Helping students succeed now and in the future

COEUR d'ALENE — It is no longer enough for a student to simply graduate from high school.

At least, that's the opinion of author, presenter and professional learning communities practitioner Mike Mattos.

"That diploma has to represent more than time served, credits earned, points acquired," Mattos told hundreds of the dedicated men and women who educate our children. "It's got to represent the skills and knowledge needed to continue to learn."

Mattos, author of "Professional Learning Communities at Work and High-Reliability Schools," spoke to about 900 educators, many from North Idaho and about 200 from other districts and states, as he delivered the opening keynote speech at the Professional Learning Communities at Work conference this week at Lake City High School.

"Every kid needs to graduate with the academic skills, knowledge and behaviors they need for the next steps in their adult life," he said. "Do you think their learning is going to stop after high school? They've got to continue to learn, and we are certifying that a child has mastered the minimum level of skills needed for the next steps in their adult life."

Technology has replaced many jobs traditionally done by humans, Mattos said, and what is left is work that requires skills such as critical thinking, creativity and human relations.

He said data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that two-thirds of the jobs in the current economy require more than a high school diploma.

“A high school diploma won’t be enough to enter those fields," he said. "You have to continue to learn."

Mattos shared six qualities students must have as they consider higher education pathways: analytical reading and discussion; persuasive writing; drawing inferences and conclusions from texts; analyzing conflicting source documents; supporting arguments with evidence; and solving complex problems with no obvious answer.

"If students learn those skills, would they do better in your class this year too? Yeah," he said. "It would help them succeed in our system and it would help them prepare for post-secondary and beyond."

He said three truths have converged onto this moment in time: Every student has to make it in the system; the minimum level of learning students need to achieve has never been higher; and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, more kids than ever in the nation's history are behind in their learning.

"What profession is best situated and well-trained to address this need? Us. If not us, who?" he said.

Mattos' speech commenced a three-day conference to reinvigorate teachers and generate excitement around a professional learning community mindset as they prepare to go back to the classroom the Tuesday after Labor Day. Educators participated in breakout sessions, heard from industry professionals and attended presentations such as, "Building a Commitment to Learning in Students," "Help Your Team: Overcoming Common Collaborative Challenges in a PLC at Work" and "Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap: Whatever it Takes in Elementary Schools."

The roughly $400,000 conference was presented by Solution Tree, a publishing company in Bloomington, Ind., that is the largest provider of staff development in the United States. The Coeur d'Alene conference was paid for by money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, a federal program administered by the Department of Education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. No levy funds were used for conference expenses. The event also brought in money from those attending from out of state and out of the district.

Professional Learning Communities, or PLCS, are groups of educators who regularly meet to share expertise, analyze student work and plan instruction to improve their teaching skills and the academic performance of students, all with a focus on four questions:

• What are students expected to learn or do?

• How will teachers know the students have learned it?

• How will educators respond when some students do not learn?

• How will learning be enriched and extended for students who have demonstrated proficiency?

PLCs spotlight learning and creating a culture where responsibility is shared and results-oriented.

It's not a new concept for the Coeur d'Alene School District. Last year, several teachers went to PLC events and came back wanting to learn more, Superintendent Shon Hocker said.

Rachel Karns, a longtime English teacher at Coeur d'Alene High School, attended a PLC summit five years ago in Salt Lake City.

“It completely changed my teaching,” she said. "I have witnessed more student engagement, more student learning. It's made me more accountable to understanding the levels of where my students are and assessing them so that I can re-teach more appropriately."

She said this model helps teachers understand what is most essential while encouraging them to choose the most important standards with rigor, relevance and endurance in mind.

"Students are getting a very equitable education," Karns said. "It avoids the lottery of getting what is perceived as the 'good' teacher and the 'bad' teacher. Your teacher now should just be a different style but with the same goals and outcomes. It's really helped me focus on, 'What are my most important outcomes that a kid needs to know and be able to do in order to be successful after their experience in my classroom and my school?'"

Through PLCs, Karns said everything students are taught is for their benefit.

"There is nothing about political ideology or anything that's being taught here. It's, 'What are the skills a kid needs to be successful in their life in our content?'" she said. "I think the citizens should feel ensured and confident the teachers are only going to improve their teaching practice and be committed to kids learning."

Hocker said a fundamental need for teachers and students is to be understood.

"I can’t think of a better way than to be understood than really kicking off a firm foundation of understanding in the PLC world," he said.

He said high-performing districts in Idaho already have PLC implementation at work.

"One would naturally ask, 'What are they doing? How are they having such growth and movement in the right direction?'" he said. "Well, they invested in PLC quite a while ago."

With this focus, it will help Coeur d'Alene take the good things it is doing and make them even better, he said.

“It’s the right work. That’s the driving factor,” Hocker said. “This will help take a good district to a great district. It is a big needle mover.”