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The PLC Book - Book Cover Look Inside

The PLC Book

This guide helps PLC members learn to give voice to issues, collaborate on an area of focus, take action, and share results outside the PLC.

Full description


The PLC Book - Book Cover Look Inside
Product Details
  • Grade Level: PreK-12
  • ISBN: 9781483382654
  • Published By: Corwin
  • Year: 2015
  • Page Count: 128
  • Publication date: October 22, 2015
Price: $33.95
Volume Discounts applied in Shopping Cart

Review Copies

Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.

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Description

Description

The secret to your PLC’s success? You.

Commitment to improving student outcomes is a natural part of being a teacher. So when you bring your experience, skills, and questions to a professional learning community, you help shape the future of the team—and that makes all the difference for your students.

Unlike other PLC resources, this book isn’t just for leaders—it’s designed to help every member of the team be a driving force for success. With it, you’ll work together to

  • Give voice to important issues and dilemmas
  • Decide where to focus your work
  • Develop and implement a plan for gaining insight into your area of focus
  • Take action based on individual and collective learning
  • Share results with others outside the PLC

Successful PLCs buzz with a collaborative energy that comes from the engagement of teachers. With this guide, you’ll make the most of your contributions.

“The PLC Book is an essential resource for all principals and teachers who wish to create a powerful culture of adult and student learning in their schools. . . . A must-read for all who are currently engaging in or wish to begin Professional Learning Communities in their schools.”
- Todd Whitaker, Professor
Indiana State University

“The PLC Book is destined to be an essential text in the fields of teacher education, teacher professional development, school administration and a handbook for teachers and others engaged in the pursuit of systemic educational change.”
- Frances Rust, Senior Fellow & Director of Teacher Education Program
University of Pennsylvania

Key features

  • This book is written for all members of a PLC, not just the leaders, really focusing on how working together creates a stronger PLC.
  • Complete rewrite of a bestselling Corwin book.
  • Discusses the 10 essential elements of high functioning PLCs.
Author(s)

Author(s)

Nancy Fichtman Dana photo

Nancy Fichtman Dana
Nancy Fichtman Dana is professor of education and distinguished teaching scholar at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher in Hannibal Central Schools, New York. Since earning her PhD from Florida State University in 1991, she has been a passionate advocate for teacher inquiry and has worked extensively in supporting schools, districts, and universities in implementing powerful programs of job-embedded professional development through inquiry across the United States and in several countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Estonia, Slovenia, Spain, and Portugal. She has published 12 books and more than 100 articles in professional journals and edited books focused on her research exploring teacher and principal professional development and practitioner inquiry. Dana has received many honors for her teaching, research, and writing. Among them are the Association of Teacher Educators Mentoring and Distinguished Research in Teacher Education awards, the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate’s David G. Imig Distinguished Service Award, the National Staff Development Council (now Learning Forward) Book of the Year Award, and was one of three finalist in Baylor University’s prestigious Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching 2020 competition. Before joining the faculty at University of Florida in 2003, she worked at The Pennsylvania State University for 11 years, creating and launching their award-winning inquiry-based Professional Development School program with the State College Area School District. At the University of Florida, she worked to embed inquiry as a signature pedagogy into the undergraduate teacher education program, as well as developed and taught three popular classes on inquiry at the master’s and doctoral levels. In partnership with the Lastinger Center for Learning, Dana led the development and implementation of inquiry-based professional development for teachers across the state that included several of the nation’s largest school districts. Further, she was instrumental in the development of UF’s Teacher Leadership for School Improvement Program and Professional Practice Doctorate in Teachers, Schools, and Society, both national award winning programs that highlight inquiry as a signature program feature and have been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 Online Graduate Education Programs in the nation.
Diane Yendol-Hoppey photo

Diane Yendol-Hoppey
Diane Yendol-Hoppey is professor of teacher education in the College of Education and Human Services at the University of North Florida. She has served as dean, associate dean of educator preparation and partnerships, department chair, and center director. She taught for many years at the University of Florida where she was the evaluator of numerous district, state, and national professional development efforts. Before beginning her work in higher education, Yendol-Hoppey spent 13 years as an elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction from The Pennsylvania State University. Yendol-Hoppey’s current work explores national and international research focusing on teacher education clinical practice, job-embedded professional learning, and teacher leadership. Yendol-Hoppey has received the AERA Division K Early Career Research Award and the ATE Distinguished Teacher Educator Award for her ongoing commitment to researching innovative approaches to teacher learning. She has published six books, more than 60 articles in professional journals, and secured 20 million in external funding to support teacher learning.
Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

1. PLC Defined

What Is A PLC?

Do PLCs Really Work?

How Do PLCs Work?

Why Is This Book Called The PLC Book?

2. Getting Started

What Getting Started Is and Why It’s Important

How to Get Started

What Does Getting Started Look Like?

Questions For Discussion

3. Establishing A PLC’s Direction

What Establishing A PLC Direction Is and Why It’s Important

How To Establish A Direction For Your PLC

What Does Establishing A Direction For Your PLC Look Like?

