Northridge Middle School staff describe PLC work to board, emphasize shared planning and data use

Northridge Middle School staff told the board April 21 that adopting professional learning communities (PLCs) and a department structure is producing more-aligned curriculum, common assessments and targeted remediation efforts.

Principal Martin said the school shifted from a teaming model to a department structure and sent a group of seven teachers and three administrators to a PLC conference. The group returned to form a guiding coalition that meets regularly to plan, align curriculum maps and analyze data. "We plan together," Martin said, describing efforts to identify essential standards, coordinate instructional units and use common assessments and reflection to drive improvement.

Teachers from the guiding coalition described classroom-level changes. Amber Miller, a sixth-grade special-education teacher, said the conference reinforced a shared belief that "every kid can learn" and that the guiding-coalition work helped teachers bring the conference learning back to the full staff. Hillary Roberts, a seventh-grade math teacher, described a RAFT remediation approach that uses data to rotate students into small-group remediation during a dedicated period. Tina Angel, a seventh-grade social-studies teacher, described hands-on, highly engaged lessons (an "Amazing Race" activity, a mini-economy simulation and government-simulation tower-building) that gave students multiple opportunities to master standards. Assistant Principal Rob Zook described a follow-up book study to spread practices to staff who did not attend the conference and highlighted a "tight-loose-tight" approach to preserve teacher autonomy while standardizing assessments.

Board members asked about the genesis of the work and whether staff had prior PLC experience; presenters said some teachers had prior exposure in other districts but that the current implementation differs by building. Principal Martin also noted the school posted a short video of classroom work for social-media outreach and district communications.

The presentation was informational; no board action was requested on the PLC work.