6 800.733.6786 eos PLC AT WORK® Just prior to committing to the process of becoming a Model PLC at Work® district, Lake County Schools hired Diane Kornegay as superintendent, who then hired Emily Feltner as assistant superintendent. Both women brought with them a belief system deeply rooted in supporting all students, and Emily quickly shared with Diane the importance of the vision and process of Professional Learning Communities at Work. As a struggling school district that ranked 47th out of 67 school districts in student achievement statewide, the message to Lake County Schools staff was clear. The goal of the new leadership was to end the educational lottery among schools and create a school system that guaranteed learning at high levels for all students. CHALLENGE IMPLEMENTATION Lake County Schools LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA Lake County Schools is the 19th largest public school district in the state of Florida. Lake County has ranked among the top 10 fastest-growing counties in Florida. DEMOGRAPHICS › 42 schools › 36,829 students › 100% free and reduced lunch › 4% English learners › 18% special education RACIAL/ETHNIC PERCENTAGES › 48.8% White › 26.9% Hispanic › 15.5% Black › 4.1% Multiracial › 2.7% Asian › 0.5% American Indian or Alaska Native › 1.5% Other Collaboration among support staff, teachers, school leaders, and district leaders helped determine what was working and what wasn’t working for Lake County Schools students, which led to open communication and teamwork from day one. This created trust and a clear message that the three big ideas of focusing on results, collaboration, and learning would be a priority both at the district and school levels. Each summer, over 400 lead learners, including district staff, principals, assistant principals, and teacher leaders, check in on systemwide progress, set goals, and learn together. They have used select Solution Tree resources, such as Learning by Doing, 3rd edition, Transforming School Culture, Time for Change, and Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap as anchor texts. Principal meetings have included time to review student subgroup achievement data at the school and district level, identify areas of focus, and determine next steps. As a result of this work, district progress monitoring results show a reduction in the achievement gap in some areas. The district, along with each school, created a guiding coalition that analyzed gaps in data and created an action plan to eliminate these gaps. Since starting PLC at Work implementation, 183 leaders and teachers have attended a PLC at Work Institute. Having a team trained at every school allows the district to create a common vision, vocabulary, and expectations for implementation of the PLC process. When COVID-19 canceled several institutes, teams participated in a districtwide virtual institute. This learning opportunity allowed first-time attendees to hear directly from the PLC at Work experts and provided an opportunity for those already immersed in the work to reflect and refine their practices. Collaboration in the school system begins with the superintendent and has a continuous through-line to the student level. The assistant superintendent oversees all departments regarding teaching, learning, and leadership and has an expectation that collaboration occurs weekly within each department and monthly among various departments.
