MTSU’s College of Education continued training recently to help area public school administrators meet the state’s First to the Top goals.

The May 10 professional development training session brought in about 30 principals from 11 southern Midstate public school districts to help them establish or improve their own systems’ Professional Learning Communities.

Dr. Bob Eaker, a professor in the MTSU Womack Family Educational Leadership Department, recently conducted a training session on Professional Learning Communities at the College of Education building for principals from surrounding public school districts. (Photos by MTSU News and Media Relations)

Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, focus on student learning and results by creating better collaboration and more accountability for teachers and administrators.

Under the direction of President Sidney A. McPhee and Dean Lana Seivers, the MTSU College of Education has been partnering with surrounding school districts on a number of school improvement initiatives, including PLCs.

Dr. Bob Eaker, a professor in the university’s Womack Family Educational Leadership Department, conducted the recent training session at the College of Education building. It followed a similar session in late March for directors and central office staff from area districts.

Both sessions were recorded by the Center for Educational Media and will be available for other school districts’ training on the center’s website, www.mtsu.edu/education/cem.php.

MTSU collaborated with education consultant Battelle for Kids, whose services are provided through First to the Top funds. Battelle’s services are directed by the state Department of Education’s eight Centers for Regional Excellence (CORE).

The recent training targeted the south central CORE district, which includes Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Perry and Wayne counties and city systems in Manchester, Tullahoma and Fayetteville.

For more information about the MTSU Center for Educational Media, visit www.mtsu.edu/education/cem.php; for more on the Womack Family Educational Leadership Department, visit www.mtsu.edu/edu_leadership.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

Dr. Bob Eaker, a professor in the MTSU Womack Family Educational Leadership Department, recently conducted a training session on Professional Learning Communities at the College of Education building for principals from surrounding public school districts.