Principals and PLCS: How Do Principals Negotiate the Tension Between Professional Learning Community Development and High Stakes Accountability Policy?

Abstract

In an era of high stakes accountability where national and state policies like NCLB, Race to the Top, SEA1 and A-F School Letter Grades have intended outcomes of pushing schools to raise student achievement and punish them for continued failure, the principal’s role in developing and sustaining professional learning communities is arguably critical to demonstrating school improvement via higher test scores. The purpose of this study was to examine the narratives behind how three elementary school principals made sense of their role within the professional learning community development process now that policies require schools and educators to be evaluated not only on how well they collaborate but also how well their students demonstrate growth and proficiency on high stakes tests. Using qualitative methods such as interviews and observations, certain themes were routinely evident in the research. First, principals believed their main role in this process was to support teacher development. They acknowledged there was pressure to perform placed upon educators in their schools as a result of high stakes accountability policy. The principals believed PLC development was critical to school improvement and should follow a routine process leading to immediate action impacting classroom instruction. Finally, principals felt inadequately equipped to facilitate and evaluate PLC development in their schools based upon their principal preparation programs and district-level leadership support. The implications of this interpretivist study supported the notion that principals are in a strategic position to promote or inhibit teacher and student learning in schools. Yet, various factors influence how principals enact this critical role. Federal and state policy makers, district leaders, as well as schools of education could take these factors into consideration when preparing future school leaders.