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Communication with Parents In Education

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All about Professional Learning communities 

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All about Professional Learning communities 

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Professional learning community (PLC)

An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators.

Read what advocates say about the impact of PLCs.
What Are Professional Learning Communities?

It has been interesting to observe the growing popularity of the term professional learning community. In fact, the term has become so commonplace and has been used so ambiguously to describe virtually any loose coupling of individuals who share a common interest in education that it is in danger of losing all meaning. This lack of precision is an obstacle to implementing PLC processes because, as Mike Schmoker observes, "clarity precedes competence" (2004a, p. 85). Thus, we begin with an attempt to clarify our meaning of the term. To those familiar with our past work, this step may seem redundant, but we are convinced that redundancy can be a powerful tool in effective communication, and we prefer redundancy to ambiguity.

We have seen many instances in which educators assume that a PLC is a program. For example, one faculty told us that each year they implemented a new program in their school. In the previous year it had been PLC, the year prior to that it had been "understanding by design," and the current year it was "differentiated instruction." They had converted the names of the various programs into verbs, and the joke on the faculty was that they had been "UBDed, PLCed, and DIed." The PLC process is not a program. It cannot be purchased, nor can it be implemented by anyone other than the staff itself. Most importantly, it is ongoing-a continuous, never-ending process of conducting schooling that has a profound impact on the structure and culture of the school and the assumptions and practices of the professionals within it.

We have seen other instances in which educators assume that a PLC is a meeting-an occasional event when they meet with colleagues to complete a task. It is not uncommon for us to hear, "My PLC meets Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m." This perception of a PLC is wrong on two counts. First, the PLC is the larger organization and not the individual teams that comprise it. While collaborative teams are an essential part of the PLC process, the sum is greater than the individual parts. Much of the work of a PLC cannot be done by a team but instead requires a schoolwide or districtwide effort. So we believe it is helpful to think of the school or district as the PLC and the various collaborative teams as the building blocks of the PLC. Second, once again, the PLC process has a pervasive and ongoing impact on the structure and culture of the school. If educators meet with peers on a regular basis only to return to business as usual, they are not functioning as a PLC. So the PLC process is much more than a meeting.

So, what is a PLC? We argue that it is an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators. The following section examines the elements of the PLC process more closely.

A Focus on Learning

The very essence of a learning community is a focus on and a commitment to the learning of each student. When a school or district functions as a PLC, educators within the organization embrace high levels of learning for all students as both the reason the organization exists and the fundamental responsibility of those who work within it. In order to achieve this purpose, the members of a PLC create and are guided by a clear and compelling vision of what the organization must become in order to help all students learn. They make collective commitments clarifying what each member will do to create such an organization, and they use results-oriented goals to mark their progress. Members work together to clarify exactly what each student must learn, monitor each student's learning on a timely basis, provide systematic interventions that ensure students receive additional time and support for learning when they struggle, and extend and enrich learning when students have already mastered the intended outcomes.

A corollary assumption is that if the organization is to become more effective in helping all students learn, the adults in the organization must also be continually learning. Therefore, structures are created to ensure staff members engage in job-embedded learning as part of their routine work practices.

There is no ambiguity or hedging regarding this commitment to learning. Whereas many schools operate as if their primary purpose is to ensure that children are taught, PLCs are dedicated to the idea that their organization exists to ensure that all students learn essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions. All the other characteristics of a PLC flow directly from this epic shift in assumptions about the purpose of the school.

A Collaborative Culture With a Focus on Learning for All

Collaboration is a means to an end, not the end itself. In many schools, staff members are willing to collaborate on a variety of topics as long as the focus of the conversation stops at their classroom door. In a PLC, collaboration represents a systematic process in which teachers work together interdependently in order to impact their classroom practice in ways that will lead to better results for their students, for their team, and for their school.

Collective Inquiry Into Best Practice and Current Reality

The teams in a PLC engage in collective inquiry into both best practices in teaching and best practices in learning. They also inquire about their current reality including their present practices and the levels of achievement of their students. They attempt to arrive at consensus on vital questions by building shared knowledge rather than pooling opinions. They have an acute sense of curiosity and openness to new possibilities.

Collective inquiry enables team members to develop new skills and capabilities that in turn lead to new experiences and awareness. Gradually, this heightened awareness transforms into fundamental shifts in attitudes, beliefs, and habits which, over time, transform the culture of the school.

Working together to build shared knowledge on the best way to achieve goals and meet the needs of clients is exactly what professionals in any field are expected to do, whether it is curing the patient, winning the lawsuit, or helping all students learn. Members of a professional learning community are expected to work and learn together.

