Do Professional Learning Communities Influence Student Achievement? A Social Capital Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of professional learning communities (PLCs) on student achievement. Research on the professional learning communities (PLCs) is persistently focused on internal member relations with little recognition of the relevance of external ties of members to other actors in the PLCs' environment. However, this study considered internal and external ties of PLC members simultaneously. Using Burt's social capital framework, the following hypothesis was tested: “Student achievement increases as PLC brokerage (external ties) and closure (internal ties) increase.” The data for this study were drawn, for the 2011-12 school year, from students and teachers in a Kansas suburban school district. The sample for this study consisted of students from kindergarten to sixth grade and included 2,477 students from 17 schools, 184 teachers working in 73 different PLCs in the same schools. The statistical analyses were conducted using hierarchical growth models. The key finding from this study was that student achievement gains increased as external interactions of teachers of PLCs within the same building increased. Another finding was that internal characteristics of PLCs do not have a significant effect, although it is positive, on student achievement. The results, implications for policy makers, and future research are discussed.