If you are looking for an organic approach to purpose-driven professional learning, this is the book for you. Award-winning educator Lois Brown Easton's latest work provides a compelling case study in narrative form, a chronological PLC planning outline, and first-hand "lessons learned" about how PLCs develop, mature, and sustain themselves. You will not receive a PLC "prescription," but you will find inspiration, wisdom, discussion questions, and a companion CD with: (1) Professional learning designs for varied PLC contexts; (2) Helpful forms, templates, and rubrics; and (3) Protocols for collecting, analyzing, and applying data. The text emphasizes that the central word in PLCs is "learning". This focus on intentional learning lights the path for educators who wish to narrow achievement gaps and help all students succeed. Following a foreword by Shirley Hord, the following chapters are contained in this book: (1) Setting the Stage for PLCs (June and July); (2) Finding Initial Structures (August) (3) Pursuing the Need to Know; Making Sense of Data (August - October); (4) Finding Processes for Working Together (November - December); (5) Appreciating New Data; Discovering Divergence (January - March); (6) Grappling with Change; Pursuing Protocols (March and April); (7) Expanding Context; Focusing on the Future (May and June); (8) Exploring Leadership and Taking Action (June and August); and (9) Looking Ahead; Facing Challenges (June and August). References are also included.