Turning the tide: creating Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to improve teaching practice and learning in South African public schools

Abstract

Poor learner performance in South African schools raises concerns related to lack of commitment and accountability from school leaders and teachers with no common vision to promote a culture of high learner performance. This paper provides a literature overview of research available on the impact of professional learning communities (PLC) on effective teaching and practices to promote higher levels of learning amongst students; the nature of PLCs; their essential characteristics, developmental stages and challenges; and an assessment of the benefits of PLC in schools and the challenges of PLC from other researchers’ observations. PLCs are necessary to encourage collaborative teamwork on essential outcomes and intervention activities in learning. Finally, I conclude by exploring how South African schools can benefit from the practices of professional learning communities which endeavour to improve teaching practices and poor learner achievement.     

Educational reforms and the practices of professional learning community in Hong Kong primary schools

Abstract

This study explored the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Hong Kong primary schools. It investigated the profiles of the strengths of professional learning community in schools under study and particularly examined the practices in schools which were identified as strong PLCs. It extends research on PLCs in the Hong Kong context and formulates a quantitative perspective to compare and validate PLC variables across schools in Hong Kong. The Professional Learning Community Questionnaire (PLCQ) for Hong Kong schools was developed to assess the PLC practices in six different areas: leadership for teacher learning, collaborative learning capacity, student-focused orientation, a culture of sharing, mutual understanding and support, and continuous professional development. A composite construct, the Professional Learning Community Index (PLCI) expressed in quantitative terms was utilized to assess the strength of PLC in a school. The research findings show that within the schools which were identified as strong professional learning communities, both the school leaders and teachers had strong emphases on the six subscales of the PLC practices.     

The professional learning community as perceived by Israeli school superintendents, principals and teachers

A professional learning community (PLC) facilitates collaborative learning among colleagues at all levels in their common working environment. PLCs are particularly useful in schools, with teachers and principals meeting regularly to solve problems relating to teaching and learning. Being a means of improving student achievement, PLCs have received growing support from researchers and practitioners alike, yet some professionals are still exploring ways to develop learning networks focusing on teaching and learning issues. The purpose of this study was to examine Israeli teachers’, principals’, and superintendents’ perceptions of inhibiting and fostering factors of the PLC. In this qualitative, topic-oriented study, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 teachers from elementary, middle and secondary schools and their respective principals (15) and superintendents (15). Generating themes was inductive, grounded in the perspectives articulated by participants. The principals and the teachers indicated that overload, a lack of resources and top-down commands were PLC-inhibiting factors. The superintendents saw the principal’s leadership style as a main PLC-fostering factor. Understanding how these three echelons in the school system perceive the inhibiting and fostering factors of a PLC could indicate whether and how this collaborative learning process can be nurtured and sustained in schools.     

Understanding the link between professional learning communities and teacher collective efficacy

Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Some studies indicate that these communities also predict greater collective efficacy, while others suggest teacher efficacy is predictive of teachers working together. Although studies have identified effective, research-based PLC practices, how these specific practices effect collective efficacy has not been thoroughly studied. This study, using structural equation modeling (SEM), investigated the relationship between PLCs and teachers’ collective efficacy drawing on 310 surveys from 16 schools in 1 district that had systematically implemented PLCs. Our findings showed that higher functioning PLCs predict higher levels of teacher collective efficacy (TCE). This suggests that engaging and supporting teachers in PLC work, as this district did, can lead to enhanced collective efficacy, which in turn can contribute to improved student achievement.     

Factors that develop effective professional learning communities in Taiwan

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the key factors of developing effective professional learning communities (PLCs) within the Taiwanese context. Four constructs – supportive and shared leadership, shared visions, collegial trust, and shared practices – were adopted and developed into an instrument for measuring PLC function. A stratified random sampling was conducted with the strata of geographic areas. Out of 335 high schools, 51 schools were chosen and 612 copies of the questionnaires were distributed to teachers. After excluding invalid questionnaires, 444 questionnaires were collected from 34 schools, yielding a response rate of 73%. The final version of the questionnaire had 19 items with a 6-point Likert-type scale. Using confirmative factor analysis, the four factors in the conception of PLCs were confirmed. The results of the structural equation modelling indicated that a collegial trust relationship was strongly and directly related to shared practices, and was an important mediating factor between supportive and shared leadership, shared visions, and shared practices. In other words, shared vision along with supportive and shared leadership, through collegiality and trust relationships, could help school members collectively learn, collaborate, innovate, inquire, reflect, and give feedback to one another in the form of shared PLC practices.     

