Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities [Paperback]

Robert Eaker (Author), Richard Dufour (Author), Rebecca DuFour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002 | ISBN-10: 1879639890 | ISBN-13: 978-1879639898

The focus of Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities is answering the most common question posed by schools seeking to start their transformation into professional learning communities: Where do we begin? In the Introduction, the authors present the PLC concept, making the book accessible to those who have not yet read Professional Learning Communities at Work and providing a review of the framework for those who have. The main focus of the Introduction is that PLC is not a cookie-cutter approach, but rather a process that can be complex and non-linear. The book provides the reader access to a solid conceptual framework and concrete illustrations of how schools operate when they are functioning as PLCs, as well as to assessments for determining the effectiveness of their efforts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Eaker, Ed.D., is the former executive vice president and provost at Middle Tennessee State University and former fellow with the National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development. Dr. Eaker has written widely on the issues of effective teaching, effective schools, helping teachers use research findings, and high expectations for student achievement. Dr. Eaker and Dr. Richard DuFour co-authored Creating the New American School: A Principal s Guide to School Improvement, Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement, and Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don t Learn (co-authored with Rebecca DuFour and Gayle Karhanek). Dr. Eaker is also co-editor of On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities, a collection of essays by leading educational authors and consultants. Dr. Eaker has spoken at numerous national meetings held by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development. He was also chosen by Phi Delta Kappa for the People in Educational Evaluation and Research interview series. He regularly consults with school districts throughout the nation regarding school improvement issues with content that is grounded in current research and that also addresses the concerns and problems of contemporary school practitioners. Dr. Richard P. DuFour was a public school educator for 34 years, serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. He served as the principal of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, from 1983 1991 and as superintendent of the district from 1991 2002. During his tenure, Stevenson became what the United States Department of Education has described as the most recognized and celebrated school in America. Dr. DuFour is the author of eight books and more than 40 professional articles, and for almost a decade, a quarterly column for the Journal of Staff Development. He was the lead consultant and author for the ASCD s seven-part video series on principalship, and is the author of two other videos, How to Build a Professional Learning Community and Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School. He was the first principal in Illinois to receive the Distinguished Educator award, the state s highest honor as both principal and superintendent; was named one of the top 100 school administrators in North America by Executive Educator magazine; was presented the Distinguished Scholar Practitioner award from the University of Illinois; and was the 2004 recipient of the National Staff Development Council s Distinguished Service award. He consults with school districts, state departments of education, and professional organizations throughout North America on strategies for improving schools. Rebecca B. DuFour has served as a teacher, school administrator, and central office coordinator. As a former elementary principal, she helped her school earn state and national recognition as a model professional learning community. She was the lead consultant and is the featured principal in the 2003 Video Journal of Education program, Elementary Principals as Leaders of Learning, and is one of the featured principals in the 2001 production, Leadership in an Age of Standards and High Stakes. Becky is co-author of Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work, and Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn. She is also co-editor of On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Solution Tree (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879639890
• ISBN-13: 978-1879639898
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Hope for Public Schools, June 26, 2007

By 

G. Squires "book learner" (Sonoma, Calif., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities (Paperback)

As a public school teacher and teacher trainer I feel strongly that the best reform schools can make is involving teachers and administrators in professional conversations as colleagues about teaching and learning. This book is a very good "how to do it" manual.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book for college class..., May 9, 2007

By 

P. Sams (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities (Paperback)

I needed this book for a college class. The price of the book was very reasonable and I was quite pleasantly surprised that the book was actually interesting. This is one book that I plan to keep and not sell back to the school. I think the book will be a good resource even after I've finished my degree work.

16 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Golden Dancer, September 21, 2006

By 

Matthew J. McKinley (La Verne, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities (Paperback)

In the movie Inherit the Wind, the story of Golden Dancer is related to the audience. Golden Dancer was a beautiful and expensive wooden rocking horse that a family bought for its child after saving for it. The first time the child rode the horse, it collapsed as the wood was rotten to the core; so, is the DuFour premise as found on page 37. His conclusion that all students can achieve at the same level (learn specified topics) is asinine. He argues that all that is needed for struggling students is more time and support. He refuses to take into account intelligence and student effort (responsibility) in his equation. If his premise has any chance of coming true, teachers will have to dumb down what they teach to the lowest common denominator. Additionally, he and his colleagues lump all "traditional schools" into the same problem heap. His approach is simplistic and insulting. I would give this book zero stars, but that is not an option.