The purpose of developing a PLC cohort for leadership candidates was to address the following areas: redesigning the master’s program using the relevant curriculum, creating a selective admission process, quality faculty, establishing an extensive 18 month internship of theory to practice, and assigning a principal mentor from the field. Ten candidates were nominated for the PLC cohort, each by their school principal. In turn, the principal became the candidate’s mentor during the 18 month experience. Three full time college faculty members delivered all of the courses and provided training sessions for the principal mentors. These three faculty members also served as a field coach for each candidate.

The success of the PLC cohort for leadership candidates can be assessed using traditional measures. All candidates completed the program courses with excellent grades, passed the state administrative exam, developed a professional portfolio, and completed over 200 hours of field experiences. The more compelling longitudinal assessment will be the performance of each candidate as a school leader. Three PLC candidates were hired for administrative roles and three continued as curriculum and instructional specialists, an administrative role between teaching and administration.The sustainability of the PLC cohort program will require active participation by principals and superintendents in partnership with college faculty in principal preparation programs.

The development of a PLC cohort provided anecdotal data that suggest positive reform in educational leadership preparation.

The same PLC principles that are improving the quality of education in K-12 settings can also foster needed improvement in administrative preparation programs. “When a school or district functions as a professional learning community (PLC), educators within the organization embrace high levels of learning for all students as both the reason the organization exists and the fundamental responsibility of those who work within it” (Dufour, et al., 2006, p. 3). The PLC cohort program provided a positive step in future leadership reform using a model that will be an effective, familiar, and welcome landscape as candidates travel from an administrative leadership program and into the role of a school leader.

The Walker’s Grove staff began learning about professional learning communities, through a book study. The sixteen participants in this group spanned all grade levels in K-5 and included a differentiation specialist and a reading specialist. Each participant in the book study received Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. This book study was organized to meet once a week for a total of six sessions. The first session introduced the concepts of a PLC and was facilitated by the principal. The concepts that were to be addressed during this book study were: creating a purpose, creating a focus on learning, determining how to respond when students don’t learn, building a collaborative culture, creating a results oriented PLC, using relevant information to improve results, and understanding consensus and conflict in a PLC.

The book study allowed participants to facilitate each of the learning sessions and the participants shared this information with their colleagues who were not participating. This sharing of information created a heightened awareness and led to the second phase of the implementation of a PLC which was to share with the entire staff. Some comments that were made by the participants about what they had learned were: “We’ve been working as a PLC in many respects this year even though we didn’t know it, which should make it easier to get the rest of the staff to join the PLC bandwagon.” “Collaboration is much more than being an active member of a team, it is constant focused action and communication towards a goal.”“For members who don’t want to get on board, show, invite them in, find ways to involve them.”“We really are doing a PLC in our school more than I realized with data collection, and analysis.” These reflective comments provided a good foundation for continuing the implementation process for a true PLC at this elementary school.

As a result of the book study a Cultural Shift Survey was created for the entire staff to complete (DuFour, et al., 2006). This survey provided a foundation for where Walkers Grove faculty would begin the process developing a PLC. The faculty are continuing to use this information throughout the year to move from a teaching focus to a learning focused community. A PLC Committee, with a representative from all segments of the school community, is working with the results of the survey to determine professional development plans for the future.

Lessons learned at the K-5 school setting demonstrated that allowing people to have time to discuss, engage, and build and sustain relationships are key to the success of a PLC. Ultimately, this success will provide for high achieving students within this community. Other findings include:

Arlington’s principals attended a summer DuFour PLC workshop where discussion began about the possibility of implementing PLC’s in their schools. Upon returning to the district, they wondered how they might continue the dialogue and also take the next step to translate their ideas into action. The principals shared their enthusiasm for continuing this work with the superintendent and asked for collaboration time. Acknowledging the principals passion and commitment to work together, the superintendent dedicated a significant amount of regularly scheduled administrative meeting time to begin a superintendent-principal PLC. They chose a book as a catalyst for the dialogue, dedicated a consistently scheduled meeting time, and began the discussion. These school leaders quickly found challenges in this new way of interacting as a team. With the superintendent present, for example, evaluation concerns surfaced when apparent shortcomings, doubts, and frustrations were shared in front of “the boss”. Moreover, not all team members had the same level of enthusiasm for the topic or dedication to do the necessary reading and reflection prior to PLC meetings. Thus the team found that developing a set of operating norms was an important first step to guide the process and assure accountability to the team.

The greatest challenge to sustainability occurred after the initial two years of implementation when the superintendent retired and a new one hired. Moreover, the new superintendent was the only new member of the administrative team, albeit the most powerful controller of the district team meeting agenda. Principals report that during the superintendent interview process, the principals sent a strong message that they wanted to continue the PLC structure. They sought assurance that the new superintendent would be a collaborative learning partner and sustain the supportive time and relationship structures in place. The principals hoped that the peer learning process they’d developed would remain the same regardless of who might be the superintendent. While admittedly the team is not exactly in the same place it may have been under the former superintendent, the administrative PLC will continue due to the strength of the principals’ belief in the process and the stability of working with the same team of principals over several years.

Lessons learned in this school district illustrate that relationships, time, structures and skills need to be simultaneously addressed in order to develop a district leadership team that has the capacity to continuously learn in a PLC model (West & Derrington, 2009).

The leadership learning between these unlikely partners began with informal conversations between a principal, a superintendent, and a business executive. Conversations regarding the similarities in leadership responsibilities inspired these leaders to share their experience and learn from one another. To do this effectively they agreed that the dialogue would require a structure. Thus the group agreed to meet monthly for breakfast and focus discussions on a leadership book and its application to their respective work. The educators introduced the concept of Professional Learning Communities and discussed how this concept might apply to a group of leaders in any profession.

The principal sought and received a small Professional Development Resource Grant from the state principal’s association and purchased a book for each participant. The book, The Founding Fathers on Leadership, by Donald T. Phillips was chosen as a book of interest to both business and school leaders. This book examines leadership through the story of the American Revolution and the leadership role of our founding fathers. The book appealed to all group members regardless of their profession. Furthermore, it is readable, interesting and requires no specific understanding of educational or business concepts.

Monthly meetings continued throughout the year with good attendance and lively discussions. Frequently someone would surface a challenging problem he or she was facing. Following a collaborative discussion, potential solutions were brainstormed and later implemented in the workplace. The group continues in the second year to continue the dialogue using a different leadership book as a catalyst. Two of the original seven dropped out and were replaced by new members. Those who continue report acquiring benefit from the discussions and collegiality. This collegial relationship is important because, unlike a school or district employee team, traditional leadership methods and the power of authority cannot be applied to volunteers.

All participants agreed that the educator-business book study is beneficial to reflecting on leadership challenges and attributes. Furthermore, educators gained the support of business leaders. Business leaders learned the complexities of education. Participants also learned that skills required in leadership are quite similar between professions. They identified examples of commonalities including systems thinking, effective communication, and the need to build relationships. All of the members gained insights into leadership commonalities and into each other’s professional world. Participants also report that a trust necessary for the dialogue was developed during this first year implementation (Derrington & Cummings, 2008). This trust building is viewed as essential when building a group of diverse participants who do not interact on a daily basis in the workplace.