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What Is a Professional Learning Community?

A professional learning community is more than simply a collection of teachers working in the same building. A learning community comes together around people from every part of the school working collaboratively at all levels (Louis and Kruse 1995). That collaborative work is founded in what Louis and Kruse call reflective dialogue, meaning staff conversations about issues and problems related to students, learning, and teaching.

Professional learning communities are characterized by:

• a principal who shares leadership, power, and authority and participates collegially by encouraging staff involvement in decision making;
• a shared vision developed from staff’s unswerving commitment to students’ learning and consistently articulated and referenced for the staff’s work;
• opportunities for teacher-to-teacher visitation and observation accompanied by feedback and assistance as needed;
• opportunities for staff reflection, collective inquiry, and sharing of personal practice;
• sharing of success stories and celebration of achievements (Hord and Rutherford 1998; Peterson 2002).

Teachers who view their schools as professional learning communities report fewer feelings of isolation, are more likely to see themselves as "professionally renewed," and view their work as more satisfying (Hord 1997, 27). In addition:

• Teachers are more committed to the goals and mission of the school, and they work with more vigor to strengthen the mission.
• Sharing good teaching practices helps create greater knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learners.
• "Significant advances in adapting teaching to the students are accomplished more quickly than in traditional schools."
• "Commitment to making significant and lasting changes" is demonstrated.
• The "likelihood of undertaking fundamental systemic change" is higher (Hord 1997, 26-27).

What Are the Benefits for Students?

The characteristics of a professional learning community translate into concrete benefits for students, including academic gains in math, science, history, and reading. These gains tend to be greater in schools structured as professional learning communities than they are in traditional schools, and the schools tend to demonstrate smaller achievement gaps between students from different backgrounds. These schools also are reported to have lower dropout rates, fewer missed classes, and lower rates of absenteeism (Hord 1997).

How Can Principals Create Professional Learning Communities?

Leadership is essential for professional learning communities to be effective. Principals need to provide opportunities for teachers "to meet and share effective practices, develop interdependent teaching roles, and grow personally and professionally" (Madsen and Hipp 1999, 268). Often, this means dramatically restructuring school schedules and providing opportunities within the school day for teachers to work, plan, and learn together around instructional issues (Charles A. Dana Center 1999). A study of Maryland schools found effective schools routinely provided time for collaboration, and principals supported risk-taking and experiementation by the teachers. As collaboration developed, so did collegiality (Schafer et al. 1997).

Principals must also take the lead in initiating teacher-to-teacher conversations that are significantly different than those many teachers currently experience. Dufour (2003) stresses all people in the organization must have a clear sense of the mission they are to accomplish, and they must work together as a team toward their goals. They must identify weaknesses, but also support each other as they implement new strategies to address areas of concern. And they must work together to bridge the gaps caused by grade and subject matter specialization.

How Can Professional Learning Communities Be Sustained?

School leaders should not wait until a learning community is established before thinking about how to sustain it. A question that should be asked from the very beginning is: What elements must be firmly in place to motivate and encourage teachers to continually engage in learning activities and act on what they have learned for the benefit of students? Some ideas are:

• Celebrations. Honor positive actions and progress made toward community goals.
• Training. Provide teachers with instruction in group process skills, conflict management, and content-specific areas such as literacy instruction.
• Ongoing data collection and analysis. Develop procedures for regular monitoring of student performance data; collect data throughout the year, not just at its end. Provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate around data analysis.
• Teacher study groups and peer coaching. Provide structure for regular teacher interaction.

On the Same Page provides a balanced overview of the topic based on a thorough review of the research. Some of the resources used in writing this issue were Professionalism and Community: Perspectives on Reforming Urban Schools by K.S. Louis and S.D. Kruse, 1995; Creating a Professional Learning Community: Cottonwood Creek School: Issues about Change by S.M. Hord and W.L. Rutherford, 1998; and Professional Learning Communities: Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement by S.M. Hord, 1997. For a list of all references used for this issue of On the Same Page, along with other related resources, visit the ERS Web site: www.ers.org.

References

Charles A. Dana Center (1999). Hope for urban education: A study of nine high-performing, high-poverty, urban elementary schools. Washington, DC: Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education.

DuFour, R. (2003). Building a professional learning community. The School Administrator (May 2003), 13-18

Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Hord, S. M., & Rutherford, W. L. (1998). Creating a professional learning community: Cottonwood Creek School: Issues about change. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Louis, K. S. & Kruse, S. D. (1995). Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming urban schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Madsen, J., & Hipp, K. A. (1999, July). The impact of leadership style on creating community in public and private schools. International Journal of Education Reform, 8(3), 260-273.

Peterson, K. D. (2002). Positive or negative? Journal of Staff Development, 23(3). Retrieved from http://www.nsdc.org/library/jsd/peterson233.html

Schafer, W. D., et al. (1997). Study of Higher-Success and Lower-Success Elementary Schools. Retrieved from http://mdk12.org/process/benchmark/improve/study/

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