Literacy in PLCs and K-12 Education, with Paula Maeker

In this episode of Unpacking Education, our hosts explore literacy, professional learning communities (PLCs), and school improvement with Paula Maeker, an educator and coauthor of Literacy in a PLC at Work®. Drawing from her experience teaching in under-resourced communities and collaborating with highly effective teams, Paula shares how educators can work collectively to ensure that every student reaches grade-level literacy expectations.

Our conversation highlights the current state of literacy in the United States, the power of PLC collaboration, and the practical TEAMS framework for building strong instructional systems. Paula also challenges educators to embrace essentialism—doing less exceptionally well—by focusing on the most critical literacy skills in which students must gain proficiency. This episode with Paula offers actionable insights for educators committed to improving literacy outcomes for all students. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Transcript

Paula Maeker 0:00 Essentialism is doing less exceptionally well and choosing what that "less" must be so that we're preventing the gap from grade level to grade level. We are filling them with the bare minimum and so much more, but if we get that part right, kids win.

Rena Clark 0:24 The topic for today's podcast is literacy, PLCs, and K–12 education with Paula Maeker. Unpacking Education is brought to you by AVID. AVID believes in seeing the potential of every student. To learn more about AVID, visit their website at avid.org. Welcome to Unpacking Education, the podcast where we explore current issues and best practices in education. I'm Rena Clark.

Paul Beckermann 0:55 I'm Paul Beckermann.

Winston Benjamin 0:56 And I'm Winston Benjamin. We are educators.

Paul Beckermann 1:00 And we're here to share insights and actionable strategies.

Transition Music with Rena's Children 1:05 Education is our passport to the future.

Rena Clark 1:09 Our quote for today is from our guest's book, Literacy in a PLC at Work. The authors, Paula Maeker and Jacqueline Heller, write: "We truly believe our students do not have any time for us to waste." That is right to the point. So, what do we think, Winston and Paul?

Winston Benjamin 1:30 I like straightforward. But also, this is pretty heavy. It really reminds me that each year we only have a student for one year, but each year of their school classes adds up to their lifetime. It's important for us to remember how short the year we have is in the lifespan of their experiences. We must not waste that time because bad teaching adds up to a bad life. You have to really take advantage of the one year we have with students each time we have them.

Paul Beckermann 2:05 I'm thinking on the same wavelength, and I'm thinking more about just a lesson. Each day has a finite number of minutes in it. We can waste a couple of minutes at the beginning and a couple of minutes at the end, and by the end of the year, that can add up to days of experience that we are not giving the kids. We have to be really intentional about how we use each and every minute of that class because we owe it to the kids. This is their one shot at it, so let's give it our best.

Rena Clark 2:37 Absolutely. Well, I'm excited to dig a little deeper into that. We are here to welcome Paula Maeker to the Unpacking Education podcast. Welcome, Paula.

Paula Maeker 2:48 Thank you so much.

Rena Clark 2:49 Paula is an educator, author, and advocate for learner-centered education. Her book, which she co-authored with Jacqueline Heller, is titled Literacy in a PLC at Work. Paula, just to ground our audience, could you let them know a little bit more about you and your story? We would love that.

Paula Maeker 3:17 I wish I had interesting things to say, but largely I'm just a scrappy educator. I started my career in Houston, Texas, in an area where students live in conditions of poverty and under-resourced communities. Immediately walking into that role, I had many people pouring into us as educators, whether it was coaches, consultants, leadership, or community wraparound services that helped us understand how important our work was.

I spent so much time in those schools and fell in love with many of the communities I was so lucky to serve. I noticed how critical literacy is to ensure students have equitable outcomes. I firmly believe in my 26 years as an educator—17 of those in a classroom—that our equitable outcomes for students depend greatly on our professional craft. Once you understand that, the urgency, passion, and joy are there, but so is the long road to figuring out how we really ensure all students learn at high levels.

I got really lucky to serve on a fifth-grade team that cracked the code through the PLC process. We had immense success with students who were two or more years below grade level. I am continuing on that journey of figuring it all out, understanding that we never fully will, but we're going to get closer and closer to that goal. By definition, "all" does not exclude any student. All students will reach grade-level expectations because of us, not in spite of us. Also, I am obsessed with Dolly Parton and have rescue dogs. Other than that, that about rounds out my story.

Paul Beckermann 5:28 Oddly enough, Winston, what's the name of your dog?

Winston Benjamin 5:32 My dog's name is Dolly Parton.

Paul Beckermann 5:37 It's serendipity. It's supposed to happen.

Winston Benjamin 5:41 She's a little blonde Chihuahua.

Paula Maeker 5:44 It is even better! At Christmas, she needs a little shirt that says, "Have a Holly Dolly Christmas."

