A growth-focused appraisal process that emphasizes the importance of professional
dialogue and collaboration can help foster a learning community in the school.
The goal of the actions of principals and teachers is to enhance their effectiveness
as professionals so that students benefit. Principals and teachers together make
collective commitments to what they believe and what they seek to create in order
to provide a clear agenda that will benefit students. They ask these questions:
- What do we want each student to learn?
- How will we know if each student has learned it?
- How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?
- How will we deepen the learning for students who have already mastered
essential knowledge and skills?
(Source: Recurring Themes of Professional Learning Communities and the
Assumptions They Challenge, R. DuFour, R. Eaker, & R. DuFour, in On Common
Ground, p. 15)