Professional Learning Communities in Partnership: A 3-Year Journey of Action and Advocacy to Bridge the Achievement Gap.

This article details a strategic planning model and concurrent 3-year research study focusing on the benefits of preK–16 professional development school learning communities for the participating preK–16 educational leaders in a midwestern school–university partnership network. Results of the study, along with the strategic plan’s success at achieving identified outcomes on a fixed timeline, indicate that participating educational leaders developed deeper understanding of issues relating to early-childhood school readiness, English-language learners, and family–school–community partnerships; they transformed educational practices; they built leadership capacity within individual organizations to facilitate change; and they developed and implemented action plans for advocacy. 09_119 (06) Hoffman.qxd 4/2/09 6:03 PM Page 28