Forging professional learning communities: the role of external agency

This article explored the effects of external agency on the establishment of professional learning communities (PLCs). The research was undertaken in the context of schools that have chosen to adopt the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB) worldwide. The study employed a two-stage qualitative sequential design including data collected from focus groups of administrators, teachers and parents in 122 PYP schools worldwide and case studies of six of these schools provided in-depth understanding of the factors emerging from the focus group data. Findings suggest that external agency can facilitate the development of PLCs that schools, operating in isolation and having to initiate the process without an external framework and oversight, would find difficult to implement regardless of their motivation to do so. The study suggests that in the case of the IBPYP this is done by ensuring schools adopting the programme have a clear vision, mission and ethos linked directly to student outcomes that is transparent, and can be communicated by all members of the school community. The study extends the ongoing research on the development of PLCs and the type of external support most useful in the initial stages of PLC development.     

School Goals,Principals, and Achievement

ABSTRACT

Much has been written about the need for schools to engage in activities which promote the academic achievement of students. Two major factors which appear to influence student achievement are an organization's goals and the instructional leadership of the principal. The focus of this study was to investigate whether differences exist between schools which were successful in promoting student achievement and schools which were not successful in promoting student achievement in each of these areas. This paper is based upon a study conducted in an urban school district with a diverse student population. It identified 10 High Achieving Schools and 10 Low Achieving Schools (based upon student gain scores calculated from standardized achievement tests). Data regarding school goals and the instructional leadership of the principal were based upon responses to questionnaires designed to measure staff perceptions of these factors. The findings suggest that no clear differences are evident in the “official” goals selected by schools but differences do appear when the “operative” goals are analyzed. Specifically, the evidence suggests that High Achieving Schools emphasize goals stressing academic excellence to a greater degree than Low Achieving Schools. More important, the evidence from this study also suggests that principals in High Achieving Schools emphasize and engage in activities related to instruction to a much greater degree than principals in Low Achieving Schools. Those activities, which are identified and discussed at length, reinforce the view that a principal's behaviors rather than style are the primary factor in being an instructional leader.     

Improving quality and equity in schools in socially disadvantaged areas

Background: Recent effectiveness studies have investigated the relationship between two dimensions of effectiveness – namely, quality and equity. Specifically, the question of whether effective schools can also reduce the initial differences in student outcomes attributed to student background factors has been examined. In this context, the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (DASI) makes use of theory and the research findings of effectiveness studies to try to improve school effectiveness in terms of quality and equity.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine whether the implementation of DASI in primary schools in socially disadvantaged areas in four European countries (Cyprus, England, Greece and Ireland) was able to promote student learning outcomes in mathematics and to reduce the impact of student background factors on student achievement in mathematics.

Design and methods: A sample of 72 primary schools across the four countries was randomly split into experimental and control groups. At the beginning and at the end of the school year, mathematics tests were administered to all students of Grades 4–6 (n = 5560; student ages 9–12 years). The experimental group made use of DASI. Within-country multilevel regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the impact of the intervention and search for interaction effects between the use of DASI and student background factors on final achievement.

Results: In each country, the experimental group achieved better results in mathematics than the control group. At the beginning of the intervention, the achievement gap based on socio-economic status (SES) was equally large in the experimental and the control groups. Only in the experimental group did the achievement gap based on SES become smaller. However, DASI was not found to have an effect on equity when the equity dimension was examined by focusing on the achievement gap based on either gender or ethnicity.

Conclusions: Implications of findings are drawn and the importance of measuring equity in terms of student achievement gaps based on different background factors, rather than only on SES, is emphasised. We propose the evaluation of the impact of interventions on promoting equity by the use of various criteria.     

