DCI Professional Learning Modules
A Professional Learning Module (PLM) is a focused approach to Professional Development content that addresses adult learning principles, upholds specific characteristics of high-quality Professional Development, and focuses on implementation at the classroom level. The modules are organized by Foundations; Effective Teaching and Learning Practices; and Supportive Context.
Each Professional Learning Module has an accompanying Practice Profile, a framework developed by the National Implementation Research Network as a way of outlining criteria using a rubric structure with clearly defined implementation characteristics. Practice Profiles are organized by Essential Functions.
Foundations
The three foundational pieces of the DCI Practices are Collaborative Teams, Data-Based Decision Making, and Common Formative Assessment.
- When educators effectively and intentionally collaborate about the most effective practices within the curriculum, instruction, assessment, and climate, the result is quality teaching. Quality teaching is further enhanced when collaborative processes are built into the system, allowing for discussion and planning.
Collaborative Teams allow educators to work interdependently to study and communicate the impact of their teaching, using evidence of student progress to improve outcomes for all students. These teams set the stage for data inquiry, during which the focus shifts from how students work to how students think.
Educators and schools that engage in quality collaboration experience better achievement gains in math and reading and teachers who improve their practices at greater rates.
Our Collaborative Teams have allowed us to have great conversations using data as we set our goals for instruction. Through DCI, we now understand the importance of this planning dialogue as it leads to a common focus based on student improvement. Before DCI, our teams met for the “sake of meeting” with no agenda or purpose.
High School Teacher
Essential Functions of Collaborative Teams
- Educators collaboratively develop common purposes and goals for improved student outcomes that embrace continuous school improvement
- Educators effectively implement group processes in Collaborative Team meetings
- Educators intentionally use collaborative skills in Collaborative Team meetings
Things to Think About!
- Does your team discuss instructional practices connected to student learning?
- How often does your team discuss data and monitor student progress?
- Does your team use an agenda, take minutes, have norms, and roles?
- District and Building Leadership Teams need a consistent Data-Based Descion Making (DBDM) process to identify and address student, school, and district improvement needs. Similarly, small groups of teachers need a consistent DBDM process to identify academic and social/behavioral needs of their students and select practices to address those needs.
GAINS Data-Based Decision Making Cycle: Gather; Analyze; Intentionally Act and Analyze Again; Notice and Adjust
The GAINS process is designed to be compatible with other data-based decision making models used in educational settings. The four GAINS steps are aligned to the Practice Profile Essential Functions and are a synthesis of concepts included in most DBDM models. GAINS places an emphasis on examining how instruction impacts learning and then adjusting instruction as needed through the “Systematic Repeat” step, with an emphasis on examining how instruction impacts learning.
Essential Functions of Data-Based Decision Making
- Gather: Educators establish a collaborative process for collecting data.
- Analyze: Educators implement a process for examining and interpreting data.
- Intentionally Act & Analyze Again: Educators determine instructional action steps.
- Notice & Adjust: Educators use and act upon data by incorporating teaching and learning data into instruction and adjusting instruction accordingly.
- Systematically Repeat: Educators repeat the steps with new data to promote meaningful gains in student learning.
During our data team meetings, we are not only discussing the data but planning strategies to support students that need skills retaught and to enrich and extend the thinking of students who have mastered the learning targets. Through the Data-Based Decision Making process we are seeing tremendous growth in student learning.
High School Principal
Things to Think About!
- Does your team have a systematic approach to analyzing data?
- How does your team address a common misunderstanding that was discovered when reviewing data?
- How does your team assess impact when implementing instructional change or new practices?
- Through formative assessment, teachers monitor student learning to both improve their instruction and provide more effective feedback to students. Common formative assessments (CFAs) are team-designed measures used to assess and analyze a student’s understanding of essential learning targets. They are used by grade- or course-level teams at regular intervals.
Daily formative assessments are the on-going “checks for understanding” teachers use to monitor learning during instruction. Both common formative assessments and daily formative assessments are essential components of an effective formative assessment process providing critical information teachers need to fine-tune instruction and give more effective feedback to students.
An effective formative assessment process involves clarifying learning, eliciting evidence of learning, and using that evidence to provide feedback to both educators and students. Three overarching questions guide the formative assessment process: Where is the learning going?, Where is the learner now?, and How does the learner get there?
Essential Functions of Common Formative Assessment
- Educators develop and use clear and meaningful learning targets.
- Educators establish measurable student success criteria.
- Educators elicit evidence of learning through daily formative and common formative assessments.
