Building Professional Learning Communities

What is a Professional Learning Community?

Ongoing teams that meet on a regular basis to learn, plan lessons, and solve problems.  

Mission

Commitment to continuous improvement in daily work to advance student achievement.

Learning Communities may be various sizes and serve different purposes based on areas of need and interest.

A Learning Community is a practical way to improve teaching and learning.

Teachers assist each other in examining student standards, planning lessons, critiquing student work and solving problems of teaching.

Identify needs and ways to meet those needs by– Acquiring necessary skills or behaviors– Observing each other in classroom settings– Sharing job related strengths

Professional learning communities can be a powerful staff development approach and a potent strategy for school change and improvement.

Attributes of Learning Communities: Five Dimensions

1. Supportive and Shared Leadership.

2. Shared Values and Vision.

3. Collective Learning and Application of Learning (Collective Creativity).

4. Supportive Conditions.

5. Physical conditions and human capacities that support such an operation.

Procedures for Developing Learning Communities

 Collaboration embedded into daily work– purposeful           – structured             – facilitated             – accountability

Training in collaboration Collective work-shared lessons, student work

Procedures for Developing Learning Communities, continued

Protecting shared values Celebrating progress-individual and

collective Reflective dialogue

Procedures for Developing Learning Communities, continued

Curricular focus-             – collaborative adoption process– research-based, use of data assessment

model         – commitment to continuous improvement

Role of leadership-           – be fixated on results,            – focus on learning rather than teaching, – shared decision making

Determine need             Identify facilitator Set scheduled meeting times and dates Identify barriers and boosters Assign Learning Community roles Establish ground rules for Community

First Steps

Results of Professional Learning Communities in Action for Teachers

Reduction of teacher isolation            Increased commitment to the mission and goals of the school Shared responsibility for the total development of students and

their success Creation of new knowledge and beliefs about teaching and

learners      Higher likelihood that teachers will be well informed,

professionally renewed, and inspired to inspire students More satisfaction, higher morale, and lower rates of

absenteeism 

Results of Professional Learning Communities for Students

Decreased dropout rate and fewer classes “skipped”          

Lower rates of absenteeism Greater academic gains in math, science,

history, and reading than in traditional schools

Smaller achievement gaps between students from different backgrounds 

**Communication is key.

Resources

DuFour,R. & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional Learning Communities at Work. National Educational Service.

http://www.teachinflorida.com/teachertoolkit/PLC.htm

http://www.nsdc.org/standards/learningcommunities.cfm