Research indicated leadership played a key role in successfully implementing professional learning communities (PLCs). There has been little research on pragmatic approaches to developing PLC leaders. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Gene School District's two-part PLC leader development: PLC Institute and ongoing PLC leader development. For this quantitative study, analysis of PLC leaders' archived survey data was used to investigate whether or not the PLC leader development significantly increased leaders' perceptions of their levels of preparedness to lead their teams in the work of PLCs. Data analysis included independent t tests, paired t tests, and analysis of descriptive statistics. Analysis of postsurvey descriptive statistics revealed leaders who participated in the PLC Institute indicated they had deep clarity about how to facilitate more aspects of PLC leadership than leaders who did not participate in the PLC Institute. Results of the paired t tests showed the ongoing PLC leader development significantly increased leaders' perceptions of their levels of preparedness to lead their teams in the work of PLCs. A practical implication of this study is the Gene School District's leaders needed further development in how to lead their teams in addressing the second, third, fourth, and fifth critical questions. This study suggests similar districts could implement the PLC Institute to serve as a catalyst for the 1st year of PLC implementation. Moreover, similar districts could implement the ongoing PLC leader development to continue increasing their leaders' understanding of how to lead their teams in the work of PLCs. The PLC leader development could be even more effective for leaders during the 1st year of PLC implementation if it focused more on how to lead their teams in addressing the first and second critical questions and less on how to lead their teams in addressing the third, fourth, and fifth critical questions. Future research could study outcomes in other districts or involve collection and analysis of other types of data. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]