Teacher Perspectives Of Their Experiences In A Professional Learning Community And How These Experiences Contribute To A Collaborative School Culture

Fullan (1998) stated, “Student achievement increases substantially in schools with collaborative work cultures that foster a professional learning community among teachers and others” (p. 8). Vandevoort, Amrein-Beardsley, and Berliner (2004) also found that the quality of the teacher in the classroom is the single most important factor in determining how well a child learns. -- The purpose of this study was to determine practices and experiences within a Professional Learning Community (PLC) that contribute to a collaborative culture and student performance. The research question for this study was, “What experiences in a PLC do teachers perceive contribute to a collaborative culture?” -- This mixed-method, single case research study used the School Culture Survey (SCS) developed by Gruenert and Valentine (1998) to gather data of teacher perceptions of practices and experiences in their PLC meeting. Survey data were collected electronically, and all survey responses were used in the final statistical analysis. Interviews were conducted based on emerging themes in order to validate the study further.