Mature Professional Learning Communities: Do They Enhance Student Achievement?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 39
  In Roundtable Session: Learning Communities for School Improvement

Abstract

The results and successes of professional learning communities (PLCs) are mixed. Some teachers and principals see the PLC as a vehicle to improve their teaching and the success of students. Other principals and teachers see the PLC as just another responsibility added to their already demanding schedules. These contrasting views are a source of ambiguity in the research because there has not been a study that has taken into account the factors that influence the teaching staff’s level of maturity as a PLC. This mixed methods study was conducted to enhance the understanding of how an elementary school teaching staff’s level of maturity as a PLC, according to Hord’s conceptual framework, impacts student achievement.

Authors

• Linda K. Lemasters, The George Washington University

• Michael J. Cieslak, Fairfax County Public Schools

• Marguerita K. Desander, The George Washington University