Description
The purpose of this study was to assess the level of development of the five professional learning community (PLC) dimensions of Shared and Supportive Leadership, Shared Values and Vision, Collective Learning and Application, Shared Teaching Practices, and Supportive Conditions (Hord, 1996) as perceived by English and mathematics teachers and its relationship to subgroup student academic achievement in English language arts and mathematics. The Equitable Teaching Practice Survey (ETPS) was developed by the researcher to measure the equitable teaching practices employed as a result of teacher participation in the PLC and compared to Dimension 2, Shared Values and Vision and Dimension 3, Collective Learning and Application. Descriptive correlation research was conducted. A 17 item survey, School Professional Staff as Learning Community (Hord, 1996) and a 21item survey ETPS was used to collect the data regarding the five dimensions of a PLC and teaching practices associated with educational equity. It was administered to English and mathematics teachers in six urban high schools in one large school district. Student data were collected from the results of the 2006-2009 English language arts and mathematics assessments designed by the State of California Department of Education to meet the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) requirements for testing grades nine through twelve. The study found that Dimension 2, Shared Values and Vision and Dimension 3, Collective Learning and Application had a positive correlation with teaching practices associated with educational equity. The study also found no statistically significant correlations between subgroup academic achievement in English Language Arts and Mathematics, and teachers' perception of the level of development in the five dimensions of a PLC.