Winston Benjamin 5:50 Her first Halloween, she was Dolly Parton walking around with a little guitar and hair—everything. I'm down with you, sister. The best woman in the world, Dolly Parton, gives away many books every year to help increase literacy across the country. She is one of my favorite human beings.

The fact that we now just talked about Dolly and the idea of literacy is important for grounding people and helping them understand why we're talking about this. Do you mind sharing the status of literacy in the US? How are we doing? What does the data say?

Paula Maeker 6:34 If we look pre-COVID—because obviously, with the interruption of the pandemic, you can't reach students with high levels of learning if they're not there with us—that data was not surprising. But if you go back to our national NAPE data in 2019, statistically, there is very little shift between fourth grade and high school seniors.

For both fourth graders and graduating high school seniors, we're looking at less than 40% of our students at grade-level proficiency. That's really interesting because that percentage hasn't changed much since 2015. We have over a decade of less than half of students reaching grade-level proficiency. For students living in conditions of poverty, only about 20% of our students are actually at proficiency. So, the status is that we have a lot of work to do.

I think we're getting closer. I think we know more now than we've ever known about how literacy works, the neuroscience behind it, and how to move forward, but we just haven't cracked the code of the system that needs to be in place to make that learning happen.

Paul Beckermann 8:05 Those are some pretty striking numbers. I'm wondering why literacy education is so central to school-wide improvement as a whole. Why is that the key?

Paula Maeker 8:25 If you think about what encompasses literacy, there is not a grade level or experience in school where there isn't listening, speaking, reading, writing, and discourse. Being both the producer and a consumer of text is essential; every aspect of learning leads back to an aspect of literacy. We say in our book that there absolutely cannot be school improvement without literacy improvement.

Rena Clark 8:59 Absolutely. Let's dig into your book a little bit more, Literacy in a PLC at Work. You introduced the TEAMS framework. Can you talk a little bit more about what that is and its purpose?

Paula Maeker 9:15 I spent most of my career in elementary school, and we love a good education acronym. Our mentors, Rick DuFour and Bob Eaker—two of the original architects of the PLC at Work process—talked about five critical components of building a professional learning community. We were trying to take the complex and make it simple. We wanted a way for teams to remember the structure of our work, and "TEAMS" beautifully worked out as the acronym.

T is for taking collective responsibility. It's not one person who has all the answers for every student they serve. It's us collectively betting on our hearts, minds, talents, and professional craft. We share the collaborative inquiry and the accountability of ensuring all students learn at high levels.

The E in TEAMS is "Ensure." We can't guarantee it all, so we ensure. That is a very specific verb that we chose. We will ensure on our watch that all students will reach grade-level proficiency or higher on what we deem absolutely essential. If they do not have this, there automatically will be a gap.

Then we have to Assess—not for the sake of a grade or some high-stakes state assessment, but because we are constantly hungry for information. Our assessment practices are about real-time data so that we can respond in kind and in time.

The next part is Measure. We've got to measure our own effectiveness. How is it going? Where did we get stuck in our craft? We must follow inquiry with action so that we learn more alongside the students.

Then we tie all that together with Support. Our job is to support systemically and system-wide. How do we respond to learning? It sounds so simple, right? But it really helped create that structure and systematic response that we collectively work through to ensure those equitable outcomes in literacy. It's not that we don't know enough about teaching; it's that we haven't been given a system that actually lifts us up in that work.

Winston Benjamin 12:33 I appreciate you trying to shift from a deep understanding of a complex thing to an understanding that allows action. Sometimes we can get paralyzed in the reflection and thought of that complexity. You talk about the systematic responses to the need for literacy. Why is it so important for us to prioritize the time spent on essential literacy outcomes, even though we have so many other things pulling us in every direction?

Paula Maeker 13:26 That's a wonderful question. I will tell you, it's the one that literacy educators tend to shy away from the most. The most common argument I hear is that all kids can learn at high levels, but we can't ensure all students learn all expectations or standards. It is absolutely essential that we take a look at the system from a global perspective: how much are we expected to put in front of students within a contractual school year and day? On the other side, how much are students expected to receive?

We already know that there is not enough time. There are too many expectations, and many of our students aren't starting Day One at grade level. What happens is we try to overcompensate. Our gut reaction is to do "all the things" because they need so much. But research has shown us for decades that when you try to cover everything, students will only learn a small amount. If you double down on what matters most and focus on what is absolutely critical, that becomes our collective guarantee.

Students will not leave us on June 4th without at least this knowledge. The misconception is that's all we teach, which is ridiculous in literacy. There is no way I could have a first-grade classroom without storytelling time, story writing time, researching, and inquiry. Yes, in March, I want us to research penguins and put together presentations because it's "March of the Penguins," but it cannot be at the expense of foundations.