Professional learning community process in the United States: conceptualization of the process and district support for schools

Abstract

As the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process becomes embedded within schools, the level of district support has a direct impact on whether schools have the ability to re-culture and sustain highly effective collaborative practices. The purpose of this article is to share a professional learning community conceptual framework from the US, and to highlight recent findings relating to district level support for the PLC process in schools. The professional learning community conceptual model is organized around five dimensions: shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collaborative learning and application, shared personal practice, and supportive conditions. The overarching question guiding this qualitative research study is: How do school district personnel (central office staff) support schools in the professional learning community process? Findings reveal the importance of transformative and proactive district involvement, and the use of transparency, trust, accountability, and autonomy in school re-culturing. It was also found that developing leadership capacity, embedding professional development, and focusing the culture on student success were critically important. As districts provide support for the PLC dimensions and themes, school leaders will have a foundation of curricular strategies, collaborative skills, and necessary resources to serve teachers and students through continuous school improvement.     

The Impact of Charter Schools on Promoting High Levels of Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

This study compares achievement levels for high ability students attending charter schools and students in traditional public schools in Georgia. Researchers examined student achievement (as assessed by the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests) using three comparison groups: students in the closest traditional schools with similar grade levels, schools with similar demographics, and comprehensive school reform schools. Hierarchical loglinear analysis was used to determine the impact of school type and student demographic variables on student achievement mobility (i.e., the degree to which students, from 2004 to 2005, moved into or out of the top 10% of each grade level on the CRT mathematics subtest). Results for the first comparison did not provide evidence of a significant relationship between school type and achievement mobility, but results for the second and third comparisons suggest that Black students generally experienced positive or neutral achievement mobility in traditional schools and negative mobility in charter schools; White students generally saw negative achievement mobility in traditional schools and neutral to positive mobility in charter schools. Implications for the study of gifted education and gifted students within charter schools are discussed.     

Grade Placement of High-School Biology

Abstract

Using 35 elementary schools (3,350 fourth and sixth grade students), 10 secondary schools (3,613 eight and eleventh grade students), and 1,145 teachers, this study presents data summarizing the relationships between student' perceptions of "verified" principal competencies and selected school climate indices and outcome variables. The results indicated that there is a general tendency for positive teacher attitudes towards various dimensions of the school and working environment and higher student standardized achievement test performance to be associated with students' reports of a low frequency of interaction with die principal. A student "independence factor" was hypothesized to account for these results, with the implication being that principal/student interaction is minimized in schools where teacher and student attitudes are positive and student achievement is high. In addition, effective principal performance in dealing with student misbehavior was highly and positively associated with school average daily attendance at the secondary level. Supplementary analyses indicated that teacher and student attitudes "mediating" the school environment were relatively independent for both elementary and secondary samples. General support was found for higher correlations between student assessments of principal competencies and school environment measures than with student performance measures.     

Perceived Competencies of Elementary and Special Education Teachers

Abstract

With a renewed emphasis on student achievement, school improvement, and shared decision making, and in an effort to create and maintain effective schools, researchers try to delineate those characteristics that positively affect student learning and behavior. In exploring the different views that persons have regarding the characteristics of effective schools, the authors reviewed research studies to identify factors considered to be determinants of an effective school. Specific topic areas examined were the views of teachers, parents, and administrators regarding effective schools, as well as an examination of the related research literature. Consistent across the 4 areas was the importance of a positive school climate and strong leadership. Implications for educational leaders are provided.     

Learning Segregation in Junior High‐Schools in Israel: Causes and Consequences

ABSTRACT

Implementation of educational integration policy in Israel creates heterogeneous student compositions in the schools. Principals and teachers who, as a result, confront instructional difficulties, and who are ambiguous about this policy and its expected efficacy, press to counter‐balance this heterogeneity by resegregating students within the school in ability‐based classes. In this paper we deal with three inter‐related topics:

1. the degree of learning segregation within integrated junior high schools in Israel;

2. several factors which may explain the degree of learning segregation; (3) the effect of learning segregation on academic outcomes: achievement (in reading and science) and subsequent school career (student placement in high school track).

In doing so, we clarify an aspect of the school principal's role and his or her indirect effect on students learning. Principals have a decisive power in the organization of learning frameworks (class structure, ability grouping etc.) within the school. Their ideas and convictions about the efficacy of integration affect the actual practices of class organization in the school. This, in turn, has an effect on learning processes within the class and evetually on students’ academic outcomes, especially on those from the weaker group.     