- Educators interpret and act on formative assessment data to provide feedback.
After receiving training and coaching on CFAs, I can see how formative assessment guides and informs instruction during a learning cycle whether it is a lesson, unit, or course. Using CFAs ensures that there is consistency across grade levels or departments for both student and teacher performance.
High School Teacher
Things to Think About!
Are your learning targets clear and meaningful to guide instruction and clarify learning for students?
- What daily formative assessment strategies do you use?
- Do your formative assessments gather the correct, essential data?
Effective Teaching and Learning Practices
John Hattie’s newly revised work, Visible Learning: The Sequel, incorporates an additional 1,300+ meta-analyses with more attention being paid to the “big underlying story.”
As Hattie’s research is ongoing, the effect sizes continue to be updated and can, along with more specifics, be found on the MetaX website (www.visiblelearningmetax.com). Hattie now uses a “Thermometer of Influence” as a graphic illustration showing the influence of the practice on learning.
The following practices are included in the DCI Framework as they influence learning at an average or greater than average rate, with an effect size of .40 or greater.
- According to Hattie, students who are “assessment capable” know where they are going, where they are now, and how to get there. The term assessment capable learner does not describe students who have effective test taking strategies. Rather the following describes traits of assessment capable learners.
- Know their current level of understanding
- Know the expectations for learning and are confident they can learn them
- Can select effective learning strategies
- View their own errors as opportunities to learn and seek feedback regarding their efforts
- Can monitor their own progress in learning and adjust their learning strategies accordingly
- Know that they are learning and can teach others
Through the DACL process, I have learned how to give real feedback to my students during the learning process. My feedback is more detailed and descriptive. It is geared to how students can improve and reach their goals/targets. I am able to guide my students toward self-regulation as they assess their work.
Middle School Teacher
Essential Functions Developing Assessment Capable Learners
- Educators teach students to determine “Where am I going?”
- Educators teach students to determine “Where am I now?”
- Educators teach students to determine “How do I close the gap?”
Things to Think About!
- When coaching students to develop learning goals, do you use rubrics or scoring guides and sample work?
- Do you provide ongoing and meaningful feedback to students?
- Do you provide the opportunity for students to self-reflect and document their learning?
- Integral to Developing Assessment Capable Learners is the practice of Feedback. When educators teach students to determine “where am I now?,” they do so through effective feedback. Feedback is defined as “information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent, self, experience) regarding aspects of one’s performance or understanding.”¹ The main purpose of feedback is to improve a student’s understanding of “where am I now?” in relation to a learning target and goal.
Feedback can occur in many forms; however, not all feedback is effective. Research shows learning improves when feedback addresses a specific learning task, incorporates strategies for improving performance on tasks, and is available in multiple modalities. Praise, punishment, and extrinsic rewards are the least effective forms of feedback.
Essential Functions of Feedback
- Educators provide descriptive task feedback to all students that clearly links to learning goals and success criteria.
Feedback is integral to developing assessment capable learners. The main purpose of feedback is to improve a student’s understanding of “Where am I now?” in relation to a learning target and goal.
- Educators provide feedback about strengths and offer information to guide improvement to all students multiple times throughout the learning process.
- Educators pace instruction to allow for frequent, descriptive feedback to all students and allow time for students to act on the feedback received.
- Educators ask students to self-regulate by assessing their own progress and justifying their assessments multiple times throughout the learning process.
- Educators instruct students to set personal goals based on feedback and self-assessment.
Things to Think About!
- Do you provide descriptive feedback to all students?
- Does your feedback recognize strengths?
- Do you instruct students to set personal goals based on feedback and self-assessment?
- Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112.
Metacognition is the knowledge and awareness of one’s own cognitive processes. It involves actively reflecting on one’s thoughts, knowledge, beliefs, and experiences to enhance learning and decision making. Students can use metacognitive strategies to take charge of their own learning. Along with Developing Assessment Capable Learners and Feedback, teaching metacognitive strategies helps students become more proficient learners by empowering them to monitor and regulate their own learning processes.
The Metacognition Professional Learning Module was re-designed in March 2024, and contains the following three areas of focus.
Cognitive Awareness – Teaching students to become more aware and better understand their own cognitive process is like giving them a roadmap to navigate their thinking. By teaching cognitive awareness strategies, educators equip students with skills to monitor their own learning process and adjust their learning strategies accordingly. Cognitive awareness enables students to reflect on and regulate their thinking processes, leading to more effective learning, problem-solving, and decision making skills.
By using metacognitive modeling practices, my students can better describe how they think and learn.
