Josie Cortez Josie Danini Supik, M.A.

Professional Learning Communities in Schools – Podcast Episode 25 | Podcast Episode 25

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Juanita GarciaClassnotes Podcast  (November 26, 2007) A growing body of research has found that professional learning communities in schools, combined with mentoring, result in clear improvements in outcomes for staff and students. Josie Danini Cortez, M.A., an IDRA senior education associate, and Dr. Juanita García, an IDRA education associate, join Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., director of the IDRA Texas Parent Information and Resource Center, to describe such a community in a middle school in south Texas. Each of the teachers mentored, advocated for and championed three students who needed an educator in their lives who believes in them and their capacity for learning and success. The results were seen in a transformation of adults and improved student achievement.

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Show length: 20:38

Resources

Valuing Youth – Reflections from a Professional Learning Community
By Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., and Josie Danini Cortez, M.A., IDRA Newsletter

Professional Development Through Learning Communities
By K.P. Fulton and M. Riel, Edutopia Online, 1999
George Lucas Educational Foundation

Professional Learning Communities: Communities of Continous Inquiry and Improvement
By S.M. Hord, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1997

Principles of Effective Professional Development for Mathematics and Science Education: A Synthesis of Standards
By S. Loucks-Horsley, K. Stiles, and P. Hewson, NISE Brief
National Institute for Science Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 1996

Professional Learning Communities, Leadership, and Student Learning
S.C. Thompson, L. Gregg, and J.M. Niska, Research in Middle Level Education Online
Missouri State University, 2004

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Show Notes

  • * Host Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., director of the IDRA Texas Parent Information and Resource Center, welcomes guests Josie Danini Cortez, M.A., an IDRA senior education associate, and Dr. Juanita García, an IDRA education associate.

  • Josie explains the value of small professional learning communities, and why they've been created as a variation of IDRA's Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program.

  • Juanita discusses the importance of a personalized learning experience for each tutor.

  • Josie talks about a key takeaway from the 1989 Dallas Dropout Study that remains in full force today: "If you have one person, one adult, who's almost irrationally committed to the success of the child, that child will succeed."

  • Juanita explains the impact of professional learning communities on the teachers themselves.

  • Josie talks about the professional learning and mentoring team's weekly meetings and how guided reflection sessions are benefiting the tutors.

  • Josie explains why the professional learning communities need support at the administrative level. She also discusses the value of the program's four annual retreats.