Date of Award

Summer 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Leigh D’Amico

Abstract

Participation in professional learning is generally recognized as a required component of the teaching profession. One type of professional learning is professional learning communities (PLCs). However, there are challenges to implementing successful PLCs that result in relevant professional learning. One challenge is non-standard PLC groupings that contain singletons, especially when those PLC groups are primarily all singletons. This action research study examined educators’ and administrators’ expectations of and experiences with PLCs in a special education cooperative in the Midwest. The goal of the mixed methods research design was to gather enough information from participants to facilitate the creation of an action plan to enhance PLCs for the following school year. The small sample size made it difficult to make any definitive conclusions; however, certain elements were identified as important components of future PLC planning, such as teacher autonomy in the form of choice, support for teacher leadership, and the participation of administrators in PLCs. Because this study was of local significance and the findings were unique to the setting, it may not be possible for other districts or cooperatives to replicate this study and achieve similar results. The findings of this study align with current research about PLCs and adult learning theory, so it is possible that other schools or districts would benefit from applying that research to their PLC practices. The next step that was identified for the cooperative’s PLCs was to gather additional information from educators to support the implementation of the action plan created during the focus group.

Rights

© 2025, Stephanie Harbulak-Barron

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