Action Orientation: Learning by Doing

Members of PLCs are action oriented: they move quickly to turn aspirations into action and visions into reality. They understand that the most powerful learning always occurs in a context of taking action, and they value engagement and experience as the most effective teachers. Henry Mintzberg's (2005) observation about training leaders applies here: deep learning requires experience, which requires taking action. It "is as much about doing in order to think as thinking in order to do" (p. 10). In fact, the very reason that teachers work together in teams and engage in collective inquiry is to serve as catalysts for action.

A Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Inherent to a PLC are a persistent disquiet with the status quo and a constant search for a better way to achieve goals and accomplish the purpose of the organization. Systematic processes engage each member of the organization in an ongoing cycle of:

Gathering evidence of current levels of student learning

Developing strategies and ideas to build on strengths and address weaknesses in that learning

Implementing those strategies and ideas

Analyzing the impact of the changes to discover what was effective and what was not

Applying new knowledge in the next cycle of continuous improvement

The goal is not simply to learn a new strategy, but instead to create conditions for a perpetual learning environment in which innovation and experimentation are viewed not as tasks to be accomplished or projects to be completed but as ways of conducting day-to-day business- forever. Furthermore, participation in this process is not reserved for those designated as leaders; rather, it is a responsibility of every member of the organization.

Results Orientation

Finally, members of a PLC realize that all of their efforts in these areas (a focus on learning, collaborative teams, collective inquiry, action orientation, and continuous improvement) must be assessed on the basis of results rather than intentions. Unless initiatives are subjected to ongoing assessment on the basis of tangible results, they represent random groping in the dark rather than purposeful improvement. As Peter Senge and colleagues conclude, "The rationale for any strategy for building a learning organization revolves around the premise that such organizations will produce dramatically improved results."

This focus on results leads each team to develop and pursue measurable improvement goals that are aligned to school and district goals for learning. It also drives teams to create a series of common formative assessments that are administered to students multiple times throughout the year to gather ongoing evidence of student learning. Team members review the results from these assessments in an effort to identify and address program concerns (areas of learning where many students are experiencing difficulty). They also examine the results to discover strengths and weaknesses in their individual teaching in order to learn from one another. Most importantly, the assessments are used to identify students who need additional time and support for learning. Frequent common formative assessments represent one of the most powerful tools in the PLC arsenal.
Please also see What Is a "Professional Learning Community"?DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2006). Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work™, pp. 2-4.

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An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators.

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A great leader is one who is self aware, understands the importance of communicating with community members and works towards building community, collaborative in nature, is open to new ways, leads by example and also be believes in setting new examples and harness the power of teaching and learning.

Great leader may have few common characteristics but their leadership styles differ and at times they even switch to other styles according to the need of the hour and this ability is what makes them great - ability of ADAPTING & CHANGING.

Different educational leadership styles are what make every leader unique. Read below to know about the various styles that are being followed by leaders.

1. Authoritative

This is best suited when changes require a new vision or when a clear direction is needed. Leaders practicing this mobilize people towards a vision. Here the leader works as a change catalyst that is self confident and empathetic. S/he usually fills up the team with confidence and drives them towards the goals that need to be achieved. The "come with me" style can be notices. The strongest leading style where the leader leads the team towards one direction. The drawback is that employees may feel less connected as leader is the only decision maker and the employees have to follow the orders given by the leader.

2. Affiliative

This works best during stressful circumstances, to heal rifts in a team or motivate them to keep working. The main qualities of this leader are that he is more inclined towards building relationships & is empathetic. The style is that of "people come first". These leaders create harmony and builds emotional bonds. This type of leader will also build teams that make sure that their followers feel connected to each other. Typically the followers will receive much praise from this style of leader, however poor performance tends to go unchecked.

3. Democratic

Here the leaders make the final decisions, but they include other team members in the decision-making process. They encourage creativity, and people are often highly engaged in projects and decisions. As a result, team members tend to have high job satisfaction and high productivity. In this style teachers run the school with support of the leader. A very collaborative nature can be observed in organizations that are run under this style of leadership. "What do you think?" kind of attitude can be seen in the leader. Though the drawback is that this may not work at the time of making a quick decision.

4. Coaching

I think to fit in and excel in the 21 st century; this is the best style of leadership that can do well in education sector. The leader helps people develop for the future. The leader pushes the teachers and other employees try new things and help them develop and grow. Coaching is an appropriate style for schools because it models learning by encouraging staff to establish long-term development goals and to find ways of attaining them. Coaching leaders give plenty of instruction and feedback. They also excel at delegation. It is a time-consuming approach; however, when successfully applied, it has a positive effect on climate and performance. This approach works best when employees are already aware of their weaknesses and want to improve, but fails when leaders are inept coaches or staff is resistant to learning.

