For several years Dime Box School participated in what we were calling Professional Learning Communities or PLCs. These PLC meetings were mainly what we would now call a faculty or department meeting and not a true PLC meeting. Over the years these PLC meetings have evolved into a time for teachers to evaluate what is being taught in the classroom and form a path to success that will improve the academic performance of all students.

 

To achieve this success several things needed to change. First, the District had to designate a group of individuals that would facilitate the change known as The Guiding Coalition. The guiding coalition consists of the campus principal, associate principals, and two lead teachers and this group facilitates all professional learning community meetings. Next, the guiding coalition needed to set aside time for the meetings to occur. This task was accomplished in two ways; days with students and days without students and each type of meeting is scheduled at least one time during a six-week period. 

The ultimate goal of the Professional Learning Community at Dime Box School is to improve the academic scores of all students. According to Mike Mattos with Solution Tree, the company behind the modern PLC movement, all students are capable of learning at high levels and it is the job of the staff to ensure that that is what is occurring on a daily basis. The chart below shows how the staff of Dime Box School is dedicated to moving students from "just passing" and pushing them to succeed on the STAAR test and in their course work.