Download or read book Teachers Perceptions of Professional Learning Communities as Opportunities for Promoting Professional Growth written by Julie R. Morrow and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Teachers Perceptions Of The Professional Learning Community As A Model Of Professional Development written by Chanie A. Peterson and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Professional Learning Community (PLC) has increasingly gained worldwide acceptance as a research- based approach to professional development for educators. Benefits of the PLC are touted by many researchers who also identify the challenges to authentic implementation of the PLC model. This action research explored teachers' perceptions of the Professional Learning Community. Data sources for this research included an anonymous online survey, in-depth one-on-one interviews and a focus group. Study participants were elementary school teachers of grades five through eight who participated in horizontal professional learning communities for at least one year. Research questions providing the framework for this study were (1) To what extent do teachers think professional learning communities have impacted classroom instruction? (2) What do teachers perceive to be the greatest challenges to effective implementation of professional learning communities? and (3) What do teachers perceive to be the greatest benefits of professional learning communities? Data from these multiple sources indicate that teachers believe that the professional learning community is a viable method of professional development that produces sustainable and positive results for teachers and students. Teachers participating in this study identified numerous benefits of the professional learning community, the most significant being collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Participants believe that the work they do in professional learning communities has impacted classroom instruction and the culture of the school. Challenges to implementation of professional learning communities stem from scheduling issues and time conflicts. Other key themes emerged from the data. For example, teachers believe that they have improved as teachers and consequently, student achievement has improved as a result of PLCs. Teachers working in PLCs share a collective responsibility for pupil learning. Teachers also believe that a school should implement and maintain both vertical and horizontal PLCs. Teachers reported that PLCs fostered better relationships between teachers and administrators and that leadership at the building level impacts the fidelity of a PLC. One other important theme is that relationship building and trust are essential components of a highly functional professional learning community.
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 Teachers Perceptions of how Professional Learning Communities Impact Their Professional Practices written by Angela Maria Mitchell and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "With an increased focus on school accountability for students' test scores and achievement, professional learning communities are a viable solution to improving learning outcomes for students. The purpose of this study was to examine high school teachers' perceptions of the influence of professional learning communities on teachers' instructional practices, their learning through professional development, and student achievement"--Leaf iii.
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 Doing what Matters Most written by Linda Darling-Hammond and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report gauges progress toward achieving high quality teaching in every classroom, using data about teaching conditions that are new since publication of an earlier report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. Section 1, "Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching," describes the Commission's original findings and recommendations following two years of study. Findings indicate that most schools and teachers cannot achieve new educational goals because they do not know how and do not receive support to do so. Recommendations include linking teacher standards to student standards, reinventing teacher preparation and professional development, overhauling teacher recruitment, putting qualified teachers in every classroom, and organizing schools for success for all. Section 2, "America's Agenda for Education," discusses new standards and new students in America's schools, examining why and how teaching matters. Section 3, "Lessons from Last Decade's Reforms," discusses major initiatives in North Carolina, Connecticut, and other states for improving teaching quality. Section 4, "The Current Status of Teaching," discusses teacher recruitment and teacher supply and demand; salaries and working conditions; retention; qualifications and training; reform of teacher education and induction; access to professional development; and progress in school reform. Section 5, "Evidence of Progress," describes federal, state, and local initiatives to improve quality. Six appendixes offer state report cards on teacher quality; state-by-state data tables; National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, and National Board standards; Commission staff, advisors, and consultants; partner state contact persons; and national organization partners and contact persons. (SM)
Download or read book Professional Learning written by Clare M. Reich and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the characteristics and effectiveness of their professional learning experiences on their instructional practices. Data were collected from 41 elementary and secondary teachers in one south central Pennsylvania school district. The participants had experienced traditional professional development as well as been trained in the protocols and utilization of collaborative practices for professional learning communities. This qualitative research study utilized an online survey incorporating Likert-scale statements, open-ended response questions and six face-to-face interviews to ascertain: (1) the degree to which teachers perceive prior professional learning experiences as impactful on their instructional practices; (2) the characteristics of those professional learning experiences that have the most impact on teachers' instructional practices. The findings from this research study revealed that the effectiveness of professional learning experiences is as varied as the individual. Data revealed that participants were nearly equally divided on the effectiveness of professional learning experiences modifying their instructional practices. Response data supported that professional learning experiences which incorporate adult learning characteristics such as teachers' ability to choose the subject of the professional learning experience and the provision of adequate time to collaborate with colleagues were perceived to be more effective and produce the greatest impact on teachers' instructional practice.
