A New Way : Introducing Higher Education to Professional Learning Communities at Work(tm)

Drive lasting structural and cultural change. With this user-friendly guide, you'll discover how to implement professional learning community practices in colleges and universities. The authors detail the great promise the PLC process has for reshaping the way leaders think and work together to drive student achievement. Practical and research-based, the process carries significant potential for improving results in higher education.

Benefits:

• Craft a clear purpose, and review the three big ideas of a PLC.
• Learn the key questions that collaborative teams must answer to improve student learning in university settings.
• Explore strategies for dealing with people who are unwilling to change their practices.
• Discover ways for improving academic advising and recruitment plans.
• Consider the barriers in university structures and cultures that make it difficult to implement concepts that promote student success.

Contents:
About the Authors
Introduction
Chapter 1: Enhancing Student Success With the Promise of Professional Learning Communities
Chapter 2: The Journey From Student Access to Student Success
Chapter 3: Leading Cultural Change
Chapter 4: Enhancing Student Success Through a Commitment-Driven University
Chapter 5: Capturing the Power of Collaborative Teaming
Chapter 6: Enhancing Student Success in a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Chapter 7: Bridging the Rhetoric-Reality Gap: Helping More Students Succeed--As If We Really Mean it
Chapter 8: Improving Student Retention and Graduation Rates: The Undergraduate Experience
Chapter 9: Overcoming Barriers: Roadblocks, Detours, and Occasional Breakdowns
Epilogue
References and Resources
Index

Robert Eaker, EdD, is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Middle Tennessee State University, where he also served as dean of the College of Education and interim vice president and provost. Dr. Eaker is a former fellow with the National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development. He has written widely on the issues of effective teaching, effective schools, helping teachers use research findings, and high expectations for student achievement. He was cited by Phi Delta Kappan as one of the nation's leaders in helping public school educators translate research into practice. Dr. Eaker was instrumental in the founding of the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame and was a regular contributor to the Effective Schools Research Abstracts series.

Debra Sells, EdD, serves as vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment services at Middle Tennessee State University. She has served as an administrator at a variety of colleges and universities over her career of more than thirty years, including Grinnell College, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, and Arizona State University. Along with Bob Eaker, Debra has co-authored previous articles and chapters about academic and student affairs collaboration in higher education and on the application of professional learning community concepts and practices to colleges and universities.