5. Visionary Leadership

A mixed approach of first three styles. Visionary leader is clear about what s/he believes and knows is best for learning. The leader's individual beliefs have developed in collaboration with other stakeholders and articulated into some kind of vision or mission statement. You'll hear elements of a vision in the way s/he talks about his work. Also important element is that the experiences of students and outcomes are at the center of this vision. You'll know if you hear a vision if it makes you feel something good: inspired, motivated, excited, and so on. A visionary leader talks and walks the school's vision.

Apart from these there are other less adopted styles like empowering that allows employees to have direct decision making responsibilities, empathetic that sets a tone to make employees feel engaged, humble servitude that focuses on listening and moral/ethical leadership whose only mantra is insistence on ethical behavior by all.

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What is your way to lead? Share your views and insights with us in the comment section below.

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Educational Leadership Styles for School Leaders to Know

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A great leader is one who is self aware, understands the importance of communicating with community members and works towards building community, collaborative in nature, is open to new ways, leads by example and also be believes in setting new examples and harness the power of teaching and learning.

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School and district leadership has been the focus of intense scrutiny in recent years as researchers try to define not only the qualities of effective leadership but the impact of leadership on the operation of schools, and even on student achievement. A recently published literature review titled How Leadership Influences Student Learning contributes to this growing body of knowledge by examining the links between student achievement and educational leadership practices.

Authors Leithwood, Seashore Louis, Anderson, and Wahlstrom (2004) make two important claims. First, "leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school" (p. 7). Second, "leadership effects are usually largest where and when they are needed most" (p. 7). Without a powerful leader, troubled schools are unlikely to be turned around. The authors stress that "many other factors may contribute to such turnarounds, but leadership is the catalyst" (p. 7).

The review, commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, is the first step in a five-year, 180-school study of the links between student achievement and educational leadership practices. The planned study is a joint effort of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and the University of Minnesota's Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. The foundation's first report could be released as early as November.

This article summarizes what the review reveals about the basics of successful education leadership and offers practical suggestions for their implementation.

The Basics of Successful Leadership

The authors warn that it is tempting to get caught up in defining the many adjectives often used to describe leadership in education literature (e.g., participative, instructional) but note that ultimately these descriptions focus on style, not substance. A more productive strategy, they contend, is to examine the following three sets of practices that make up the basic core of successful leadership:

Setting direction.

Developing people.

Redesigning the organization.

The authors acknowledge that "rarely are-[these] practices sufficient for leaders aiming to significantly improve student learning in their schools. But without them, not much would happen" (p. 10).

Setting Direction

Examining the Evidence.

The review suggests that leaders who set a clear sense of direction have the greatest impact. If these leaders help to develop among their staff members a shared understanding of the organization and its goals and activities, this understanding becomes the basis for a sense of purpose or vision. The authors emphasize that "having such goals helps people make sense of their work and enables them to find a sense of identity for themselves within their work context" (p. 10).

The authors suggest that school improvement plans can be a means of setting direction. "It's difficult for schools to make progress without something to focus their attention, without any goals," says coauthor Kenneth Leithwood, a University of Toronto education professor. "Improvement plans are a rational model about how to act purposefully in schools."

Practical Application.

Effective principals understand direction setting. They know that an investment of time is required to develop a shared understanding of what the school should "look like" and what needs to be done to get it there. They know that teachers and other staff included in identifying goals are much more likely to be motivated to achieve those goals. These sentiments are echoed by Doris Candelarie, executive director of School Effectiveness in Brighton, Colorado, and former principal of Vikan Middle School in Brighton. "We set school goals, individual goals, team goals. That builds community and the spirit around it"(Center for Collaborative Education, 2003). Teachers who are asked to engage in open and honest communication with the principal, to contribute their suggestions, and to voice their concerns are much more likely to follow the direction set by their leader. Further information about organizing, planning, implementing and sustaining reform can be found in The Center's policy briefs at www.centerforcsri.org

Developing People

Examining the Evidence. Much of the focus in education literature regarding the principal's role in developing staff members has been on instructional leadership, which emphasizes the principal's role in providing guidance that improves teachers' classroom practices. Philip Hallinger's instructional leadership model has been the most researched. It consists of three sets of leadership dimensions-defining the school's mission, managing the instructional program, and promoting a positive learning climate-within which 10 specific leadership practices are delineated (Leithwood, Seashore Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004).

