In their subsequent work Dr. DuFour, Dr. Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour argue that these characteristics are driven by three big ideas that guide the daily work of educators in a professional learning community :.
He cautions that the term has traveled faster than the concept, and that many schools are engaged in superficial activities under the banner of professional learning communities that will have little effect on student achievement.
He also cautions that professional learning communities will be difficult to sustain in individual schools without support from the central office and state and provincial systems of education. Harvard researchers Robert Kagen and Lisa Laskow Lahey have found that changing the way we talk can change the way we work. Numbers of Study Participants Years 1 and 2. Interview Participants - Spring. Data Analysis. As previously noted, participation in the study was voluntary, the questionnaires were not coded in any identifiable way; therefore, samples were not paired.
A statistical analysis of the data from Year 1 and Year 2 administrations was conducted using the t-test for independent samples. Transcripts were physically organized and divided into meaningful segments. Each transcript was read several times to generate categories, themes, and patterns.
With each reading, findings were compared to the conceptual framework Hord , modified, and refined. Significant differences in the means between the years were observed for five of the items on the SPSaLC Hord, ; two of the items showed a mean decrease Items 1b, 2a , and three items showed a mean increase Items 2b, 4a, 4b.
In all cases, these differences fell within respective confidence intervals and are highly unlikely due to chance.
Quantitative and qualitative findings are presented for these five items. They are discussed within the structure of the dimension of the conceptual framework being assessed, with the results pertaining to the survey items showing a mean decrease presented first, followed by the results for those items showing a mean increase. The interviewee quotes below are representative of participant responses and are presented as expressions of the themes that emerged.
Examination of the results for the SPSaLC items for this dimension revealed the teachers showed a mean decrease in their reports about the principal involving entire staff in decision-making Item 1b , producing a mean difference between the years of. An analysis of interviewee responses did not corroborate these results. The qualitative findings present a somewhat different and informative picture of Dr. Further, these data provide some additional ideas about what may have been happening at MMS.
Case actively shared leadership, providing many authentic opportunities for the entire faculty to give input and take action in decision-making. Both groups of teachers provided rich examples of how Dr. Interviewees in both years made several references to Dr. There are faculty meetings in which the principal often has an open forum, especially for those really important issues that need to be discussed by the whole faculty.
Also, a lot of committees that teachers could sign onto. Things are opened up. Nevertheless, several Year 2 interviewees acknowledged that Dr. He would take all of our advice, move it to a committee, which is the equity and excellence committee.
An analysis of the quantitative data for the SPSaLC items 2a, 2b related to this dimension in comparison to the qualitative data revealed the following. Survey respondents reports showed a mean decrease in a vision for improvement being discussed and shared by all Item 2a , producing a mean difference between the years of.
One of the teachers suggested:. There is the shared vision. Especially, I think that. They are vastly different from sixth to eighth grade and the philosophies you have to use are very different. In contrast to the mean decrease in reports of the vision for improvement being discussed and shared by all, survey respondents showed a mean increase in their reports of the vision always being focused on student learning Item 2b , producing a mean difference between the years of -.
The qualitative data overwhelmingly validated this finding. You know, this is what works here. My personal goal is always to get them reading and it all fits. MMS teachers also showed a mean increase in their reports of providing feedback based on observations Item 4b , producing a mean difference of -.
Both groups of teachers talked about how Dr. Case had put into place structures to support observations by his encouraging teachers to schedule substitute teachers for their classes so that they could observe other teachers. Nevertheless, interviewees in both years reported people were not fully availing themselves of this opportunity.
Case really encouraged that. Five first year interviewees indicated they had observed or been observed by another teacher. In Year 2, all of the teachers reported participating in peer-to-peer observations. Further, all teachers who had engaged in this process perceived that observing peers was extremely beneficial in helping them to reflect on their own practice.
An interviewee remarked:. It was revitalizing. It was a younger teacher and he kept going back to the central question that he had written on the board. I realized that I forget to do that. Despite positive perceptions about the felt benefits of sharing practice, Year 1 and Year 2 interviewees suggested that, for the most part, the MMS teachers were struggling with implementing collegial observations.
In particular, both groups indicated they wanted specific guidance and professional development about how to carry out classroom peer observations, including pre-conference and debriefing. One interviewee said:. I do think it needs to be more. We almost need a timeline or deadlines or some accountability. Seems like things are a little too nebulous. We know what Dr. But, he needs to lay it on the line. Conclusions and Implications for Practice and Research.
This article presented findings from a mixed methods case study of one suburban middle school whose principal had the strategic intent of moving professional staff towards becoming a learning community. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected over a two-year period.
