Communities that Learn, Lead, and Last: Building and Sustaining Educational Expertise
Developing Communitiesthat Learn, Lead, and Last"Finally, a book on professional learning communities that is accessible and practical without being facile or fatuous. If you want to understand the dispositions of practice of working in a professional learning community (PLC), and to know how to develop your PLC over time, this is absolutely the book for you."Andy Hargreaves, The Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch School of Education, Boston CollegeCommunities 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 in the following areas:Building individual and organizational capacity for learningFacilitating and managing professional learning communitiesImproving and assessing community functioningImproving the outcomes of professional learning communitiesEvaluating the work of community participantsThis important book is based on work in leadership, instruction, and professional development practices that Giselle O. Martin-Kniep and her colleagues at Learner-Centered Initiatives have done with districts and schools. Communities That Learn, Lead, and Last also features extensive contributions from Communities for Learning: Leading Lasting Change?, an organization comprised of teachers, administrators, professional developers, and teacher educators dedicated to building professional capacity.