PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
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founded by or supportive of women and gender non-conforming folx . We also seek to strengthen the vital role that boys and men play in empowering women . Because when women , girls , and gender non-conforming folx succeed , we all succeed .
The Kent Denver empowHERment Mission Statement was written by : Mary Fran Park , Emily Danitz , Anne Moyer , Sarah Campbell , Christina Fakharzadeh , and Sarah Mitchell .
References
Bryk , A . S ., Gomez , L . M ., Grunow , A ., & LeMahieu , P . G . ( 2015 ). Learning to Improve : How America ’ s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better . Harvard Education Press .
DuFour , R . ( 2004 , May 1 ). “ What Is a ‘ Professional Learning Community ’?” ASCD . https :// www . ascd . org / el / articles / what-is-a-professional-learning-community
Lewis C . ( 2015 ). “ What Is Improvement Science ? Do We Need It in Education ?” Educational Researcher , 44 ( 1 ), 54-61 . https :// doi . org / 10.3102 / 0013189X15570388
Mielke , C . ( 2015 , July 26 ). “ Is Your Professional Learning Community a Farce ?” Cult of Pedagogy . https :// www . cultofpedagogy . com / plc-problems /
Miller , A . ( 2020 , January 3 ). “ Creating Effective Professional Learning Communities .” https :// www . edutopia . org / article / creating-effective-professional-learning-communities
Stoll , L ., & Louis , K . S . ( 2007 ). “ Professional Learning Communities : Elaborating New Approaches ,” in L . Stoll and K . S Louis ( eds ) Professional Learning Communities : Divergence , Depth , and Dilemmas ( pp . 1-13 ). Open University Press / McGraw Hill .
Mary Fran Park , BS , MS , EdD ( in progress ) is an independent school STEM teacher at the Kent Denver School in Englewood , Colorado . She started her career as a marine scientist and oceanographer studying climate change in Antarctica . After her work there , she started her teaching career at The Bishop ’ s School in La Jolla , California . She has spent the past 15 years teaching at Kent Denver . In addition to her teaching , Mary Fran is finishing her doctorate at Johns Hopkins University ’ s School of Education . She plans to defend her dissertation , entitled Gender Disparity in the Enrollment of STEM Electives , in late summer 2022 . Her passion for gender and racial equity spills over heavily into her classroom and family life . She currently lives in Denver with her husband , two sons , two dogs , and too many fish to count .
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