Minnesota High School 9 12 Science Teachers Attitudes Toward Professional Learning Communities Plcs

Download or read book Minnesota High School (9-12) Science Teachers' Attitudes Toward Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The study examined Minnesota high school science teachers' attitudes toward professional learning communities (PLCs). A PLC is composed of collaborative teams whose members work interdependently toward improving student learning. Making the transition from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning requires a major shift in thinking for most teachers as does the deprivatization of practice. The research findings show that (1) there are statistically significant differences in Minnesota high school science teachers' attitudes toward PLCs (2) there are prevalent models for providing common planning time for Minnesota high school science teachers and (3) there is a common Minnesota high school science PLC structure. The findings of this study should be of vital interest to schools and district leaders attempting to improve student learning through the effective implementation of PLCs. Education is entering a critical phase of redevelopment. The pending reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (2001) Act as well as the Race to the Top Initiative (2010) have strengthened the focus on continual improvement of our education system. With these mounting pressures for improvement, many at the federal government, state, and district levels have looked for ways to transform our educational design; one of the reform efforts examined and recommended has been PLCs. However, a teacher's attitude (positive, negative, or indifferent), pervades all that he/she says or does. Therefore, successful principals recognize that creating an effective PLC goes beyond assigning people to teams and requires changes in the very culture of the school."--leaf 3.