One of the major focuses of a PLC
community is to have results-driven data.
The overall goal is to create “results that engages all members of the
organization to establish goals that, if achieved, will result in higher levels
of student learning (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, p. 157). Matter
of fact, “results-oriented goals are essential if a team is to be effective”
(DuFour, p. 183). In these communities,
teachers are hungry for evidence that supports higher level learning for all
students. “The overall goal is to
present teachers with results that enable them to determine the strengths and
weaknesses of their students’ learning at a glance” (DuFour, p. 185). Working together, PLC teams are able to
adjust teaching methodology so that it is learner focused rather than teacher
focused.
This article focuses on the elements
that make a learning community an effective community. There are four key areas that assist learning
community success and these four areas are essential in order to have effective
teams (Professional Learning Communities, p. 1). In order to improve student learning in a
PLC, the focus for each learning community needs to “go beyond a team getting
together to look at data….teachers need to respond to data that require mutual
accountability and changing classroom practices” (p. 1). Working together as professional, sharing the
same vision, and providing the same support and leadership for all teachers, effective
groups are able to make a paradigm shift in their classroom from guess work to
evidence that supports all students learning.
Both of these articles stress the necessity
for measurable and attainable goals that identify strengths and weaknesses in
student learning. Once these areas of
weakness have been identify, teachers can identify new teaching strategies that
will strengthen the teaching of particular concepts in order to improve student
learning. Then areas of weakness are
retaught in order to improve learning results for specific students. Thus, PLC communities bring about a new
paradigm shift: the success or failure of a concept is determined by learning
rather than just by simply teaching a concept (DeFour, p. 183).
References
Center
for Comprehensive School Reform and Learning, The. (2009). Professional
learning communities. Retrieved from
http://www.centerforcsri.org/plc/elements.html
DeFour,
Richard, DeFour, Rebecca, Eaker, Robert, & Many, Thomas, (210). Learning by
doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. (2nd ed.).
Bloomington, ID: Solution Tree.
