Cultural shifts in a Professional Learning Community 

• A shift in fundamental purpose from a focus on teaching … to a focus on learning
• A shift in use of assessment from assessments to determine which students failed to learn by the deadline … to assessments to identify students who need additional time and support
• A shift in the response when students don’t learn from remediation … to intervention
• A shift in the work of teachers from individual teachers attempting to discover ways to improve results … to collaborative teams of teachers helping each other improve
• A shift in focus from a focus on inputs … to a focus on results
• A shift in school culture from a language of complaint … to a language of commitment
• A shift in professional development from learning individually through courses and workshops … to learning collectively by working together

—excerpted from “Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work,” by Richard and Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker and Thomas W. Many