Now, in addition to instructional leadership, the review finds that researchers also are paying close attention to what is being termed a leader's emotional intelligence-his or her ability and willingness to be "tuned in" to employees as people. "Recent evidence suggests that emotional intelligence displayed, for example, through a leader's personal attention to an employee and through the utilization of the employee's capacities, increases the employee's enthusiasm and optimism, reduces frustration, transmits a sense of mission and indirectly increases performance (McColl-Kennedy & Anderson, 2002)" (Leithwood, Seashore Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004, p. 24).

The authors cite the following more specific leadership practices that help develop people:

Stimulate them intellectually.

Provide them with individualized support.

Provide them with an appropriate model.

Practical Application. Schools have interpreted these research findings in a variety of practical ways. Group book studies, lesson study in critical friends' groups, professional development sessions at conferences, or visits to high-performing schools all provide intellectual stimulation. At Deborah Hoffman's Franklin Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, for example, teachers participate in book groups that focus on race and student achievement. They also are encouraged to grow intellectually by pursuing additional certification in English as a second language (Hoffman, 2005).

Developing people through individualized support can take many forms in schools. Literacy or math coaches can model lessons, observe classes, and provide constructive feedback to teachers. Teachers also benefit from peer observations, debriefing sessions with colleagues, and feedback from the principal. New teachers in particular gain support from mentor teachers who are carefully assigned to assist them in the first few years of teaching. At Eastgate Middle School in Kansas City, Missouri, Principal Tim Mattson created a new position for an instructional coach whose job was to serve as a mentor for new teachers and help experienced teachers to develop strong leadership skills as well as implement effective reading strategies based on their examination of student work (Center for Collaborative Education, 2003).

Redesigning the Organization

Examining the evidence

The review notes that the organization teachers and principals operate in can sometimes thwart their best intentions to use effective practices. In some contexts, the authors observe, high-stakes testing has "encouraged a drill-and-practice form of instruction among teachers who are perfectly capable of developing deep understanding on the part of their students" (p. 11). Furthermore, "extrinsic financial incentives for achieving school performance targets, under some conditions, can erode teachers' intrinsic commitments to the welfare of their students" (p. 11).

Successful educational leaders resist these and other organizational pitfalls. Instead, they are purposeful about turning their schools into effective organizations. They do this by developing and counting on contributions from many others in their organizations to do the following:

Strengthen the school's culture.

Modify organizational structures.

Build collaborative processes.

Practical application

What does this process of redesigning the organization look like on the ground? Principals strengthen school culture when they clearly and consistently articulate high expectations for all students, including subgroups that are too often marginalized and blamed for schools not making adequate yearly progress. At an Alliance for Excellent Education event in August, Mel Riddile, principal of J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia, eloquently addressed this issue: "We have a moral and ethical imperative to educate every student. [If] we let them languish in mediocrity, shame on us" (Riddile, 2005). Principals can modify organizational structures, for instance, by changing schedules to ensure that teachers share common planning time and use that time to discuss improving instruction. This kind of restructuring also reinforces the use of collaborative processes among teachers. Given sufficient time and consistent messages about the value of collaboration, teachers learn to trust their colleagues and are more willing to share their best practices and challenges.

Redesigning the organization from the inside out requires that leaders identify and capitalize on the competence of others and both model and require collaboration. As author Carl Glickman (2003) observed: "In successful schools, principals aren't threatened by the wisdom of others; instead, they cherish it by distributing leadership" (p. 56).

Broad Goals for School Leaders

This literature review on educational leadership notes that current evidence allows us to infer some broad goals for school leaders. The authors acknowledge that further study will reveal more about what is needed to identify specific leadership practices that lead to the achievement of these goals. They suggest that principals do the following:

Create and sustain schools that can compete with private, charter and magnet schools.

Empower others to make significant decisions.

Provide instructional guidance.

Develop and implement strategic and school improvement plans.

Conclusion

How Leadership Influences Student Learning emphasizes that the most influential educational leaders remain the principal and superintendent, and that their leadership is inextricably linked to student performance. Having examined a host of factors that contribute to what students learn at school, the authors conclude that the contribution of leadership is second in strength only to classroom instruction. And, effective leadership has the greatest impact where it is most needed-in the nation's challenged schools. These facts make the case, the authors assert, for improving not only the recruitment and training of school principals but also their ongoing development and evaluation. In addition, they cite the need for expanded study of how leadership in other areas of the school community-such as teacher leadership-can contribute to student achievement.

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Role of Principal Leadership in Improving Student Achievement

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School and district leadership has been the focus of intense scrutiny in recent years as researchers try to define not only the qualities of effective leadership but the impact of leadership on the operation of schools, and even on student achievement.