First grade is so foundational that if students do not get the foundations of literacy and move to second grade, they are trying to recover everything. If students do not learn to read fluently and accurately by the end of second grade, they likely never will. If we know this is critical, that's what we've got to collectively ensure. It's what we collaborate around and build our entire system of interventions around. It's the absolute bare minimum that all students must walk away with. It's counterintuitive to say "less is more," but we have to do less better.

Paul Beckermann 16:58 You talk about essential literacy outcomes, and I know you've also written about four essential questions. What are those questions, and what tools or strategies can help guide teams through the process of reflecting on them?

Paula Maeker 17:15 The four critical questions we talk about in our book are based on the original architects of the PLC at Work framework. These questions guide our inquiry and action.

My fifth-grade team became a PLC by accident. We wanted to go to a conference in San Antonio because it was at the River Walk in the summer, and we thought it would be a fabulous team vacation. It just so happened the conference topic was PLC; we couldn't have cared less. But the moment we stepped in, we were hooked. By the end of Day One, we moved to the front row because it's the first time we had ever heard a doable, viable process designed for teachers to make learning happen for every student.

The first question is: What must they learn? What are the essentials? The second question is: How will we know? What information do we need to understand where students are? Question three is: What will we do when they aren't at grade level? How will we move them to grade level or beyond? And Question four is: What will we do when we learn they are already at proficiency?

It sounds simple, but the work is still complex. It was an actionable framework. Previously, we threw data in the middle of the table and "admired problems." We spent a lot of time talking about things out of our control. One of my teammates often said, "Y'all get out of the rocking chair!" It was our reminder that being in a rocking chair keeps you busy, but you don't go anywhere. These questions became the story of our collaboration. Our team went from 58% of our students meeting proficiency on state assessments to 100% within two years.

Rena Clark 21:06 I love that. I know a lot of people understand "PLC," but what it truly is meant to be is often different than what we call "PLC Light." What are some of those obstacles or struggles in getting students to read on grade level that you've seen, and how can we overcome them?

Paula Maeker 21:51 One thing we struggle with, particularly in elementary, is building a student's concept awareness and schema—that background knowledge. Many of the students I serve who are living in conditions of poverty or learning multiple languages need the vocabulary for comprehension and engagement.

We find that the more we can have students reading, engaging, talking, and writing—even if it's just "squigglies" when they're four—that background knowledge builds deeper understanding. Honestly, one of the first trainings I went to was an AVID training that talked about the power of inquiry and asking questions. It's not about having the right answer; it's about having the conversation.

As we move beyond grades K, 1, and 2, the number one data source is foundational literacy. I hear so often that "these kids can't read." When they are reading on a second-grade level in sixth or ninth grade, they cannot access the text independently. Meaning falls apart because they're too busy trying to crack the code of what the words are. Those are the biggest obstacles we tackle.

Winston Benjamin 24:11 You mentioned that the first three grades are so valuable. You've also discussed fifth grade. Could you describe what literacy looks like in secondary school and how that focus changes? How do middle school concepts compile to support high school literacy?

Paula Maeker 24:50 This is interesting because we often leave literacy in secondary to the ELA team. I do think there are components that require explicit instruction, but it's less about that and more about integrated literacy. I'm not just a producer and consumer of text in English class; I'm trying to read, synthesize, and create new meaning in every subject all day.

Literacy in secondary is an application—an advancement of being able to think through text in a meaningful way. I remember an instructional coach saying literacy doesn't need to be collaborated around because "we have our novels set, starting with To Kill a Mockingbird and moving to Romeo and Juliet."

Those are rich experiences, but how are we taking our Romeo and Juliet thinking and transferring it into text we've never experienced before? The real measure of comprehension isn't discussing what someone led me through; it's the meaning I can make for myself. That is why literacy is so critical in elementary—that's where we get the skills so that we can richly and deeply apply them in multiple ways later.

Paul Beckermann 27:32 I'm a former English teacher, and that resonates with me. There is another phrase we hear a lot when adopting new curriculum: GVC, or "Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum." We also hear: "Teach this curriculum with fidelity." What does that mean to you, and how do you suggest we navigate the tightrope of "loose and tight" in literacy instruction?

Paula Maeker 28:10 A guaranteed and viable curriculum cannot be a scripted or published resource; if it is, it's no longer guaranteed or viable. What it is is vetted. High-quality instructional resources are a relief because I'm not trying to go to eight different sites to pull a text about Jackie Robinson.

