A Methodological Analysis of Research into the Effect of Professional Learning Community on Student Academic Achievement

This study analyzed all published research articles examining the relationship between professional learning community effortsProfessional learning community efforts (PLC) (used here as a broader category than, but inclusive of, Professional Learning Communities or PLCs) and student academic achievement (SAA)Student Academic Achievement (SAA) that reported primary research findings published before January 1, 2023. This study specifically identified primary, quantitative studies of SAA that in context are PLC, but which may or may not be labeled as such, that were published before January 1, 2023. Analyses examined how many studies of PLCProfessional Learning Community (PLC) and SAA were of a descriptive, correlational, causal comparative, quasi-experimental, or experimental design type, evaluated the internal validityValidity of their findings, and assessed the generalizability of each study based on normative expectations of implementation and study design type. Each of the 62 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated using a Design and Quality of Implementation Matrix. Findings indicated that none of 62 primary research efforts examining PLC and SAAStudent Academic Achievement (SAA) exhibited acceptable levels of generalizability. For articles demonstrating high design and implementation scores, threats to external validityValidity are presented and discussed. Recommendations are provided for improving the generalizability of research in PLCProfessional Learning Community (PLC).