Learning Communities Professional Learning Communities and the Eight-Year Study

Increasingly, educational reform is linked to the concept of profes-sional learning communities (PLCs). Definitions of PLCs vary, butgenerally the concept refers to a group of educators who “continu-ously seek and share learning, and act on their learning ” (Hord 1997, 6). The goal is to make educators more effective through “continuous inquiry and improvement ” (ibid.). Central to this effort is gathering an