Proactive Planning for Productive PLCs

Carrie Rosebrock

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN: 9781416634171
• eBook ISBN: 9781416634195
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

Why spend endless resources on new initiatives and PD when all you need are well-run PLCs?

We know that professional learning communities can be a powerful force for school improvement. In fact, author and leadership coach Carrie Rosebrock contends, they have the potential to provide all the professional development teachers need. But in many schools, PLCs are not as effective as they could be, and facilitators often struggle to anticipate and manage the challenges and tensions their teams encounter.

In Proactive Planning for Productive PLCs, Rosebrock stresses that PLCs function best when there are plans in place to navigate inevitable obstacles and explains that the best way forward is smarter PLC design and facilitation. This practical resource walks you through solutions to the 10 most common challenges that hold PLCs back, including how to

• Overcome initiative fatigue.
• Model and foster emotional regulation in PLC meetings.
• Adopt a collaborative, inquiry-based problem-solving approach to student struggles.
• Build trust and respect among team members.
• Ensure consistent practices, processes, and protocols.
• Maintain high expectations for both students and PLC team members.
• Hold space for disagreement and engage in difficult conversations.
• Gather and respond to data more effectively.
• Embrace productive struggle.
• Reflect on and celebrate teacher successes.

With insightful, real-life examples, Proactive Planning for Productive PLCs will enable instructional leaders at all grade levels to design and sustain strong PLCs and teacher teams that improve learning outcomes and opportunities for all students.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Praise for Proactive Planning for Productive PLCs
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Challenge 1. Initiative Fatigue
• Challenge 2. Dysregulation of Emotions
• Challenge 3. Discomfort Facilitating PLCs
• Challenge 4. Lack of Trust and Respect
• Challenge 5. Inconsistent Processes and Protocols
• Challenge 6. Inconsistent Expectations and Boundaries
• Challenge 7. Conflict and Tension
• Challenge 8. Complicated and Insufficient Data
• Challenge 9. Prizing Perfection over Process
• Challenge 10. Lack of Practice with Celebration and Reflection
• References
• About the Author
• Related ASCD Resources
• Copyright
• Back Cover