Synthesize Research Articles

Synthesis Matrix
Article 1: Gray, Kruse, Tarter, et al. (2016)
Article 2: Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt, et al. (2013)
Article 3: Peppers (2015)

Type and purpose
Purpose is testing the role of institutional supports on PLCs in a low-income school district. Empirical and quantitative method uses surveys but not an experimental design.
Purpose is to explore effect of sustained PLCs on self-efficacy in science teaching; using mixed methods including a non-equivalent control group experimental design
Qualitative (narrative ethnography using interviews); Purpose to assess teacher perceptions before and after implementation of PLCs
Hypothesis and research questions
Enabling school structures, collegial trust, and academic emphasis will all be linked to strong PLC, and all three of those variables will also correlate with each other.
Do PLCs improve elementary science teacher self-efficacy? The authors hypothesize the affirmative in accordance with social learning theory.
Exploratory (no hypothesis); Questions related to how to best design and implement PLCs, and whether they promote teacher professional development.
Population and sample
Aggregate data from 67 schools
116 elementary school teachers in experimental group; 61 in control
8 teachers at a large suburban high school; demographics not revealed
Methodology
PLCA instrument used, along with other surveys for the three independent variables measured on a Likert scale
Compare teachers with PLCs and without over three years; Use of TSI instrument plus interviews
Face to face in depth interviews
Findings
As hypothesized, a supportive environment, institutional supports, and academic emphasis allow the emergence of PLCs in a low income school.
The PLCs did result in quantitative improvements in self-efficacy
PLCs are beneficial for teacher professional and leadership development.
Points of Convergence and Divergence
Point 1: Theoretical Orientation
Structural and industrial/organizational psychology
Bandura’s social learning theory
Constructivism
Point 2: Specific outcomes of PLC
Impact of structural issues on PLC
Self-efficacy
Leadership and professional development
Point 3
What factors help the school as an organization promote PLCs
What PLCs mean for improving teacher performance
How PLCs promote individual personal or professional goal achievement
Point 4
Promote positive vision for PLC development
Promote positive vision for PLC development
Promote positive vision for PLC development
Analysis of Findings
All three of these studies focus on the efficacy of professional learning communities (PLCs), and all three of these studies also promote PLC promoting both institutional/administrative goals and the professional acumen of educators. The Peppers (2015) study uses qualitative methods to explore teacher perceptions of professional learning communities, both before and after their implementation ion a large suburban high school. Using a constructivist framework was also conducive to the phenomenological research, which relied on open-ended interviews as the data collection method for this narrative ethnography. Peppers (2015) therefore demonstrates the subjective lived experiences of teachers who participate in PLCs, to ascertain how these programs can be improved or what teachers look for in terms of forming collaborative communities.
Ultimately, the Pepper (2015) study shows that PLCs can enhance teacher professional development via collaboration and leadership opportunities. Likewise, the Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt, et al. (2013) study showcases the effect of PLCs on individual teacher outcomes. The Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt et al (2013) research uses a social learning theory framework to investigate the specific effect on PLCs on elementary science teacher self-efficacy, as opposed to the constructivist one used by Pepper (2015) or the institutional-organizational approach adopted by Gray, Kruse & Tarter (2016). Unlike the Peppers (2015) study, the Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt, et al. (2013) research uses mixed methods including both interviews and a quantitative study—albeit not one with an experimental research design. Gray, Kruse & Tarter (2016) uses empirical and quantitative methods using survey data but also did not employ an experimental design. In the Gray, Kruse & Tarter (2016) study, the researchers also used PLCs as the dependent variable, whereas the PLC was the independent variable in the other two studies. Gray, Kruse & Tarter (2016) examine the precipitating structural factors like institutional supports, a climate of trust, and an academic emphasis at the school, to show whether these impact the evolution of PLCs. Specific aspects of self-efficacy measured in the Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt, et al. (2013) study include “mastery and vicarious experiences, emotional reinforcement and social persuasion.” (p. 1208). The Gray, Kruse & Tarter (2016) study is unique among these three in that it uses PLCs more as the dependent variable than as the independent variable.
While these three articles use totally different methods to approach the subject, all three show how PLCs improve educator outcomes in different ways. PLCs promote teacher self efficacy (Mintzes, Marcum, Messerschmidt, et al., 2013), enhance opportunities for leadership and personal development (Peppers, 2015), and also help schools in disadvantaged areas overcome their structural limitations (Gray, Kruse & Tarter, 2016). However, only the latter study shows what administrators need to do in order to promote PLCs and ensure their entrenchment in the school.
References
Gray, J., Kruse, S. & Tarter, C.J. (2016). Enabling school structures, collegial trust and academic emphasis: Antecedents of professional learning communities. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 44(6): 875-891.
Mintzes, J.J., Marcum, B., Messerschmidt, C., et al. (2013). Enhancing self-efficacy in elementary science teaching with professional learning communities. Journal Sci Teacher Education 2013(24): 1201-1218.
Peppers, G.J. (2015). Teachers’ perceptions and implementation of professional learning communities in a large suburban high school. National Teacher Education Journal 8(1): 25-31.