“Professional Learning Communities Impact Student Success” https://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Leadership_Compass/2007/LC2007v5n2a3.pdf
“A Situated Account of Teacher Agency and Learning: Critical Reflections on Professional Learning Communities” (Peer Review Journal) http://eric.ed.gov/?q=professional+learning+communities&pr=on&id=EJ968812
Professional learning communities (PLC) is a framework that schools are using to improve student learning. The focus of the PLC is “on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results” (DuFour, 2004). The PLC model focuses on four “Big Ideas.” These four principles are ensuring that students learn, a culture of collaboration, a focus on results, and hard work and commitment. To ensure the student learning, PLC addresses not only what each student should learn and what will be used to measure if they did, but also how to help those students that struggle to learn it. The second principle focuses on collaboration between teachers “to analyze and improve their Classroom practice (DuFour, 2004). The third principle is where teachers focus on individual student achievement and what they can do to help the students improve. The most important principle of a PLC is about the hard work and commitment of the teachers. With collaboration being an essential part of a PLC, communication needs to be open between all involved. There are a couple of things that could provide negative effects on collaboration if not addressed. According to Daoudi and Bourgault, different work practices, such as “different objectives and priorities among sites involved in the project, different ways of handling technical issues, the difference of decision-making processes, and different working conditions,” can easily breakdown the effectiveness of collaboration. In “Five Dysfunctions of a Professional Learning Community,” Weber mentions the lack of communication can occur when teachers are not taking advantage of technologies to help make collaboration possible. “Some communication barriers occur because teachers fail to take advantage of e-mail, discussion threads, Web 2.0 tools (such as blogs, wikis, Google docs), and other methods of communicating between meetings (2011).
In the article “Professional Learning Communities Impact Student Success”, Rentfro writes about how South Elementary in Eldon, Missouri, has been successful in using PLC to improve student learning. South Elementary teachers collaborate together “by writing common assessments, planning curriculum, and sharing teaching duties” (2007). The PLCs meet by grade-level twice a week and have a common planning period each day. They keep a notebook that contains meeting agendas, data from assessments, and progress of at risk students. South Elementary uses frequent common assessments to monitor student learning. It is from this data that they determine which students need additional support to improve their achievement level. Interventions, like Systematic Intervention in Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, and Sight Words, are used across grade levels at the same time so that flexible grouping is possible. South Elementary also meets with the administration team three times a year to identify and monitor at-risk students. The PLC success at South Elementary is evident in the data. The school showed a 24.1 percent gain in the Missouri Assessment Program between 2001 and 2005. South has also received national recognition by All Things PLC for its use of the PLC model and as a Missouri Model PLC for the past two years.
The peer-reviewed journal “A Situated Account of Teacher Agency and Learning: Critical Reflections on Professional Learning Communities” states that collaboration is not a new thought in education reform. By looking at the history of education reform, Riveros, Newton, and Burgess found that “school improvement initiatives focused on peer collaboration, like professional learning communities, need to engage in deeper reflection about the nature of action and practices in schools” (2012). They discuss how a deeper reflection can reveal a reality of conflict within the school. This reality can be that “whoever disagrees with the institutionalized discourse will fall outside the boundaries of the institutional dynamics, unperceived as an actor” (Riveros, 2012). Schools must eliminate variables like political climate or social reality for teachers to examine educational practices that would increase student learning. When these variables are present in the school, the thought of change in educational practices will find resistance from teachers. It is also mentioned that for educational practices to change enactment, the process of actively transforming the environment through action, needs to take place. “The concept of enactment implies a different way of explaining why people’s understanding of reform initiatives influences the way reform is implemented” (Riveros, 2012). It is through the implementation of reform that teachers understand why the change needs to happen.
In looking closely at all five articles about the PLC, it was evident that collaboration is key to success. When looking closer, you will find differences about what collaboration needs to work. DuFour states that for collaboration to be successful “teams must develop norms or protocols to clarify expectations regarding roles, responsibilities, and relationships among team members” (2004). Every teacher must feel like an equal and be open to sharing with the group. South Elementary, in the article written by Rentfro, seems to have had success with collaboration because of one reason: time (2007). Teams have two collaborative planning times every week, have a one-hour early release on Wednesdays, and meet three times a year with the administration. There is also professional development provided throughout the year and common planning time. With time like this allowed for collaboration, teams can focus on their four critical questions. These questions are the same ones that DuFour mentions in his article: What do we want students to learn? How will we know if they have learned it? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty or do not learn it? South Elementary has a fourth question they focus on. What do we do if they do learn it? They look at enrichment for students. Time is needed for teams to work together and create common assessments, analyze the data, and discuss changes in teaching practices. Riveros, newton, and Burgess found the environment could affect the collaboration of the group. Teachers must feel that there is meaningful and supportive relationships within the school and group. If teachers feel that the environment is one where a certain change is expected, they will resist being open when collaborating with the group. Daoudi and Bourgault find that successful collaboration cannot happen when differences like objectives, handling of technical issues, decision-making, and working conditions are evident within the team. Weber’s article “Five Dysfunctions of a Professional Learning Community” is the only article that overlaps with the others since it mentions five reasons a PLC could fail. Lack of norms, team goals, trust, communication, and essential learning outcomes are all things that the team must work together to create. In all the articles read, collaboration must be present for a PLC to be successful in improving student learning.
When a PLC is implemented in a school, teachers must understand why there is a shift from teaching to learning. Riveros, Newton, and Burgess found the acceptance of this shift and willingness from teacher so change depends on the environment. Before student learning can improve, teachers must understand that there is no hidden agenda, no one answer. Teachers must be open to discussing new ways to help the student that are struggling to learn. The first year our school created time for PLCs there were teachers that felt like their thoughts and ideas were not equal to other group members. I remember a fellow group member telling me that she had nothing to say in our PLC because the “new” strategies to try with students was already being implemented before we had even looked at any data. She was use to being told how things had to be done or new things to try. It is in this type of environment where teachers will not be open to changing the strategies they use in the classroom, which will lead to no improvement in student learning. When the school environment is one of trust and collaboration can happen between teachers, we will find data being looked at and new strategies being implemented into the classrooms. Interventions being used for students who need the concepts taught in a different way. When teacher are open to collaborating and sharing their thoughts and ideas, student learning will improve.
Daoudi, J. & Bourgault, M. (2012). Discontinuity and collaboration: Theory and evidence from technological projects. International Journal of Innovation Management, 16(6), 1240012-1 - 1240012-15.
DuFour, R. (2004). What is a "professional learning community?" Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6-11.
Rentfro, E.R. (2007). Professional learning communities impact student success. Leadership Compass. Retrieved from https://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Leadership_Compass/2007/LC2007v5n2a3.pdf
Riveros, A., Newton, P. & Burgess, D. (2012). A situated account of teacher agency and learning: critical reflections on professional learning communities. Canadian Journal of Education, 35(1). Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ968812
Weber, Steven. (2011). Five Dysfunctions of a Professional Learning Community. The Whole Child. Retrieved from http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/five-dysfunctions-of-a-professional-
learning-community
