Leading and Managing Professional Development Through an Inquiry-Oriented Professional Learning Communities Today, reading ability is widely recognized as being a critical part of the skill set needed to succeed academically and professionally, and helping young people become better readers therefore represents a valuable and important enterprise. To this end, this paper reviews the relevant literature including the five sub-questions posed by Yendol-Hoppey and Dana (2010, pp. 100-102) to determine how a reading leader can lead teachers of reading in an inquiry-oriented professional learning community (PLC) that will serve to strengthen the motivation to read by elementary school students in a Midwestern school district. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the application of PLCs for these purposes are presented in the paper's conclusion.

What is the degree of comfort that exists with PLCs at your school?

The term professional learning community (or PLC) is typically used to refer to a variety of educational groups that collaborate informally or formally on a periodic basis in order to achieve educational goals, such as motivating young people to read more (Teague & Anfara, 2012). To date, although there have been no formal PLCs formed at the elementary school in question, there have been efforts to create informal PLCs using various social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. These efforts are consistent with the research to date which has confirmed that PLCs can be comprised of multidisciplinary group members, and that they can be used in a wide range of educational settings and subject areas besides reading (Teague & Anfara, 2013). In this regard, Teague and Anfara (2013) advise that, "Growing numbers of schools have implemented professional learning communities as a method for bringing about sustainable change. Schools use professional learning communities to increase the capacity to transform and improve" (p. 58).

While no formal PLCS have been implemented or suggested, it would seem reasonable to suggest that based on the use of informal PLCs, there is an adequate comfort level at the school in question to apply these methods to help reading teachers motivate their students to read more. To achieve the full range of benefits that can accrue to the use of formal PLCs for this purpose, though, some reading teachers may require supplemental professional development. As Khalid and Joyes (2013) point out, "It is important that teachers be prepared professionally so as to be able to effectively do their jobs. This can be achieved through the process of professional development, which is centrally important in maintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in schools" (p. 103).

At the school in question, the extent to which a formal PLC uses an online platform for collaboration will be the extent to which PLC members must possess adequate information technology skills (George, 2009). Despite the need, there remains a lack of information concerning the actual readiness of the teachers at this elementary school to actively participate in a PLC designed to motivate young people to read more, and steps will need to be taken to determine these levels through educator surveys and interviews (Khalid & Joyes, 2013).

Fortunately, reading scores at the elementary school in question are in line with or exceed state and national averages, so it is also reasonable to suggest that teachers at this school are already using effective strategies to encourage students' motivation to read. These academic achievements will clearly facilitate the implementation and administration of a PLC targeted at helping reading teachers motivate their students even further to read more, particularly during non-school periods of time. In addition, the elementary school's administration fully supports the implementation of an inquiry-based PLC provided it is accomplished in a cost-effective fashion that does not require substantial funding from a school district budget that is already stretched razor-thin. Fortunately, even highly formalized inquiry-oriented PLCs can be created and administered in a highly cost effective fashion. For instance, Thessin and Starr (2011) emphasize that, "In the face of increased accountability and districts' desires to improve educator effectiveness, many school systems are implementing professional learning communities to support teachers in collectively using assessment data and student work to identify instructional strategies to meet students' learning needs" (p. 49).

Notwithstanding these positive factors in support of the implementation of an inquiry-oriented PLC at the elementary school in question, there are some challenges involved in these initiatives that must be taken into account from the outset in order to avoid wasted time or misdirected efforts. By definition, the findings that emerge from any type of action research are intended to actually be...

In addition, some educators may be reluctant to actively participate in a PLC because of the additional time that is required, as well as the fact that such participation places a high degree of accountability on individual teachers to participate and produce positive results. As Yendol-Hoppey and Dana (2010) point out, "In many ways, PLCs place the onus of the responsibility for professional learning on those closest to the students -- teachers and administrators. With this responsibility also comes accountability" (p 123).
How ready is your school's culture to implement this tool [PLC]?

As noted above, the elementary school in question has already used information PLCs for other purposes, including developing physical fitness regimens and sporting activities to combat the rise of childhood obesity in the school and to increase standardized test scores. In addition, as also noted above, the school's administration has expressed their support for comparable initiatives, so the stage has been set to implement a formal PLC to help reading teachers motivate their students to read more. Teachers participating in inquiry-oriented PLCs, though, must be prepared to collect and analyze data on an ongoing basis rather than a static approach that is used as the culminating effort of the PLC (Yendol-Hoppey & Dana, 2010). There is also an overarching need to "develop collegial relationships, encourage reflective practice, and rethink leadership in restructuring schools" in the PLC format (Yendol-Hoppey & Dana, 2010, p. 8). Indeed, Yendol-Hoppey and Dana (2010) emphasize that, "Although the first two Cs of sharing (celebration and community) work together during sharing sessions to help teachers feel good about their learning, collegial conversations are critical to making a PLC's sharing sessions a successful learning experience for all" (p. 143).

In addition, it will be vitally important to encourage participating reading teachers to develop timely and informed answers to the questions posited by Applegate and Applegate (2010) as follows:

1. Would the inclination to respond thoughtfully to narrative text be related to the overall motivation, the value ascribed to reading, and the reading self-efficacy of elementary school children?

2. Would motivation thus assessed be systematically related to gender and the inclination to respond thoughtfully to text?

3. Would the value ascribed to reading decrease in relation to grade level and the inclination to respond thoughtfully to text? (p. 227).

Therefore, in order to lead teachers of reading who are participating in an inquiry-oriented PLC to ask similar or additional question on students' motivation to read based on the diverse learning needs of reading students in the elementary school question will require an individualized approach to analyzing the reading levels and needs of all students to identify strengths that can be built upon and weaknesses that require supplementary assistance. Clearly, this level of participation requires significant investments of individual teacher time and effort, and some educators may be reluctant to make this commitment given their already overworked schedule (Thessin & Starr, 2011). In addition, the actual or even perceived withdrawal of top administrator support for PLC initiatives can doom them from the outset (Thessin & Starr, 2011).

How would you carve out time to use of a PLC in your school?

Not only is time money, it is especially precious in an elementary school setting where teachers' and students' days are already filled to capacity, but it is possible to integrate a PLC with existing curricular offerings in a seamless fashion that does not unnecessarily add to the existing burdens of reading teachers or create the need for entirely new pedagogical approaches. In order to achieve this desirable outcome, though, ongoing support and commitment from the school's leadership is essential and educators participating in PLCs should not expect significant improvements in reading ability overnight (Thessin & Starr, 2011). Therefore, an inquiry-oriented PLC that is designed to improve reading teachers' ability to motivate young learners to read more should have the full support of the school's top administration and span an 18-week semester at a minimum that focuses on strengthening students' motivation to read.

What resources would you need to successfully implement this tool?

One of the more salient points to quickly emerge from the research concerning the use of PLCs in schools is the fact that many teachers enter the classroom lacking the knowledge about how to participate in these groups effectively (Thessin & Starr, 2011). As also…