CHARLOTTE, NC - When teachers at J.T. Williams Middle School heard they’d be involved in the QTL™ program and Whole Faculty Study Groups® this fall, some thought it must mean they had been designated the lowest performing school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina's largest school district.

In fact, the school is NOT at the bottom of the list. It's just that administrators see the comprehensive program as an opportunity to help them rise higher.

J.T. Williams staff participate in a launch event for the Whole Faculty Study Groups component of QTL's Professional Learning Community program. Below, principal Angele Bozeman speaks to her staff.

Principal Angela Bozeman believes that both teachers and students need to know their performance numbers in order to improve student learning. That’s why Bozeman makes sure ALL teachers receive school data and individual student data. Students can see how they fared on end-of-grade tests and where they need more work.

“I think teachers were surprised at the numbers," Bozeman explains. “They thought that because we are looking so closely at the numbers, they were probably at the bottom of the district. That isn’t the case. We are looking at the numbers to see where we need to work harder and where we are seeing success.”

In early October, teachers began forming a professional learning community by implementing the QTL Whole-Faculty Study Groups program for all certified staff at J.T. Williams. Teachers looked at their student data, categorized their needs, assembled study groups and began addressing particular student needs.

“I like this process because it just makes sense”, commented one teacher. “We will be working on student needs and looking at ways to help students learn in a collaborative group. Then, we can share that information with the rest of the faculty. It just makes sense.”

Staff from The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning will be on hand coaching teacher teams through ‘modeling’ and consultation in the research-based instructional strategies learned in the QTL Program throughout the year.

“I knew a great deal about Professional Learning Teams from studying and seeing Rick DuFour speak at conferences," Bozeman says. "I just didn’t know how to get all that information from my head into our teachers’ heads.

"I like the fact that QTL comes to our school to show us how to do professional learning communities in our school, using OUR data, and we don’t have to travel all over the place," she adds.