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=Welcome to **SKOWHEGAN AREA H** **IGH** **S** **CHOOL** **P** **ROFESSIONAL** **L** **EARNING** **G** **ROUPS**= **D** **EFINITION** Professional Learning Groups (PLGs) are small teams—comprising six to twelve teachers—who either share common students, interests, or teaching responsibilities, such as the same content area, grade level, or team assignments or are comprised of random groups of faculty, mixed by grade level, content area and specialist status to deepen whole school collegiality and collaboration. These groups meet regularly to discuss teacher work, student work, research, or data. The goal of these groups is to capture and build on the knowledge and skills of participating teachers in ways that will help them increase the aspirations and achievement of their students. **R** **ATIONALE** Professional Learning Groups (PLGs) can be powerful vehicles for ongoing professional development in any school. They honor the skills and knowledge of each participating teacher, as well as the research and experiences of educators outside the PLG. Regularly examining and reflecting on student work, classroom practices, student data, and educational research in a supportive environment can improve teaching efficacy and student learning. PLGs give structure to professional conversations and provide a safe forum in which colleagues can share pedagogical philosophies, content knowledge, and instructional strategies, while also working through challenging issues or dilemmas in collaboration rather than isolation. In addition PLG tools and structures can be used during other professional venues (e.g., team meetings, faculty meetings, department meetings, community forms or committee work). **C** **OMMON** **E** **XPECTATIONS** The following common expectations will help ensure that PLGs use scheduled time effectively and remain focused on raising student achievement and aspirations: • We will remain focused on improving student learning by refining our classroom and/or our individual/team practice • We will use protocols to help us structure conversations, examine teacher and student work, analyze data, and engage in reflective dialogue about a variety of texts. • We will create norms and agendas to guide the use of our time and ensure that our dialogue remains professional and respectful. • A trained PLG facilitator colleague(s) will guide us in our work.