Revisiting Professional Learning Communitis at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools

by Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker

This 10th-anniversary sequel to the author's best-selling book, Professional Learning Communities at Work™: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement (DuFour & Eaker, 1998), merges research, practice, and passion. The most extensive, practical, and authoritative PLC resource to date, it goes further than ever before into best practices for deep implementation, explores the commitment/consensus issue, and celebrates successes of educators who are making the journey. Benefits: Contents:
About the Authors: The 3Rs of Professional Learning Communities
Introduction: Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work
Chapter 1: New Insights Into Professional Learning Communities at Work
Chapter 2: The Rise and Fall of School Reform
Chapter 3: Making the Case for Professional Learning Communities
Chapter 4: The Challenge of Cultural Change
Chapter 5: Clear Mission and Shared Vision
Chapter 6: Shared Values (Collective Commitments) and Common Goals
Chapter 7: Teaching in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 8: Assessment in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 9: A Tale of Excellence in Assessment
Chapter 10: Intervention and Enrichment in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 11: The Classroom as a Learning Community
Chapter 12: The Role of the Principal in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 13: The Role of the Central Office in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 14: The Role of Parents and the Community in a Professional Learning Community
Chapter 15: Sustaining the Professional Learning Community Journey

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, School, Leadership, Teaching

520 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Cassie_Reads_Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book literally can be wrapped up in one sentence; working together makes schools better.

[Kristie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educators! We bought this for all 50+ PLC facilitators in our district! It’s a perfect resource since it summarizes the highest-yielding, research-supported PLC components and also frames it within the MTSS framework. Every district who is striving to meet the needs of all learners through MTSS, using the PLC model to improve Tier 1, will benefit from this book as a key resource.

[Yulia Vasyliv · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Cultural changes are less visible, more amorphous, and much more difficult to make; yet unless efforts to improve schools ultimately impact the culture, there is no reason to believe schools will produce better results"

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books like this are my life now. #PLCs4ever

[Kristina]

Great resource

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for understanding the functions of PLCs beyond what an individual institution may communicate to employees.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors' vision of PLCs is certainly brilliant and could exist, theoretically, in every school. Unfortunately, true PLCs are something of a bird never seen in the wild, so to speak. It is nothing short of a tragedy that schools have failed, by and large, to enact the PLC structure that these authors' articulate.

Every educator in the US should read Chapter 9 - it convinced me that common assessments can actually lead to a more professional experience as a teacher, as opposed to limiting teacher autonomy. They provide the common text that enables educators to engage in meaningful discussion about best practices, review student data to ensure that all students are learning, and actually collaborate and learn from one another as opposed to existing confined to our individual classrooms.

This book both made me hopeful for the future of education and also infuriated that so many schools botch the PLC approach and water it down to a series of hoops for teachers to jump through. It truly is a loss for teachers and students alike.

[Alabama Best Practices Center · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is represents ten years' worth of the Rick and Becky DuFour and Robert Eaker's thinking and sharing the concepts related to professional learning communities. It is not simply a consolidation of the former books, but rather a view from experts who have been working with educators on PLCS originally as practitioners and now as consultants.

Full of useful information, this book is highly recommended.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever wondered why your principal is "making" you change what you are doing and have done for years, there are many answers in here. Great stories that help teachers and administrators understand the need for change in our schools.

Worth the time.

[Emily Rozmus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The go-to book for school reform.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for anyone in education.

[Adam Uhler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource with solid examples--revisit frequently.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give me lots to think about . I believe it is a book for all educators. You don't have to agree with what is said, just read it and think about what it is telling you.

[Dr.Given · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offers concrete ways to implement the theories and ideas behind Professional Learning Communities.