An Analysis Of The Relationship Of Professional Learning Community Implementation In Texas High Schools And Student Achievement

In the age of No Child Left Behind and increased accountability for education, educational leaders continue to seek an organizational reform model that will positively impact student achievement. Educational literature promotes the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model as a viable option to increase student achievement. This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between the perceived implementation of the PLC model and student academic achievement defined as Exit Level Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills in math, English language arts, science and social studies. The empirical research of Hord (2004) was combined with the work of practitioners DuFour and Eaker (1998) to develop the Organizational Structure Self Assessment (OSSA). This research began with a pilot study to test the OSSA. Once the OSSA was finalized, a stratified random sample of Texas high schools was selected and the OSSA was distributed to 380 high school principals representing all regions in the state of Texas. A total of 114 schools responded to the study. A hierarchical regression was used to determine if a relationship exists between PLC implementation and student achievement. Student economic status, language proficiency and instructional expenditures were controlled in order to partial out extraneous effects of these variables. The research study detected no relationship between having a common belief system (mission, vision, values, and goals) and academic achievement in math, English language arts, science, and social studies. A relationship was not revealed between a focus on continuous improvement and student academic achievement. A relationship was not found between collaboration and high school academic achievement. Finally, a relationship was not confirmed between sustainability and student academic achievement. The interaction of the four domains was not shown to be related to academic achievement in the four core content areas. Although no relationships were revealed between PLC domains and student achievement, virtually all participating schools reported some degree of compliance with the principles of the Professional Learning Community. Therefore the resulting restricted range of implementation could not answer the research questions with certainty. The question of whether PLC principles enhanced school performance is still open for further investigation.