But we often expect that if teachers just use a program with "fidelity," kids will learn. How is that working out for us? We spend millions of dollars every year on the next "shiny thing" trying to make programs teach students instead of building the expertise of teachers so that when they reach for a tool, they know what job it is helping them do.

I've been written up twice in my career. The first was worth it; the second was because of a district mandate to follow a resource with fidelity. It was timed by the minute. By 8:14, I was supposed to move from word study to vocabulary. The leadership team walked in with clipboards at 8:17, and my students were still on word study because they were trying to figure out when the suffix "-ion" went with an "s" or a "t." They were trying to crack the code, and there was amazing student discourse happening.

The leadership pointed to the clock. I said, "Thank you so much. Would you like to hear our theories?" They said, "That's not what we're here for," and walked out. I had never felt less supported. I had a call to the principal's office and had to sign a letter of insubordination. So many teachers are programmed to believe purchased materials are the only way, but access must be through teacher expertise. The tool must be used with integrity, not just fidelity.

Winston Benjamin 32:36 I love that story. I'm going to let that breathe for a second because I love that. Let's shift to our toolkit—what is our toolkit we will use with integrity?

Transition Music with Rena's Children 33:01 Check it out. Check it out. What's in the toolkit? Check it out.

Winston Benjamin 33:12 Paul and Rena, what is a tool you would like to throw into our toolkit this week?

Paul Beckermann 33:22 Mine feels inadequate now! I'm thinking back to our quote and not wasting time. It's about not wasting time at the beginning of class and having bell-ringer activities. Kids come in and know exactly what to do. There is safety in that routine. It gets kids' thinking on the right track while the teacher takes attendance. It's a small thing, but it adds up to a lot by the end.

Rena Clark 34:20 I was just thinking about my CTE game design class today. We were close reading an article about obstacles. The kids said, "But this is game class!" I told them we have to understand the concepts. Literacy is so important. Close reading—whether of an article or a video—is important in every content area.

Winston Benjamin 35:15 I agree. I'm going to say that all secondary teachers should take on a literacy practice from elementary that focuses on decoding for multilingual learners. As a Jamaican kid, there were certain accents I couldn't get. To this day, I get mad at the word "upholstery" because in my head I hear an "a," but it's "up-holstery." Recognizing that students are trying to decode through multiple cultural and language contexts is valuable. Paula, do you have a tool?

Paula Maeker 36:12 I'm old school. Back in the day, we were taught to annotate text, very much like Cornell Notes through the AVID program. Having students capture their thinking in text—capturing key details and making a "Table of Contents" of their thoughts—is one of the best tools. It hits reading, writing, inquiry, and organization. I'm doubling down on annotation.

Paul Beckermann 37:07 I love that. All right, it's time for our "One Thing."

Transition Music 37:14 It's time for that one thing.

Rena Clark 37:34 I'm going to use the saying: "Get out of the rocking chair." You can be busy and work hard, but if you aren't getting anywhere, you need to assess what you want your students to know and how you are measuring that. Get out of your rocking chair.

Winston Benjamin 38:06 Don't put the method over the mission. Our goal is to have our students learn. Sometimes we get caught in the methods and not the mission of learning.

Paul Beckermann 38:33 I'm dwelling on the importance of background knowledge. I can read a word, but if I have no context for it, I have no idea what it means. When everything is focused only on reading and math in elementary schools, we lose social studies and science, and then we lose the context that helps kids put meaning to words. We have to bring that back.

Rena Clark 39:27 Absolutely. Paula, what's that last thing for us?

Paula Maeker 39:31 I'm going to say essentialism: doing less exceptionally well. Choosing what that "less" must be prevents the gap from grade level to grade level. If we get that part right, kids win. Less but better.

Paul Beckermann 40:05 Kids win. I love that. It's like a math equation: Less is Better = Kids Win.

Rena Clark 40:12 Another T-shirt.

Paula Maeker 40:13 Just send me one!

Rena Clark 40:22 It's been so lovely to have you join us today. You've made us think deeply. Check out Paula's book, Literacy in a PLC at Work.

Paula Maeker 40:39 Thank you so much.

Paul Beckermann 40:41 Where can they get one?

Paula Maeker 40:44 On Amazon or through our publisher, Solution Tree, directly through their website.

Rena Clark 40:53 Thanks for listening to Unpacking Education.

Winston Benjamin 40:57 We invite you to visit us at avidopenaccess.org, where you can discover resources to support student agency and academic tenacity to create a classroom for future-ready learners.

Paul Beckermann 41:10 We'll be back here next Wednesday for a fresh episode.

Rena Clark 41:14 And remember: go forth and be awesome.

Winston Benjamin 41:18 Thank you for all you do.

Paul Beckermann 41:21 You make a difference.