The qualitative data help further our understanding. They make visible the inherently messy struggles with changing school culture and provide us with a portrait of the practical workings of the developing professional learning community at MMS.
Sorting out the quantitative and qualitative results revealed Dr. Teachers at MMS conveyed a need for him to clearly establish decision processes and rules. Moreover, teachers appeared to be saturated with sharing responsibility for decisions. There was an expressed desire for Dr. Case to assume more responsibility in the actions and operations of making decisions. In practice, teachers and principals will likely need to learn about the various processes they can employ in making shared decisions.
They will also do well to explicitly articulate the procedures and rules to be used for making decisions and to deliberately build individual and group skills capability to execute those procedures Enderlin-Lampe, ; Meyers et al.
The comparison of quantitative and qualitative data showed MMS teachers perceived they were acting on a shared vision of school improvement, for the most part. Senge tells us vision is linked to deep organizational purpose and shared vision emerges from ongoing dialogue and collective inquiry that aligns individual purpose and vision with organizational purpose and vision.
Interviewees expressed a felt tension, however, about aligning individual mental models and identifying the best strategies for attaining a shared vision.
This tension may have been created by tacit recognition of a gap between their present realities and their preferred picture of the future. In practice, it is important to recognize that our acknowledgement of the present realities leads to the creative tension needed to produce real individual and group learning and deep organizational change.
The vision is what compels teachers to act and change Hord, Creative tension serves as the catalyst. Finally, both quantitative and qualitative data suggest MMS is moving toward developing into a professional learning community in which teachers are opening doors and sharing their practices with colleagues.
Similar to the teachers in a study conducted by Leonard and Leonard , the interviewees from MMS indicated they valued shared practice. The qualitative data also show individual teachers are following a typical developmental trajectory with regard to how people relate to and understand an unfolding change. The more evidence we have about their evolution, the better we will understand whether professional learning communities are making a difference.
As can be seen here, the path to deep, sustained change is hard to define. Once charted is not forever shaped. It advances and re-forms with each action.
As we evolve, we conflict. Limitations of the Study. The single case study design is both a limitation and strength. The findings from a case study cannot be generalized to the larger population; they can only be generalized to theory and the phenomenon under investigation, the development of a professional learning community.
As was true in this case study, unanticipated events may occur while a study, which is examining contemporary events and relevant behaviors, is in progress. In an effort to increase participation, distribution of study materials was modified in Year 2. As such, this represents a further limitation. Anderson, K. Why teachers participate in decision-making and the third continuum.
Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, Coladarci, T. Fundamentals of statistical reasoning in education. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Creswell, J. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research 2nd ed. Donaldson, G. Cultivating leadership in schools : Connecting people, purpose, and practice. DuFour, R. Moving toward the school as a learning community.
Journal of Staff Development , 18 1. Educational Leadership , 61 8 , Eaker, R. The impact this has had on our district has been profound. We have mentored several districts from within our state and region on their journey to implementing G Suite. This interaction serves both as a reminder to keep challenging ourselves to look for new learning opportunities and a reinforcement of our role as leaders in the field of technological implementation in education.
A specific example of how we have rethought education of previous generations to meet the needs of the current generation is using technology to grow and shape what appear to be unrelated problems in a real-world setting. Biographies have long been a part of the educational landscape for good reason; they require learning in research skills as well as the obvious writing skills.
But how would a traditional assignment such as this look if we made the biography contemporary rather than traditional? Most school districts have memorials for veterans within their geographic boundaries and our district is no exception.
We assembled photos of our memorials using a special device called a Gigapan, on loan from the Alle Kiski Best Practices Collaborative, to allow students to create a Veterans Website dedicated to the stories of these local heroes. The site is wholly developed and maintained by students. They make suggestions for improving the site and brainstorm ways we can reach out to community members regarding family members and their stories.
Cross-curricular opportunities to read novels in English class that are set in historical situations further enhance the realistic nature of this entire project; we paired reading the novel The Things They Carried in English class while studying the Vietnam War in history.
The entire initiative started with a simple biography but has been transformed into a modern, real-world, problem-solving, teamwork-based student testament to those who have served in our military. This example shows what can happen when the power of G Suite is combined with the transformation of an educational culture. We are proud of our accomplishments so far at Kiski Area and cannot wait to learn from others as part of our experience at the Model Schools Conference.
Over 30 years ago, Richard DuFour started building a new mindset based upon the proposition learning is the fundamental purpose of education, and at the Kiski Area School District, we are taking strides to ensure that message lives on through the transformation of our culture and the successful implementation of technology for the benefit of student learning.
Learning Has No Boundaries. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH. How do we reframe our pedagogy to incorporate multiple narratives within our classrooms?
We can start with three building blocks: reading, content integration, and scaffolding of information.
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