Questions For Discussion

4. Developing A PLC Action Learning Plan

What A PLC Action Learning Plan Is and Why It’s Important

How To Develop A PLC Action Learning Plan

What Might Developing An Action Learning Plan Look Like?

Questions For Discussion

5. Analyzing Data In Your PLC

What Data Analysis Is and Why It’s Important

How To Analyze Data

What Might Analyzing Data Look Like?

Questions for Discussion

6. Making PLC Learning Public

What Making PLC Learning Public Is and Why It’s Important

How to Make PLC Learning Public

What Might Sharing the Work of Your PLC Look Like?

Questions for Discussion

7. Essential Elements of Healthy PLCs

Establish a Vision

Build Trust

Understand and Embrace Collaboration

Encourage, Recognize and Appreciate Diversity Within the Group

Promote the Development of Critical Friends

Pay Attention to the Work “In-Between”

Hold the Group Accountable for and Document Their Learning

Have a Comprehensive View of What Constitutes Data

Understand Change and Acknowledge The Discomfort It May Bring

Work With Building Administrators

References

Reviews

Reviews

Quote by Todd Whitaker, Indiana State University:

“The PLC Book is an essential resource for all principals and teachers who wish to create a powerful culture of adult and student learning in their schools. Dana and Yendol-Hoppey created a practical go-to guide designed to help all educators understand and enact an exciting program of professional learning. A must-read for all who are currently engaging in or wish to begin Professional Learning Communities in their schools.”

“The PLC Book is an essential resource for all principals and teachers who wish to create a powerful culture of adult and student learning in their schools. Dana and Yendol-Hoppey created a practical go-to guide designed to help all educators understand and enact an exciting program of professional learning. A must-read for all who are currently engaging in or wish to begin Professional Learning Communities in their schools.”

Todd Whitaker
Indiana State University
Quote by Frances Rust, Senior Fellow & Director of Teacher Education Program, University of Pennsylvania:

“The PLC Book is destined to be an essential text in the fields of teacher education, teacher professional development, school administration and a handbook for teachers and others engaged in the pursuit of systemic educational change.”

“The PLC Book is destined to be an essential text in the fields of teacher education, teacher professional development, school administration and a handbook for teachers and others engaged in the pursuit of systemic educational change.”

Frances Rust, Senior Fellow & Director of Teacher Education Program
University of Pennsylvania
Quote by Liane Pitcher-Leigh, Evidence-Based Teaching Lead, Dene Magna School:

“The PLC Book is a must-read for anyone wishing to establish a PLC in their school, from the leader looking for a whole-school approach, to the classroom practitioner seeking to connect with a group of educators.”

“The PLC Book is a must-read for anyone wishing to establish a PLC in their school, from the leader looking for a whole-school approach, to the classroom practitioner seeking to connect with a group of educators.”

Liane Pitcher-Leigh, Evidence-Based Teaching Lead
Dene Magna School
Quote by Donnan Stoicovy, Elementary Principal/Lead Learner, Park Forest Elementary School:

“The PLC Book is as essential as The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Professional Learning Communities! Their careful guidance and realistic examples support the work of teachers to genuinely learn together based on inquiry, shared common goals and reflective practices.”

“The PLC Book is as essential as The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Professional Learning Communities! Their careful guidance and realistic examples support the work of teachers to genuinely learn together based on inquiry, shared common goals and reflective practices.”

Donnan Stoicovy, Elementary Principal/Lead Learner
Park Forest Elementary School
Quote by Teri Schrader, The School Reform Initiative, Watkinson School:

“The PLC Book creates a powerful and memorable connection between the idea of Professional Learning Communities and the actuality of creating and sustaining them.”

“The PLC Book creates a powerful and memorable connection between the idea of Professional Learning Communities and the actuality of creating and sustaining them.”

Teri Schrader, The School Reform Initiative
Watkinson School
Quote by Jennie Beltramini, K-8 Math Instructional Coach:

“The PLC Book will be a go-to resource for teachers, from those looking to begin PLCs for the first time to experienced PLCs looking to refine their collaborative work and get more focused on what makes a difference for student learning.”

“The PLC Book will be a go-to resource for teachers, from those looking to begin PLCs for the first time to experienced PLCs looking to refine their collaborative work and get more focused on what makes a difference for student learning.”

Jennie Beltramini, K-8 Math Instructional Coach
Quote by Jodi Bergland Holen, Professor, University of North Dakota:

“Dana and Yendol-Hoppey have blazed a path of professional development that few have been brave enough to tackle. They understand schools and how they operate on a core level.”

“Dana and Yendol-Hoppey have blazed a path of professional development that few have been brave enough to tackle. They understand schools and how they operate on a core level.”

Jodi Bergland Holen, Professor
University of North Dakota
Quote by Rik Vanderhauwaert, DNI:

“As no one else, Nancy and Diane master the art of bringing innovative theories into the practice.”

“As no one else, Nancy and Diane master the art of bringing innovative theories into the practice.”

Rik Vanderhauwaert, DNI

    Other Titles in: Professional Learning Communities | School Change, Reform, & Restructuring

    Price: $33.95
    Volume Discounts applied in Shopping Cart

    Review Copies

    Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.