THE MATH
PLC TUNE-UP
10 Indicators to Get
Collaboration Back
on Track
Kristen Eveland
Duane Habecker
Cole Sampson
With contributions from
Lori Cook
The tune-up for the math PLCs you already have.
Ten warning lights and a clear path from meeting together to learning together.
Book Overview:
What if your math PLC became a place where teachers and students genuinely learn?
Most schools already have PLC time on the calendar. The harder question is whether that time is improving mathematics teaching and learning. The Math PLC Tune-Up helps teams diagnose ten common warning lights, from meetings without a clear purpose and conversations that avoid the mathematics to data with no next move and decisions that never reach classrooms.
Math-specific but compatible with the PLC framework a school already uses, the book helps teams strengthen collaboration without replacing the structures they have already built.
What You'll Find Inside:
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A ten-indicator dashboard for identifying which warning light is flashing
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Protocols for doing mathematics together and studying student thinking
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Tools for turning evidence into a clear instructional next move
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Practical examples, self-assessments, and manageable action steps
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Leadership guidance for strengthening trust, implementation, and follow-through
“These are not assignments.
They are invitations.”
Who Should Read This Book?
For K-8 mathematics teachers, PLC facilitators, instructional coaches, teacher leaders, principals, and school leaders who want their existing PLC time to produce deeper learning for teachers and students.
![Math-PLC-Tune-UP---Cover-[Recovered].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/695e19_676c6fabb03143c795b16251fda25cef~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_809,h_1098,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/695e19_676c6fabb03143c795b16251fda25cef~mv2.png)
Why This Book Matters
The Problem:
Schools have invested substantial time in PLCs, but many math teams remain consumed by logistics, pacing, data reporting, and planning that does not change teaching or learning.
Why Traditional Approaches Fall Short:
Generic PLC guidance often treats mathematics as subject-neutral and assumes that scheduled collaboration will automatically produce professional learning.
What Makes This Book Different:
The book is math-specific, diagnostic, modular, and compatible with existing PLC frameworks, using ten warning lights to connect recognizable problems with practical repairs.
Why Now Is the Right Time:
Schools already possess the collaboration infrastructure they need, making a focused tune-up more practical and sustainable than adding another initiative or replacing the current model.
“The team has the P and the C, but there is no L going on.”
“I just told him, ‘That’s the rule.’
I felt like a fraud.”
- Marcus, teacher vignette in Indicator 3
Meet The Authors
Kristen Eveland
Kristen Eveland is a partner consultant with The Core Collaborative and an experienced elementary educator, curriculum coach, and Impact Team coach. She spent 13 years teaching grades K-6 in San Diego before moving into K-8 district curriculum coaching, where she supported new and veteran teachers, facilitated curriculum adoptions in mathematics and other content areas, and helped lead large-scale instructional change. Her work emphasizes making mathematics relevant and understandable, strengthening problem solving, and helping PLCs learn from student thinking. In The Math PLC Tune-Up, Kristen brings the classroom and coaching perspective needed to make collaborative learning practical, supportive, and immediately useful to teachers.
Duane Habecker
Duane Habecker is Director of Continuous Improvement at the Merced County Office of Education, where he supports districts, schools, teachers, and leaders through curriculum-based professional learning and the effective use of high-quality instructional materials. His career includes more than two decades teaching mathematics in grades 6-9, service as a mathematics instructional coach, and county-level leadership in mathematics and continuous improvement. He has also created extensive online mathematics resources for educators and families. In The Math PLC Tune-Up, Duane brings deep expertise in mathematical models, conceptual understanding, teacher learning, and the structures that help PLCs move from talking about mathematics to doing and understanding it together.
Cole Sampson, Ed.D.
Cole Sampson, Ed.D. is Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. He leads curriculum, professional learning, and improvement efforts and oversees California’s Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership, a statewide initiative aligned with the California Mathematics Framework. Earlier in his county-office work, he coordinated K-12 mathematics support and led collaborative curriculum development for districts across Kern County. His leadership centers on deeper conceptual understanding, student-centered instruction, coherent professional learning, and equitable access to high-quality mathematics. In The Math PLC Tune-Up, Cole contributes the system-level perspective on how leaders protect PLC time, build shared capacity, remove barriers, and help collaborative decisions reach classrooms.
Contributions from
Lori Cook
Lori Cook is a partner consultant with The Core Collaborative whose work focuses on formative practice, Impact Teams, curriculum design, and high-quality mathematics instruction. She brings 15 years of classroom experience and has also served in administration as an Achievement Director, where she led professional learning, systemwide curriculum alignment, and unit planning. Lori has coached elementary, middle, and high school educators in effective mathematics strategies and learning environments and has supported K-12 curriculum teams through design and implementation. As a contributor to The Math PLC Tune-Up, she strengthens the book’s practical connection among mathematical clarity, collaborative inquiry, curriculum coherence, and the day-to-day work of helping teachers improve instruction together.
Book Features
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Practical Tools:
Ten self-assessment continuums, reflection questions, week-month-quarter invitations, protocol guidance, sentence starters, and leadership planning structures help teams move from diagnosis to action.
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Student-Thinking Applications:
The book helps teams examine strategies, misconceptions, representations, explanations, and evidence of understanding rather than sorting student work only by correctness.
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Realistic Vignettes:
Room 34, Marcus, Maria and James, Seth and Mia, Lakeside, Linda, and Pockets of Excellence make each warning light recognizable without blaming teachers.
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Leadership Applications:
PDSA, Check-Ins, Evidence Walks, guiding coalitions, and the Six Leadership Steps help leaders protect collaboration time, remove barriers, and support implementation.
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Mathematics Examples:
Decimal multiplication, fraction comparison, student brownie-sharing work, mathematical representations, and standards progressions reveal the mathematics beneath procedures and shortcuts.
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Professional Learning Applications:
The modular chapters, protocols, self-assessments, and action invitations support book studies, facilitator development, coaching, induction, leadership learning, and district PLC improvement.
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