Building school-based teacher learning communities : professional strategies to improve student achievement

Building on extensive evidence that school-based teacher learning communities improve student outcomes, this book lays out an agenda to develop and sustain collaborative professional cultures. McLaughlin and Talbert--foremost scholars of school change and teaching contexts--provide an inside look at the processes, resources, and system strategies that are necessary to build vibrant school-based teacher learning communities.

Offering a compelling, straightforward blueprint for action, this book:

Takes a comprehensive look at the problem of improving the quality of teaching across the United States, based on evidence and examples from the authors' nearly two decades of research. Demonstrates how and why school-based teacher learning communities are bottom-line requirements for improved instruction. Outlines the resources and supports needed to build and sustain a long-term school-based teacher professional community. Discusses the nature of high-quality professional development to support learning and changes in teaching. Details the roles and responsibilities of policymakers at all levels of the school system.

Author Notes

Milbrey W. McLaughlin is the David Jacks Professor of Education and Public Policy at Stanford University, Co-director of the Center for Research on the Context of Teaching (CRC), and Executive Director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities
Joan E. Talbert is Senior Research Scholar and Co-director of the Center for Research on the Context of Teaching in the Stanford University School of Education

Reviews 1

Choice Review

Ranging from well-established programs such as the National Writing Project to small and quite informal groups of teachers engaging in lesson-study or a shared examination of pupil performance, school-based teacher learning communities utilize various approaches to improving K-12 practices. In this short volume, McLaughlin and Talbert (education, Stanford) attempt to build a case for establishing and strengthening learning communities by describing a number of such programs throughout the nation. The book includes chapters focusing on the many challenges and barriers to designing and implementing school-based teacher learning communities, recommendations for how to begin such programs and avoid common pitfalls, and an interesting chapter on the many issues associated with this reform approach and non-teacher constituencies, such as school administrators, teacher unions, and others. There is also a chapter discussing the relative importance of off-site professional development for teachers and how those approaches may be useful even in schools employing teacher learning community models. The book is well written and will be of great interest to those interested in K-12 reform Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. S. H. Minner Truman State University

Acknowledgments	p. vii
1 Learning to Improve Student Achievement	p. 1
The Essential Role of a School-Based Learning Community for Teachers	p. 3
Evidence That Teacher Learning Communities Benefit Students	p. 8
The Empirical Foundation and Organization of the Book	p. 11
2 Challenges of Re-culturing Schools into Learning Communities	p. 16
How Teacher Learning Communities Differ from Typical School Communities	p. 16
How Do Teacher Learning Communities Improve Student Achievement?	p. 22
Stages of Learning Community Development and Challenges of Transition	p. 30
3 Developing Communities of Practice in Schools	p. 38
Getting Started: Principles for Developing Communities of Practice	p. 39
Developing Communities of Teaching Practice: Case Illustrations	p. 44
School Leadership for Developing Teacher Learning Communities	p. 56
Tensions and Challenges in Changing School Culture	p. 60
4 Professional Development in Support of Teacher Learning Communities	p. 64
Special Contributions of Off-Site Professional Development	p. 65
Quality Professional Development and Its Value to Teacher Learning Communities	p. 68
Implications for Teacher Professional Development Systems	p. 77
5 Teacher Learning Communities and the Broader Context	p. 79
System Administrators	p. 80
Teachers' Organizations	p. 83
Professional Developers	p. 86
Stakeholders: Parents and Community Members	p. 88
6 Everyone a Learner: Challenges and Promising Practices	p. 92
System Administrators	p. 92
Professional Developers	p. 98
Parents	p. 106
Community Members	p. 110
Expanding the Local Learning Agenda	p. 111
7 A Local Learning System to Support Teacher Learning Communities	p. 113
Why Are Teacher Learning Communities Rare?	p. 113
The District as the Unit of Change	p. 116
The District as a Local Learning System	p. 118
Implementing a Local Learning Agenda: Boston Public Schools	p. 122
Outcomes of Boston's Learning System	p. 126
Research for School-Based Learning Communities	p. 129
Notes	p. 130
References	p. 133
Index	p. 139
About the Authors	p. 148

Available:*

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews 1

Choice Review

Table of Contents