Freedom Middle School was recently notified of its prestigious new designation by Solution Tree, a renowned educational professional learning company, for its sustained success in raising student achievement. Solution Tree has designated Freedom Middle as a 2024 Model Professional Learning Communities at Work® School – one of only four in Tennessee this year – for its successful implementation of the PLC at Work® process.
According to Solution Tree, the PLC at Work® process is increasingly recognized as the most powerful strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement, and Freedom Middle principal Charles Farmer, Ph.D. agrees. “I have been a believer in the PLC process for 15 years. With so many competing factors that affect teachers’ work, the PLC at Work process is vital. It provides a clear and efficient framework for continuous improvement so that our teachers can focus on identifying essential standards, assessing for mastery of learning, remediating at the Tier I level for students who have not yet mastered the standards, and extending the learning for students who have proven mastery.”
PLCs are schools and districts in which educators recognize that the key to improved student learning is ongoing, job-embedded learning for the adults who serve those students. The school applied for this prestigious designation as it honed its focus on the rigorous work of PLCs within its building. Farmer has provided many hours of professional learning for his teachers to learn and to be able to use the PLC process effectively and with fidelity. “It is a testament to the hard work of our faculty that we have received this respected distinction,” he said.
The three big ideas of a PLC call upon educators to:
- Focus on learning;
- Build a collaborative culture; and
- Create a results orientation.
Solution Tree Model schools are recognized based on strict criteria, including demonstration of a commitment to PLC concepts, implementation of these concepts for at least three years, and clear evidence of improved student learning over that period.
Associate director of schools for teaching and learning, Mary Decker, Ed.D., has made districtwide PLC training a major focus in FSSD. “Our district understands that when a school functions as a PLC, there is an incredible impact on student learning. Having Freedom Middle become our first Model PLC at Work School is very rewarding,” she said. “Freedom Middle’s relentless focus on student achievement is evident in the high-quality work of their students as well as in their continuous cycle of educator professional learning and refinement of instructional practices.”
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