Because of disunity among prominent professional learning community (PLC) authors, experts, and researchers, the literature was studied to develop a ten-element model that represents a unified and reconceptualized list of characteristics of a PLC. From this model, the Learning Community Culture Indicator (LCCI) was developed to measure professional learning community (PLC) implementation levels based on the ten-element model. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to determine the structural validity of the LCCI. Factor analyses provided successful levels of fit for the models tested in representing the constructs of the LCCI. Reliability measures also indicated high levels of internal consistency among the responses to the survey items. Although some items and elements had moderate levels of fit and need additional revisions and validity testing, the LCCI produced substantial evidence that this survey was a valid and reliable instrument in measuring levels of PLC implementation across the ten elements. Because this research validated the LCCI, school leaders can implement, monitor, and diagnose elements of PLCs in their schools. The LCCI also provides a method in which future research can be conducted to empirically support the influence of PLCs and student achievement. Potential uses and recommendations for further research and consideration are presented. A call for more empirical research is made in connecting the PLC reform model to improved student learning. The theory of PLC is at a point of substantiation and growth. The LCCI is recommended as potential tool for studying and facilitating the implementation of PLCs in schools.

The focus of this research was to analyze the impact of the United States Department of Education‟s Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) Grant Program on student achievement in 17 schools in the state of Florida that were issued three-year grants during the school years 2006-2009 as compared to 17 similar schools in the state of Florida that did not receive grant funding. Base-line data for each of the 34 schools consisted of student performance in 2006, one year prior to SLC schools receiving the grant. Student achievement data from the base-line through the three-year grant period for the 17 grant recipients were compared with that of 17 similar Florida schools that were not grant recipients in 2006. Student data were collected from the Florida Department of Education. The data subjected to analyses were comprised of student achievement on the ninth and tenth grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in the areas of reading and mathematics, the graduation rate, and the dropout rate. The data showed an overall improvement in the SLC schools‟ student achievement based on the six areas analyzed. The data collected were then compared to the 17 similar schools to identify any significant differences in the achievement gains in those schools. Although both the SLC schools and the control schools showed overall improvement, no statistically significant relationship was discovered in the achievement of students in SLC schools versus students in similar schools that did not receive the grant dollars during the defined time periods. The overall trend for all 34 schools was similar improvement in student achievement.

The purpose of this research was to study the implementation of a professional learning community comprised of one group of third-grade teachers in a Florida elementary school where the emphasis was on research-based practices in the teaching of mathematics. Investigated were the growth of teachers‟ content knowledge in mathematics, specifically in the areas of multiplication and division, and the effects of their professional learning within their classrooms. Specifically this study looked at whether or not the participation of a group of third grade teachers in a professional learning community PLC improved the mathematical content knowledge of the participants of the study. This research design called for the research to be conducted in three phases. In Phase I, the researcher interviewed all participants using a researcher-designed interview guide. A researcher-adapted survey, based upon previously released items Ball (2008) was administered as a pre-test of mathematical content knowledge,. In Phase II of the study, the researcher documented the activities that occurred within a 10-week long professional learning community (PLC) of third-grade teachers. In Phase III of the research, a post-study interview was conducted with each of the participants by an independent observer to elicit participants‟ perceptions and observations based on their participation in the PLC. A post-test of content knowledge was also administered to the participants. Several themes were identified in the research study. These themes led to recommendations for practice and future research. Themes were related to the lack of iv mathematical understanding experienced by some teachers and the lack of professional development specifically related to mathematics, the value of the professional learning community, and the benefits of sharing current research and best practices. During this study, the participants were able to read and share examples of research-based best practices in mathematics, and participants then used this new information and additional mathematics content knowledge in their classrooms in teaching their students.

