PLCs- mentioned by our Union President

Hello- I previously had read this article and it came to mind when I read our union newsletter and our union president stated, "I beleive our best opportunity will emerge from
using Professional Learning Communities within our departments and buildings to
formulate standards based exit testing that can be used to compare to an
entrance exam on the identical standards for every class and grade level in the
district."

Here is an excerpt from Middle School Journal, titled Professional Learning Communities: A Bandwagon, an Idea Worth Considering, or Our Best Hope for High Levels of Learning?
"The professional learning community concept does not offer a short cut to school improvement. It presents neither a program nor a recipe. It does provide a powerful, proven conceptual framework for transforming schools at all levels, but alas, even the grandest design eventually degenerates into hard work. A school staff must focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively on matters related to learning, and hold itself accountable for the kind of results that fuel continual improvement. When educators do the hard work necessary to implement these principles, their collective ability to help all students learn inevitably will rise. If they fail to demonstrate the discipline to initiate and sustain this work, their school is unlikely to become more effective, even if those within the school claim to be a professional learning community. The rise or fall of the professional learning community concept in any school will depend not on the merits of the concept itself, but on the most important element in the improvement of any school—the collective capacity, commitment, and persistence of the educators within it."

If you would like to read the full article, it is available here.

The article sounds cautionary, but is not doubtful of PLCs. It is just making people aware that the term is frequently used while the concepts are not.

The article also states, "Researchers who have studied schools where educators actually engage in PLC practices have consistently cited those practices as our best hope for sustained, substantive school improvement (Darling-Hammond, 2001; Fullan, 2005; Louis & Marks, 1998; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2001; Newmann, 1996; Reeves, 2006; Saphier, 2005; Schmoker, 2005; Sparks, 2005)."