Anyone who has observed the arena of public education over time realizes that trends come and sometimes go. Certain trends such as hands on learning, utilizing new technologies from the pencil to the computer and ‘allowing’ classroom discussion have stood the test of time and evolved from trendy to solid ‘best practices’. But other trends such as school starting times, modular scheduling, standardized testing and the balance of content versus process seem to ebb and flow with the times. A current emphasis that the public, via legislation, demands of schools today is accountability. Testing is prevalent in public education today and accountability is working its way into other aspects of the school year. This year, the Osseo Schools began an initiative called Professional Learning Communities.

Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, are small groups of licensed teachers working together to improve student achievement. In keeping with the accountability movement, all PLC plans must foster learning improvement that is measurable. Each PLC must implement a goal, measure the success of that goal and report back to the district. A sample goal might be: “We propose to increase the average test scores in our math classes by 10 percent from 2nd trimester to 3rd trimester of 2005-2006.” A plan of action must be formulated, implemented and then assessed to determine whether the PLC met their goal.

Each PLC must meet for 7 hours outside their normal work day and submit an outline of each meeting to the PLC coordinator. In exchange, the Osseo district canceled one Teacher Workshop day. In essence, the district is banking on the premise that a small group of licensed teachers working collaboratively can have a greater impact on student learning than one all-district or all-building workshop. The school district is not a lone ranger in this belief. Other districts across the country have implemented similar programs with the PLC framework or similar setups. For the kickoff meeting this year, Dr. Thomas Many from a district in Illinois was brought in to present and inspire. Dr. Many quoted educational experts Marzano and Kelly who stated that with the addition of standards and benchmarks in recent years, public K-12 education would need to become K-22 education to meet all of the new standards. That won’t happen for obvious reasons. So, teachers need to work smarter and more efficiently.

Park Center has 29 Professional Learning Communities that range in sizes up to about 8 maximum. Most teachers are with others in the same department or related departments. Math teacher Ed Dillon is in a PLC with his colleagues: “It is always beneficial to us professionally to sit down and talk to other teachers about learning. I feel reenergized every time we meet.”

Fifteen Park Center teachers are in PLCs with teachers from other buildings. Janet Liane, PC Health/Phy Ed teacher is in a PLC with teachers from across the district. “I’ve found it’s helpful to meet with others from different departments to share cross-curricular themes/ideas to enhance student learning. Reinforcing common language used and student expectations makes for a positive learning environment.” Counselor Mike Vecellio says, “I’m really excited about the possibilities that could come out of the PLC I’m in with PCSH and OSH counselors. We all struggle trying to be pro-active in reaching out to students before academic failure occurs. We will be exploring the systematic use of interventions to reach students before they have failed. If we can focus our energy on more pro-active interventions rather than always reacting to situations, we will be more effective educators. It is a professionally exciting venture.”

Each PLC determines their own meeting times and goal(s) but the goals should focus on student learning rather than teaching strategies. And, of course, the goals must be measurable.

Both the public and the school districts have the same goal in mind. How do we do a better job for our children? How do we prepare the next generation to succeed in today’s world? Whether Professional Learning Communities are the next new fad or the next real evolution in education remains to be seen. But there remains no doubt that both the teacher groups and the school district are giving it their best effort.

-Jeff Rholl