Although public school teaching by its inherent nature presents numerous classroom challenges, the public high school teacher today is faced in addition with multiple external mandates from several outside stakeholders. Given the established track record of professional learning communities (PLCs) to provide teacher support and development, I created a PLC that would serve as an intervention designed to support teachers in their classroom work and with their multiple mandates as well. This enhanced PLC was informed by interviews with administrators, researched best practices of traditional PLCs, and uniquely, by what teachers told me they needed in an optimal PLC experience. The PLC was facilitated and based on inclusive, holistic social justice principles that provided a framework for and experience of inclusive teaching practice, while specifically addressing ongoing teacher concerns and issues raised by the multiple mandates. The PLC intervention I designed was for participants only, and I studied them along a range of outcomes that were compared to a control group of teachers identified from the same general population, but who did not experience the intervention. I used a multiple methods, predominantly qualitative approach, that included closed and open field questions taken before and after the intervention. I concluded by conducting in-depth end of term interviews with the participants in the intervention, enriched by my own field notes and observations. Findings included participants unanimously reporting this PLC uniquely satisfying, both professionally and personally. Professionally, they reported a significant gain across a range of knowledge, skills, self efficacy, and classroom management; an enhanced understanding of student diversity, and of the complex interactions between their choices of pedagogy and curriculum within the learning experience between and among students and teacher--leading to more effective professional interactions. After closely examining a published holistic teaching and learning model, participants exercised their professional power by creating one organizing tool to help them personalize and connect the apparently disparate mandates, and another organizer that schematically designed their future professional development requirements. Post-PLC, participants felt affirmed, empowered, less stressed, more closely affiliated, and spiritually supported by the PLC. Many continue to meet since the study's conclusion.

The demand for virtual education is rapidly increasing due to the proliferation of legislation demanding class size limitations, funding cuts, and school choice across the United States. Virtual education leaders are discovering new ways to enhance and develop teachers to become more efficient and increase quality of learning online. Learning teams are one tool implemented by professional development departments in order to obtain a community of shared best practices and increase professional learning for teachers. ... The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of the contribution of virtual learning teams to their professional development in a completely online K-12 environment. ... Five major themes emerged from the interviews, which were teacher professional development as it relates to student success, collaboration, balance, knowledge gained from being part of a virtual learning team, and teachers' perception of student success. / by Courtney Paschal Purnell. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

xi, 112 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / The purpose of this study was to conduct, as a participant observer and district-level regional administrator, three exploratory mini-case studies of elementary schools in the same district attempting to meet the same district improvement goal, imbedded in individual School Improvement Plans (SIP) during the same period of time in the school year. In order to document how each leadership team identifies strategies to meet the goal, how strategies are implemented, how each leadership team interacts with me as their district administrator, and how performance toward meeting the goal is perceived by key actors in the school this research was conducted as an action-research case study. The inter-relationships between school goals and school leadership team behaviors in a large suburban school district and the influence of these teams on the practices of the individuals on each of the three different school teams were the primary focus of this study. This study took place beginning in December 2007 and culminating in March 2008. The researcher kept a field journal of team meetings and staff development activities at each site. Interviews were conducted with principals, teachers, and parents at each site to gain multiple perspectives of school improvement and leadership. Findings of this case study may reveal a close connection between the practices of the regional administrator and school leadership teams and the outcome of school improvement initiatives. Recommendations are made for changes in practice and for future research studies. / Adviser: Diane M. Dunlap

