PLC+
Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design
- Douglas Fisher - San Diego State University, USA
- Nancy Frey - San Diego State University, USA
- John Almarode - James Madison University, USA
- Karen Flories
- Dave Nagel - Education Consultant
PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design calls for strong and effective PLCs plus—and that plus is YOU. Until now, the PLC movement has been focused almost exclusively on students and what they were or were not learning. But keeping student learning at the forefront requires that we also recognize the vital role that you play in the equation of teaching and learning. This means that PLCs must take on two additional challenges: maximizing your individual expertise, while harnessing the power of the collaborative expertise you can develop with your peers.
PLC+ is grounded in four cross-cutting themes—a focus on equity of access and opportunity, high expectations for all students, a commitment to building individual self-efficacy and the collective efficacy of the professional learning community and effective team activation and facilitation to move from discussion to action. The PLC+ framework supports educators in considering five essential questions as they work together to improve student learning:
- Where are we going?
- Where are we now?
- How do we move learning forward?
- What did we learn today?
- Who benefited and who did not benefit?
The PLC+ framework leads educators to question practices as well as outcomes. It broadens the focus on student learning to encompass educational equity and teaching efficacy, and, in doing so, it leads educators to plan and implement learning communities that maximize individual expertise while harnessing the power of collaborative efficacy.
Free resources
Teaching and Learning Podcast: Leveraging PLCs for Equity
Professor Douglas Fisher, co-author of PLC+, dives into the elements of Professional Learning Communities and what actually makes them effective.
PLC+ Learning Walks
This excerpt from PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design emphasizes that the heartbeat of a PLC+ rests in the quality time members invest in one another engaged in inquiry of their practices, which may be accomplished through such practices as Learning Walks.
Webinar: PLC+: The Plus is YOU
Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Almarode, authors of PLC+, discuss how they place student learning, effective teaching, and a focus on equity at the heart of what we all strive to accomplish. Learn how PLC+ provides a framework for the planning and implementation of student learning, teacher professional learning, and cycles of assessment and reflection that direct next steps.
