Katy ISD’s Cardiff, McDonald and Morton Ranch junior high schools have been named “Promising Practices Schools” by Solution Tree, for their implementation of successful campus professional learning communities (PLC), the district announced in an October 3 press release. These are the first Katy ISD schools to earn this designation, the district said.

A PLC is a learning model where teachers work collaboratively, in recurring cycles of inquiry and action, to achieve better results for students through job-embedded learning, the district said. Educators seek to answer four questions: what do we expect students to learn; how will we know if they’ve learned it; how will we respond if they haven't learned it; and how will we respond if they already know it.

“These campuses serve as models for our district on how Professional Learning Communities can work to support educators and increase student achievement,” said Sanèe Bell, assistant superintendent for teaching & learning in Katy ISD. “Through best practices, these schools are dedicated to creating systems and processes to meet the needs of all students.”

The PLC process is increasingly recognized as the most powerful strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement. The model builds collective capacity for student improvement, creates clarity and purpose, aligns resources and ensures learning for all students.

The “Promising Practices Schools” recognition is awarded to schools that have demonstrated strong evidence of PLC performance, providing at least a year of data to show gains in student achievement. Visit www.solutiontree.com to learn more.