Professional Learning Communities and Collective Efficacy Through a Transformational Leadership Lens

Since its inception in 2001, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has created a high stakes accountability climate by setting federal mandates for increasing levels of student achievement in the Kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) public education arena. Consequently, schools and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) that failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) guidelines were subject to progressive degrees of corrective action not likely to change under Common Core State Standards. As a result, the role of educators takes on an even greater importance as educational researchers and policymakers seek reforms to meet new demands placed on teachers. One model that has shown great promise as evidenced by research in the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model. Researchers continue to examine whether or not PLCs may be the impetus for increased student achievement and a possible support structure that can be used to close the achievement gap. While the research has been critical in identifying effective, research-based PLC practices, they have largely ignored the fact that many schools continue to struggle in implementing and sustaining PLCs. Additionally, schools claiming to be PLCs may or may not exhibit the specific characteristics determined by DuFour and Eaker (1998, 2008) that identify PLC schools. This seems to suggest that PLC success may be determined by other factors. The primary purpose of the study examined PLCs and a possible relationship to collective efficacy leading to the building and sustaining of a PLC. Using a survey containing demographic, PLC, and collective efficacy data, the results of this mixed-methods case study found a positive relationship does exist between PLCs and collective efficacy. The 24 one-on-one interviews conducted and the over 1,000 pages of support documentation analyzed further supported this finding