Literature suggests that effective professional dev
elopment is an essential
component in promoting (a) change in school leader
practices, (b) teachers’ practices and
learning, and (c) student learning. Literature also
suggests that a professional learning
community is a reflective practice where educators
examine evidence about teacher
practice and student outcomes to make changes to im
prove student and teacher learning.
The purpose of this study was to research if utiliz
ing a professional learning community
(PLC) protocol would improve the professional learn
ing community practice as
evidenced by research-based effective professional
development (PD) and PLC
standards. This study explored effective profession
al development dimensions and
effective professional community dimensions. The s
pecific research questions for this
study were 1) How do professional learning communit
ies improve the current
professional learning community practice at The J&B
G School? and 2) How does a
professional learning community practice, where PLC
protocols are implemented, better
meet effective professional development standards?
This action research study involved
50 certified educational staff. Twenty-five of the
50 certified staff were randomly
selected to participate in the treatment of using P
LC protocols while the other 25 staff
resumed their current PLC practice without the util
ization of PLC protocols. Descriptive
statistics were used to analyze the data. Data anal
ysis revealed that the implementation of
PLC protocols improved the effectiveness of the PLC
practice specifically in the
dimensions of a) Shared and Supportive Leadership,
b) Shared Values and Vision, c)
Collective Learning and Application, and d) Shared
Personal Practice. Data analysis also
revealed that the implementation of PLC protocol im
proved the Learning Community
dimension of effective PD as well as the overall to
tal scores measuring effective
professional development. Implications from this st
udy suggest that PLC protocols can be
a tool to move a PLC practice closer to meeting eff
ective PLC and effective PD
standards