Explain What Constitutes A Highly Effective Professional Learning Community

Schools are constantly looking for ways in which to improve. Research has revealed several attributes of a school that proves to lead towards student learning and higher achievement including strong leadership, clear and shared mission, vision, values, and goals, collective inquiry, action oriented, collaborative teams that work interdependently, a focus on student learning and results oriented. These ideas are represented within a Professional Learning Community (PLC). To become a PLC, a staff must make changes in their actions and work together focusing on student learning. PLC’s have evolved out of failed school reform measures. It attempts to make permanent changes to a school’s culture to affect change in student

This PLC has begun to make assertions as to where student’s needs are, however their assertions would be more valid had they presented concrete data to prove their assertions. Should this PLC had used data to support their assumptions through a common formative assessment, and then analyze that data, they would become much more effective than they already

Roberts, S. & Pruitt, E. (2003). Schools as Professional Learning Communities: Collaborative Activities and Strategies for Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

I approach collaboration as a team player, and I believe students need more than one person to guide them to their full educational potential. Also, active and prepared participation of weekly PLC meetings with the teachers of my special education students to plan collaborative curriculum have increased results in math and reading substantially. Participating in co-teaching furthers my repertoire of knowledge to assist my students. I have learned a vast amount from sharing and consulting with colleagues regarding students, observing mentoring teachers, and planning activities to ensure growth in students.

Unfortunately, thorough research on the impact of professional development on student achievement is limited because it is challenging, complex and expensive to study. Nonetheless, Hoaglund, Birkenfeld, and Box, (2015), conducted a study that illustrated that learning communities are viable tools for providing professional development to both pre-service teachers and current teachers. Their study showed how a group of pre-service teachers and their supervisors participated in a professional experience learning community for two terms prior to the pre-service teacher’s junior year at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Questionnaires and interviews were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The results of the study indicated that all participants valued the experience and consequently were able to gain and identify some benefits of a professional learning community (PLC). Participants specifically reported a greater appreciation of collaboration with more experienced educators as a practical way of solving issues and implementing processes and procedures for increasing student achievement. The activities incorporated within the

During our second Bear Creek visit, I observed the English Language Arts Professional Learning Community also known as ELA. When I first heard about the PLC, I was surprised because it is a brilliant concept. I never knew this existed. The English Language Arts PLC ran smoothly because the teacher that was presenting knew the standard she was going to focus on and how she was going to present the content to the students. All of the ELA teachers also had a schedule about how the meeting was going to flow so that no one was confused. They also used technology to present the standards and the content so that all of the teachers could see and make suggestions and ask questions. One teacher was questioned about why she chose a particular book

Dr. Fremstad has been instrumental in the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at West Fargo High School. She understands the power of teacher collaboration and has led the charge to train and monitor the program with fidelity. Jennifer has inspired educators to share student evidence of learning and extend intervention or enrichment learning opportunities based on the data. In addition, she advocates on the importance of frequent classroom visitations with her leadership team and establishes annual visitation goals to support teachers and

PLC's where instructors work cooperatively to ponder their practice, inspect proof about the relationship in the among practice and student results, and roll out improvements that enhance showing and learning for the specific students in their classes (Kagle, 2014).

Additionally, PLC has equipped me with skills that will help me in my future at OU and beyond. Participating in activities such as U-Zoo, SOI, or Strengths Finder 2.0 helped me discover my leadership style and how it can benefit me in group settings. Understanding what my role is as a leader will help me when it comes to

Though the idea of working collaboratively is not a new one, the concept of professional learning communities (PLCs) has recently become very popular in education. During the summer of 2012, the Pasco County School District introduced the concept of PLCs into its schools in an effort to improve student learning in this era of increased educational scrutiny and accountability. Department heads suddenly found themselves relabeled PLC facilitators and called to attend two days of summer training meant to prepare them to lead PLCs once the school year began. The other PLC participants, the

1). Consequently, teachers need training and support through professional learning communities (PLC) as they “…have proven to be a cornerstone of effective teaching and, in underperforming schools, a catalyst for improvement” (Farbman, Goldberg, & Miller, 2014, p. 10). As a result, my plan proposes following Claudet’s model of a change agent (2011) by inspiring stakeholders to become collaborative partners in remedying academic gaps. It begins with the faculty analyzing student data scores to prioritize topics, designing a timeframe to meet goals, and identifying the stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Once this is determined, several teachers would attend summer or fall training sessions to develop strategies to address the learning needs of low-achieving students because “…collective leadership has positive effects on student achievement” (Barth, 2001, p. 12). The trained teachers would provide monthly PLC activities to cultivate developmental and cultural instructional strategies, analyze student progress, share successes, and problem-solve concerns. Measurement of the effectiveness of the training occurs through staff participation, observations, and classroom formative and summative assessments, as recorded through the software programs provided to the teachers at the beginning of the

Mrs Parks also revealed that her building does have PLCs. When probed further, Mrs Parks explained that teachers would read books about a particular topic and then report out to their team (usually grade level). She also stated that the activities are done after school on a voluntary basis. Though this has some aspects of a PLC, I feel that it is not a PLC. It may be more beneficial to develop a school wide plan including a mission and goal. Time should be allocated within the school day with teachers mandated to attend and

To further help the veteran teachers and the new teachers coming in, professional development will require an ongoing commitment from all levels of the school organization. There will need to be resources available to help guide the teachers’ professional development. The adoption of professional learning communities (PLC’s) within the school and district supporting them is paramount. The continued development will help the teachers implement PBL (Rosenblatt, 2012)

Some teachers are naturally hesitant to try new things, but I present the program as a trial run, the teachers know that if we implement something that’s not working we will examine steps to fix it together.” My principal does a great job with this, she listens to the teacher’s ideas or suggestions and will find solutions to any problem. Next, I asked, “What are some benefits and challenges of PLCs?” Ms. Alexander paused and thought for a moment, “the benefits are that teachers work together with a purpose, they talk about student learning, and the teachers share the same vision. The challenge is maintaining consistency across the board and motivating every teacher to stay committed.” I have witnessed the challenge with maintaining consistency on a few occasions at my school. For instance, teachers were randomly grouped together for a teambuilding activity, in which teachers had to share with their group members common challenges they face every school year. The group members then developed a short list of tips or strategies that the teacher could use to remedy whatever challenges they were facing. As

Traditionally, teacher development typically occurs through trial and error in the isolated confinements of each teacher’s classroom with some periodic whole-group professional development (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Within the past few decades, many schools and districts, including ours, have considered and experimented with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as an alternative framework in guiding a more efficient development program for their teachers. PLCs are focused on enhancing student learning through developing teacher practices. The concept of PLC relies on using structured collaborative sessions amongst teachers within the school to build internal capacity. Through PLCs, teachers critically reflect on current