Professional Learning Communities: Implementation Evidence From Delaware

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18.
  In Roundtable Session: Everybody Learns: Professional Learning Communities and Student Improvement

Abstract

Research and practice suggests the power of professional community in sustaining instructional improvement, and one increasingly popular vehicle for developing professional community is “professional learning communities” (PLCs). This paper examines how a mandate for 90-minute weekly PLCs is implemented in four elementary schools in two districts in Delaware. Qualitative and survey data reveal that how educators understand and implement PLCs varies across schools and districts and that some strategies appear more effective than others at achieving professional community. Findings suggest that additional school- or district-based strategies for PLC implementation – beyond the requirement of common meeting time – are needed in order to produce meaningful collaboration around teaching and learning.

Authors

• Joan L. Buttram, University of Delaware

• Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, University of Delaware