Virtually no one disagrees with the proposition that having all students learn at high levels is a worthy mission. It is rare to hear someone say, "Well, I’m just not sure about that  'learning’ mission." One of the easiest aspects of reculturing a school to function as professional learning community is achieving a general consensus regarding a "high level of learning for all" mission. It’s only afterward that problems arise. {C}All too often schools adopt a mission of ensuring high levels of learning for all students, yet engage in practices that are counterproductive to improving learning.

This disconnect between what we say we believe and what we are often willing to do is analogous to card games in which a particular card or suit of cards will "trump" other cards. This is an interesting idea to put into the form of an activity for small groups of faculty. Ask this question: "We have adopted the mission of ensuring high levels of learning for all students as our fundamental purpose. So, here is an important question: what would ’trump’ learning in our school or school district?"

What Trumps Learning: A Few Examples

Obviously, every school and school district is different, each with its own distinct culture. However, there are common themes regarding those things that "trump" the "learning card" in schools. For example, if schools are going to embed common planning time for collaborative teams to meet during the school day and if a school is going to develop a plan to ensure that students receive additional time and support within the school day regardless of the teacher they are assigned, the school schedule will more than likely need to be changed. Changing a school schedule is difficult because it brings directly to the forefront the issue, "What is the purpose of the schedule in the first place?" Is it to assist the staff in attaining our learning goals or is to ensure the happiness of the adults? It seems that in some schools the fundamental mission is, in fact, to ensure the happiness of the adults who work there. Often, ensuring the  happiness of a few "trumps" learning.

Another example is the issue of individual autonomy versus collaborative decision-making and collective responsibility. This conflict frequently rears its head with issues such as whether or not teachers serve as contributing members of a collaborative team- assisting with clarifying standards, developing common formative assessments and participating in collaborative analysis of student work- all of which have been shown to be highly effective strategies for improving student learning, or will they be left alone to work in isolation?  All too often individual autonomy "trumps" learning, in spite of the fact there is not a shred of evidence that students learn more when teachers work in isolation.

Frequently, policies or practices will "trump" learning. Perhaps, there is a policy that doesn’t allow students to do make-up work if they miss school with an unexcused absence or a policy that limits those who can take Advanced Placement classes to a certain percent of their class. In a professional learning community, all decisions and practices should be reviewed through the lens of the learning mission and address the question, "What is the probable impact of this decision or practice on our goal to improve the learning levels of all students?"

Two Questions

In the White River School District in Buckley, Washington, the issue of making sure the learning mission is, in fact, embedded into the district culture is addressed by frequently asking two critical questions: "Regarding our mission to ensure high levels of learning for all students, what would  this particular policy, activity, initiative, or decision look like if we really meant it?" What if we really meant that ensuring high levels of learning was our fundamental mission-the core of what this school or district is about?  The second question is equally powerful: "Is what we are doing good enough for my own child?" When we filter questions through the context of our own children, very few things "trump" learning. So, think about, or better yet, engage in collaborative discussions, about this question: "What trumps learning in your classroom, school or school district?"