Download or read book An Investigation Of Teacher Efficacy Understandings Practices And The Impact Of Professional Development As Perceived By Elementary School Teachers written by Arnold Jeffrey White and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Professional Learning Community (PLC) has increasingly gained worldwide acceptance as a research- based approach to professional development for educators. Benefits of the PLC are touted by many researchers who also identify the challenges to authentic implementation of the PLC model. This action research explored teachers' perceptions of the Professional Learning Community. Data sources for this research included an anonymous online survey, in-depth one-on-one interviews and a focus group. Study participants were elementary school teachers of grades five through eight who participated in horizontal professional learning communities for at least one year. Research questions providing the framework for this study were (1) To what extent do teachers think professional learning communities have impacted classroom instruction? (2) What do teachers perceive to be the greatest challenges to effective implementation of professional learning communities? and (3) What do teachers perceive to be the greatest benefits of professional learning communities? Data from these multiple sources indicate that teachers believe that the professional learning community is a viable method of professional development that produces sustainable and positive results for teachers and students. Teachers participating in this study identified numerous benefits of the professional learning community, the most significant being collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Participants believe that the work they do in professional learning communities has impacted classroom instruction and the culture of the school. Challenges to implementation of professional learning communities stem from scheduling issues and time conflicts. Other key themes emerged from the data. For example, teachers believe that they have improved as teachers and consequently, student achievement has improved as a result of PLCs. Teachers working in PLCs share a collective responsibility for pupil learning. Teachers also believe that a school should implement and maintain both vertical and horizontal PLCs. Teachers reported that PLCs fostered better relationships between teachers and administrators and that leadership at the building level impacts the fidelity of a PLC. One other important theme is that relationship building and trust are essential components of a highly functional professional learning community.
Download or read book Designing Schools for Meaningful Professional Learning written by Janice Bradley and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2014-11-26 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empower your teachers as partners in professional learning—and see student achievement soar! Are you ready for a professional learning program that makes a lasting difference in the quality of teaching within your school or district? Janice Bradley, a highly-respected educator shows how to promote your faculty’s professional growth and accountability through job-embedded learning. This breakthrough book enables education leaders to Work collaboratively with faculty to develop and implement a five-part plan for professional learning designed to meet your school’s unique needs Connect professional learning with practices that have the greatest positive effect in the classroom Link professional development to teacher evaluation in a manner that builds trust Learn best practices from schools that implemented Bradley’s methodology, and benefit from user-friendly strategies and tools Say goodbye to top-down programming that’s quickly forgotten, and discover an approach that empowers and inspires your faculty at all levels of experience. "It′s hard to imagine a simple, five-step process that could integrate all of Learning Forward′s seven professional learning standards, yet that is exactly what Janice Bradley has done in the book, Designing Schools for Meaningful Professional Learning." —Patricia Roy, Senior Consultant Learning Forward Center for Results "I’ve never experienced professional learning such as this! Taking part in collaborative learning with my team gave me the opportunity to explore questions and curiosities about my students that have been buried in years of district-driven professional development. Now my colleagues and I research together in order to create a learning environment every child deserves." —Kathryn Million, First-Grade Dual Language Teacher Las Cruces, NM
Download or read book The Five Disciplines of PLC Leaders written by Timothy D. Kanold and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Make the transition from traditional, whole-group reading instruction to the 21st century classroom by integrating three innovations that will dramatically improve elementary reading instruction: RTI, differentiated instruction, and technology. Detailed ex
Download or read book Job embedded Professional Development written by Daniel W. Hartman and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present study attempted to identify teacher perceptions of the characteristics and conditions that lead to successful PLC implementation, identify teacher perceptions of the barriers to successful PLC implementation, and to determine how teachers perceive their PLC participation in comparison to traditional professional development endeavors in regards to application of new learning. The study was conducted in a suburban middle school in south central Pennsylvania where teachers had received professional development in the PLC process and had been implementing PLCs for two years. Twenty full time teachers completed a Likert-scale and open-response survey to collect baseline data, and five teachers participated in individual interviews to glean information to answer the research questions. The data collected was carefully analyzed and categorized into emergent themes. Access to resources, leadership support, and positive collegial relationships emerged from the data collected as common themes that related to successful PLC implementation. Conversely, the following themes emerged in relation to barriers that prevent successful PLC implementation: (a) A lack of Leadership Guidance and Focus, (b) a lack of Time, (c) A lack of Trust and Respect, and (d) A lack of Professional Commitment. Finally, the study revealed teachers have a preference for participation in PLC activities as a means of gaining new professional learning, in comparison to traditional professional development activities, when the characteristics and conditions identified as being successful to PLC implementation exist.
