Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement

The book that launched a school improvement movement offers research-based recommendations drawn from the best practices found in schools nationwide for continuously improving school performance. Coming from the perspectives of both a distinguished dean of education and one of America's most widely acclaimed practitioners, this resource provides specific, practical how-to information about transforming schools into results-oriented PLCs.

Benefits:

• Initiate, implement, and sustain a change process.
• Work collaboratively to design an effective research-based curriculum.
• Choose appropriate assessment models.
• Create meaningful partnerships with parents.
• Establish effective workplace-based professional development programs.
• Overcome the common mistakes you may face as you work toward change.

Contents:
Chapter 1: The Disappointment of School Reform
Chapter 2: A New Model: The Professional Learning Community
Chapter 3: The Complexity of the Change Process
Chapter 4: Building the Foundation of a Professional Learning Community: Mission and Vision
Chapter 5: Building the Foundation of a Professional Learning Community: Values and Goals
Chapter 6: Sustaining the School Improvement Process
Chapter 7: Embedding Change in the Culture of a School
Chapter 8: Planning for Learning: Curricular Focus in a Learning Community
Chapter 9: The Role of the Principal in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 10: Teaching in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 11: The Role of Parents in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 12: Staff Development in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 13: Passion and Persistence
Appendix A: Sample Vision Statements
Appendix B: Curriculum Standards, Models, and Concepts

Richard DuFour, EdD, in a distinguished career spanning four decades, was a public-school educator, 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.

Robert Eaker, EdD, is professor emeritus 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. 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.