Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for Mathematics Education in Middle Schools
Our ongoing analysis suggests that there is considerable variation across schools in the structure of the PLC, even while the norms and substance of the PLC appear more homogeneous across schools. Regarding norms, the first dimension of the PLC, between-school variation ranges from 2% for teacher control over classroom practice, to 7% for instructional leadership. While school-level averages do not vary greatly, there do appear to be differences in the homogeneity of attitudes within each school; respondents in some schools have a high level of agreement about the principal's instructional leadership, while respondents in other schools show a much greater range of opinions.
Regarding the second dimension, there is considerable variation in terms of the structure of the PLC, both by school and across subject-areas. Schools varied in the degree to which the subject-specific networks spanned the formal organization of the school, and the degree to which teachers' networks reached outside the school to access advice and information. Schools and subject-areas also varied in their network concentration, with math networks generally appearing more concentrated than RWLA networks.
Finally, we observe that Math in the Middle associates are prominent brokers of information both within schools and between schools and their environment. The associates tend to be named as advisors by more individuals within their schools, in comparison to other teachers in similar roles. Also, associates sought advice from more sources outside of their schools, compared to their colleagues. Many of their external ties were to other associates at different schools.
