Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools

This 10th-anniversary sequel to the authors¿ best-selling book Professional Learning Communities at Work¿: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement (DuFour & Eaker, 1998) is a merger of research and practice. It offers educators specific, practical recommendations for transforming their schools into PLCs so their students learn at higher levels and their profession becomes more rewarding, satisfying, and fulfilling. The authors examine research, practices, and standards in education, as well as organizational development, change processes, leadership, and successful practices outside of education. They provide core information on the PLC concept, along with new insights gleaned from their work with leaders in education and in real schools and districts across North America. They encourage educators to undertake the challenging but rewarding process of building their collective capacity to create schools and districts that operate as high-performing PLCs. This volume features a detailed chapter on the rise and fall of school reform, information on assessment, strategies for intervention and enrichment, and chapters on the roles of classroom teachers, the principal, the central office, and parents and the community in a PLC. Revisiting PLCs at Work¿ provides even clearer insights regarding the transition from traditional schools to PLCs. The authors expand upon the PLC framework they presented 10 years ago with lessons learned from over a decade of working with schools and districts across North America. They combine descriptions of the PLC framework with real-life examples from educators who have implemented the concept¿both successfully and unsuccessfully. They reinforce the core beliefs of the concept while tackling the misconceptions and common problems educators face during transition. The authors examine organizational development, change processes, leadership, and successful practices outside of education to offer fresh perspectives.