The Illustrated Guide to PLC+
The 5 Essential Questions that Guide Your Work
- Douglas Fisher - San Diego State University, USA
- Nancy Frey - San Diego State University, USA
- John Taylor Almarode - James Madison University, USA
- Taryl Hansen
Bring your PLC+ work to life with this illustrated guide to the essential questions
Traditionally, teaching was a solo act. While many educators developed expertise on their own, important decisions were made in isolation, leading to inconsistent student experiences and missed opportunities to learn from one another. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) offered a way for educators to collaborate, but simply providing time to meet is not enough.
This beautifully illustrated guide offers a meaningful and accessible on-ramp to the PLC+ framework, an evidence-based approach that empowers teacher teams to do what matters most: boost student learning and improve teaching. By focusing on the five essential questions, this guide brings the big ideas of PLC+ to life with visuals, examples, and tools you can use right away.
This book will help you:
- Understand the five essential questions: Where are we going? Where are we now? How do we move learning forward? What did we learn today? Who benefited and who did not?
- Engage with illustrations and prompts designed to spark reflection and conversation, whether you’re reviewing student work, planning instruction, or tackling tough questions with colleagues
- Use checklists to help your team see connections more clearly and determine actionable next steps
- Explore spotlights on research that bring the importance and impact of high-functioning PLCs to light
Think of this guide as a roadmap you can flip open when you need direction, clarity, or inspiration in your PLC work. Then, continue with Your Introduction to PLC+ to go even deeper into the framework.