Middle School Teacher
Regulation of Cognition – Teaching students to control, manage, and modulate their own cognitive processes to achieve specific goals or adapt to changing circumstances plays a crucial role in learning. For example, when studying for an exam, a student might regulate their cognition by setting specific study goals; selecting appropriate study strategies (e.g., creating flashcards, summarizing key concepts); monitoring their comprehension and retention of the material; and adjusting their study approach based on their progress and perceived level of mastery. Regulation of cognition involves the conscious monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment of one’s thoughts, strategies, and behaviors in order to optimize learning, problem-solving, and decision making.
Creating a Metacognitive Classroom Climate and Environment – Educators can promote a classroom climate and environment that develops, encourages, and supports metacognitive thinking. Students should be encouraged to be high-level thinkers and reflect on their own learning. It is essential that the educational culture is supportive of academic risk-taking; sets high expectations and clear goals; and provides multiple and diverse opportunities for interactions that lead to metacognitive thought.
Similar to Developing Assessment Capable Learners and Feedback, metacognitive practices have a positive influence on learning.
Essential Functions of Metacognition
- Educators engage in metacognitive instruction to increase student’s knowledge of cognition.
- Educators engage students in metacognitive regulation processes of planning, monitoring, controlling, and evaluating.
- Educators promote a classroom culture and environment conducive to developing, encouraging, and supporting metacognitive thinking.
Things to Think About!
- How do you provide students with opportunities to understand their personal style preferences?
- How do you provide opportunities for students to monitor their progress that focuses on improving their learning?
- How do you provide a classroom culture that sets high expectations, clear goals, and opportunities for reflective thinking?
Supportive Context
Four practices help to creative a supportive context to sustain and advance effective teaching and learning.
- Research over the past two decades has shown the positive impact of coaching on the application of effective teaching and learning practices, as well as on student achievement. Traditional training can build new knowledge, provide opportunities for skill rehearsal, and time for processing new information. However, it is through coaching that the transfer of new skills to classroom practice occurs. As approaches and practices in education advance, both new and experienced educators benefit from coaching.
School-Based Implementation Coaching (SBIC) is critical to supporting the development of effective teaching and learning practices. Educators frequently receive training on a new practice and are then asked to use this in their classrooms. Applying new practices into one’s own context has challenges. Coaches can model effective implementation, provide feedback as teachers “practice” the newly learned strategy, and problem-solve any barriers encountered.
Within the DCI Framework, School-Based Implementation Coaching may take a variety of forms. Commonly used models include peer-to-peer coaching, individual peer-to-a-team, or team-to-team.
I think having another teacher come into our room as a coaching partner has been good for our students. We serve as examples of professionals who are still learning, still growing as teachers whether we are new to the profession or have many years in the classroom.
High School Teacher
Essential Functions of School-Based Implementation Coaching
- Educators develop and maintain coaching relationships.
- Educators provide effective feedback.
- Educators develop a strategic and differentiated coaching plan.
- Educators engage in solution-driven dialogue.
- Educators monitor progress of implementation of effective educational practices.
Things to Think About!
Is peer-to-peer coaching occurring in your district?
- If yes, do peer coaches follow an established protocol for observation and feedback?
- Is coaching feedback descriptive, relevant, strengths-based, and respectful?
- In Hattie’s research, Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) has one of the highest effect sizes for impacting student achievement, at 1.57.¹ Collective Teacher Efficacy is a shared belief among teachers that together, their efforts will have a positive effect on student learning. Through collaborative efforts district leaders as well as principals and teacher-leaders can successfully build CTE through the following actions.
- Build instructional knowledge and skills of all teachers
- Create opportunities for teachers to collaboratively share skills and experience
- Provide actionable feedback on teacher performance
- Involve teachers in shared decision making
Essential Functions of Collective Teacher Efficacy
District/building leaders accomplish the following.
Collective Teacher Efficacy has given me the opportunity to see that together as educators we can have a major impact on student learning, and we are not alone.
Elementary School Teacher
- Provide opportunities for teachers to experience the four sources of efficacy, resulting in a combined belief that teachers have a major impact on student learning
- Provide opportunities for teacher collaboration that encourages the development of social networks focused on improving instructional practice
- Design school structures, promote professional development, and allot time in ways that support the development of teacher leadership
- Establish a climate that values teacher voice in decision making
- Design intentional supports that promote collaborative teacher inquiry
The collection of DCI Professional Learning Modules aligns to and supports the development of CTE. Through participation in the modules as shared learning, educators build knowledge, practice instructional skills, engage in collaborative problem-solving, and receive coaching with descriptive feedback and encouragement. Each of these opportunities, in addition to the CTE focused Professional Learning Module, are designed to foster school- and district-wide CTE.
