| Research indicated that professional learning communities (PLCs) hold potential as a means of addressing professional development and teacher collaboration issues impacting student achievement. According to the guidelines of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, performance at the study school site and in the district ranked below expectations, and changes were needed to meet the standards established by the Act. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers concerning the implementation of a PLC within a middle school mathematics department. How the teachers perceived the various elements of the PLC, what behavior changes they perceived in themselves and in their students, and how participation in the PLC influenced them professionally and personally were explored in the research questions. Qualitative data from interviews, observations, public and private documents including meeting minutes and colleague observation records were collected and analyzed using triangulation, member checking, and rich descriptions of the findings to ensure data validity and trustworthiness. Data were coded and analyzed with the assistance of NVivo software, and a combination of a priority and open coding was used. Study findings documented perceived changes in collaboration, changes in teacher isolation and growth, and some positive trends in students' mathematics achievement. This study contributes to positive social change by furthering the understanding surrounding the implementation of PLCs in middle school settings. The study site is a model school for the district, and the information from this study may influence other schools in the district to adopt PLCs as ways to provide job-embedded professional development. |
