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  2. PLC FAQ

PLC FAQ

FAQ

  1. What is a Professional Learning Community (PLC)?

    • A professional learning community is a group of educators who are committed to working together to help each child be more successful in school.

    • PLCs measure their effectiveness on the basis of results for students, rather than intentions or good ideas. It’s about monitoring data, taking action and continually adjusting to meet the needs of students.

  2. How are PLC activities different from traditional professional development?

    • Under the PLC model, time for professional learning is more frequent and consistent. Rather than full days of school and district meetings, the focus is on groups of teachers reviewing individual student achievement data, identifying students who need extra help or more challenging work, investigating better teaching practices to help all students, and planning future instruction.

    • The four key questions that will guide the work of PLC teams are:

      • What do we want students to understand after each unit, course or grade level?

      • How will we know if they understand it?

      • What will we do if they don’t understand?

      • What will we do if they do understand? (enrichment)

 

  1. When will Locust Grove begin implementing PLCs district-wide?
    Locust Grove began district-wide implementation of PLCs in the 2018-19 school year.

  2. What is the effect of PLCs on the 2018-19 school calendar?

    • Student calendars will not be affected

    • Teachers will have weekly meetings in addition to scheduled professional development.

  3. Don’t teachers already have planning time?

    • Yes, but teachers need that time to prepare lessons and grades, return phone calls and emails, meet with students and parents, update websites, etc. There isn’t enough time for collaboration.

    • Many schools have implemented PLCs and try to schedule ways to work together, but additional, dedicated time is needed so that teachers can collaborate around student learning.

  4. Why can’t the professional development be done before/after school or during the summer?
    Those times fall outside of our teachers’ contractual agreement. The dedicated time within the school day ensures maximum participation and provides the most benefit for students.

  5. How will PLC days impact teaching and learning time?

    • There is no impact on total instructional time.

  6. Where can I get more information about PLCs?