Three years ago my fellow Continua Consultant, Heather Wixom Sweeney, and I, were contracted to support a school where the staff culture was stuck. Staff didn’t trust their new administrators, or each other, and the leaders of the newly formed Building Leadership Team (BLT) were reluctant to spend time in the staff lounge because the conversations felt “toxic.” Heather and I listened closely to the experiences of the admin and BLT and encouraged the school to consider measuring current levels of collegial trust. We introduced a survey that measures staff self and collaborative perceptions, which the BLT and staff agreed to administer. The initial baseline scores indicated what everyone suspected: collegial trust was low across all areas. Measures of capability, commitment and consistency were low and therefore staff’s willingness to invest, examine assumptions and take risks were also low. Together, we supported the principals and leadership team to reflect upon tangible steps they could take to respond to these measures.

Transparency and frequency of calibrated communication from leadership back to staff was a significant next step. The BLT and principals identified specific unmet needs of the staff and committed to responding to them in aligned, supportive ways. Revisiting their staff agreements (norms) and ensuring that they were both observable and measurable was another critical step. “Going to the source” for example, was a powerful agreement to set and commit to for a staff that had become complacent with parking lot or staff lounge gossip. Over time, the teacher leaders and principals demonstrated through action that they were committed to staff needs and focused on transparency for decisions.

The next phase of growth towards staff collective efficacy was to begin measuring and growing practice with the 7 Stages of PLC Implementation Rubric, authored by Heather and developed over years of supporting Continua clients. Each BLT member learned about the critical indicators and protocols of every stage and began identifying where their grade level PLC’s practice currently lived. They then ran protocols to measure current and desired practice with their PLCs, unpacking the specific data, collaboration and communication practices necessary to advance to the next stage. Because the rubric identifies both the practices of the leadership team and the protocols for the individual PLCs, the school had a roadmap to differentiate and support each grade level PLC’s advancement.

After one year* of changed leadership practices and intentional use of the 7 Stages of PLC Implementation Rubric, the school once again measured trust and the growth was significant. Indicators of trust such as safety to openly share ideas that previously only had a 17% favorable response grew to almost 50% favorable. Whereas in the baseline year over 90% of staff reported that as a staff they were not open to seeking feedback or input, in just one year almost 50% of staff now reported actively seeking each other’s ideas. And in just one school year, the requests from staff for intra-district transfers to another school went from 7 to 0.

Now, in our third year of supporting this school on their staff trust and PLC implementation journey, the work of the BLT has shifted from adult focused dynamics to meeting student needs via data protocols in their PLCs. Grade levels are co-constructing success criteria for successful interventions and exploring problems of practice as engaged learners in their PLCs. Another round of trust survey data demonstrates that the school’s areas of growth continue to improve by implementing their shared agreements and striving for the next stage of progression on the 7 Stages of PLC Implementation Rubric.

*School did not employ additional trust or collaborative interventions during years measured

Are you interested in growing staff trust and collective efficacy? Join us for the Collaborative Behaviors Conference in August or reach out for more information to partner with Continua, today!