Download or read book School District Actions that Support the Development of Professional Learning Communities in High Schools written by Gregory Carl Axelson and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gap exists in education research in the area of district support for campus-based professional learning communities (PLCs). The current study was an examination of practitioner perceptions of district structures and practices that support the development and sustainability of PLCs in public high schools. I examined the perceptions of 341 teachers, campus administrators, and district administrators in a suburban North Texas public school district with three comprehensive high schools. Using a sequential mixed-method design, quantitative data from an electronic survey and qualitative data from face-to-face interviews were collected and analyzed. The findings revealed a generally positive view of central office support among the participants, including consistent ratings from each high school, each campus-level position, each content area, and each level of experience in the district. There was some misalignment of perceptions between campus-level and district-level staff. The study also uncovered a set of best and worst district practices, the six PLC strengtheners and six PLC inhibitors, which were synthesized into a set of recommendations and guidelines for district support for high school PLCs. From participant feedback, I concluded district support is needed and desired by high school practitioners and there are specific district practices and structures that are most effective. While the study results provide a practical set of recommendations for school districts for supporting high school PLC efforts, expanded research is necessary to confirm transferability to school districts of diverse sizes, locations, and demographics.
Download or read book Professional Learning Communities at Work written by Richard DuFour and published by Solution Tree. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides specific information on how to transform schools into results-oriented professional learning communities, describing the best practices that have been used by schools nationwide.
Download or read book Schools as Professional Learning Communities written by Sylvia M. Roberts and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Build a community in your school and improve learning outcomes with this one-stop sourcebook that features the latest educational issues, new research-based strategies and activities, and more!
Download or read book Leading Professional Learning Communities written by Shirley M. Hord and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2008-02-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine all professionals in all schools engaged in continuous professional learning! Education experts Shirley M. Hord and William A. Sommers explore the school-based learning opportunities offered to school professionals and the principal's critical role in the creation, development, and support of an effective professional learning community (PLC). This book provides school leaders with readily accessible information to guide them in initiating and developing a PLC that supports teachers and students. Using field-tested examples, the text illustrates how this research-based school improvement model can help educators: Increase leadership capacity Embed professional development into daily work Create a positive school culture Develop accountability Boost student achievement
Download or read book Building School Based Teacher Learning Communities written by Milbrey W. McLaughlin and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on extensive evidence that school-based teacher learning communities improve student outcomes, this book lays out an agenda to develop and sustain collaborative professional cultures. McLaughlin and Talbert—foremost scholars of school change and teaching contexts—provide an inside look at the processes, resources, and system strategies that are necessary to build vibrant school-based teacher learning communities. Offering a compelling, straightforward blueprint for action, this book: Takes a comprehensive look at the problem of improving the quality of teaching across the United States, based on evidence and examples from the authors’ nearly two decades of research.Demonstrates how and why school-based teacher learning communities are bottom-line requirements for improved instruction. Outlines the resources and supports needed to build and sustain a long-term school-based teacher professional community. Discusses the nature of high-quality professional development to support learning and changes in teaching.Details the roles and responsibilities of policymakers at all levels of the school system. “This book offers vivid examples of how teacher learning communities are formed and sustained. A must-read for educators at all levels who are serious about enacting change.” —Amy M. Hightower, Assistant Director, American Federation of Teachers
Download or read book Professional Learning Communities written by Louise Stoll and published by McGraw-Hill Education (UK). This book was released on 2007-03-16 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “All who are interested and concerned about educational reform and the improvement of schools will find this book a must read. It stimulates, it challenges, and it informs, such that the reader is most surely enriched by its plenitude.” Dr Shirley Hord, Scholar Emerita “At last we have a book of international cases to add to the literature on networks! Policymakers and practitioners alike will find the reasons why networks are fast becoming the reform organizations of choice. The book elevates network understanding to a new level.” Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundationfor the Advancement of Teaching What is a professional learning community? What are the key challenges facing these communities and how might they be resolved? Is it time to extend our thinking about professional learning communities? There is great interest internationally in the potential of professional learning communities for enhancing educational reform efforts and sustaining improvement. This international collection expands perceptions and understanding of professional learning communities, as well as highlighting frequently neglected complexities and challenges. Drawing on research, each chapter offers a deeper understanding of topics such as distributed leadership, dialogue, organisational memory, trust, self-assessment and inquiry, and purpose linked to learning. The last section of the book focuses upon three of the most challenging dilemmas that face developing professional learning communities - developing professional learning communities in secondary school, building social capital, and sustaining professional learning communities. The authors provide pointers on why these challenges exist, offering rays of hope for ways forward. Professional Learning Communities is key international reading for education professionals, school practitioners, policymakers, academics and research students. It is a must-read for anyone interested in building capacity for sustainable learning and the ability to harness your community as a resource for change.
Download or read book Learning Together Leading Together written by Shirley M. Hord and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2004-01-05 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increasingly the education world is recognizing that the development of learning communities is an effective means for improving schools without increasing the budget or adding new programs. This indispensible volume offers practical advice gathered from 22 schools (elementary, middle, and high schools) that have successfully modeled or are creating professional learning communities.
Download or read book Every School Every Team Every Classroom written by Robert Eaker and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this sequel to Total Instructional Alignment, the author peels back complex layers of the change process to reveal the five big ideas at the core of successful schools. Focus on these foundational ideas to simplify decision making and eliminate distractions from your efforts to promote effective teaching and learning. Teachers and administrators alike will appreciate this straightforward approach to solid leadership for school improvement.
Download or read book What Works in Schools written by Robert J. Marzano and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2003 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Schools can and do affect student achievement, and this book recommends specific-and attainable-action steps to implement successful strategies culled from the wealth of research data.