Investigating the development of professional learning communities: compare schools in Shanghai and Southwest China

Abstract

This quantitative study investigated and compared the development of professional learning communities in schools located in two Chinese cities, namely, Shanghai and Mianyang. The two cities have significant differences in terms of educational, economic, social, and cultural development. While Shanghai is a directly controlled municipality in East China, Mianyang is a city of Sichuan Province in Southwest China. Based on the literature review and an analysis of the Chinese context, the authors developed a questionnaire to explore and compare the professional learning community (PLC) practices of schools in the two cities. Findings show that schools in Mianyang had more PLCs practices than those sampled schools in Shanghai, in terms of collaborative learning and facilitative leadership. Such differences could be explained by the educational, economic, social, and cultural differences between the two cities. Practical implications for school development in both Shanghai and Mianyang as well as suggestions for future research are provided.     

Contrived collegiality versus genuine collegiality: demystifying professional learning communities in Chinese schools

Drawing on data from a larger study on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and School Leadership in China, this article investigates the practices of teacher collaboration and PLCs in two urban, high-performing secondary schools in Northeast China. Qualitative data were collected from observations, documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 participants. The findings reveal that intentionally arranged organisational structures support teacher professional learning and collective inquiry. Collaborative teams in two schools are characterised by genuine collegiality, promoting disciplined collaboration and shared responsibility, which is different from contrived collegiality imposed on teachers. Professional learning is ongoing, supported and fully integrated into the culture and operation of the school system. Emotional bonds, trust and an inclusive school culture contribute to genuine collegiality. These learning communities establish a system of focused collaboration, peer mentoring and collective responsibility, which leads to improved teaching and student learning.     

Sustaining data use professional learning communities in schools: The role of leadership practices

Sustaining professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on data use is a challenge for schools. Sustainability is achieved by making the PLC’s core components evident in schools’ organizational routines. Leadership can support sustainability according to literature, but it is unclear what leadership for sustainability looks like in practice. We therefore investigated what sustainable data use PLCs and leadership look like in three secondary schools, and explored how leadership influences sustainable data use PLCs. A mixed methods design (observations, social network questionnaire, school documents) was used to gain in-depth insight. The findings show that sustainability is difficult to achieve at both the ostensive and performative level. The schools differed in the form of sustainability they achieved. A broad set of leadership practices (e.g., organize meetings, participate actively in PLC, know content and procedure) were carried out in interplay by both formal and informal leaders.     

Institutional and Student Factors and Their Influence on Advanced Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

The author examined advanced mathematics achievement with 1,839 students from 162 schools. The data were obtained from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study Population 3 cohort; the author used hierarchical (multilevel) linear modeling to examine student- and school-level factors. Even within the advanced mathematics cohort, gender and economic disparities existed, but the magnitude of these disparities varied from school to school. Average parent education was observed to be associated with the magnitude of the coefficient for attitude toward mathematics on achievement. The more a student believed that success in mathematics was caused by natural ability, the higher the score on the test. Finally, resources, school size, and average parent education were significantly associated with school mean achievement in advanced mathematics.     

Examining Variation Within the Charter School Sector: Academic Achievement in Suburban,Urban, and Rural Charter Schools

ABSTRACT

To date, there is a paucity of research that examines differences between charter schools that operate in suburban and nonsuburban contexts. This article examines whether students in suburban charter schools perform better or worse than their counterparts in traditional public schools or students in urban charter schools. Boasting the largest and most diverse charter school population in the United States, California offers a fertile urban-suburban context for the study of geographically differentiated charter school impacts and, thus, serves as the focus of our study. The student achievement data (2009–2010, 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 school years) for this study come from the California Department of Education. Using propensity score matching and virtual control records, our findings show that suburban charter schools do not improve academic achievement relative to the matched comparison group of traditional public schools. Suburban charter schools (namely, charters in high-income areas) are largely ineffective and appear to leave their students’ achievement unchanged or diminished. This study adds to the existing literature by examining the effects of charter schools on the neighborhoods in which they operate. Methodologically, another important contribution of this study is that it supplements traditional selection criteria for suburban charters (NCES classification) with census-based neighborhood factors. Finally, this study provides evidence of the broader implications of school choice policies in a suburban setting.