Principal Impact on PLC as a 21st Century School District Initiative

Abstract

Change is an inevitable factor that schools will face. School leaders need tools and strategies to help their teams know how to navigate the school culture issues that can arise when changes occur. This study examined teacher leader and administrative perceptions of how the PLC framework is implemented within schools and across a district to determine if school leadership in schools experiencing success exhibit specific leadership traits different from schools not experiencing success. Based on a review of the literature around the PLC framework, participants were given a survey to self-report commitment to the PLC process. Responses were compared to extant data available through an existing survey to determine trends within and across participating schools. Results suggest that trends vary across schools and that those schools experiencing high commitment to the PLC process do exhibit traits beyond those schools experiencing moderate or low commitment to the PLC process. Based on these findings it is recommended that school districts recognize the importance of modeling for school leaders to know how to successfully implement the PLC framework. Further research is needed to determine if the traits identified are unique to this study or common in multiple school districts.