Professional Learning Communities

It has been said that the best teachers are thieves. Star teachers are those who are constantly striving to find the best practices for their classrooms. Teachers can attain much knowledge from attending seminars, conferences, or attaining advanced degrees; but in most cases, there is a wealth of knowledge in the very building in which they teach.

Many administrators have caught on to the concept of Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Basically, a Professional Learning Community is a group of teachers who work together to share ideas and concepts, and to analyze data in relation to instruction. The goal is to discover new teaching strategies and to improve instruction.

Research has shown that schools that foster teacher collaboration and mentoring between novice and experienced teachers have lower turnover rates Kardos, S.M. & Johnson, S.M. (2007). Another study found positive relationships between schools that foster teacher collaboration and achievement scores in math and reading (Goddard, Y.L., Goddard, R.D., Tschannen-Moran, M. (2007).

Based on evidence from research, Professional Learning Communities have shown to improve instruction, improve achievement, and
Over the years, I have seen tremendous improvement in the classroom by following these simple strategies. I've also noticed that teacher morale is always higher when they are given opportunities to collaborate with colleagues. The best teachers are those who enjoy what they do; I have a teacher who often says, "It's not work, if you love getting up every morning and coming to school." This is the attitude that we must all strive to have as educators if we truly wish to make a difference in our