Key questions that unleash powerful PLCs

Key points:

What is the next generation of professional learning community (PLC) that will increase the power of collaboration to inspire more effective teaching? During our decades of education research, we’ve studied PLCs and written about how they have worked in the past–and how they can work better in the future.

Because PLCs predate national and state standards, teams used to devote a great deal of time to asking and answering the question, “What do we want students to learn?” This led to a lack of clarity and continuity among teachers: Doug had a world history teacher who was obsessed with China, so he and his class learned all about China, while students in other world history classes learned something entirely different.

With today’s clear academic standards, PLCs no longer need to spend precious time deciding what to teach. Instead, they can focus on other questions, starting with, “Where are we going in students’ learning journeys?”

Building collective effervescence

The ultimate goal of next-generation PLCs (or what we call “PLC+”) is to achieve a state of “collective effervescence,” a sizzle and joy that lends a pace to the work that teachers do together. Collective effervescence inspires everyone to come to meetings prepared and creates excitement and engagement that goes beyond meeting time, so that one teacher will notice an effective classroom practice and say to a colleague: “I saw this and I thought of you!” But this doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intentional structure and leadership.

In our work with schools nationwide, we’ve identified several key elements that create this transformative environment:

1. Structured protocols that guide different types of professional conversations
2. The presence of one or more activators–teachers or coaches who have been trained to guide and support discussions
3. Recursive practices that allow teams to revisit and refine their approaches

Shifting from deficit to strength-based thinking

With the right people and practices in place, the next challenge is to avoid the tendency to “admire the problem.” Instead, we advocate for a strength-based approach based on three essential questions:

• What can students do now?
• What can they do with educational support?
• What will they eventually be able to do?

To illustrate this shift, consider introducing argumentative writing to sixth graders. A deficit approach might begin with the idea that “These kids don’t know anything about argumentative writing because they haven’t been taught it.” In contrast, a strengths-based approach asks, “What argumentative skills do students already possess, and how can we build upon them?”

Making PLC time truly productive

Having dedicated time for PLCs is common in schools today, but managing logistics isn’t the same as fostering genuine collaboration. It’s easy to assume that, because educators have strong social skills, they’ll naturally work well as a team. However, our research shows that successful collaboration requires more structured support. We recommend starting with these key elements:

• Clear protocols for different types of professional discussions
• Designated roles within each meeting
• Specific success criteria for collaborative work
• Regular reflection on team dynamics and progress
• Documentation systems that capture learning and next steps

One particularly effective practice we’ve implemented is learning walks, where teachers observe each other’s classrooms. These start with structured protocols for respectful and productive observation, but teams can modify the process as they become more comfortable, making it authentic to their context. For example, one school we worked with created a digital feedback form that aligned with their instructional focus, allowing observers to provide specific, actionable feedback while maintaining a supportive, growth-oriented environment.

Creating teacher clarity

Successful next-generation PLCs not only create collective effervescence; they lead to teacher clarity. If PLC+ is the process or how, teacher clarity is the content or what. This connection ensures that collaborative efforts directly translate to improved classroom instruction and student outcomes when teams develop and refine:

• Clear learning intentions that students can understand and internalize
• Success criteria that make learning visible and achievable
• Formative assessment strategies that inform instruction
• Targeted interventions based on student needs
• Shared language around learning goals and expectations

These elements, when developed through collaborative PLC work, create a more coherent and effective learning environment across classrooms.

Building and maintaining a productive PLC requires more than simply putting teachers in a room and hoping for the best. As we often say, hope is not a plan. Teachers need structured processes and the right questions to inspire actions that lead to meaningful learning for themselves and their students. When PLCs have processes in place to guide them to keep them asking the right questions, teachers, administrators, and–most important of all–students benefit.