Washington Wilkes Middle School is on the road to transforming its school into a Professional Learning Community (PLC). With ever changing standards and schools being required to ensure that all students achieve high levels of learning, a Professional Learning Community presents a model for schools to use in order to meet the challenge. Building on a study that was started last year from the book Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities, WWMS continues the journey with Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn.

In a Professional Learning Community, educators must focus on student learning rather than teaching. There are several fundamental aspects involved in creating a PLC. Educators

must first concentrate on three critical questions: what is it we want students to learn, how we will know when they have acquired the skill or knowledge, and how will we respond when students experience difficulty in learning? By working in collaborative teams to develop a common mission, a vision, values, and goals, educators have a shared understanding of what must happen to ensure a high level of learning for students.

This year, W-WMS continues to research practices of the PLC and adds to that a study of how PLC's respond when students are not learning. Over the course of the year, faculty and staff members will be disseminating information from the book Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn in presentations during monthly faculty meetings. The first presentation was given by members of the sixth grade team.

In their presentation, the team members gave an overview of a PLC. They continued with an interactive activity that allowed other staff members to review the history of education and a discussion of what public school systems have achieved. They also allowed for an exploration of educational schools of thought that are prevalent in North American school systems today. The presentation was concluded with a summation of the chapters.

W-WMS will continue to investigate strategies and ways to address student learning throughout the remainder of the school year. Faculty members will strive to implement practices of the PLC and ensure that all students are learning at the highest levels.