MUW Center for Creative Learning

Best Practices in Education

 Teachers of K-12 Students

Professional Learning Communities

SEDL Issues ...about Change

Issues...about Change is a series of briefing papers designed to address issues related to the implementation of comprehensive, long-term models for school reform.

·         Professional Learning Communities - Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement

      Professional Learning Communities: Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement by Dr. Shirley M. Hord. A publication from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory on the basics of PLC's.

·         Professional Learning Communities - An Ongoing Exploration

      Professional Learning Communities: An Ongoing Exploration provides a review of the five dimensions along which a school staff should operate in order to become a learning community and discusses the role such a community can play in school reform.

·         Multiple Mirrors: Reflections on the Creation of Professional Learning Communities

      Multiple Mirrors is a collection of stories written by the co-developers who worked with SEDL in assisting schools to create professional learning communities in a sample of schools.

·         Schools as Learning Communities

      Describes how four principals transformed an urban elementary school in New Orleans into a learning community with the help of parents, students, and faculty.

·         Professional Learning Communities: What Are They and Why Are They Important? - Issues About Change, Volume 6, Number 1

·         Creating a Professional Learning Community: Cottonwood Creek School - Issues About Change, Volume 6, Number 2

·         Assessing a School Staff as a Community of Professional Learners

      This work focuses on creating and nurturing the kind of workplace and culture in schools where students and learning are the undeviating focus and the staff worked collegially to achieve the desired results.

·         Principals and Teachers: Continuous Learners - Issues About Change, Volume 7, Number 2

           This publication focuses on "Principals and Teachers: Continuous Learners."

·         Launching Professional Learning Communities: Beginning Actions - Issues About Change, Volume 8, Number 1

      This publication identifies themes that describe actions taken at schools to develop professional learning communities.

·         Co-Developers: Partners in a Study of Professional Learning Communities - Issues About Change, Volume 8, Number 2

      This publication reports one aspect of a national study focusing on the concept and development of Co-Developers in the Creating Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement (CCCII) project at Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL).

All Things PLC: All Information, No Commerce

This site was created to serve as a collaborative, objective resource for educators and administrators who are committed to enhancing student achievement.

•  All Things PLC: BLOG

Open dialogue is the key to any professional learning community. This is your blog.

•  All Things PLC: Nationwide Examples of Success

Just fill in the search criteria and we'll locate matching schools and districts that have built successful professional learning communities—as determined by our panel of PLC practitioners.

NSDC Standards

Professional Learning Communities standards and rationale from the National Staff Development Council.

Teacher Leaders Network

A list of resources on Professional Learning Communities supported by the Center for Teaching Quality.