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 ==WHAT IS A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY? "...in this model teachers work together and engage in continual dialogue to examine their practices and student performance and to develop and implement more effective instructional practices. In ongoing opportunities for collegial work, teachers learn about, try out, and reflect on new practices in their specific context, sharing their individual knowledge and expertise...sustained and intensive professional development was related to student achievement. The three studies of professional development lasting 14 or fewer hours showed no effects on student learning, whereas other studies of programs offering more than 14 hours of sustained teacher learning opportunities showed significant positive effects. The largest effects were found for programs offering between 30 and 100 hours spread out over 6-12 months." (Hammond & Richardson) == =3 COMPONENTS TO THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY by Richard DuFour =


=Ensuring That Students Learn: = ===   //"The professional learning community model follows from the assumption that the core mission of formal education is not simply to ensure that students are taught but to ensure that they learn. This simple shift-from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning-has profound implications for schools." // ===


=A Culture Of Collaboration: = ===//The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is an systemic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practices. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement."//===

=Focus On Results: = = = = = ===//"Educators who focus on results must also stop limiting improvement goals to factors outside the classroom, such as student discipline and staff morale, and shift their attention to goals that focus on student learning. They must stop assessing their own effectiveness on the basis so how busy they are or how many initiatives they have launched and begin instead t ask, "Have we made progress on the goals that are most important to us?" Educators must stop working in isolation and hoarding their ideas, materials, and strategies and begin to work together to meet the needs of all students."// ===

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