Things to Think About!
- Would the majority of educators in your district say they have the primary impact on student learning?
- Do most teachers participate in formal and informal collaborative social networks?
- Do teachers examine their educational practices collaboratively with each other?
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112.
Leadership for Effective Implementation of District-Wide Evidence-Based Practices (Systems Leadership)
Systems thinking is a holistic way to look at factors and interactions that contribute to an outcome. It is a mindset. By examining a problem using a systems thinking approach, leaders better understand how to create the best possible processes to accomplish their goal. Researchers have found a clear link between strong district leadership and positive student outcomes.¹
Leaders focused on building and sustaining continuous improvement share some common characteristics.
- Focus on alignment. They view their districts as systems with interconnected policies and practices. While each school in a district may have diverse needs, leaders ensure there is alignment across their district related to initiatives, goals, and instructional priorities.
- Focus on path setting. They establish structures and support for decision making, communication, and collaboration. For large-scale, sustainable changes, educators must understand how their actions impact their system.
- Lead by modeling a growth-centered, trust-based culture. When staff see alignment between what leaders say and their actions, an organizational culture of trust is created.
- Empower others through supportive relationships and instructional leadership. Teachers are empowered when they individually and collectively trust they can master and have control over issues that concern them.
The most successful educational leaders are systems thinkers who facilitate a cycle of continuous improvement and support the implementation of effective practices. These leaders support the professional learning of teachers with a focus on student achievement.
DCI Facilitator
According to the New Teacher Center, schools with the highest levels of instructional and teacher leadership rank 10 percentile points higher in both math and language arts achievement on state tests compared to schools with the lowest levels.² When teachers have a voice and their insights are considered in decision making, the result is better outcomes for all students.
Essential Functions of Systems Leadership
District and building leadership accomplish the following.
- Develops, aligns, and monitors a system-wide plan for implementation focusing on impact within a cycle of continuous improvement
- Sets a path for continuous improvement that is data informed and occurs within a collaborative school culture
- Models and facilitates qualities of trust and growth mindset as key to a culture of continuous improvement
- Empowers educators at all levels to active engagement in continuous improvement and collective responsibility for student growth
Things to Think About!
- How does your district encourage a collaborative culture among teachers and students?
- How do you use data to determine effective practices to implement district wide?
- Kirk, C. M., Lewis, R. K., Brown, D., Daribo, B., Scott, A., & Park, E. (2017). The empowering schools project: Identifying the classroom and school characteristics that lead to student empowerment. Youth and Society, 49(6), 827-847.
- Ingersoll, R. M., Dougherty, P., Sirinides, P. (2017). School leadership counts. Santa Cruz, CA: New Teacher Center. Retrieved from https://go.pardot.com/l/576393/2018-08-15/349bgkg
Becoming an Instructional Leader in Your Building (Instructional Leadership)
Research shows a clear link between strong school leadership and student learning.
Effective educational leaders are driven by the school’s mission, vision, and core values. They promote equity and cultural responsiveness. Finally, effective educational leaders believe their school can always be better.
District-level and building-level leadership have important guiding and supporting roles in DCI. District leaders are responsible for determining and addressing needs for professional learning of building-level leaders and educators across the district. Through collaborative assessment of current strengths and strategic planning for addressing needs, district leaders support the development, scaling-up, and sustainability of the DCI foundations and teaching/learning practices.
The module shows strong connections between leadership and student achievement. Strong leadership supports and ensures teaching and learning practices engage all students in meaningful learning. Effective educational leaders will learn how to build and strengthen a network of organizational support that includes the professional capacity of teachers and staff while considering families and communities.
I have found that when instructional leaders model collaboration and data-based decision making, while encouraging the use of effective teaching and learning practices, teachers are more responsive and decisions are made on a higher level. This establishes a positive school climate through leadership.
DCI Facilitator
Essential Functions of Instructional Leadership
- A collaborative culture and climate is visible through the students, teachers, and administrators
- Leadership supports and ensures teaching and learning practices engage all students in meaningful learning
- Leaders develop educator capacity to use formative assessment through a supportive data climate that facilitates the use of formative data
- Leaders initiate evidence-based decisions and processes that focus on outcomes
Things to Think About!
- How does your district encourage a collaborative culture among teachers and students?
- How do you use data to determine effective practices to implement district wide?