Download or read book Supporting New Professional Learning Communities in a Rural Comprehensive High School written by Dale Morris Simpson (Jr.) and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This action research case study examined the benefits and challenges experienced by social studies teachers when developing new professional learning communities (PLCs). Additionally, the study sought to assess how interventions developed by a school leadership team supported the development of these new PLCs, if at all. The study examined three research questions: 1. What benefits do high school social studies teachers experience when engaging in new professional learning communities? 2. What challenges do high school social studies teachers experience when engaging in new professional learning communities? 3. How do interventions developed by a school leadership team support the development of new professional learning communities, if at all? The results of this study have several implications for school leaders. First, findings indicate that PLCs could be a worthwhile initiative for improving schools in terms of both school culture and student achievement. Second, administrators should not expect teachers to achieve high levels of collaboration immediately. Instead, teachers need to spend their initial time getting to know each other, and calibrating their beliefs and philosophies. Third, administrators should not utilize the PLC framework to mandate identical instruction across classrooms. While consistency was developed through this process, teachers strove to maintain their own individuality as teachers. Finally, if teachers are expected to collaborate, they must receive the structural and relational supports needed to sustain their work. In this study, these supports included time to meet during the school day, common unit assessments and a rapid data analysis tool to collect and analyze student learning data, and the supportive leadership of a department chair and school leadership team.
Download or read book Guiding Professional Learning Communities written by Shirley M. Hord and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This research-based sequel to Leading Professional Learning Communities focuses on the practical process of implementing, improving, and sustaining PLCs. Appropriate for groups at all stages of PLC development, this field book helps educators improve PLC operations by facilitating individual and group development and growth. The authors provide learning opportunities that generate conversations about adult learning and contribute to supportive conditions that strengthen teacher quality and raise student outcomes.
Download or read book Reach the Highest Standard in Professional Learning Learning Communities written by Shirley M. Hord and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2013-11-20 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When teachers learn from each other, students reap the benefits. The first in a series exploring each of Learning Forward’s seven Standards for Professional Learning, this book helps readers understand what it takes to establish and maintain professional learning communities (PLCs) so they increase educator effectiveness and provide the best outcomes for students. This definitive volume details how the Learning Forward standards for professional learning can be applied successfully in any school, and includes: An original essay designed to stretch readers’ thinking by introducing the underlying theory, research, and practice behind learning communities A guide to implementing the Learning Communities standard, with an overview of six critical attributes of PLCs and the seven-step cycle of continuous improvement A case study of the district-wide implementation of PLCs, containing detailed analysis of what worked.
Download or read book The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching written by Jim Knight and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2021-11-05 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even under ideal conditions, teaching is tough work. Facing unrelenting pressure from administrators and parents and caught in a race against time to improve student outcomes, educators can easily become discouraged (or worse, burn out completely) without a robust coaching system in place to support them. For more than 20 years, perfecting such a system has been the paramount objective of best-selling author and coaching guru Jim Knight and his team of researchers at the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG). In The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching, Knight offers a blueprint for establishing, administering, and assessing an instructional coaching program laser-focused on every educator's ultimate goal: the academic success of students. Organized around ICG's seven "Success Factors" for great instructional coaching, this book offers * An in-depth guide to the Impact Cycle, ICG's research-based and field-tested model for coaching teachers through issues that matter most to them; * Detailed guidance on how to create a "playbook" of instructional strategies to share with collaborating teachers—and how to model those strategies under different conditions; * Practical advice on preparing for and engaging in substantive, reflective, and teacher-centered coaching conversations; * Best practices for gathering, analyzing, and responding to data for improved teaching and learning; and * Real-life anecdotes and testimonies from educators and coaches who have reaped the benefits of the Impact Cycle in a diverse array of schools. In addition, each chapter of the book contains a learning map to help orient you and a list of valuable additional resources to complement the text. Whether you're new to coaching or well versed in the practice, The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching will no doubt prove a cornerstone of your coaching library for years to come.
Download or read book Getting Started written by Robert Eaker and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get answers to the most common question posed by educators seeking to build and sustain a PLC: Where do we begin? Access a solid conceptual framework and concrete illustrations of how schools operate when they are functioning as PLCs. Two case studies examine schools that have made the transformation, showcasing district- and curriculum-level efforts to focus on student learning.
Download or read book On Common Ground written by Richard DuFour and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology presents the recommendations of education leaders, and each chapter contributes to a sound conceptual framework and offers specific strategies for developing PLCs. These leaders have found common ground in expressing their belief in the power of PLCs although clear differences emerge regarding their perspectives on the most effective strategy for making PLCs the norm in North America.
Download or read book Reach the Highest Standard in Professional Learning written by Karen Seashore Louis and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2016-05-12 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Make your school a place where professional learning thrives Learning Forward is a leader in understanding and advancing professional learning that leads to student success. This series explores Learning Forward’s seven Standards for Professional Learning, which outline the characteristics of effective professional learning that, collectively, advance teaching and learning. This volume focuses on the pathways through which leaders can orchestrate a learning environment that empowers teachers to take charge of their own development. Features include: An original essay by Karen Seashore Louis on creating a school culture in which all adults see themselves as part of the larger enterprise of continuous learning Strategies, tools, and specific examples focused on the leader’s role in everyday practice A case study of how public school leaders in Lexington, Massachusetts, improved outcomes for the district’s students by building trust, developing collaborative capacity, and fostering leadership at all levels of the system When you make professional development an everyday part of the life of your school, you create an environment that encourages innovation, inspires collaboration, and makes continuous learning a priority—which benefits teachers and students.
Download or read book Learning by Doing written by Richard DuFour and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2013-06-15 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like the first edition, the second edition of Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work helps educators close the knowing-doing gap as they transform their schools into professional learning communities (PLCs).
