Cultures Built to Last: Systemic PLCs at Work?

Take your professional learning community to the next level! Discover a systemwide approach for re-envisioning your PLC while sustaining growth and continuing momentum on your journey. You'll move beyond isolated pockets of excellence while allowing every person in your school system--from teachers and administrators to students--the opportunity to be an instrument of lasting cultural change.

Benefits:

• Determine how a systemic approach to PLCs is essential to a collaborative culture.
• Achieve the coherence and clarity necessary to maintaining a healthy PLC.
• Find a balance between maintaining focus and generating creativity.

Contents:
Introduction: Systemic PLCs
Chapter 1: Clarity Precedes Competence
Chapter 2: Creating Coherence and Clarity
Chapter 3: The Loose-Tight Dilemma
Chapter 4: The Loose-Tight System in Action
Chapter 5: Sustaining the Improvement Process
Afterword: Thinking (and Doing) Bigger

Richard DuFour, EdD, was a public-school educator for 34 years, serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. A prolific author and consultant, he was recognized as one of the leading authorities on helping school practitioners implement the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process in their schools and districts. Over the course of his career, he was the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Professional Learning Communities at Work™, Learning by Doing, and In Praise of American Educators.

During his 19-year tenure as a leader at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Stevenson was one of only three schools in the nation to win the United States Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award on four occasions and the first comprehensive high school designated a New American High School as a model of successful school reform.

Dr. DuFour was named one of the Top 100 School Administrators in North America by Executive Educator magazine, was presented the Distinguished Scholar Practitioner Award from the University of Illinois, and was the 2004 recipient of the National Staff Development Council's Distinguished Service Award.

Michael Fullan, PhD, is former dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Recognized as an international authority on educational reform, Dr. Fullan is engaged in training, consulting, and evaluating change projects around the world. His ideas for managing change are used in many countries, and his books have been published in many languages.

Dr. Fullan led the evaluation team that conducted the assessment of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in England from 1998 to 2003. Later, he was appointed special adviser to the Premier and Minister of Education in Ontario.

In December 2012, Dr. Fullan received the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honors. The Order of Canada was established in 1967 to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community, and service to the nation.

Dr. Fullan bases his work on the moral purpose of education as it is applied in schools and school systems to bring about major improvements. He has written several best sellers that have been translated into many languages. His latest books include The New Meaning of Educational Change and The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive.