ABSTRACT
Our journey to excellence in teaching begins with a commitment to professional learning. There are no shortcuts or detours or one best route that works for everyone. The journey takes time and starts with the desire to learn more and do better—for our students, our school communities, and ourselves as educators. Professional learning communities, commonly called PLCs, have proliferated for many years. High-achieving schools are sustained through ongoing literate conversations—throughout the school day—with highly informed teachers, coaches, specialists, principals, and other leaders. Make conversations about literacy beliefs the first priority in setting up professional learning for the school and the district. Coherence and consistency of beliefs between and across grade levels, content areas, and school divisions are essential for raising achievement across a whole school, and this is no easy matter.
