Presentation given at Loyola Chicago at the request of Lorraine Ozar and the Center for Catholic School Effectiveness.

1. A 21 st Century Learning Community by Eric E Castro

2. “ We’re a school and we’re a community – so we’re a learning community” - a high school teacher

3. “… groups of people engaged in intellectual interaction for the purposes of learning.” - Patricia Cross

4. communities of learners “operate with a commitment to the norms of continuous improvement and experimentation and engage their members in improving their daily work to advance the achievement of school district and school goals for student learning.” - National Staff Development Council

5. Three Primary Characteristics 1. Shared vision 2. Collaboration 3. Collective responsibility

6. Strata of Learning Communities School faculty Academic departments Subject levels Districts and diocese large large large

7. Formal vs . informal Learning Communities