After the comparison and contrast of the four schools, it is propounded that in the establishment and developing process of a professional learning community, its core, teachers' collaborative culture, also displays a developmental process from individualism and comfortable collaboration to organizationally induced collegiality and interdependent collegiality. A supportive system is the guarantee of the teachers' collaborative culture; and the key to facilitate the birth of this culture as well as the building of a professional learning community lies on the principals' leadership style which put attention both on the management strategies and the leading strategies. / Based on the result revealed from the questionnaire survey and data of the case studies, it is found that professional learning community, as an introduced concept from the west, has its local significance in primary schools in the three cities of mainland China, supporting the theoretical structure built by the following four professional learning community dimensions---Shared decision making; Shared sense of purpose and focus on student learning; collaborative activity and deprivatized practice; Staff support and cooperation. The features of the abovementioned dimensions also possess their local flavor: degree of the shared decision making is relatively low and the teachers rarely participate in the financial and personnel decision-making, but own more authority within their professional field; secondly, students' exam scores are more emphasized in the aspect of the focus on student learning, but this varies from the schools according to its realization of professional learning community; thirdly, as for collaborative activity and deprivatized practice, collaboration among teaching practice are bolstered by the traditional "teaching research system", nevertheless there is a gap between the system and the actual outcome of the activities; lastly, the uniform teaching research system, to some extent, provides teachers' cooperation with much support, but is overweighed by the collaborative culture among teachers. / Mixed methods are adopted in this research, in which the questionnaires are delivered in three cities (including Shanghai) of mainland China in order to know the features and the realization of professional learning community in primary schools in Shanghai. It is then followed a purposeful sampling on the basis of the data analysis from the questionnaires, and four schools will be chosen out as the cases to probe into the relationship between professional learning community and teacher development. The major methods for the data collection include questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, participant observation and document collection. / The professional learning community being the one side, the teachers' development is interactively on the other, and the key platform for their interaction is teacher development activities. The contents of teacher development activities vary in different schools of different realization of professional learning community, and also diverse in the interaction between professional learning community and teachers' teacher development. Meanwhile, the second round curriculum reform in Shanghai being the common backdrop, it on one hand offers three platforms to the interaction between professional learning community and teacher development, and on the other hand is itself affected by this interaction. Especially under the pressure of "moderate empowerment and high responsibility" in the second round curriculum reform, teachers are supported by professional learning community in terms of empowerment and responsibility, and are also aided to seek for their professional identities, which leads to the achievement of teachers' real proactive professional development. / With the advent of a transitional era, the field of education is likewise undergoing a global reform. However, in retrospect of the educational reforms launched by various countries in the past thirty years, the aspect of class teaching is seldom touched upon. The academia therefore gives increasing emphasis on teachers as well as teachers' communities, and the concept of professional learning community thus comes into being. In the recent years, the studies on professional learning community have been proliferated in the west, and are gradually introduced into our country, but the related empirical studies in China still remain a virgin land. / 宋萑. / Adviser: Lee Chi Kin. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3113. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-302). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Song Huan.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the implementation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) as a professional development model effective in altering teachers‘ perceptions of their knowledge and skill in teaching developmental writing in grades K-3. This research is necessary to examine how offering teachers collaborative support needed for understanding and implementing research-based best practice approaches to teach developmental writing strengthens the quality of instructional practice necessary to meet rigorous standards being imparted from Common Core Standards. Through the development of a PLC, teachers have an opportunity for collaborating within the school building, which provides optimal environment for professional development (Lindeman, 1926; Lumpe, 2007). Analysis taken from the pre and post-survey information included the teachers‘ beliefs and understanding of writing development, current use of instruction time for writing, and questions or concerns teachers have about teaching writing. Weekly PLC meetings using a protocol format offered teachers an opportunity to discuss personal experiences with writing instruction and to share any anchor charts, student work, or anecdotal records exemplifying the strategy of focus. Videotaping and reflective journaling collected during the six PLC sessions were transcribed and coded using predetermined and emerging themes within and across each measure. Presentation materials collected as data documentation of the experience aided in validation of the research. Major themes emerged under the code headed as management with sub-codes of planning and classroom management presenting the strongest focus. Major themes also emerged under the code headed as instruction. The strongest areas of focus under the instruction code included subcoded areas conferencing, minilessons, and teaching strategies.

This multiple case, qualitative study explored the experiences of six early childhood teachers as they implemented a structured, differentiated literacy framework (The Daily Five™) in a rural northeast Tennessee school system. This study investigated teachers’ perceptions of professional development, specifically the professional development components of coaching including ongoing online discussion, collaboration, and reflective journaling, on changing their literacy planning and instruction. Data were collected through interviews, journal entries, and transcribed meeting conversations. Findings revealed that teachers perceived coaching and collaboration as instrumental professional development components that directly contributed to changing their literacy planning and instruction. Both coaching and collaboration offered necessary support for teachers to feel successful as they made changes in thinking and practice. However, teachers did not find the reflective practice of journaling helpful as they sought to make changes in planning and instructional strategies. The results of this study are significant for teachers and administrators as they seek to increase meaningful professional development aimed at improving literacy instruction.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are frequently being used as a vehicle to transform science education. This study explored elementary teachers' perceptions about the impact of participating in a science PLC on their own professional development. With the use of The Science Professional Learning Communities Survey and a semi-structured interview protocol, elementary teachers' perceptions of the goals of science PLCs, the constraints and benefits of participation in PLCs, and reported differences in the impact of PLC participation on novice and experienced teachers were examined. Sixty-five elementary teachers who participated in a science PLC were surveyed about their experiences, and a subsample of 16 teachers was interviewed. Results showed that most of the teachers reported their science PLC emphasized sharing ideas with other teachers as well as working to improve students' science standardized test scores. Teachers noted that the PLCs had impacted their science assessment practices as well as their lesson planning. However, a majority of the participants reported a differential impact of PLCs depending on a teacher's level of experience. PLCs were reported as being more beneficial to new teachers than experienced teachers. The interview results demonstrated that there were often competing goals and in some cases a loss of autonomy in planning science lessons. A significant concern was the impact of problematic interpersonal relationships and communication styles on the group functioning. The role of the PLC in addressing issues related to obtaining science resources and enhancing science content knowledge for elementary science teachers is discussed.