Bloomington, IN , Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solution Tree, a premier educational publisher and professional development provider, announced the free online release of “The Origins of Professional Learning Communities,” and “PLC at Work: The Beginning of the Practitioner’s Movement” a two-part documentary that follows the evolution of the professional learning communities (PLC) process. The documentary is available to view on AllThingsPLC.info.
In a PLC, educators work in collaborative teams in a continuous cycle of collective inquiry and action research with one goal—to achieve high levels of learning for all students. Since the late 1990s, the PLC process has become increasingly recognized across North America as a powerful strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement, although it existed many decades before then. In an August 2021 publication, “Strategies for Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time,” the U.S. Department of Education identified PLCs as a creative and effective staffing solution for schools.
“If you think about the origins of professional learning communities, it’s like pulling a piece of thread out of a ball of twine,” said Robert Eaker, world-renowned champion of the PLC process. “It goes back a long, long way.”
“The Origins of Professional Learning Communities” traces that thread back more than 50 years, examining how research from business, sociology, engineering, and other fields contributed to the development of the PLC process that has been adopted by thousands of education leaders worldwide. “PLC at Work: The Beginning of the Practitioner’s Movement” demonstrates how PLC at Work makes a difference in schools because the process fuels high levels of learning for all students.
Featuring top education experts, authors, and researchers, including Eaker, the late Shirley Hord, James Kouzes, Karen Seashore Louis, Milbrey McLaughlin, Eric Twadell, and many others, this documentary highlights the timelessness of the PLC process and the profound impact it has had on teachers, administrators, and students.
“To fully understand the role of PLCs as the most promising strategy for school improvement, it’s critical to understand where the process comes from and how it has developed over time,” said Solution Tree CEO Jeffrey C. Jones. “We at Solution Tree are pleased to have played a part in chronicling that important history and sharing it with educators around the world.”
About Solution Tree
For more than 20 years, Solution Tree (https://www.solutiontree.com) has worked to transform education worldwide, empowering educators to raise student achievement. With more than 48,962 educators attending professional development events and more than 8,300 professional development days in schools each year, Solution Tree helps teachers and administrators confront essential challenges. Solution Tree has a catalog of more than 515 titles, hundreds of videos and online courses and is the creator of Global PD, an online tool that facilitates the work of professional learning communities. Follow @SolutionTree on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
