Communities that Learn, Lead, and Last: Building and Sustaining Educational Expertise

Communities That Learn, Lead, and Last offers a fresh and compelling perspective while providing practical guidance for schools and districts on how to develop "professional learning communities" that serve to instill educational ideals, share wisdom, improve practice, and enhance capacity across the system. Comprised of any combination of teachers, school leaders, staff developers, district personnel, and even students, professional learning communities, as described in this book, break new ground and challenge the status quo by focusing on the reconciliation of individual and organizational expertise, vision, and needs through a variety of collaborations, activities and projects ranging from classroom-related work to broader issues of policy, leadership, and organizational improvement. Depending on their needs, maturity, purpose, and membership, professional learning communities can be centered on learning, leading, or lasting. Showing how such communities can become the means for improving teaching and learning, as well as promote and sustain educational innovations, the book maps out the community-building essentials, providing guidance, tools, and carefully crafted rubrics.

Table of Contents:
Figures, Tables, and Exhibits. Preface. Acknowledgments. The Author. One: What Are Professional Learning Communities and Why Should We Promote Them? Two: The Purposes and Dispositions of Professional Learning Communities. Three: Developing Individual Capacity for Improving Schools. Four: Developing School and District Organizational Capacity. Five: Facilitating, Assessing, and Sustaining Professional Learning Communities. Six: Community Outcomes: Improving Teaching, Learning, and Understanding. Seven: Evaluating the Growth and Expertise of Community Members. Conclusion: What is the Promise of Professional Learning Communities? Appendix A. Rubric for Assessing Individual Capacity for Professional Learning Communities. Appendix B. Rubric for Assessing Organizational Capacity for Professional Learning Communities. Appendix C. Self-Assessment Survey for Participating in Professional Learning Communities. Appendix D. Rubric for Assessing the Community that Learns. Appendix E. Rubric for Assessing the Community that Leads. Appendix F. Rubric for Assessing the Community that Lasts. Appendix G. Rubric for Assessing Student Capacity for Professional Learning Communities. References. Index.

About the Author :
Giselle O. Martin-Kniep, Ph.D., is president of Learner-Centered Initiatives, an educational consulting organization focusing on comprehensive school improvement efforts including leadership, curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices. She is also the CEO of Communities for Learning: Leading Lasting Change? (formerly known as the Center for the Study of Expertise in Teaching and Learning (CSETL). Communities for Learning is an organization dedicated to supporting reform from within: promoting change in the service of adult, student and organizational learning; building capacity by uncovering and deepening existing internal expertise; and aligning the passion and expertise of individuals with their organization's vision.