Great Processes Lead to Great Organizations

November 1, 2021

As a Solution Tree associate, I was recently able to spend a weekend at Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Stevenson High School is considered by many as the original birthplace of the PLC work. While the term and concepts of “professional learning community” were part of theoretical research for a couple of decades prior, it was Rick DuFour and Bob Eaker, at Stevenson in the 80s and 90s, who worked to actually put these concepts into practice.

The superintendent, Dr. Eric Twadell, and another associate, Brandon Jones, led us through incredible learning experiences over the weekend, and our time included a tour of the high school. One of the things I most appreciated about Dr. Twadell’s tour of the building was how he repeatedly referred to it as “just a shell.” The real work of teaching and learning happens during the week, and with the people in the building. As I reminded stakeholders when I was opening a new building as a principal, “A building doth not a school make.” It’s what happens in the school every day, for both adults and students, that is what makes a building become a school.

And so it is with collaborative work, too. Doing the right work to improve our practice and results for students is so much harder than can be imagined. While the physical space in which we work matters, what matters far more is the learning that is happening in those physical spaces.

Yeah, but...

One of the challenges of visiting a place like Stevenson is that we see it how it is now, after four decades of work to implement Professional Learning Community practices and processes. We don’t realize what it was like before the intense and long-term work to improve adult practice and student learning began. We engage in lots of “yeah, but’s:”

“Yeah, but look at their beautiful facility.”
“Yeah, but they attract so many students into their school.”
“Yeah, but their student performance is really high.”

And others…we all have our own “yeah, but’s…” in our spheres.

Stevenson is now a school of nearly 5,000 students (and growing!). It has beautiful facilities and high student performance. There are collaborative workspaces for adults, and much, much more.

When the process started, however, the school was roughly 1,000 students. Facilities were deteriorating and bonds were failing. There were communities seeking to split off from the school because of the mediocre student performance and other factors. And teachers were isolated like in most schools.

How did they turn it around?

Wildfire

On Saturday night, we had the opportunity to go to a very nice restaurant in Lincolnshire, Wildfire. The place was packed, and the only way you were going to eat was with a reservation.

The food was spectacular. The service was phenomenal.

But which came first? A packed restaurant, or the high quality food and service?

Of course, we all know that it was the service and food that created the waiting lists and reservations. Not the other way around.

Yet, in schools and other organizations, we somehow seem to think that if we just get a better facility, or different (or more) staff, or better this or that, then we’ll get the collaborative environment and support that we need.

It’s the opposite–just like the restaurant. Build the program by engaging in the right work (good food and providing quality service), and then the support will come from the community. Collaborate on the right work to improve results for both adults and students, and the resources will flow.

Do the right work:

1) What do we want students to know and be able to do?

2) How will we know when students know and/or can do it?

3) What will we do when students don’t know or can’t do it? and

4) What will we do when students ALREADY know or can do it?

Questions for Reflection

What challenges do you have that need to be addressed by doing the right work?