Learning by Doing (Third Edition, Australian Version): A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work®

An Actionable Guide to Implementing the PLC Process in Your School or District

Discover how to close the knowing-doing gap and transform your school or district into a high-performing professional learning community (PLC). The powerful third edition of this comprehensive action guide from experts Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, and Mike Mattos updates and expands on new and significant PLC topics. Explore fresh strategies, tools, and tips for hiring and retaining new staff, creating team-developed common formative assessments, implementing systematic interventions, and more.

Learn how to establish professional learning communities in schools:

• Build a shared knowledge of critical vocabulary and the concepts underlying the PLC process.
• Equip yourself with the knowledge and tools necessary to model effective reciprocal accountability and collective teacher efficacy.
• Make honest assessments of your school and teaching methods by examining conventional practices from a fresh, critical perspective.
• Take immediate and specific steps to close the knowing-doing gap.
• Move beyond creating an action plan for school improvement, and start doing.

Changes for the third edition:

1. Two new chapters: One on team-developed common formative assessment strategies and the second on hiring, orienting, and retaining staff members for your PLC
2. A stronger focus on districtwide PLC implementation and avoiding common mistakes related to the PLC process
3. New insight into clarifying the essential standards necessary in a guaranteed and viable curriculum by establishing a collective understanding of best practices in teaching
4. Suggestions for incorporating a focus on learning and deeper knowledge, as opposed to simple recall of information, into curriculum development and teacher-made assessments
5. A deeper and more thorough examination of RTI (MTSS) interventions by coauthor Mike Mattos, a leading expert on intervention
6. Explicit PLC tools and templates that high-performing districts have used
7. An updated research base, including more than one hundred new references and professional learning community examples
8. A shift in focus from why educators should implement the PLC process to steps to take immediately in the implementation process