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Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement | 
 enlarge | Authors: Richard Dufour, Robert Eaker
Publisher: Solution Tree
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $7.72
You Save: $17.23 (69%)
New (32) Used (34) from $3.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 7200
Media: Perfect Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 338
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 1879639602
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.207
EAN: 9781879639607
ASIN: 1879639602
Publication Date: February 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: *NEW* may have minor shelf wear.
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Product Description
Professional Learning Communities at Work presents research-based recommendations drawn from the best practices found today in schools nationwide for continuously improving school performance. Coming from the perspectives of both a distinguished dean of education and one of America s most widely acclaimed practitioners, this resource provides specific, practical, how-to information about transforming schools into results-oriented professional learning communities.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Bringing me up to date June 11, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
As the educational jargon increases and changes, it is important to keep abreast of the latest. This book provided information which I really needed
 A Marketing Triumph; An Academic Disaster February 23, 2007
13 out of 35 found this review helpful
Today the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that although American high school seniors are getting better academic grades, their literacy and mathematics skills are actually regressing. The most likely culprit: grade inflation. Yet the drumbeat among elite educrats to adopt the Professional Learning Communities fad throughout the nation's high schools continues unabated. While PLC is certainly not to blame for the trend documented by these latest NAEP figures (it hasn't been around long enough), its dumbfounding popularity among education reformers is proof that the current educational leadership in this country is not to be trusted. How should we define "academic achievement"? Both PLC and (to a lesser extent) the federal No Child Left Behind law define it as all students performing at the same level and all teachers teaching their subjects the same way. In other words, the goal of PLC is conformity--the exact opposite of what a quality education in a democratic society should stand for.
When teachers and students are pressured to conform to the same standards, it is inescapable that the standards themselves must be mediocre. The kind of school climate advocated by DuFour will only lead to more teachers handing out more A's for less work, or for inferior work. The most gifted and motivated students will have to be ignored because of the constant pressure on teachers to keep the low end of the student population from failing. But what if we started at the high end of the spectrum instead, teaching everything as if it were an honors class? Our brightest and most hardworking students might achieve their full potential and save us all from the intellectual wasteland our country is becoming. The middle and low-end students would have to struggle to keep up. And yes, a lot of them would be likely to fail...at least until they discovered the will to apply themselves and take their own education seriously. It would be a hard lesson for them, but a valuable one in the long run.
Unfortunately, there are no well-funded think-tanks, education professors, or consultants advocating this approach at the moment.
Professional Learning Communities at Work (Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement) June 5, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Professional Learning Communities at Work (Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement) by Dr. Richard Dufour and Dr. Robert Eaker, is a well-written/user-friendly piece of literature. This book may be useful as a text for graduate and/or post-graduate level students who are studying and/or working within the area of education, administration, and/or curriculum and instruction. It is also an excellent resource to have if you are dealing with staff and/or curriculum development. The basic premise of the book goes about showing how (via PLC's (Professional Learning Communities)/Small Learning Communities) school staff and administration can work collaboratively to help change, redefine, and/or shape their school's mission and goals. Through this teaming process and through the steps/best practices the authors suggest; school improvement, cultural change, and positive curriculum development and implementation can more likely be achieved.
Practices from some of the best schools in the country March 7, 2005
15 out of 20 found this review helpful
The collaborative work of Richard DuFour (Superintendent of Adlai Stevenson High School District 125, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Robert Eaker (Dean of the College of Education, Middle Tennessee State University), Professional Learning Communities At Work: Best Practices For Enhancing Student Achievement offers the reader informed and informative information on how to transform any private or public school into a results-oriented "professional learning community" based upon practices from some of the best schools in the country. Professional Learning Communities At Work covers curriculum development, teacher preparation, school leadership, professional development programs, school-parent partnerships, and assessment practices. Of vital interest to education professionals, Professional Learning Communities At Work is completely accessible and highly recommended reading for parents and other non-specialist general readers with an interest in improving their community schools and school systems.
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