Eventually, collaborative teams inside a PLC culture, experience “something that changes their working team dynamic” when their team stops debating and defending their personal beliefs and ideas, and place samples of their student work into the middle of their table for discussion and discovery of what students are learning.

This placeholder essay (as I get ready to launch this collection of K-12 math essays) stands in for future conversations I am planning for us about our mathematics assessment practices — common assessments, common scoring of those assessments, thoughtful interventions based on those assessments, and the ongoing teacher team reflections that strengthen instruction for every learner.

Until then, a simple prompt for your next team meeting: Bring one student response from a recent common assessment, that you found surprising, and share.

If you have a minute, drop a note in the comments section below, and let me know how looking at student work with a colleague goes!

Thanks!

Tim Kanold