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 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Make your school a place where professional learning thrives This volume, part of Learning Forward’s series on its seven Standards for Professional Learning, shows school leaders how to 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 where all adults are part of the enterprise of continuous learning Strategies, tools, and examples focused on the leader’s role in promoting professional learning A case study of one district’s success in improving outcomes for students by building trust, developing collaborative capacity, and fostering leadership at all levels
Download or read book A Case Study written by Melina L. Quon and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this case study was to document teacher perceptions of how components of professional learning communities create a collaborative environment for teacher lesson sharing and improve lesson preparation to increase student achievement. Components of professional learning communities includes collaboration time with colleagues to (a) analyze student achievement data, (b) create data-driven lesson plans, (c) create SMART goals to monitor student achievement, and (d) provide time for reflection of practice. The case study utilized qualitative methodology by using a teacher survey instrument adapted from the professional learning community work of DuFour and Eaker (1998), and integrated the survey results with school site achievement data. The study found that student achievement increased 20 points in adequate yearly progress (A YP) in a school considered a low performing site. Cause-and-effect relationship was not the purpose of this study and the researcher realizes the many factors that impact and influence student achievement. However, when teachers believe that weekly time set aside for collaboration within their professional learning community provides time for lesson planning and leads to improved student achievement scores, then perhaps we have discovered something of value for this one particular school. The implications of this case study are unique to the school site and may expand professional learning communities district- Professional Learning Communities ii wide to support teacher collaboration and lesson plans sharing to close the achievement gap. KEYWORDS: collaboration, leadership, professional learning communities (PLCs),
Download or read book Developing a Learning Community written by Ghinwa Itani Malas and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea that schools functioning as learning communities (LC) foster high student achievement and promote teacher learning and collaboration is well documented in educational literature. Little research, however, has been done to investigate the actual development of a LC in terms of how it is perceived and put into practice by teachers. In addition, no research has been found that examined teachers' perspectives early in the process of establishing a LC. The current case st udy aims at investigating the elements that make a new school, "Morning Sunshine Learning Community" (MSLC), an emergent learning community and more specificall y how teachers perceive it in that regard. The case study focuses on teachers' perceptions of a) the characteristics of learning community that MSLC has, b) the conditions or situations that are impacting their learning within this learning community, c) how their interactions with all the members in the learning community are contributing to their personal and/or professional growth, and d) their perceived challenges to the establishment of a learning community. The study co includes with recommendations to improve the ongoing process of building the lear ning community according to the findings grounded in teachers' experiences and p ractices taking into account the researcher's viewpoint as a participant observer. Data were collected from the analysis of school documents and media found on the school website, the researcher's personal journal as the professional development liaison, teachers' questionnaires on their professional development background, individual semi-structured interviews with teachers, and the reviews of teachers' professional development files. A constant comparative, interpretational an d reflective approach to data analysis was used whereby constructs, themes, and patterns relating to the beliefs, attitudes, and conditions that promote learning communities were identified. Results show that teachers mainly focused on two of the four elements of LC: collaboration and continuous professional development. They did not seem to be explicitly aware of the importance of focusing on high student achievement and how leadership affects the school dynamics. However, it is important to say that coll aboration and professional development are in fact at the core of the learning community concept and were well understood and internalized by teachers.
Download or read book Real World Professional Learning Communities written by Daisy Arredondo Rucinski and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-12-08 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a professional learning community (PLC), teachers are organized into teams, committed to meeting on a regular basis to study their teaching strategies and the effects of those strategies on the students in their classrooms. The teacher teams can be of varied form and composition. Whatever the organizational structure, the teams have one goal – that is to improve teaching so that student learning is improved. Policy developers, legislators, and educational leaders have encouraged the adoption of collaborative professional learning teams as a school reform model for improving schools. In this book we describe the results of studies of professional learning communities in real schools and the effects of the teams on student learning. Much of the time school innovations are not examined in depth. Instead authors and developers simply advocate that they be used. In this book, school principals and administrators describe how their teachers used the PLC teams to improve student learning in their schools. In other words, this book presents actual research on the effects of the use of PLCs rather than testimonials.
Download or read book Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work written by Richard DuFour and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 10th-anniversary sequel to the authors’ best-selling book Professional Learning Communities at WorkTM: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement merges research, practice, and passion. The most extensive, practical, and authoritative PLC resource to date, it goes further than ever before into best practices for deep implementation, explores the commitment/consensus issue, and celebrates successes of educators who are making the journey.
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!
