Former Highland Park, IL Principal Matthew Eriksen is now president and CEO of 4XF, an educational company focusing on improving student achievement. As a former principal in Northshore School District 112 in IL, Matthew Eriksen has first-hand knowledge of the many ways student achievement can be improved. Improving student achievement is an age-old problem that continues to plague many school districts.

For years, teachers have been mandated to teach to the test and adopt other programs that might reflect that students are attaining some measure of achievement. With teachers, principals, and other administrators shouldering the blame for lagging test scores, increasingly, school districts are devising ways to attack this problem. One method of improving student achievement is through the creation of professional learning communities (PLC).

Unlike past strategies (classroom observation and evaluation) that evaluated teachers individually, PLCs focus on evidence of student learning through a list comprehensive benchmarks. This cannot be done through micro-managing teachers, but is accomplished by providing teachers support through collaborative and cooperative communities. Furthermore, research indicates PLCs are a catalyst for improving student outcomes not just in the US but throughout the world.

There are many benefits of PLCs in education. Through PLCs, student achievement is not the sole responsibility of the individual teacher. Through shared teaching, the quality of the teaching improves and so does student achievement, as more teachers are invested in the lessons. Furthermore, PLCs promote critical discussions on teaching methodology in a positive environment and create a situation where teachers are not lone soldiers and the classroom an island. More importantly, because there is more support, teacher turnover is reduced and many remain in the profession longer than they would have without the assistance.