidence of contributions through evidence.

    1. While educator engages in some collaborative approaches with colleagues, this collaboration is not always with relevant individuals or consistently connected to improving student learning outcomes. Educator may miss opportunities to collaborate through multiple avenues. Educator has not fully demonstrated contributions to the group’s work through evidence.

    1. Educator engages in collaborative approaches with all relevant colleagues through multiple avenues which may include but are not limited to: common planning time, professional development, departmental and grade band meetings, and child study teams. Educator can share evidence of her contributions.

    1. Educator engages deeply in collaborative approaches with relevant colleagues inside and outside the school building through multiple avenues which may include but are not limited to: instructional leadership team, common planning time, professional development, school based and district-wide departmental and grade band meetings, and child study groups. Educator can share evidence of her contributions and models approaches to practice for colleagues.

    1. Educator has not spent adequate time with colleagues to meaningfully design lesson and unit plans, examine student work/performance and plan/implement intervention.

    1. While educator utilizes some time with colleagues to design lesson and unit plans, examine student work/performance and planning/implementing interventions, this time is not consistently meaningful or the educator cannot demonstrate that collaboration has lead to improved student outcomes.

    1. Educator utilizes time with colleagues to contribute meaningfully in designing well-structured lesson and unit plans, modifying approaches to improve student outcomes through examination of student work/performance and planning/implementing effective interventions. Improved student outcomes can be reasonably attributed to these practices.

    1. Educator maximizes time with school based and/or district-wide colleagues to contribute meaningfully in designing well-structured lesson and unit plans, modifying approaches to improve student outcomes through examination of student work/performance and planning/implementing effective interventions. Educator models approaches to practice for colleagues. Improved student outcomes are clearly related to these practices.

    1. Educator has not demonstrated expertise in instruction, assessment or planning through collaboration with colleagues.

    1. Educator rarely shares expertise in planning, instruction and assessment with colleagues to better the performance of the professional learning community.

    1.  Educator’s expertise in planning, instruction and assessment is consistently utilized and shared with colleagues to better the performance of her professional learning community as evidenced by improved student learning outcomes. Teacher allows peers to observe their instruction and watches others teach to improve the collective instructional approach.

    1. Educator’s expertise in planning, instruction and assessment is frequently utilized and shared with colleagues in either/both school-based and district-wide settings to better the performance of the professional learning communities as evidenced by improved student learning outcomes. Educator models approaches to practice for colleagues.Teacher encourages peers to observe their instruction and frequently watches others teach to improve the collective instructional approach.

    1. Educator is inflexible in approaches to work with colleagues and/or educator fails to form or maintain healthy relationships with colleagues. Educator may be a detriment to the professional culture of the school building.

    1. Educator can sometimes struggle to find the right approach to work with colleagues. Educator may demonstrate difficulty in forming and maintaining healthy and productive professional relationships with colleagues so that the professional culture of the school building is enhanced.

    1. Educator demonstrates flexibility in work with colleagues by finding ways to both lead collaborative work and follow the leadership of colleagues. Educator demonstrates emotional intelligence in forming and maintaining healthy and productive professional relationships with all colleagues so that the professional culture of the school building is enhanced.

    1. Educator demonstrates deftness in work with colleagues by finding ways to both lead collaborative work and follow the leadership of colleagues. Educator demonstrates high levels of emotional intelligence in forming and maintaining healthy and productive professional relationships with all colleagues so that the professional culture of the school building is enhanced for long periods of time.
    Name Description Type
    Teacher Collaboration: Matching Complementary Strengths, Edutopia.org At Wildwood IB World Magnet School, teacher collaboration fosters a supportive professional culture, lessens teacher conflict, and provides students with schoolwide best practices. Video
    Key Elements for Effective Teacher Collaboration, Piedmont Institute Piedmont Intermediate teachers demonstrate the key components to effective teacher collaboration. Video
    Collaborative Problem Solving, UNC, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute Watch this video and observe how pre-k teachers who are implementing the R&R model reflect on classroom practices and support each other though collaborative problem-solving. Video
    Goals & Artifacts
    "We will all administer a 2nd grade team-created baseline assessment on comparing and contrasting same-topic texts. Through frequent collaborative analysis and team-implementation, using that data we will increase the percent of students scoring in the proficient range (at least 7 out of 10 on our school rubric) by 20% between the October baseline assessment and the midyear assessment in January, and by an additional 20% by the final assessment in May. Progress toward this goal will be measured by monthly informal assessments on same-topic compare and contrast texts. We will document progress through group analysis of class sets of data, as well as student work from three students (for each teacher) collected over the course of the year."
    Sample Artifact for IV-C-1 Professional Collaboration (file download)
    Resource Name Description Type
    new! Harvard Datawise Supporting schools and systems in taking an equity lens when using collaborative data inquiry so each student thrives. Website
    new! Telescope Network The Telescope Network creates opportunities for BPS educators to collaborate across the district. We improve learning experiences for all our students when we connect with peers, share our authentic challenges, and learn from each other. Website
    new! TEACHER COLLABORATION IN PERSPECTIVE A GUIDE TO RESEARCH Ways teachers can have better-informed dialogue and work together more collaboratively. Uses Discussion Guides, a set of Critical Questions, and more.  Research Publication
    new! The Benefits for Students When Teachers Collaborate Research shows us that students who own their learning are more motivated, and students who are more motivated actually learn more and at a deeper level.  Research Article
    new! DESE: Spotlight on Collaboration The Interactive Guide to the Collaboration Tool will walk you through how the Collaboration Tool can be used in curriculum development, starting with Focus Language Goals. Link
    Group Decision Making, Waterloo University    

    What is a Professional Learning Community?, From ASCD

    		    
    Make Time for Collaboration, All Things PLC    
    Structural and Cultural Shifts to Change the Status Quo, All Things PLC    
    Do you have a resource that you want to recommend for this element? Email us at eval@bostonpublicschools.org with the subject line "Interactive Rubric Resource Recommendation" in the email.