Educational change and professional learning communities: A study of two districts

Abstract

This paper documents the progress of eight middle schools, four from one school district, and four from another that were engaged in the process of implementing Professional Learning Community (PLC) concepts. The descriptive study used quantitative and qualitative information gathered in a standardized, open-ended interview with the teachers and administrators (Patton 2002). Likert scales were used for each question to provide quantitative data, while the explanations to the questions provided the qualitative data. The results of this study revealed statistically significant differences between the two districts with regard to PLC implementation. Concepts that were most crucial to PLC work such as analyzing and responding to student learning were considerably higher in one of the districts. This paper adds to our understanding of how respond to the requests/demands of implementing PLCs in their schools, including what facilitates and detracts from PLC implementation.